Building the Church

Building the Church. Saint Paul's Lutheran Church. , On February 26, 1867, Henry Precht and his wife Louise sold to St. Paul's Lutheran Church a one-half acre plot of land on the northwest corner of what are now Roads 17 and QI for S15.00. It was on this plot of land that the church was built that same year. The Prechts owned a small farm on the corner and later sold another acre of land to the congregation.

The builder of the new church was Fred Oberhaus, a young man of 25, who had come from Germany a few years before with his family. The father's name was Kaspar Oberhaus, and the Oberhauses were members of the new church. Fred had learned the carpenter trade in Germany. He was well qualified to design and construct not only the building as such, but he also made the furnishings, including the altar, pulpit, and the pews in his shop.

Records do Bot tell us who the members of the building crew were. However, it may be assumed, they were mostly members of the new church, many of whom were known for woodworking skills. At the time, when the country was still largely covered with trees, logging was no doubt a common experience with most of them.

When this old church building was torn down in 1981, all the frame material was open to view. One had to marvel at the thoroughness of the design and construction of the original structure. The dimensions of the building were 36 feet wide and 60 feet long. In addition a small sacristy had been built on the back. There was no foundation as such but the sills were laid on large stones that had been carefully put in place and leveled.

The basic support system for the building consisted of seven identical (frame sections) made of hand-hewn material spaced at ten feet. Sills, plates, beh tower supports and frame, and bracing are all hand-hewn. It is estimated that there were over 2,000 feet of timbers in the structure that were all skillfully handerafted. The rafters were all small natural logs (5 to 8 inches in diameter) hand-hewa on one side.

Unlike the churches in Germany, which often were not heated, this church had the luxury of two wood stoves. There was no chancel area as such. The simple altar was in the front with a very high pulpit directly behind it. There were three sections of pews; two short sections on each side, and a section of longer pews in the center. There was no center aisle but two aisles, one on each side, which were entered from the narthex. A divider down the middle separated the men's side from the ladies' side. Hats and coats were hung on this divider.

On December 30, 1868, the second annual congregational meeting was held. Here it was reported that the new church had been completed at a cost of $2,343.04. At that time $2,237.00 had been received into the building fund leaving a debt of $106.04.