One hundred and fifty years ago, transportation in what is now Lee County, Texas (the county was established in 1874) was a bit more of a challenge than it is today. A number of Wendish folks had begun to settle around West Yegua (now Fedor), but still attended church in Serbin. If they had children …
The Rev. Gotthilf Birkmann had a secret that he kept from his parishioners at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Fedor. No, it wasn’t anything scandalous. Birkmann was born in rural Illinois on June 4, 1854. His father was a Lutheran pastor, and Birkmann followed him into the ministry. After graduating from Concordia Seminary in St. …
Rev. Gotthilf Birkmann, who served as pastor at Holy Trinity in Fedor from 1876-1879 and 1882-1922, submitted the linked article (link at the bottom of this post) to the Giddings Deutsches Volksblatt in 1934. In it, he describes a trip he took to Copperas Cove in 1892 to visit his brother-in-law, Johann Falke. This was …
I liked my time in Fedor, and I liked my people and my church, and I much regretted that I could not spend the last days with my beloved Fedor people. May God bless them forever. — Rev. Gotthilf Birkmann (Pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Fedor, Texas 1876-1879 and 1882-1922) It was September …