From Leopold To Ashton

Have you met Ashton Wiegand? You might find her on a Sunday morning sitting with her parents on the north side of the balcony at Salem Lutheran Church, third row from the front. You might also find her in the 7^th She is a pretty young girl who has deep, very deep, roots! grade junior high classroom at Salem Lutheran School, or wearing her green and white uniform on the volleyball court or the basketball court.

Roots to what, you might ask? Her roots are deeply planted in the rich soil of the Gospel. For you see, Ashton is the seventh generation of the Wiegand family who has belonged to Salem Lutheran Church, Jacksonville, IL, for 142 years.

Salem Lutheran Church was organized in 1858. Plans are underway for a year long celebration of her 150^th birthday. That’s a l-o-n-g time! Salem was organized on September 12^th, 1858. On the 16^th of August, 1838, Leopold G. Wiegand was born in Wernsinghausen, Germany. He married Sophia Riedebusch. Old records indicate that he moved to Jacksonville in 1865. They became members of Salem in 1866. Two years later, at the age of 28, he is named as chairman of the congregation. He died of a stroke at the age of 44. His body, buried in the Jacksonville East Cemetery, awaits the trumpet’s blast signaling the time when he will meet his Lord and be reunited with those who came before and after him.

Leopold & Sophia had two children, Cornelia and George Henrich, also members of Salem. George Henrich married Wilhelmine Gerbing in 1884. On the 11^th of May, 1885, Edward William Wiegand was born to George and his wife.. Edward married Pauline Toussaint and owned a meat market on E. State Street. Edward and Pauline had two children, Vivian and Edward Junior.

Let me tell you Vivian’s story first. Vivian Wiegand was born in 1915. She was baptized and confirmed at Salem. In 1936 she married Roy Lovekamp. A.C. and Mayme Witte Lovekamp had moved with their six children to Jacksonville from Arenzville in 1926 and joined Salem. Roy was the Lovekamp’s second oldest, Roy attended Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, IL., graduating in 1935. For 22 years Vivian was away from Jacksonville as Roy served as a Lutheran school principal and teacher in Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Illinois. In 1958 Roy received and accepted the call to serve as principal at Salem until his retirement in 1969. From 1970 to 1975 he taught in our school and then served one more year as principal in 1976. He remained an active member of Salem until his death in 1989. Vivian also remained an active member attending her last voters’ meeting only a few weeks before her death in 2006.

Edward Junior Wiegand was born in 1917 He was raised a member of Salem and married Irma Long in 1943. Irma’s parents were also members of Salem. J.A. Long, Irma’s father, owned Long’s Pharmacy on the east side of the Jacksonville square. Jake Long’s name appears frequently in Salem’s records as he served on various committees and boards.

This brings us to the fifth generation of the Leopold Wiegand family. Currently, there are four members at Salem from this generation including Judy (Lovekamp) Riemer, Linda Lovekamp, Jack Wiegand and Jay Wiegand. This generation has also continued to actively serve in the church.

Our sixth generation includes Jay’s children, Edward & Irma‘s grandchildren: Amber, Ashley, Audra and Jason Wiegand. In the year 2008 Jason will be a student in the fifth grade. This generation also includes Jamie Wiegand, who married Dana Cook. Jamie is the son of Jim Wiegand, the oldest child of Edward Junior and Irma Wiegand. Jamie is the father of Ashton, the seventh generation member of Salem.

This brings us back to the beginning of the Wiegand genealogy and Ashton. Leopold, George Henrich, Edward William, Ediward Junior, Jim, Jamie, Ashton - for seven generations, over 142 years, the Wiegand family has been a part of Salem’s 150 year history. Psalm 48: 13 & 14 reads: “That ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even unto death. And from Psalm 78: 1-4: “O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter hidden things, things from of old---what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. Thanks be to God! Dated: November, 2007

THE ROOTS OF SALEM LUTHERAN SCHOOL

Salem Lutheran School grows out of roots early in American school history. The Dutch Lutherans of eastern New York and Pennsylvania had a great commitment for education. The first Lutheran school in America is St. Matthews Lutheran School, New York City, founded in 1664 by Dutch Lutherans, and now a member of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. It is still in operation today.

Almost every Lutheran pastor was also the teacher of the congregation’s school or headmaster over more than one school belonging to the congregation. One Lutheran Church in Philadelphia had four schools in various parts of the city. In 1820 the Pennsylvania Ministerium reported 206 parish schools under 84 congregations. Salem’s founding pastor was from Pennsylvania, which probably answers why Salem school was started only several months later than Salem congregation was founded.

The German Lutherans from Saxony who settled in southern Missouri also had an intense commitment to Christian schools. In the original proposed constitution of the Missouri Synod membership was conditional upon having or planning a Christian school. The 2nd or 3rd pastor of Salem was a graduate of Missouri Synod’s Seminary in St. Louis. The commitment of founding families and later becoming a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod made Salem Lutheran School forever a vital part of Salem’s ministry.

The weakening of doctrinal convictions on the part of parents and less dedication to training children in the faith has led to hindering the support of and even the closing of Lutheran Schools in many parts of our country. A belief that the public school can do no harm to the faith of Christian children, and a misguided questioning of the quality of education in a parochial school has led many parents to wrongly look at a parochial school as a frivolous and unnecessary expense, and, sad to say sometimes, a hindrance to their child’s athletic and social development.

IS SALEM SCHOOL A "PUBLIC", "PRIVATE", OR "PAROCHIAL" SCHOOL?

Prior to 1825 schools in Illinois were called "public" or "private". Public schools were tuition schools open to all children. Private schools were those whose students could be restricted by nationality, race, sex, or religion, also supported with tuition or by an organization.

Jacksonville’s first public school was "public" because it was open to all children. The cost was partially supported with property taxes (a law passed by the Illinois legislature in 1825 and all but annulled in 1827) and partially paid for with tuition.

Salem’s school also opened as a "public" school because it was open to all children. The teacher was Rev. Krauss. What cost was borne by the congregation or by parents is not known. We do know that children could be excused from religion classes by request of the parents.

Salem’s school is a parochial school. Parochial means that it serves the training of children in the Christian faith and life and perpetuating the orthodox Lutheran doctrines of the Reformation into the next generation of Salem members.

Today a school is no longer designated by the students who attend, but by how it is supported. Salem school is no longer "public" because it is not supported through public taxes. Some regard Salem’s school as a "private"school because it is supported by Salem Lutheran Church, even though it is open to all children. 

We regard Salem as a parochial school open to all children for the purposes of nurturing children in the Christian faith and of teaching them with excellence the subjects necessary for their academic future and life.

SALEM’S SHARED HISTORY WITH JACKSONVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Several months after Salem’s Pastor Kraus began teaching school in the Fitzenberger store or home, the location not known, Salem’s school history became entwined with the history of Jacksonville public schools.

In 1825 the Illinois legislature passed a law that localities could tax property to pay up to half the cost of a public school. In 1826 the Jacksonville school trustees purchased a lot on which to build a log cabin school. Today that lot is the grassy area west of Salem’s annex parking lot on the south side of College Ave., marked with a monument at the curb.

In 1927 the Illinois legislature all but annulled the bill allowing property taxes for schools. How long Jacksonville’s first "public" school continued after tax money was lost is not known. But Salem’s history tells us that in May of 1859 Salem purchased Jacksonville’s first public school lot at auction. In 1864 Salem congregation built a one-room frame building on that lot which became Salem’s church and first school.

Sometime prior to 1859 the Jacksonville school district built the 3rd Ward school on a site on the north side of Beecher Ave., exactly where Salem’s present school is located. . It would seem, then, that for several years the 3rd ward public school and Salem school were on back-to-back properties, the public school facing Beecher Ave. and Salem school facing College Ave. In 1876 the 3rd Ward public school property was purchased by Salem congregation and renovated into Salem’s first church building separate from her school.

SALEM LUTHERAN SCHOOL FACILITIES, 1859-1923.

In 1826, the trustees of Jacksonville School District purchased a lot and built a log cabin school, the first "public" school in Jacksonville. The lot is now Salem property, the grassy area just west of Salem’s annex parking lot. How long it was used and what became of the school is not recorded.

On January 9, 1859, Salem Lutheran Elementary School began sessions taught by the pastor in the home or store of the Fitzenberger family, members of Salem Lutheran Church. The exact location is not known. Whether school continued regularly or sporadically from that date on depended upon the presence of a pastor/teacher.

In May of 1859 a member of Salem purchased the lot on which Jacksonville’s first public school had been built. On it in 1864 Salem congregation built her first structure, a combination church and school in a one-room frame building. According to historical notes Salem’s first church/school building was used also for many social activities of Salem members and the Jacksonville community.

In 1876 Salem purchased two lots on Beecher Ave. directly south of the lot on College Ave., on which Jacksonville’s 3rd Ward school sat. The public school was renovated into Salem’s second church. The one-room schoolhouse on College continued to be Salem’s school and in 1887 was relocated behind the church at the site of Salem’s present west school entrance.

So the original one-room frame building was Salem’s schoolhouse on two different sites for 79 years, from 1864 until 1938. Both of these properties had been previously used for Jacksonville public schools. Some of the oldest members of Salem, like Harold Tomhave, Edna Greenler, Mamie Torbeck and Louise Witham, still remember their years attending this first schoolhouse of Salem Lutheran Church. What became of the original wood frame school is not recorded. One belief is that it was sold and moved to another site in town. Another is that it was torn down and some member farmers got the benefit of any good wood.

Salem’s present church building on the corner of South East and Beecher, completed in 1923, left the old church on Beecher vacated. For how long is not recorded. But one picture shows the present church during the early 30s without the old church in the picture. In 1938 a red brick schoolhouse was built on the site of the old church.

SALEM LUTHERAN SCHOOL FACILITIES, 1923-2007

With the larger red brick school built in 1938 Salem’s student body continued to grow and in six years the student became too large for one classroom. In 1944 a second teacher was called and the present church basement was used as a temporary classroom. And then a house across the street on Beecher was purchased and used for school purposes and teacherage. Following the 1953-54 school year the red brick school was demolished and the present school built in its place.

After the Salem boys won the Peoria Lutheran Basketball Tournament in 1961 Salem congregation pledged to build a gymnasium. It was completed in 1964 and today is still regarded as the finest elementary school gymnasium in the area.

In December of 1971 a pre-kindergarten was added to Salem’s educational offerings and held first in "the green house" on the corner of College Ave. and South East. The pre-kindergarten was later moved to the current music room of the church basement. In 1972 the present church basement also became the school instructional media center and library and remains the school library to this day.

In need of additional education facilities, "temporary" classrooms were built during the summer of 1992 west of the gymnasium, which today houses the Jr. High department.

The Salem annex, completed in 1994, brought huge changes to the school facilities. The church offices were removed from the school and relocated in the annex. The old church offices in the school were converted into a teacher’s lounge, supply storage, and work area. The annex kitchen and reception area replaced the school kitchen and cafeteria. The old kitchen and cafeteria in the school were converted to a computer lab and classroom. An elevator was added next to the middle stairway. And the pre-school and kindergarten were relocated to the second level of the school.

We celebrate Salem School’s 150th anniversary, giving glory to God and honoring the members and teachers of Salem Lutheran Church and School for their dedication to the Lord and His children.