Saxon Lutheran Memorial

John and I had planned one trip down to southwestern Missouri, but cold and wet weather changed our plans.  We decided to try for two different forays into that area, with the first being last Saturday when the Saxon Memorial was having its fall festival.  Many years ago we had been to that festival and I still remember the large kettles of apple butter which were cooked on outside fires.

Summer flowers are still blooming!  In the distance is the Fenwick Cabin built in the late 1700s.  The memorial features four log homes, including a two story cabin and a double one.  They were moved from other areas of Perry County.  Joseph Fenwick had 10 children and numerous slaves.  We were able to tour the two story cabin and I was quite impressed with the antique bed pictured below.

In the Hamilton-Goehring cabin we watched a lady weaving rugs on a loom which had been in her family for 200 years.  She thinks that she will be one of the last of her family members using the loom.  The cabin was once located on the western part of the 660 acres of the Wittenberg tract of land purchased by the Saxons.  Goehring obtained his land in 1839.

Perhaps I need to explain further the Saxon immigration from Germany.  In 1839 some 700 Lutherans came from Saxony to American in search of a haven for their beliefs.  Some stayed in St.Louis, others traveled down the Mississippi River and established seven settlements in what is now Perry County.  On the Memorial grounds is a statue of Carl Walther, born in 1811 and arrived with the Saxons in 1939.  He organized and founded the Lutheran Church in America- becoming known as "the American Luther".

 

It was a very cool damp day, we dashed into the visitor center/museum a couple of times to warm up.  However, everything was so interesting- from the cabins and artifacts to the crafters and artisans that we quickly forgot our discomfort.  And we were able to ride in a surrey with a fringe on the top through the corn fields!  Amazingly it was a comfortable ride despite the bumpy field under us.

Farmers from the surrounding areas loaned their draft horses for the day to pull the surrey as well as an old farm wagon.  Apple butter was being cooked in a large kettle, we purchased a quart of that as well as Missouri maple syrup before heading home.