Tales from the Archive
Tales from the Archives is a presentation from the Archives at St. Paul's
Contributions of items of significance to the Church History or contributions of stories are welcome and encouraged. Please submit by the 23rd of the month for publication the first Sunday of the following month. It is the goal of the Archive to preserve the church history and make selected portions of it known to the congregation from time to time.
July 2024
Happenings in the Archive
Happy Pentecost Season
Or –Sauerkraut, the Dish That’s All It’s Crocked Up to Be
It’s sauerkraut-making time on Maryland’s farms. Left Miss Elsie Wessel, whose home is near Fulton, sets to work shredding cabbage.
Archive July 2024
As, I write this article, we are in Pentecost, mid-summer, about to celebrate the 4th of July and St Paul’s will publish a cookbook for the first time in a long time. So, I thought this would be a good time to present an article donated by Charles and Judy Iager at the last Senior Fellowship meeting as maybe you are wishing for cooler weather to get here and fall.
“Cutting Up with Cabbage” by Ralph Reppert
After the bulk of the farm canning is finished, and before the Christmas housecleaning begins it’s time to make sauerkraut.
It’s a pleasant chore, with a traditional place in the farm calendar, at the home of Miss Elsie Wessel and her brother Elmer near Fulton. (Both were long time members of St. Paul’s and lived nearby the church and the current Youth room in the basement was known as the Wessel room.) The harvest of cabbage brings the last of the garden sass. The job of washing, shredding a packing it away marks the changeover from autumn to winter.
Sauerkraut making is a neighborly business for the simple procedures it entails lend themselves to conversation. The neighbors come over with their children. The children are unbundled and given their instructions for the day — leave the cat along, stay out of the china closet, and try to be quiet.
In the kitchen the women set to work. They trim discolored leaves from the cabbage and wash the heads in cold water. Too much washing is worse than too little, for some of the bacteria which will start the fermentation of the vegetable must remain on the leaves.
The heads are quartered. Into a dishpan then, the quarters are shredded until nothing remains but the core. There’s a decision at this point for the children to make. They may have the raw cores to eat with salt right away. Or, if they prefer, the cores may be put in with the shredded cabbage allowed to pickle and the be eaten some three weeks hence.
When about five pounds of cabbage has been shredded, a scant 1/4 cup of salt is added, and mixed well into it. It is then transferred from the dishpan to the vessel in which it is to ferment and tamped down firmly with a milk bottle or wooden plunger.
Personal tastes vary as to the type of vessel to be used.. Many people prefer a hardwood tub or keg, enjoying the slight taste the wood imparts to the sauerkraut. Others like to use wooden vessels, but guard against the flavoring action by coating the inside of them with paraffin. Many cooks, including Miss Wessel, prefer a stone crock.
A metal receptacle of any kind is out of the question; it would spoil the sauerkraut.
Miss Wessel’s neighbors pack shredded and salted cabbage into the crock, a few pounds at a time, until the crock is filled. They spread a few cabbage leavers over the top, cover them with a layer of cloth, place an inverted plate or a wooden disc on top, and weight it down with a rock.
Miss Wessel modifies the procedure with a practice her father, George Herman Wessel, learned as a boy on a farm near Hanover, Germany. She lines the stone crock with a muslin bag, the packs in the shredded cabbage. When the bag is full she closes it at the top with a twist, and then weights it down with a wooden lid and a rock. It gives her a whiter, crisper sauerkraut, she says.
The salt on the shredded cabbage begins to draw water from it immediately. The cabbage is immersed in its own juice as it is tamped into the crock. It is kept, as closely as possible, at temperature of sixty-eight degrees for ten to twenty days, while it ferments. Scum forms rapidly and floats on the brine. It must be drawn off daily.
Eventually there is little or no scum to draw off, and that is a sign that the sauerkraut is nearly done. The family begins to taste the sauerkraut every day. When the taste is acid enough to please everyone the sauerkraut is taken from the crock, cooked and canned.
Miss Wessel cold packs her sauerkraut into quart glass jars, cooks it for about half an hour, then seals and store it. It may also bee cooked in the conventional manner, or in a pressure cooker. Any of the processes will stop the fermentation.
The sauerkraut should be ready to recook with the first mess of spareribs from the late fall butchering.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kerry Griffin
Archivist
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Mrs. & Mr. Charles Elsworth Iager, Jr.
The News Leader, Laurel, MD July 30, 1964
Archive June 2024
As I write this Trinity Sunday is upon us and Senior Fellowship has wrapped up the season with it famous “Red, White & Blue” Luncheon. Charles and Judy Iager were in attendance and shared a special news-clipping with the Archive and since it is a milestone in their lives I thought I would share it with you.
As you may have noticed on Sunday, May 19th the flowers on the altar were in celebration of Judy’s birthday. Turns out that it was also a milestone 80 years and on Sunday, July 7th the altar flowers will celebrate Charles and Judy Iager’s 60th anniversary July 5, 1964. The were married here at St. Paul’s by Rev. Alvin F. Burns.
Quoting THE NEWS LEADER, Laurel, Maryland, July 30, 1964.
Miss Judith Elizabeth Greene, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Henry Edward Greene of Haviland Mill Road, Howard County, and Mr. Charles Ellsworth Iager, Jr., son of Mrs. C. Ellsworth Iager of Maple Lawn Farms, Fulton, were united in marriage on Sunday, July 5, 1964. The ceremony was held at 3 p.m. in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Fulton, with Pastor Alvin F. Burns officiating.
Given in marriage by her father, the bride wore an ivory stain empire gown with a train of Chantilly lace. Here illusion fingertip veil was trimmed in a leucon lace matching the border of here train. The headpiece of tiny ivory satin rosebuds was studded with seed pearls. The bridal bouquet was a crescent-shaped cascade of dendrobium white orchids with a center corsage of white cymbidium orchids.
Bride-maids were Mrs. Leonard Boswell, College Park; Miss Barbara Jackson, Windsor Farm, Glenelg; and Miss Carolyn Thompson, Clarksville. All the attendants wore identical sheath gowns of aqua mist nylon chiffon with three-tiered overskirts and matching headbands. The carried sprays of birds-of-paradise flowers.
The bridesmaid were classmates from University of Maryland where the bridal couple are students. The bridegroom is a senior in the College of Agriculture, majoring in Dairy production, and the bride is a junior in the College of Education, majoring in the secretarial course. Martha Susan Iager, sister of the bridegroom, was flower girl , dressed in a pale yellow nylon full-length gown with a bouffant skirt and carry a basket of birds-of-paradise flowers with a matching headband, Four-year-old Billy Egloff, cousin of the bride, was ringbearer for this double-ring ceremony. He wore a summer tuxedo to match the ushers.
Best man for his brother was Eugene William Iager, also of Fulton, and ushering were Messrs. Gregory Greene, brother of bride, of Howard County; Carl Mauck of Fulton; Frank Downey of Williamsport; Douglas Stauffer, cousin of the groom, of Frederick; and David Sealing of Fulton. All wore red plaid ties and cummerbunds and white summer tuxedos. Soloists were Miss Joyce White of Sliver Spring, and Mr. Marlin Hoff off of New Windsor. A reception followed in the Parish Hall preceded by a receiving line on the lawn before the gray
stone church.
The newly-weds departed on a wedding rip in the Pocono Mountains, Pa. They will reside in Arrowhead Estate, Howard County. For the event, the bride’s mother chose a light sandalwood chiffon and lace gown complemented by matching accessors with a yellow cymbidium orchid corsage. Mrs. Iager, the groom’s mother, wore a beige lace dress with beige accessories and cream cymbidium orchid headband.
Respectfully submitted,
Kerry Griffin
Archivist
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75th Anniversary Bulletin Cover
Aaron Anderson was Pastor and Pastor Propst had just retired.
SPLC Leadership 1945
Left Panel Plaque that hangs in the Sanctuary in memory of Rev. L.P. Propst
Right Panel Our Leadership
Some of the Items Donated by David Wolfel
Saint Paul's Lutheran Church Archive Display near Chapel
Propst Family on the way to church
Donated by Florence Wolfel - See the History Wall outside the parish hall.
Featured Items
Shown Left is a baby picture of A. Walter Brady as a baby. It is kind of unique as it is printed on a glass slide and over seventy years old. It is similar to photos you can get from a company call “Fractureme” which prints photos on glass today. Which goes to show you all things old are new again.
The slide is about 3x5 and is similar looking to an old mirror. Time has not been kind, but it is an interesting addition to the Archive.
Thank you Charles and Judy.
Pastor Joseph Lettrich
Congratulations to Pastor Joe on his Anniversary of 56 years of Ordination, Thursday, June 8, 2023. We are so blessed to have him here with us. Photo—Carol Lettrich. Thanks for sharing!
Elise Wessel Original Painting
Painting of the original wooden church that stood on the property in the 1870's. Now a Real Estate Office in Savage, MD.
J. Santini Painting from Wessel Room or Youth Room.
Painting of the "stone" church from earlier in our history.
John Santini was a member and a builder of homes in the area. Believe to be during the late 50's and 60's.
Chalking the Door
January 2020
1870 Bible now add to the Archive Collection
Donated by Charles and Judy Iager in September 2019
1870 Bible
Front Cover
St. Paul's "Last Supper"
St. Paul’s version of the “Last Supper’’. Our version executes some of the traditional elements. However, notice in this version the table is semi-round in the Jewish tradition and there is nothing on the table as in Leonardo’s and there is a faint image of an altar as well as a suggestion of foot washing in the lower left corner. It is fittingly located beneath our Trinity Stained Glass window.
C. Ellsworth Iager (Charles Iager’s father) bought the picture around 1980 and it is an original depicture of the “Last Supper” done by an artist. C. Ellsworth and Mary Elizabeth Iager (married 49 years) donated it to the church and took a lot of pride in giving it and having it hung up. They were very humble about it and very proud of finding it because they loved it.
C. Ellsworth was President of the Church Council several times. Building the parsonage and the 100th Anniversary took place while he was President. Ellsworth sang in the choir for many years.
A Brief History and Inventory of the Banners at St. Paul's Lutheran Church
The purpose of this photo Gallery is to document the variety of banners that enhance our worship here at St. Paul's through countless hours, talent and treasure of all those who have contributed to make them possible.
The banners contained here in take us through the Church year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Pentecost and the sacraments of marriage and baptism as well as the rite of confirmation.
Although Church banners are not new to the St. Paul's they do more than just decorate, many are based upon passage's from the Bible and God's creation and remind us of His word and the beauty of creation as well as marking important milestone in St. Paul's congregation's life.
Most of St. Paul's banners are hand sewn and one their creators, Sandy August is particularly fond of adding a ribbon. Make note of the special fabric used in some of them, such as the Advent banners. The photos may not do them justice but they have an unusual impression in them similar to a watermark on paper.
Please browse by clicking the forward arrow ">" or the backward "<" arrow on the image below. There are at present about 60 in the collection.
Index
The Stained Glass of St. Paul's
I happened upon a 2009 Booklet about the Stained Glass of St. Paul's and the meaning of each of the various windows at St. Paul's written I believe by Prue Ronneberg and I was inspired to re-do the booklet in a larger format and update it to present 2017. Below is the resulting story.
1952 Jr. Choir
1 John Orndorff
2 Joy Orndorff
3 Joyce Tyler
4 Linda Mauck
5 Charles David Sealing
6 Rosalie Mauck
7 Ann Buch
8 Charlie Iager
9 Brenda Wehland Grooms
10 Gertrude Bassler Sewell
11 Loretta Mauck Bassler
12 Carl Mauck
13 Marie Hall
14 Joan Grauel Sammons
15 Carolyn Wehland Frost
16 Helen Hein
17 Donald Wessel
18 Roger House
