bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Classic Ichabod - SMP Program Star - Crimes Erased...":
Talk about crimes being erased, here's a couple points to ponder:
1) Zion on the Mississippi doesn't mention whether any of the women in Germany or at St. Louis whom Stephan molested were minors (by today's standards), but I'd bet that was the case. Back then women often married as early as 15 years of age, and the law didn't treat offenses against 15 through 17 year olds as more serious crimes, I believe. Would Stephan have been convicted of statutory rape in our day, or child molestation?
2) In what I've read on LCMS history, I've never heard that the women recanted their testimonies against Stephan, and the relatives of these women and CPH all say Stephan was guilty without a doubt, to my knowledge. They even give plenty of evidence that he gave young women syphilis. Yet, Wikipedia's article on Stephan says that they all recanted, and yet his ministerial position was not restored. Even if, in the unlikely event, they recanted, Stephan's position ought not have been restored since St. Paul said that Christians ought not even give the appearance of wrongdoing, and yet Stephan ignored many admonitions from many people (and authorities) not to be alone with young women, especially on long walks out into the countryside, which behavior would make any wife jealous and suspicious anyway. Just because Stephan was a legal Houdini doesn't mean he deserved to keep his clerical calling:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Stephan
Though the women who initially accused Stephan of sexual misconduct later recanted, he was never restored to his position. Following his removal from the colony, he served another congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church, at Horse Prairie near Red Bud, Illinois.
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GJ - The Stephanites told so many lies about their bishops scandals that the layers are difficult to peel away.
Stephan's main mistress was a single girl, the daughter of members. She came over on the ship with Stephan. The same woman came to live with Stephan after he was exiled to Illinois. She also lived in the same room with him when he went to spas in Germany.
Mrs. Stephan was left at home with all the children (except one), some of them dying from the congenital syphilis that the wandering husband gave to his wife.
The story of the confession after the moving sermon, which was supposedly conveyed to a shocked Walther, was a big fat lie. As the Missourians admitted (Zion on the Mississippi), the adultery was already known so the seal of the confessional was not broken. In fact, the St. Louis residents were all too familiar with the many young women hanging around Stephan's temporary residence (including his mistress). They left for Perryville to escape the condemning looks and the smell of rope dangling from a maple tree.
The riot against Stephan was staged by Walther, and it included only the stooges who went along with the scheme.
The various felonies of Walther have been covered up by the Concordia Historical Institute and the careful editing of Wikipedia, but the facts are available to anyone with mild curiosity.
