Martin Stephan, Founder of the Missouri Synod, Took His Son and Mistress aboard the Ship Olbers. But He Left His Sick Wife and Children in Dresden. "We Didn't Know He Was an Adulterer!" Walther's Brother and the Two Lawyers on Board the Same Ship

Walther conceded that Stephan was a bit of a Pietist,
and blamed Stephan's marital problems on Stephan's long-suffering wife.
Jim Bob Walther is worshiped by Missourians today.

Bremen, Germany to New Orleans
21 January 1839

DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI - PORT OF NEW ORLEANS

I, H. W. Exter master of the Ship Olbers do solemnly sincerely & truly swear that the within list signed by me & now delivered to the Collector of this district contains the names of all the Passengers taken on board of the Said Ship at the Port of Bremen or at any time since and that all matters therein set forth are according to the best of my Knowledge & Belief just & true & I do further swear that Two of the Said Passengers died on the voyage.

Sworn before me this 21st Jany 1839 ~~ [signed] J. W. Exter-Master

List of Passengers on board of the bremer Ship Olbers H. W. Exter My bound from Bremen to New Orleans

Columns represent: Passenger number, Name, Relationship to the head of the family, Last dwelling place, Occupation, Age, Died on the voyage.

Cabin

  1  Martin Stephan                          Dresden         Preacher         61
  2  Martin Stephan                his son   Dresden                          16
  3  Theodore Julius Brohm                   Dresden         Candidate        30
  4  H. S. Fischer                           Dresden         Merchant         40
  5  Julie Fischer                 his wife  Dresden                          32
  6* Louise Gunther                          Dresden                          32

  7  Gustav Jaeckel                          Dresden         Cashier          32
  8  Francis Adolph Marbach                  Dresden         Attornay (sic)   40
  9  Louise Marbach                his wife  Dresden                          34
 10  Gustav Marbach                his child Dresden                          11
 11  Clara Marbach                 his child Dresden                           6
 12  Victor Marbach                his child Dresden                           5
 13* Martin Marbach                his child Dresden                           2
 14  Eduard Vehse                            Dresden         Recorder         35
 15* Mathilde Vehse                his child Dresden                           9
 16  Hermann Walther                         Dresden         Preacher         29
 17  M. Emil Julius Moritz Wege              Dresden         Candidate        38
 18  Sophie Schneiderin                      Dresden                          40
 19* Fred Loeschner                          *Konigsbruck    Painter          44







CFW Walther kidnapped his niece and nephew, but let his future mother-in-law go to jail for the crime. She was released later and helped in organizing the riot that deposed Bishop Stephan. The Stephanite sex cult brought other minor children over, and bragged about it. Theydid their best to break up marriages where one partner did not want to go to America.

The long trip on the ship with Stephan, his two lawyers, the older Walther, and the Stephan mistress makes it difficult to imagine that "no one knew" until the confession was blurted out after a choice law sermon by a CFW pal. Yes, even the Walther circle agreed that was not the case. The syphilis break-out among the young girls proved to be the precipitating opportunity to upend Bishop Stephan, steal 120 acres from him, take away a large bounty of gold, and grab  his large library of theology books.

The Walther circle manufactured a story
about suddenly realizing Stephan was an adulterer.
Walther organized a mob instead of speaking to his bishop.
See Walther's Pastoral Theology for advice on such matters.

The Stephanites were not searching for religious freedom, but following an extremely abusive guru, a 

Pietist who put his stamp on the Missouri Synod and the future Synodical Conference.

Stephan's rationalistic Pietism taught Walther the Halle dogma of Easter absolution, quoted below. According to their imagination, the entire unbelieving world was absolved from all sin the moment Christ rose from the dead.

From an abusive, poorly educated bishop and his adoring disciples came an abusive synod and synodical conference.

Universal absolution was Stephan's dogma, which Walther adopted
and F. Pieper canonized.
Universal absolution is liberal, mainline theology,
not Biblical, Lutheran, Reformation theology.

Restrain These Immoderate Rains

As the Chief Chaplain of the Third Army throughout the five campaigns on the Staff of General Patton, I should have some knowledge of the event because at the direction of General Patton I composed the now world famous Prayer, and wrote Training Letter No. 5, which constitutes an integral, but untold part, of the prayer story. These Incidents, narrated in sequence, should serve to enhance the memory of the man himself, and cause him to be enshrined by generations to come as one of the greatest of our soldiers. He had all the traits of military leadership, fortified by genuine trust in God, intense love of country, and high faith In the American soldier.

Msgr. James H. O'Neill

The Story of the Patton Rain Prayer

Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.

***

GJ - We had five inches of rain after the big rain, and now the rains have returned.  Sassy and I dropped off the Ichaboat (Town Car) for a minor repair, and walked home a few blocks, watching the gathering clouds.

Although parts of Arkansas will flood, no one here is experiencing the massive flooding and the new rains in Texas. 

We have been in many floods, starting with the

1. Mississippi Flood of 1965, 
2. Midland Michigan in 1986, 
3. St. Louis in 1993, and 
4. New Ulm, Minnesota, 1997.

I doubt whether those floods are close to the horrors of Texas, as flash floods crashed into homes and swept them away, the residences as dangerous to occupy as the vehicles on the road.

Poison Ivy Graphic. Save and Study This.

Community Pool Attracts Grackles - Starlings Working the Grass. Roses Blooming and Sharing

 When I was growing up, this was simply The Pool,

enormous in size, with a building donated by the Deere family.

Moline classmates still talk about The Pool, where we could walk or bike and spend the day. We had a Y downtown, but this was the favorite place.

The Pool has been re-established in the backyard, and grackles are happy. I knew they would be suspicious of a large, blue plastic circle of water. Yesterday, the grackles were perched on and around the pool, perhaps sizing it up for a disposable diaper drop. Soon all the birds will frolic in the shallow, clean water.

Part of the fun is watching a bird chase its kin out of a bath, so it lands in another or decides to eat for a time. They are constantly moving, communicating, feeding, drinking, and bathing.

Mourning doves have been enjoying the Jackson EZ Bird Swing, but yesterday one sat there and looked into the bedroom at me, perhaps wondering why I was trapped in such a large cage. Birds are used to our movement, so they hardly notice us watching them close up.

To prove they were not lazy freeloaders, like the squirrels, the starlings patrolled the lawn, looking for bugs and worms as they slowly walked through the grass.

I hauled the suet out of the fridge - to reward the bug-eaters - and put about six pounds into two giant metal baskets made to hold the stuff. Rain or shine, the starlings and grackles hang on the baskets and eat suet. Woodpeckers also enjoy the baskets.

Pests like aphids attract pest-eaters, like ladybugs.

Ants, Aphids, and Natural Controls
First I saw ants all over the white roses. Ants are proof the aphids are snacking on the buds and blooms, excreting sweetness for the savvy ants. Some white blooms were ruined and cut off. Now I see no more ants, so the aphid eaters have arrived.

Last year I had two white KnockOut roses (still do) and saw them hit hard with aphids, but that only happened for the first bloom.

I wanted to order preying mantis egg cases, but I was too late. None are available, period. Instead, I will plant garlic near the white John Paul II roses.

The first bloom of the KnockOut roses is over, so I used pruning shears and large shears to hack away at all eight KnockOut bushes (four red, two white, two pink). Given the steady rain, the roses will respond to the pruning by having another growth spurt and blooming rapidly. I leave the trimmings for mulch. The exception is in the next paragraph.

One rose went all black spot, a bad fungus that resides in the soil. Those canes were lopped off and put in the trash. No black spotted leaf will get better, so each one has to go, along with the cane. If the rose continues to misbehave, it will be replaced.