The Zion Lutheran Church – Alva, Oklahoma Territory records are examined in this chapter to determine who were the first Zion Lutheran Church – Alva, Oklahoma members from Perry County, Missouri.

Membership Records

Zion Lutheran Church – Alva, Oklahoma Territory was founded in 1899 which was six years after the Cherokee Strip Run in 1893.  Page 3 of the Zion Lutheran Church – Alva, Oklahoma church record lists the first members from Perry County, Missouri.

As can be seen above, the Zion Lutheran Church – Alva, Oklahoma membership records show that Theodore Rauh and his wife, Mirma (Meyer) Rauh joined the church on 27 Oct 1901. As such, Theodore and his wife, Merma were the first members of Zion Lutheran Church –  Alva from Perry County, Missouri.

Several other Perry County citizens were in Alva, Oklahoma Territory in 1901 but did not immediately join the Zion Lutheran Church at Alva:

Wilhelm “William” Kirmse came to Alva in 1901 to file a land claim but found none were available so he returned home in Perry County, Missouri. He came again to Alva in 1902 to do carpentry work and establish a home.  But he became sick and returned to Perry County in 1903 to recover.  After Wilhelm married Martha Cordes in 1904, he and Martha moved to Goodwin, Oklahoma Territory.  At the end of 1910, Wilhelm and Martha moved their family to Alva, Oklahoma and joined Zion Lutheran Church – Alva, Oklahoma[1].

Martin Rauh came to Alva in November 1901 to find work and search for land that the Johann Rauh families could purchase[2]. But he did not join the Zion Lutheran Church until after the Rauh families had moved to Alva from Perry County, Missouri:

• Martin Rauh and his wife, Emma Rauh (Hacker),  joined on 13 Jul 1902.
• Johann Rauh, Jr and his wife, Maria (Lange), and family joined on 13 Jul 1902.
• Emmanuel and Pauline Rauh also joined on 13 Jul 1903.

Communicant Records

The communicant records of Zion Lutheran Church – Alva, Oklahoma show the following people from Perry County took communion before 1906:

According to the communicant records, Wilhelm Kirmse took communion at Zion Lutheran during 1903 before he returned to Perry County, Missouri.

Theodore Henry Rauh and his wife, Minnie C (Meyer) Rauh took communion about the time that they became members and they last took communion at Zion Lutheran Church, Alva, Oklahoma at the beginning of 1904.

The other Rauh members first took communion at Zion Lutheran shortly after they joined Zion Lutheran.

First Members from Perry County – Theodore Rauh Family

While Theodore Rauh and Minnie (Meyer) Rauh were the first members from Perry County, they moved away about 4 years after their arrival.  A short biography follows.

When Theodore Henry Rauh was born on 6 Apr 1881, in Perryville, Missouri, his father, Adam Rauh, was 35 and his mother, Margaret Lang, was 31. He married Minnie C Meyer, born 2 Nov 1880 in Illinois to Thomas and Sarah (Hossman) Meyer, on 28 July 1901 in Perry County, Missouri. After their marriage, they moved to Alva, Oklahoma and joined Zion Lutheran Church in Alva, Oklahoma on 27 Oct 1901.

They had six children in 11 years. .

1. Olinda Hilda Emma Rauh (BIRTH 15 JUN 1903 • Alva, Woods, Oklahoma, DEATH 24 JUL 1984 • Alvin, Brazoria, Texas) Married Daniel H Triplett
2. Hugo E Rauh (BIRTH 29 MAY 1905 • St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, DEATH 20 OCT 1998 • Magnolia, Montgomery, Texas)
3. Theodore Frederick Rauh, Jr. (BIRTH 27 AUG 1907 • 6323 Lenol, St Louis, Missouri, DEATH 26 DEC 1989 • Waller, Waller, Texas)
4. Sarah Ida Emma Rauh (BIRTH 16 JAN 1910 • Wellston, St Louis, Missouri, DEATH 13 SEP 2010 • Katy, Harris, Texas) Married  James D. Harman (BIRTH 1909 • Texas, USA, DEATH 1984)
5. Dorothy Ruth Rauh (BIRTH 12 MAR 1912 • Saint Louis, St. Louis City, Missouri, DEATH 27 MAR 1971 • Houston, Harris, Texas,) Married  Lonnie Thomas Hayes (BIRTH 1895 • Louisiana, DEATH Unknown)
6. Laura Margaret Rauh (BIRTH 28 FEB 1915 • Texas, DEATH 6 NOV 2014 • Houston, Harris, Texas) Married Ernest August Genz (BIRTH 10 JUL 1910 • Texas, DEATH 31 JUL 1984 • Harris County, Texas)

Minnie died on 29 Nov 1959 in Houston, Texas, at the age of 79, and was buried in Houston, Texas. Theodore died on 24 Apr 1978, in Grapeland, Texas, at the age of 97, and was buried in Houston, Texas.

According to the US Census records:

• 1910 US Census – living in Wellston, St Louis, Missouri – Real Estate Agent – mortgaged house
• 1920 US Census – living in Justice Precinct 2, Harris, Texas – Farmer, Dairy Farm
• 1930 US Census – living in Precinct 8, Harris, Texas – Farmer, Farm
• 1940 US Census – living in Campbell Road, Harris, Texas – Farmer Truck – Lived in the same house in 1935.

Given the birth dates and birth locations of Theodore Rauh’s children, the US Census record, and the Zion Lutheran Church records, the Theodore Rauh family moved from Alva after the spring of 1904 to St Louis, Missouri where he was a real estate agent. After 1912 and before 1915 the family moved to Houston, Texas where Theodore Rauh became a farmer.

Other Zion Church Members of Perry County Heritage

Biographies of other early Zion Lutheran Church – Alva members with Perry County, Missouri heritage are included in Chapters: Membership – First Five Years – 1904.

Notes

1. For a description of how the William Kirmse and Henry Lohmann families migrated to Alva from Perry County, see Dale Kirmse, Out-Migration From Perry County To Oklahoma, 2018.
2. For a description of how the John Rauh, Jr family planned and executed their move from Perry County, Missouri to Alva, Oklahoma, see Charles Rauh, Rauh:  Our Great Heritage, 2007.