8

Martha and William Kirmse became members of the St. Paul Lutheran Church which was located about two miles north of their homestead as shown on the following map.

Church History

St. Paul Lutheran Church[1] was founded on 5 March 1905 under the leadership of Pastor Henry Asmus Marxen of Enid, Oklahoma. And the church was dedicated on 11 March 1906[2].

St. Paul Lutheran Church was built in the style of the German Russian traditions[3].

Church Members

The St. Paul Lutheran Church membership as well as the membership of the nearby Baptist and Seventh Day Adventist churches were mostly settlers who had emigrated from the Volga region of Russia. Martha and William Kirmse had homesteaded in a colony of Volga German-Russians that settled in Ellis County, Oklahoma. The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture notes that “Between 1900 and 1902 Evangelical Volga Germans moved from Marion, Kansas, to Shattuck, in Ellis County. This colony proved to be the state’s most cohesive and long-lasting.” [4]

Cemetery

The St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery is one of distinction, it is the only Ellis County cemetery with several metal cross markers used instead of traditional headstones[3]. These metal cross markers are a very common sight in many Kansas cemeteries. Especially those of the Volga German-Russian emigrant settlements.

Notes

1. St. Paul Lutheran Church rural Shattuck, Oklahoma, 2013. http://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/immigration/united_states/oklahoma/shattuck/shattuck_st_paul_lutheran.cfm
2. Christ Lutheran Church Shattuck, Oklahoma, 2014. http://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/immigration/united_states/oklahoma/shattuck/shattuck_christ_lutheran.cfm
3. The Oklahoma Cemeteries Website – St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery (Also known as Christ Lutheran or Lutheran)  http://www.okcemeteries.net/ellis/lutheran/lutheran.htm
4. Everett, Dianna. GERMANS FROM RUSSIA. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society. Downladed October 26, 2017 from: http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=GE008.