St Jacob (John) Lutheran Church (WELS) - Norwalk, WI, USA
Posted by: 
mrjcanger
N 43° 53.095 W 090° 33.460
15T E 696192 N 4861990
An amazing building constructed in 1900 that became a center point of US Government investigation during WWI.
Waymark Code: WMT14X
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 09/07/2016
Views: 0
This church is identified on satellite and searches as St Jacob. The signs say St John.
When WWI came to America, the government expected full cooperation for the war effort and all things non German. This caused a serious problem the Wisconsin Synod Lutheran church as they were of German background. The church itself refused to preach with support for the war effort in their churches, instead they wanted to keep the Bible message pure and have nothing to do with the war and government. This caught the ire of both patriotic Americans and the government. One such target was Rev Otto Engel, who was the pastor at St Jacob. Rev Engel formed the American Liberty League which supported peace in the wake of President Woodrow Wilson's war speech. Ultimately, based on his activities and writings, Rev Engel was targeted by the Justice Department. He soon became the most detailed and intrusive target of the entire Wisconsin Synod. The investigation against Engel was considered so important that Justice Director A. Bruce Bielaski was constantly briefed on the status. The Department of Justice went after Rev Engel so fiercely that they interrogated children, raided his house three times after he left Norwalk, and tried many times to trap the Rev Engel into being guilty of the Espionage Act. Even after the war, the Justice Department tried to find a shred of evidence even compiling unreliable witnesses. In the end Rev Engel was not indicted and ended up going to Poland to start a new church for war torn Germans there.
The building itself is still in amazing condition. It has the year AD 1900 embossed at its base and is very well maintained. Original German inscription for the church's name is still above the main entrance.
The website below has the history from WWI and the Rev Engel
Active Church: Yes
School on property: No
Date Built: 01/01/1900
Service Times: 10:00am Sunday
Website: [Web Link]
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