Buildings and Properties, 1841-1937

The St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church Building and Property Records Collection consists of documents that capture the early history and transactions that helped shape the development of the church’s buildings and properties. It includes the legal history of properties eventually acquired by the church and early plans to form a religious society, the German Evangelical Lutheran Church, later known as St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church. Also included is the bill of materials for the construction of the church. Various titles, mortgages, bonds, and financial transactions, including auctions, are in this collection. It also includes an 1853 bill of sale for an enslaved man named Elick. The program detailing the dedication ceremony of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, March 28, 1872, is in this collection, along with several key dates in the property history leading up to the opening of the church.