Johann Friederich Doescher called to be the missionary to Black [Colored] Missions
Johann Friederich Doescher photo from Our Iowa Heritage
October 1877, Johann Friederich Doescher was called to be the missionary to Black [Colored] Missions, based in Little Rock and traveling the southern tier: Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. In his first year Doescher started a Sunday School in ‘Sailor’s Home’. After 2 years, he accepted a call to St. John Lutheran Church, New Orleans, with permission to continue work with the Sailors Home Mission. He was dismissed in January of 1882 because of mental illness (Some have suggested that Doescher had a falling out with then Synod president C.F.W. Walther, and Walther fabricated the charge of mental illness to have him removed), and then joined the Ohio Synod. Later, he served parishes of the Ohio Synod in Texas, Washington, and Meno, South Dakota. He died in November 1916 at the age of 78.
J. Friederich Doescher was born on July 15, 1840 in Loeste, Hannover, Germany and lived in Logansport, Indiana for some time. In 1859 he graduated from the Fort Wayne seminary and was ordained that same year in Iowa City, Iowa by the Rev. August Selle. On May 15, 1860, he married Adelheid Meyer and together they had five sons and six daughters.
Read more on Pontchartrain.net, which was the source for some of the information in this post.
