Churches of Washington County

Friedens Church of Washington, UCC

History of Church

The church was organized in 1888, but a building was not completed until 1890 with Rev David Buchmueller being the first pastor. The church was organized as Friedens Evangelical Church. It later became Friedens Evangelical and Reformed Church and then Friedens United Church of Christ and finally in 1996 Friedens Church of Washington, UCC.

Names of the charter members as closely as can be determined were: This list was obtained from a list of the people who gave money in 1890 for the first parsonage.


  • John Ahlfaenger
  • Friedrich Boenker, Feb. 13, 1869 at Ganabrueck, Awt, Wittlage, Germany
  • Wilhelm Boenker, born Dec. 10, 1874 in Germany
  • Heinrich Wilhelm Boese born Dec 14, 1843. Married to Karoline Lubbe born Jun. 10, 1848.
  • Christoph Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Bohne born Jan. 6, 1855 at Oppendorf #73, Germany. Married to Caroline Wiese born Oct. 18, 1857
  • Friedrich Gottlieb Borgstadte born Jan. 25, 1842 at Vehlage #57, Germany, Married to Henriette Marie Caroline Grube born Oct 10, 1846 at Oppendorf #2, Germany
  • Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Bosse, Sr. Birth : 5 Apr 1835 Oppendorf #57, Germany Death : 20 Dec 1923 Washington, TX, Married to Charlotte Wilhelmine Caroline Stienkamp, Birth : 17 May 1843 Oppenwehde #68, Westfalen, Germany, Death : 21 Feb 1927
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bosse, Birth : 11 Jul 1866 New Wehdem Austin Co, Texas, Death : 25 Mar 1893, Married to Henriette Wilhelmina Tiemann, Birth : 26 Dec 1869 Oppendorf #27, Germany
  • Heinrich Christoph Bosse, Birth : 16 Oct 1867 New Wehdem, Austin, County, Texas, Death : 29 May 1897 Washington, Texas, Married to Emilie Mohr, Birth : 21 Jan 1870 Hof, Bavaria, Germany Death : 4 Mar 1964 Wash., TX
  • Karl Druckhammer, Birth : 31 Dec 1865, Death : Indian Gap, TX, Married to Charlotte Wilhelmine Sophie Borgstatte, Birth : 23 Jul 1868 Oppendorf, Germany
  • Heinrich Els, Birth : 4 Sep 1850 Cumlosen, West Priegnitz, Potsdam, Germany, Death : 19 Nov 1910 Wash., TX, Married to Elisabeth Sarah Heineke, Birth : 1856 San Felipe, TX, Death : 1898 Wash., Tx
  • H. Emshoff
  • Herman Wilhelm Etjen, Married to Anna Wettner
  • Julius W. Gerke, Married to Marie Emshof
  • F. Grote
  • Heinrich Haverkamp, Married to Dorothea Johannismeier, Birth : Germany
  • Friedrich Heineke, Birth : Wendorf, West Priegnitz, Potsdam, Germany, Married to Elisabeth Melatz, Birth : Wendorf, West Priegnitz, Potsdam, Germany
  • August Heineke, Birth : San Felipe, TX, Married to Maria Katharina Hoffmann, Birth : 13 Aug 1859 Berlin, Texas
  • Karl Hoeffelmeyer, Born February 11, 1877, Married to Louise Schmidtmann
  • Wilhelm Jerichow, Married to Dorothea Grote
  • Carl Jahn, Born October 26, 1852, Married to Elise Ahlers, Died in Taylor, TX
  • Johann Joachin Friedrich Ketelhohn, Born August 20, 1858, Died May 27, 1923 in Wash., TX, Married to Anna Druckhammer, remained in Wash., TX
  • Christian Heinrich Kolkhorst, Born April 16, 1858 in Rahden, Germany. Died December 31, 1938 in Wash., TX, Married to Henriette Wilhelmine Louise Lehde
  • Wilhelm Krueger, Born July 03, 1836 in Breese, Germany Died August 03, 1908 in Wash., TX, Married to Anna Maria Friedricke Kerner, Born in Oberlenningen, Germany
  • Wilhelm Heinrich Christoph Lehde. Born September 09, 1870 in Oppendorf, Germany, Died September 20, 1944 in Wash., TX, Married to Charlotte Emma Fahrenkamp
  • Johann Heinrich Mohr, Born September 11, 1847 in Ost-Silbetz bei Hof, Bavaria, Germany, Died December 07, 1920 in Wash., TX, Married to Anna Catharine Wunderlich, Born in Asch, Bayern, Germany
  • Franz Platte, Married to Emma Locke
  • Otto Emanual Riestow, Born December 18, 1856 in Schocken, Poznan, Germany, Married to Caroline Schulz
  • Wilhelm Johann Friedrich Roese, Born August 29, 1869 in Neu Meteln., Mecklenburg, Germany, Died May 13, 1943 in Wash., TX, Married to Minette Wilhelmine Bartling Wehmeyer, Born in Parochie, Lemforde, Kreis Diepholz, Germany
  • Friedrich Schmalriede, Married to Henriette Loesch
  • Heinrich Schroeder, Born February 13, 1843, Died December 04, 1906, Married to Dorothea Jahn, Born in Seehausen, Sachsens, Germany
  • Ernst Carl Friedrich Sydow, Birth : 10 Oct 1865 Resburg, Germany, Married to Ida Louise Marie Schultz, Birth : 17 Jun 1869 Berlin, Texas
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Wehmeyer, Born February 28, 1848 in Lemforde, Hanover, Germany, Died December 30, 1891, Married to Charlotte Wilhelmine Henriette Streibeck, Born in Wehdem 31, Germany
  • Heinrich Friedrich Wehmeyer, Born on September 30, 1868, Died June 14, 1943, Married to Wilhelmine Roese

First Building built and dedicated in 1889
Church Offically Organinized October 12 1890
The first part of the parsonage was built in 1890
Bought land from J. M. Brown for cemetery and pasture. November 1, 1890
Sunday school building built in summer of 1891
Addition built to church June 1895
Bell purchased --- Fall 1896
Church was Chartered --- January 8, 1899
Confirmation House was built --- 1906
New Church Built --- 1911
Parsonage added on to and a new confirmation house built --- 1916
Womens Guild or Fellowship founded --- May 30 1918
New Parsonage built --- 1925
A Delco light plant purchased for electricity to church and parsonage --- 1930
First Vacation Bible School held --- 1934
Church was renovated --- October 1951
New Parsonage built --- 1966
Washington School building and land purchased --- 1970
Church and Sunday School buildings burns to ground --- March 18, 1972
New Church built in 1972 to May 5, 1974 dedication

Pastors of the Church

D. Buchmueller --- October 1890 to January 1893
H. Tesch --- April 1893 to November 15 1895
J. C. Pfeil --- January 1 1896 to June 1897
Theo Schlunt --- September 19, 1897 to November 1902
C. Wolff --- December 1902 to August 1905
F. Lueckoff --- August 1905 to February 1, 1913
J. Werkenthin --- 1913 to September 1, 1914
F. Piepenbrok --- 1914 to August 20, 1917
C. Benkendoerfer --- November 1917 to February 1918
M. Weber --- March 1918 to November 21, 1921
F. W. Grotefend --- January 1922 to August 1924
F. W. Braun --- September 1924 to May 1928
A. A. Blome --- September 1928 to December 1931
E. H. Schwengel --- May 1932 to December 1937
Kurt. J. Schmiechen --- July 14, 1938 to November 1941
Paul Piepenbrok --- 1942 to July 1965
Alvin A. Blomme --- September 15, 1965 to September 1, 1968
D. L. R. Mcdougle --- Feburary 1, 1969 to January 1, 1975
Dale Morse --- January 1, 1976 to October 1, 1977
Albert Hennig --- Feburary 1978 to December 1990
Jesse Campbell --- December 1991 to present

The Following is a List of the Surnames of People that have been Baptized, Confirmed, Married or Buried by Friedens' Church from 1890 to Present.

Absher Ahlfeanger Ahlfenger Allen Amarson Anastasiades Anderson Antill Armatys Ashby Baarke Bacon Baehle Bailey Baker Barke Barker Bartling Bashaw Bassett Baumer Beasley Benavidez Benker Bernick Binford Bless Blezinger Boehm Boenker Boese Bohac Bohne Bond Boone Borgstadtte Borgstatte Borgstedte Borgstedtte Boring Borninghaus Bosse Botkin Boyett Bozant Brast Braun Bremer Brooks Brousard Brown Buck Buro Buschmann Bush Camp Chandler Childs Choate Christen Chrysty Conchola Conner Cooke Corley Cothamm Coy Craig Crow Crow Cunningham Curry Curtis Dahse Dallmeyer Davies Demuth Dickschat Diedrichkeit Dinklage Doyas Draham Dreyer Druckhammer Duch Dunn Eben Eckert Ehlert Eickenhorst Eilers Elkins Ellis Ellison Els Emshoff Erwin Etjen Evans Fabre Fahrenkamp Faw Feagin Feldmann Finke Fischer Fleischauer Floyd Foerste Foerster Fowler Francis Frank French Fritz Fuelberg Galland Garner Gehrke Geltemeyer Geoke Georg Gerke Gerstenburger Gillespie Goeke Goeking Goerke Goessler Goldberg Goldberg Graber Graberchick Graeber Grebe Greenway Gross Grote Grotefend Grube Gruben Guida Gutierrez Hackler Hadeler Haevischer Haferkamp Hall Hansen Hard Harde Hardwick Hardy Hargke Harrel Hartstack Hatch Haver Hayes Heard Heber Heil Heineke Hemann Hendrix Hennig Hensley Hervey Herzog Heuvel Hinds Hines Hinze Hirsch Hobbs Hoeffelmeier Hoffart Hohmeyer Holle Holt Holtkamp Horn Howard Howe Hoyer Humphreys Hurst Isbell Jahn James Jaster Jensen Jerichow Jesse Jolly Jones Kainer Kankel Kasiske kasting Keele Kelly Kelm Kerner Ketelhohn Kettler Kiel Kimball Kindt Klenke Kloppe Klug Klug Klump Knolle Koch Koester Kohltfaerber Kokemoor Kolb Kolkhorst Korth Kortlang Kosta Kramer Krause Krolczyk Krueger Kruse Kugadt Kuhlmann Kunstedt Lambert Landgraf Langford Langhoff Lanham Lauter Lawhon Lawrence Lawson Layton Lehde Lehrmann Leiber Lemon Leonhard Letsinger Lieb Loesch Logue Lohmann Lohmeyer Loomis Losack Lubbe Lueckhoff Luedke Lunsford Mahlmann Malek Manthei Maresh Martin Marzahn Marzenfeld Mason Maxson McCanlies McConnell McDermott McDougle McGrew McKeown cLeod Meekins Meinardus Metcalf Meyer Michalske Miley Miller Mitchell Moehlman Moehlmann Moeller Mohr Molitor Moran Morgan Muelhberger Mueller Mugge Naumann NeSmith Nestrick Neumann Neumann Newman Niemeier Nittler Noack Nolan Nowlin Oberhoff Oelschlagel Ognoskie Oreken Ottmanns Parker Parsons Partain Paschetag Pate Pawlowski Pennington Peterman Peters Peterson Petzolt Pfluhur Phillips Piepenbrok Pieper Platte Podlewski Quebe Quinn Rabbe Raethka Ramm Randermann Reddin Rehkow Renn Reue Richter Riech Riechers Rieger Riesto Ring Ripkaski Ripple Roese Rogge Ruetter Rust Sanford Saunders Schaefer Schafstall Schawe Schilling Schluens Schlundt Schlundt Schmalstieg Schmidt Schmiechem Schoenemann Scholze Schramm Schroeder Schuenemann Schulte Schultz Schulz Schulze Schwartz Schwarz Seidel Shay Shive Simons Singletary Skrove Smith Snow Solice Sommer Sommerfield Sonnenburg Stahl Steck Steele Stegemoller Stegemuller Steinfeld Steinkamp Stelle Stolz Stone Streick Striecbeck Striekert Struckmeier Studhalter Suehr Sullivan Sydow Taylor Tennyson Tesch Thane Theilen Tiemann Trapp Trent Trute Turner Turney Ueckert Vatlam Vickers Vierus Vormsand Walkoviak Wallace Wallis Ward Warmke Warzon Washer Watson Weber Weghorst Wehmeier Wehmeyer Weise Weiss Wellman Wellmann Wendt Wenke Wenzel Werkenthin Westerfeld Wied Wiese Williams Williams Wilson Winklemann Wolff Wood Wubker Wulff Wunderlich Zuehlke

Church records are at the church from 1890-present or by request from Albert Hartstack.