It was 125 years ago — spring of 1898. On a Sunday morning, people dressed in their “Sunday best” traveled to their respective churches in McLeod County. One church, however, was empty. St. John’s Evangelical Church, near Biscay, had no people gathered inside that Sunday. There were no wagons or buggies parked outside, no finely dressed parishioners waiting to enter, and no church bells ringing in the cool morning air. In addition to the absence of activity at the church, there was no pastor and little knowledge of his whereabouts.
His name was the Rev. C.F. Spahr. At the time, Spahr lived in Biscay with his wife and family. His wife, Clara, was a piano and organ teacher. Spahr was a seasoned pastor who conducted services in German. On the surface, something must have happened to the pastor. Perhaps he was traveling, or worse, he could have met with a fatal accident. As people began to dig a bit deeper, however, it became clear that there was far more to the disappearance of the Rev. C.F. Spahr.
Spahr had only lived in McLeod County for a short time. He arrived as the first pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Church and in 1896 conducted the first service for the church, which was a funeral service for Mr. Hermann Nubbe. Following the service, Spahr was invited to conduct services for several families in Glencoe who were interested in forming a new congregation. His popularity was due in large part to his ability to perform a full service in German — a typical custom in areas with rich German heritage.
One can assume that the first years of the church, with Spahr at the helm, went smoothly. Spahr conducted weddings, funerals, Sunday services, and led confirmation classes. With everything seeming to go smoothly, it’s no surprise that a sense of shock enveloped the congregation when he disappeared.
Many believed Spahr to have met with an accident or foul play and awaited either for his return or his remains to be recovered. As more information came to light, however, some parishioners believed Spahr fled. It turned out that the church had numerous unpaid bills. In addition, a collection of $800 of church money also appeared to be missing.
As people began looking into the disappearance of Spahr, more information about his history came to light. According to one source, the pastor once held a position at a church in Wadena where he lived with his family. For undisclosed reasons he was asked to vacate his position. From Wadena he moved to Perham where he again conducted services and where he was again asked to vacate his position. Afterward, he moved to Biscay.
As one could imagine, rumors began to swirl about the whereabouts of Spahr. On April 14 a note appeared in the Glencoe newspaper stating “… a minister of an adjoining burg has skipped off with a handsome widow of this city.” A day later, a notice was printed in the St. Paul Globe stating “Rev. C.F. Spahr, pastor of the Biscay, Minn., German Evangelical church is missing, and his friends are anxious about him. The matter was reported to the police in Minneapolis yesterday, and an effort will be made to find him as it is believed that he came to this city.” Some years later, a snippet from Otter Tail County stated that he had left McLeod County and was living in California.
Spahr didn’t just leave his parishioners, but also his wife. In 1900, Clara Spahr was listed as living in Glencoe where she worked as a piano saleswoman. At the time, her marital status was listed as “widowed.” Ten years later she was listed as living in Hutchinson with a marital status as “divorced.”
What happened to the Rev. C.F. Spahr? The little evidence available suggests that he must have skipped town and moved elsewhere. Yet, the possibility does exist that he was met with foul play and his body disposed of — the victim of a crime where the perpetrator did away with the pastor and stole the church’s meager collection of money. Either way, the mystery of C.F. Spahr was never solved and remains a bit of a “cold case” in McLeod County.
— Brian Haines is executive director of the McLeod County Historical Society and Museum, 380 School Road N.W., Hutchinson. Do you have a historical anecdote to share? Haines can be reached at 320-587-2109, or by email at director@mcleodhistory.org.
