Day 35: Zion Lutheran, "Hogwarts", Temple in Zion, Baptist University, Old Cathedral, and Gateway To The West!

We started our day at Zion Lutheran School... A place where Kathy has worked for years and is obviously revered by everyone!



Kathy showed us the sign to her new office...













This is her new office...








We visited Trevor's classroom during the dime tour...









Then it was on to Concordia Seminary in St Louis...













This place looked just like Hogworts!













The architecture is beautiful... and yes, those are real slate tiles!
















Why were we there, you ask...


Debra has been searching for a marriage record for her great-great-grandparents, August Zimmermann and Johanna Becker, for years and years... She knew they were married around 1865 in Chicago. She had no idea what church they were married in, so years ago, she picked one out of the air and sent a letter to them.

They wrote back saying that their records had been burned in a fire but that there is a historical archive at the Concordia Seminary in St Louis.

With this information, she sent a letter to Kathy in 2004 and asked her if she would take a field trip across the river and search for any information on August and Johanna. Kathy never was able to make the trip... (This would turn out to be a blessing in disguise...)

In the meantime, Deb continued look and look for anything and had basically given up until yesterday when she remembered the information she had sent to Kathy. She asked Kathy if she still had the information and she said that she did.

Soooo... Today we headed to the archive.

When we entered, we told the research assistant that we needed to search the records of a church in Chicago... she said, "Which church?", and she produced a multiple page list of hundreds of churches in Chicago!


Deb said she did not know but took the list and eliminated a lot of them because they were built after 1865... then she selected one...


The assistant asked if she wanted to see microfilm or see the actual book of records... Deb wasted no time saying she wanted to handle the original record... the lady disappeared into the basement for about 15 minutes and emerged with a very old, but almost perfectly preserved book...





Deb said it would be a miracle if I find something (because this is one of thousands of books in the archive... a "needle in a haystack!")



Deb started through the book page by page...













I told her that I was going to go look through some Graduating Class photos on display in the lobby to see if I could find her Uncle Arnold (Grandma Rudolph's brother) because it turns out that he took his Seminary training here at Concordia (a very small world).






I had just found his picture when I got a call on my cell phone... it was Deb...











I thought to myself, "there is no way she could have found something already after years and years of searching!"... but a very emotional voice said, "Scott, I found them!"



I ran back into the archive and Deb and the assistant in tears...










And sure enough, there it was...













The assistant said this is what makes my job worthwhile... she was amazed... this truly was a miracle find!








After the find, we drove about 10 minutes away to visit the St Louis Missouri Temple...








The location proves that community relationships have come a long way since the 1840's...








Then it was on to the St Louis Archway. We parked in the Old Cathedral St Louis parking lot at the base of the arch. This was the site of the first church in St Louis in 1775 and now is the site of this Cathedral. We went inside and it was very beautiful and had a cool pipe organ.










Then we went to the arch...














This is Deb next to the
south arch...








We waited in line to load into one of eight "elevators" that take us to the top... It was like waiting for "Tower of Terror" at Disneyland...







When the doors opened, I was shocked to see how small the cars are...



Just five seats, verrry close together... they reminded me of the cubicle that Will Smith sat in to take the test in "Men In Black"... Kind of like a clothes dryer drum with seats!













We went to the top with two other people... very cozy... and kind of shaky when the car kept correcting its attitude to keep us upright as the arch curves toward the horizontal at the top...











Deb had "sea legs" at the top and had to hold on to keep her balance 630 feet in the air...








To give you an idea how high that is... can you find the Mini? Hint: it is in the parking lot infront of the Cathedral... (Remember, you can click on the photos to make them bigger).








Ok, here it is...









The view was amazing from up there... This is to the west... if you look real close, you can see Oregon!








Here is Deb and I... (Bet you would have never figured that one out...)








Here is Deb standing on the apex of the arch...









Down in the lobby there is a three-dimensional panarama demonstrating the scale relationships of various monuments in the United States compared to the Arch...





Deb just can't seem to keep her fingers out of the President's noses... (see Mt Rushmore Blog).








Tonight we went the Texas Roadhouse for Steak and Ribs... they were great.



Tomorrow, we go to Amish country with Frank and Kathy.