Presenter: Rev. Jeremiah Gumm

Union Cemetery was first founded by St. John’s Lutheran Church (8th and Vliet) as St. Johannes Lutheran Cemetery in 1851. In 1865, the cemetery was merged with those of Grace (WELS) and Trinity (LCMS) of downtown Milwaukee. This cemetery is rich with the early WELS history of Milwaukee.

WELS founder, Rev. Johannes Muehlhaeuser, helped to select and purchase the grounds. Both he and later WELS President Johann Bading are buried there, as are the early directors of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary–Dr. Adolf Hoenecke and Prof. John Schaller, the latter of which also played a key role in establishing Dr. Martin Luther College for the training of Lutheran teachers in the Wisconsin Synod.

This tour will focus on these early fathers of the Wisconsin Synod and its ministerial education system. Tidbits about others who lived and served in Milwaukee during the early years of the Wisconsin and Missouri Synods and who now enjoy their final rest at Union Cemetery will be highlighted along the way.

Parking is available inside the cemetery.

The tour will be conducted by Pastor Jeremiah Gumm. Pastor Gumm has served congregations in Liverpool, NY and Maitland, FL, and currently serves as associate pastor at St. Lucas in Milwaukee. He serves on the Seminary’s Pastor Partners Mentoring Leadership Team and was a founding editor of Grow in Grace’s Shepherd’s Study book review blog. He has a Master of Sacred Theology (STM) from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.