Pastor


*Ernst Keyl was a German Lutheran pastor who came to America with the Saxon immigration of 1839. He was a Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod pastor at Frohna, Missouri, 1839-1847; Freistadt, WI and Milwaukee, WI 1847-1850; Baltimore, MD 1850-1869; Wilshire, OH 1869-1871; president of the LCMS's Eastern District 1855-1868. He was an author of books on Luther's catechism and sermons for the church year. (#48053042)

**Ernst spent his childhood in Saxony, Germany, and in 1829 graduated from University of Leipzig; and followed his first call as a pastor to Niederfrohna, Saxony. He married Ernestine Amalia Walther on November 15, 1836, and the couple came to the United States with their infant son, Stephanus, in 1839. His first wife, Ernestine, died on May 23, 1842, at childbirth of their second son, who also died a few days later. He married Catherine Popp in 1843, who also died in childbirth two years after their marriage. In 1845, he married Sophie Amelia Vogel and ten children were born from this union. He went to Wisconsin, serving about four years, served at various churches in Maryland for the next nineteen years, and in 1855 became President of the Eastern District, serving until 1868. From Maryland, he went to Wilshire, Ohio, where he served a smaller congregation. He was a retired pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church and with failing health, he died on August 4, 1872 in Monroe, Michigan, and was buried in the church cemetery. (Lo Marie)

Note: Trinity Church family records lists nine children, no dates for them, but were: Martha, Willliam, Emilie, Agnes, Ernst, Emma, Klara, Gerhard, and Julie. Amelia lived in Monroe, 15 years, after her husband died and she passed away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. M. R. Scheiter, at Decatur, Illinois.