Rev. Edward Schweizer (Apr. 1880 - Mar. 1881) After the departure of Rev. Kunkel, Zion gave some consideration to sharing a minister with the congregation in Henderson, Kentucky. A letter proposing such an arrangement was written to Pastor Mueller (I guess he was the minister in Henderson), but no further mention of that plan is in our records. Then in April of 1880, Rev. Edward Schweizer came to Zion and remained for about a year. He was our minister during the 1880 Census which provides us with the following information. Rev. Schweizer came from Switzerland and was recorded as age 40. His wife, Mary, was age 39 and was from Prussia. There were no children listed in their household. This probably means that either they never had children or that their children had already left home. Or perhaps they had children that died in childhood.

During his pastorate Rev. Schweizer conducted two funerals; the first on Apr. 6, 1880 and the last on May 5, 1880. He also married six couples; the first on Apr. 6, 1880 and the last on Mar. 1, 1881. He confirmed a class of four on July 16, 1880. He probably confirmed a class of six on Apr. 3, 1881.

Other records show Rev. Schweizer as “G. Schweizer.” One message on the Internet stated that after leaving Zion, he moved to Indiana.

The next census available was in 1900 as almost all of the 1890 Census was destroyed in a fire. Thus far, I have been unable to locate the family of Edward Schweizer in the 1900 Census. However, I found a family in the 1910 Census that resided in St. Rose township in Clinton County, Illinois; household 64. The head of household was Edward Schweizer, age 69 and born in Switzerland. He was a minister at “St. John’s church”.  The wife, Marie, was also listed as age 69, but was born in Germany. Their marriage was a first marriage and they had been married for 45 years. There was a daughter, but it was difficult to read her name or age. She was born in Indiana. According to the census this was the only child that Marie had. This family fits what little we know about our Rev. Schweizer and his family, but I’m not totally sure of the match yet.

I have also found a family in the 1920 Census that could be a match. Edward Schweizer, listed as age 78, was the head of this Gasconade County, Missouri family. They lived on Bay Swiss Road in Boulware township. He was a widower, and had been born in Switzerland. The record showed that he had been naturalized in 1900. The only other member of the household was his daughter, Lydia. She was age 38 and had been born in Indiana. The record showed that she had never been married and it also showed that her deceased mother had been born in Germany. However, at this time, I can not say with certainty that this was the household of our former minister.

In “Evangelical Calendar for the Year 1921”, I found a listing for an “E. Schweizer” who was in Hoyleton, Illinois. This was a publication of the German Evangelical Church, a former name for the UCC. To this day there is a United Church of Christ in Hoyleton and our denomination supports a home for children at Hoyleton. Could he have been the minister at the church in Hoyleton or could he have been employed by the Hoyleton Home for Children? I also found another record that listed an “E. Schweizer” as pastor of St. Paul’s Evangelical Church in Bay, Missouri, which is in Gasconade County.

As for Lydia Schweizer, she may be the Lydia Schweizer that died at Hoyleton, Illinois on Apr. 10, 1923. If there were no other children as it seems, there would be no descendants of Edward Schweizer and no one to research this branch of the family and that would explain the difficulty in finding information about them.

Someday we may learn more about these mysterious ministers, Rev. Kunkel and Rev. Schweizer. The records of the German Evangelical Church may contain information to shed light on their lives before and after serving Zion.