Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church, founded in 1842 in Freedom Township, near Ann Arbor, Michigan; record group includes church registers, financial records, administrative materials, and other subject files.

The St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church record group includes church registers containing family and membership information; financial ledgers; constitutions and by-laws; anniversary and celebratory materials; files relating to church organizations; and photographs of church building.

Papers,1918-1961,of Theodore R. Schmale, pastor of Bethlehem Evangelical Church [now Bethlehem United Church of Christ]; includes manuscripts of sermons (partially in German); and autobiography,1895,of father-in-law, Johann H. Dinkmeier, describing life in Germany, his immigration to the United States, and his experiences as a teacher and Evangelical pastor. [original and typescript of translation]

The Papers of Theodore R. Schmale consist primarily of his manuscript sermons, most of them dating from 1929 to 1961. These sermons are arranged in three separate sections: chronologically, by topic, and by scripture reference. In addition, the collection contains a small quantity of biographical material on Theodore Schmale, an 1895 autobiography of Schmale's father-in-law, Johann Heinrich Dinkmeier, and an English translation from the autobiography's original German. Dinkmeier's autobiography describes life in Germany, his immigration to the United States, and his experiences as a teacher and Evangelical pastor.