# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1882_S88
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 88 —

At last an opportunity offered itself to buy a property about 6 blocks from Sailors' Home, which could be acquired for 1250 dollars and could have been suitably fitted up for our purposes for a further 300 dollars. But the instructions given us had tied our hands so that we could not buy. In April 1881 the undersigned was commissioned to make a visitation of the mission in New Orleans. On this occasion he also attended the service, at which the few persons present listened quietly and attentively to the sermon. The undersigned also visited the schools. In the two classes of the Sailors' Home school he found about 120 children, and in the Claiborn school about 90. The performance of the children in both schools in catechism, Bible history, reading, etc., was better than expected; it was especially a pleasure to hear the children recite the Lutheran Catechism and sing our Lutheran hymns. The undersigned, however, was positively appalled at the building. He had not imagined it so filthy, disgusting, horrifying. It is a wonder that anyone still comes to a service there or sends his children to school.

It was the intention of the Mission Commission to ask the Hon. Synodical Conference, at its convention to be held in October 1881, to buy the property mentioned above. But since the convention was postponed, the Commission issued an appeal for gifts for the purchase; but before funds had come in for it, that property had been sold elsewhere and was lost to us.

Some of the old Negroes whom Pastor Döscher had gathered, as well as the teacher Watson, were very refractory toward our missionary and demanded Pastor Döscher as missionary. At last a long letter from Miss Watson and those named arrived at the Commission, in which they declared: Missionary Bakke did not suit them, and according to the doctrine of the Lutheran Church they surely had a right to choose their pastor themselves. They were to be given Pastor Döscher. One could tell from the whole letter that they had been egged on to it. They were answered that they certainly had the right to choose a pastor, but also the duty to support him themselves. We could not prevent that either. But Missionary Bakke was our missionary, and the mission in Sailors' Home our mission. Miss Watson was thereupon dismissed, and now saw how foolishly and wrongly she had acted, and also admitted that she, as well as the others, had been led astray by someone. An investigation made showed that this was really so. The whole movement had arisen from secret opposition to our mission. The majority of the Negroes testified that they are very fond of Missionary Bakke and gladly hear him. Since Miss Watson retracted her wrong, she was reinstated as a teacher.