History Supplement

     In an effort to keep the church history as factual as possible, we welcome corrections sent to us by descendants of church members or others who may have additional information.

Mailing Address:

Zion Lutheran Church
Post Office Box 266
Silverhill, Alabama 36576

Office Phone: (251) 945-5209

Send email to Zion Lutheran Church.

Rev. David Johnson, Pastor
Home Phone: (251) 945-1076

Send email to Pastor Dave Johnson.

Sent: Wed May 24, 2006
Subject: Thank you

     Greetings to you all at Zion,

     I wanted to thank you for putting your book "Zion Lutheran Church History First Hundred Years" online. My family and I are trying to do a history on my grandfather, Rev. E. Oscar Johnson. We knew that he had ministered to a church in Silverhill, AL. As luck would have it, I ran across your website and Lo and Behold there he was. We really appreciate this information.

     If there is anything else you may have run across, we would sure appreciate any further info.

     God's Blessings to you all,

     Darcy (Johnson) Metz

     Excerpts from Letter of May 1, 2006

     Just recently i happened onto your web site, mainly because I had a Great-Grandfather who was a pastor there in Silver Hill. His name is J.P. Samuelson. I noticed that there were a few things that needed to be corrected. His father is Salomon Eliasson and mother Anna Danielsdotter.

     He has 5 children, not 4. His second daughter--Ruth--died in 1923. My grandfather is child #4.

     Johan Americanized his name when he came to this country. He died 3 months before I was born.

     My mother and I would very much like to have any information you have in your archives on him, should you have the time to look.

     It was nice to learn about Johan from your web site. He is now buried in Rock Island, IL

     --Julie Bitter (Great-Granddaughter)

     Excerpts from Response Letter of May 15, 2006

     Thank you so much for your letter of May 1 telling us about your Great Grandfather Johan. We will use your information to supplement our history which is based on Conrad Bergendoff's The Augustana Ministerium. I suspect that official church records never reflected Ruth and her death in 1923.

     We really have no additional information regarding the Samuelson family, since Pastor Samuelson did not add the family to the historical roster. In looking at our history at Zion, we find that some pastors did and some did not add family data to the roster. We were fortunate to find Bergendoff's book in the Augsberg College Library in Minneapolis - in case the book is still in print, its publication data are at the bottom of page 9 of our history which I am enclosing. Our specific documented data regarding your Great Grandfather from published sources is on page 29 of our history, and I think you may have already read this on the internet, but I am sending a copy.

     Although we have had some feedback on our yearbook, we have received no specific information on Pastor Samuelson. You may wish to check out our website at www.LutheransInSilverhill.com occasionally as we will be adding supplemental data as they come in.

     Warmest greetings to you and your mother. Please find a commemorative coin in honor of our church's 100th anniversary.

     --Pastor Dave Johnson