St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church

in Princeton, Marquette County, WI

Thank you to our 
contributors of this information for the Marquette Co WI Pages

The Montello St. John's is Wisconsin synod, like Emmanuel - Mecan and Princeton St. 
John's.  Source: Daryl Weishaar

In 1864 sixteen settlers from the area organized a Princeton area congregation, and the name 
St. John chosen, land bought for a church and parsonage, and Pastor J. Kern was called,
replaced by Pastor Lucas from Germany in 1866. A wooden church was built in 1868, and in 1869 
church members moved Pastor John Hoyer, wife and son to Princeton by oxcart. The congregation 
grew rapidly, Pastor Hoyer officiating at as many as 125 baptisms in one year. Pastor Hoyer 
also served Mecan, Montello and Dayton, and in 1884 his son, Pastor Adolph Hoyer was called to
assist his father. Overcrowding required a larger church to be built, and Mecan and Montello 
separated from Princeton in 1884. Pastor John Hoyer also retired in 1884 and his son, Pastor 
Adolph Hoyer, inherited the Princeton/Dayton parish. A larger church was built and dedicated 
in 1908. The church celebrated it's 125th anniversary in September 1989, the membership being 
approximately 850 people. Source: Northward in Christ, A History of the Northern Wisconsin 
District of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, �2000.

Around 1904 there were  2 Catholic Churches in Princeton, WI. The primary church was St. John the 
Baptist Catholic Church with a resident pastor and the mission church of St. Patrick which was 
served by the pastor from Neshkoro. St. Patrick's was closed almost 50 years ago.The Pastor of 
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Princeton, WI now also ministers to the people of St. James 
Catholic Church, Neshkoro (which had St. Patrick's in Princeton as a mission). St. Patrick's records 
are probably held in Neshkoro. Source: R Krentz 



 





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