Note: What follows is the first appeal letter sent for funds to keep up Historical Old Salem Evangelical Church.
July 18, 1939
Dear friends and friends of Old Salem Evangelical Church, South St. Paul, Minnesota.
We greet you in the Name of our common Lord!
The Minnesota Conference of the Evangelical Church has appointed the undersigned as Custodians of the Salem Evangelical Church and Cemetery. We made a very careful study of the whole property and find that the fence is nearly worthless, some of the graves have been neglected, and only a few families have shown much concern about the appearance of the whole place.
The Church where many warm prayers were offered and hot tears were shed by our Fathers for the future of the Kingdom is badly in need of repair. We are very anxious to improve both Church and Cemetery. The ideal way would be to build up a Fund large enough that the interest would be sufficient to keep the lawn mowed and make the needed repairs. We would like to lead out in that direction. But for the time being, we must try and put the whole place in an attractive condition.
The fence must be replaced; we have a very generous offer already on that. Then we ought to spend about $25.00 on the inside of the Church that we would not be ashamed to make it available as a Shrine for Weddings, Baptisms, and other special meetings for groups and families.
We would thus ask for a contribution with your best thought on how to make old “Salom” an attraction for Evangelicals and their families as the first Evangelical Church in Minnesota.
We are praying that the Lord will lay it in the heart of someone to give a bequest of several hundred dollars, which could be used as the beginning of a Fund, the interest of which would be used for the upkeep of this property of historic interest so dear to our hearts.
Most sincerely yours,
J.G. Holdinger, Chairman
B.C. Siowert, Vice-Ch.
Christ Zehnder, Secretary