Protestant German immigrants began to enter the Northwest Territory (Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio) between 1820-1840. The numbers grew and soon new states, of mostly German immigrants, entered the Union: Ohio became a state in 1803, Indiana in 1816, Michigan in 1837, Wisconsin in 1848, and Minnesota in 1858. When settlers first arrived in the territories, worship was sporadic, ecumenical, conducted in the homes of parishioners, and often led by laymen. Many circuit riders would, in addition to serving their regular parishes, visit dozens of smaller churches and preaching stations. Many such congregations were visited four times a year, leading some to remark that a pastor's visit often started with performing weddings, then baptizing the children of those unions.
But all along there was a longing for some form of Lutheran unity. Carl Ferdinand Walther not only formed the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, but he set out to form a loose union with like-minded Lutherans. The Synodical Conference which he formed lasted almost 100 years.
1817 marked the year of the 300th anniversary of Luther's 95 Theses. America counted 650 Lutheran congregations and a theological seminary in the United States. In 1820, the first attempt to establish a general, national Lutheran body (the General Synod) took place in Hagerstown, MD. This synod became dominant in the United States. In 1826 Gettysburg Seminary in Gettysburg, PA, became the main theological seminary for Lutherans. Gettysburg College was established as a separate institution. Both are representative of the Lutheran emphasis on higher education. The seminary sits on a ridge known as Seminary Ridge and is known in Civil War history as part of the battle at Gettysburg. The seminary possessed an excellent library which was begun when the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod in the United States of North America commissioned Benjamin Kurtz to go to Europe to solicit contributions of money and books for its new seminary. The library was established in 1826.
In 1820 several synods met to draw up a constitution for a confederation to be known as the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of North America. It has been known simply as the General Synod. As Lutheranism expanded, additional synods were formed. By 1860 the General Synod had a membership of about 164,000, or two-thirds of the Lutherans in the United States. This was, to be sure, a disparate group of autonomous synods. It was not a merger, but a loose coalition.
