By John Beydler
The Jerico Educational Institute opened its doors Sept. 7, 1892.
The institute would “advance Missourian Lutheranism,” according to the Rev. J. I. Goodman of Milford, writing in an August, 1892, letter to the Lutheran Witness, the official organ of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church. He said the institute grew out of efforts by St. James Church in Milford to assist the Bethel congregation in Jerico, which had no church.
The institute was housed in a square two-story building that probably also served as Jerico’s high school from the start.
The 1893 edition of the Missouri Gazetter listed both “Jerico Educational Institute” and “Lutheran College”, each with a separate head -A. H. Miller was president of the institute and A. S. Greever was principal of the college.
The Report of the Public Schools of the State of Missouri for several years in the mid-1890s listed the Jerico Educational Institute as a public school and separately, a Lutheran college with a three-person faculty.
The American College and Public School Directory for 1897 listed the Jerico Educational Institute as a Lutheran college with a three-person faculty.
By the time the 1897 directory came out, the institute was most likely gone, killed by the sale of the building to Jerico for its school.
The transfer was described by Hamilton Ott in A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Kansas, which synod included some Western Missouri congregations. Mr. Ott said, “On September 1st (1894) Rev J. A. Lowe took charge as pastor (of the Bethel Congregation in Jerico) and in the fall of 1895 it was admitted into Kansas Synod.
“At that time the members of Bethel church held a controlling interest in the Jerico Educational Institute building. An agreement was entered into with Rev. Lowe by which the property was transferred to him on the condition that he would conduct school therein for three years and pay $200. He conducted a private school here for one year when all interested parties agreed to sell the property to the town of Jerico for public and high school purposes.
“At this point Rev. Lowe became principal of the High School and at the same time continued to preach for the church and this he did for the period of eight years.”
The Lutherans, who eventually gave up on maintaining a Jerico congregation, apparently considered, at least briefly, making a major move into the area in 1894. In May and June that year, several newspapers around Missouri carried a short item saying “The Lutherans” planned to buy about 2,600 acres near Jerico and begin a community that would include a $75,000 college campus.
The stories were essentially the same. None provided any source for the information. If such plans did exist, they fell through.
The Lutherans met at several places in Jerico, including the Methodist Church, where many Lutherans were present and were injured when the tornado destroyed it in 1898. They later bought a half-interest in the Baptist building but gave that up as well.
Mr.Ott’s history of the Kansas synod said the Bethel congregation sold its half interest in the Baptist building in 1903 and “practically disbanded.”
Jerico Springs on parade 