 REV. JOHN B. MEISTER: 1902-1909 The Rev. Meister was born in Switzerland in 1854 and came to Michigan at the age of twenty-one. He first taught school in Adrain and then became pastor at Rogers Corners before he came to Dexter to serve St. Andrews. He was described by parishioners at that time as a little man with a goatee. He played and taught organ, piano and the violin and was an excellent singer. He thus stressed the value of music during church services and emphasized the religious instruction of children. A bell was installed at the church during his pastorate and rang for the first time when dedicated on February 2, 1908. The Meisters had six children; four sons, Benjamin, John, Emanuel and Paul, and two daughters, Margaret and Emily. Emanuel was Killed while serving in Russia during World War 1. On July 28, 1909 he left Dexter to accept a call as superintendent of the German Protestant Home for Orphans and Old People in Detroit, taking the place of the Rev. John Neumann. After fifteen years he retired. He died November 27, 1928 and was buried in Detroit |