Editing Perry County, Missouri (section)

===German immigration===
The late 1830s saw the beginnings of a heavy [[Germans|German]] immigration that would permanently alter the ethnic balance of the county. In the fall of 1838, more than 600 Saxon Lutherans, under the leadership of Pastor [[Martin Stephan]], uprooted themselves and migrated to Missouri in what is called [[Saxon Lutheran Immigration 1838-1839|The Saxon Lutheran Migration]], seeking to avoid the enforced religious conformity brought about by the [[Prussian Union of churches]].<ref>The German Evangelical Movement http://www.ucc.org/about-us_short-course_the-german-evangelical</ref> They settled in the southeastern corner of the county and moved inland through a series of towns whose names enshrined both religion and nationality: [[Wittenberg, Missouri|Wittenberg]], [[Friedheim, Missouri|Friedheim]], [[Frohna, Missouri|Frohna]], [[Dresden, Missouri|Dresden]], [[Altenburg, Missouri|Altenburg]], and Paitzdorf, which was renamed [[Uniontown, Missouri|Uniontown]] during the [[American Civil War]]. Much of the legacy of the German immigration lives on today through the [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greatriverroad.com/meetohio/altenburg.htm|title=Greatriverroad.com - Altenburg, Missouri |access-date=December 31, 2015}}</ref> A distinct Saxon dialect of German continues to be spoken by about 250 residents (in 2014), although that number is declining with the youngest speakers being over 50 years old.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/when-we-re-gone-it-will-be-german-dialect-has/article_45715974-e8bd-5abd-888d-a14777195eee.html|title='When we're gone, it will be': German dialect has survived nearly 200 years in southeast Missouri|last=Hahn|first=Valerie Schremp|date=October 7, 2018|website=stltoday.com|access-date=May 21, 2019}}</ref>

Others who settled in the area were German Catholics, mostly from [[Bavaria]] and [[Baden]]. They settled in the Barrens area. The Lutherans and Presbyterians established churches in the region bounded by the 1856 [[Brazeau Township, Perry County, Missouri|Township of Brazeau]]. The Methodists located farther west in the area that comprised the 1856 [[Cinque Hommes Township, Perry County, Missouri|township of Cinque Hommes]]. There they set up two churches, the first York Chapel, near present-day [[Longtown, Missouri|Longtown]], about {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} southeast of Perryville,<ref>York Chapel Methodist Church and Cemetery, Perry County Historical Society, Book committee, 2009 www.perrycountyhistoricalsociety.org</ref> and in 1836 a second in Perryville itself. Then in 1844–1845, they divided between north and south over the question of whether a bishop could own slaves. The two Methodist churches in Perry County parted company, the city congregation going with the North and the York Chapel siding with the South. The Baptists of the county tended to congregate in both Bois Brule Bottom and in the area of [[Saline Township, Perry County, Missouri|Saline Township]]. In the first decades of the 19th century, they met in private homes.

While it is one of the oldest communities in Missouri, Perry County also founded the first college west of the Mississippi River, dating to 1827.<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bGCz07w5IgYC&q=st.+mary%27s+of+the+barrens+rosati+cabin&pg=PA523| title = Missouri A Guide to the "Show Me" State |isbn = 9781603540247 | author1 =  By Federal Writers' Project| year = 1959 | publisher = US History Publishers }}</ref>