exceptional oversized early 20th century american salvaged st. john's church bell designed and fabricated by the henry stucksede bell foundry company of st. louis, mo. the solid bronze bell retains the original cast iron yoke and hammer, along with a-frame brackets or supports. the nicely aged bronze church bell contains lightly embossed manufacturer markings, date of fabrication and a single phrase or motto written in german. the church bell remains in great overall working condition. the multi-story red brick façade features understated but decorative brickwork in a stepped border above the arched entryway. the facade of the cathedral tower also exhibits german engraving along a stone header, giving some clues as to the original congregation. corroborating this is an obituary from 1935, which reveals that a reverend hugo stamer organized the german evangelical st. john’s church there with a membership of 11 people in 1882. while he cofounded at least 6 other parishes in chicago, he remained as pastor at st. john for 37 years before retiring. the parish of st. john was founded also by the efforts of reverend gottlieb lumbrecht, who gathered the small group of the germans living near western and milwaukee avenues before hugo stamer began his work there. a small structure was initially built on cortland street near western with $400 from the synod, for use as a school and church (the school lasted until 1900). in 1884 the parish acquired five building lots on moffat street, and the church they had been using was moved, given a substructure, and considerably enlarged so that the new basement could contain two schoolrooms. just two years after that, in 1886, a second spacious parish house was built of burnt bricks close to the church. in 1910 the women’s club of st. john church raised enough money ($13,000) to build a new church, the contract given to lane and borkemeyer. on december 11, 1910, the new church was dedicated. it had a tower 100-feet high, and an auditorium with 400 seats.