By Linda Whitmore
Mt. Angel residents Paul and Pat Zollner wrote and recorded a song titled “Christmas in Mt. Angel,” which begins:
“Church bells of St. Mary’s are ringing in my mind,
Once again they call to me, ‘Come home, it’s Christmas time.’
So come with me to Grandpa’s house and join us for a while
We’ll celebrate the Holidays in old Mt. Angel style.
Home, I’m goin’ home ….”
This heartfelt attachment to Mt. Angel, to music and to their extended – and extensive – family is integral in the Zollners’ life. The couple wrote the song while they lived in other regions of Oregon, but they would bring their four daughters to visit Mt. Angel relatives at Christmas and Oktoberfest, where they have performed for many years as Z Musikmakers.
The family’s connection to Mt. Angel goes back to earliest pioneer days – Zollners are credited as the first German Catholic family to settle in the area. As such, these ancestors were selected to be represented as the pioneer couple on the Glockenspiel. Adding to the significance, the fiddle music heard while the statue moves into place is played by Pat and Paul’s daughter, Christiana.
Music is a thread that runs through Zollner history, beginning with the 1867 wagon train journey of Robert and Katharina Zollner, who, for more than four months, walked across the prairie with their four sons – the eldest was 5 and youngest only a month old when they departed Minnesota.
One account of the trek notes, “The expedition’s captain, Peter B. Davy, a former patent medicine salesman and cavalry officer, had more flair than common sense. … His (promotional) circulars painted an idyllic vision of prairie flowers … and evening recitals by the train’s very own brass band.” A diarist on the trip said, due to misuse of funds for such things as the brass band, that food became scarce and dissention arose. The wagon party was close to starvation and natives threatened.
“Armed warriors circled the train on Sept. 3. But the brass band came to the rescue, performing an impromptu concert for their guests,” the history records.
In another incident, a native chief offered his best pair of ponies in exchange for 2-year-old Joseph Zollner, whose white-blond hair had caught his attention. “Refusal to trade wasn’t pleasing to the Indians, and it was with a lot of relief that the family reached Oregon.”
This overland trek was the second adventurous journey for Robert Zollner. In 1851 at the age of 21, he had made a 40-day Atlantic crossing from his native home in Bavaria. Robert lived for a while in New York, married and farmed for several years in Minnesota. Then the Homestead Act’s promise of Oregon Territory property lured the family to the Willamette Valley.
“The offer of free land – land! – can you think what that meant to those people,” Paul Zollner said.
A 1936 historical account said Robert Zollner had “wanted a hilly place with a creek crossing it, and he found just that kind of a place” on McKee Road. The creek became known as Zollner Creek. At the time, the region was so scarcely populated it had no name. Years later, the Zollners housed workers constructing the new railroad between Woodburn and Silverton. “The first building where Mt. Angel now stands … was a very small station house … The station was known as Fillmore.”
Later, Fillmore was renamed Mt. Angel – the anglicized version of “Engelberg,” the Swiss mother house of Father Adelhelm Odermatt, who established the Mt. Angel Abbey in 1882.
The region’s settlers were influential in the selection of the community as the site for the abbey. Previously, these German Catholics had to travel 6 miles over rough and muddy roads to attend mass in Gervais. Then, the family history account said, Robert Zollner purchased an acre of land for $200 for a church and cemetery. “The elder Zollner built the church with the help of the few Catholics who lived in the community.”
It was to this church the settlers invited two significant guests. The family account said: “Mr. (Joseph) Zollner remembers his father (Robert) taking his best team and the hack and driving to Gervais to meet Father Adelhelm (Odermatt) and Father Nicholas Frei, taking them to Mt. Angel (then Fillmore) to say mass in the first little church.”
A 1978 newspaper story reported, “Robert Zollner, Sr., left Fillmore for Gervais on Oct. 3, 1881, to escort the Fathers to Fillmore.” The fathers, who were scouting the West Coast for an appropriate place to establish an abbey, stayed a couple of days. “The two Benedictine fathers … didn’t forget Fillmore, the beautiful spot in the Willamette Valley, or, the German settlers.” The next month Father Adelhelm told the archbishop he had found the right place for an abbey.
Life was tough for farmers clearing land and planting crops. “It was survival – I think this played into the religiousity of the area. Religion was something to hang on to,” Paul Zollner said.
The Robert Zollners worked on their farm and had six more children, three of whom died in infancy. Music must have been part of their focus. Sons Joseph and Frank Zollner are seen in an 1885 photograph of the Mt. Angel Band performing in Portland.
“I think it’s neat that these guys were musicians and we have the family band,” said Pat Zollner.
Robert’s wife, Katharina (also known as Catherine) Zollner died at the age of 39 in 1879, not long after giving birth to her eighth child, who died. Five years later, Robert, then 54, married Theresia (aka Theresa) Osthamer, age 28. Theresia bore three children, one who died at birth. She died at the age of 36. Robert was then 62. He was killed a year later in a tree-felling accident, leaving the two youngest boys, Rupert (aka Robert) and Nathaniel (aka Daniel) as orphans.
“It’s not clear to us who raised them,” said Paul Zollner, “It’s my understanding they were raised as foster children and went to (several) different homes. I think it was very rough for the second family.”
The Zollner family tree spread widely from this point. Following the branches to Paul Zollner leads this way: Robert had fathered 10 surviving children. The eldest from his second wife was Rupert who had eight children. Of these, one was a son, Arnold, who had 16 children, the 13th of whom is Paul. His wife, Pat, said many family descendants gathered for the Glockenspiel dedication. “That was fun,” she said.
Through their 142 years in Oregon, Zollners have married into other long-time Mt. Angel families. Some moved away and connections have been lost, but some family members remain, and ties are tight.
Pat, Paul and their daughters moved back to Mt. Angel a few years ago.
“There were a number of reasons that brought us back,” Paul Zollner said. “First and foremost was because it was a chance to be closer to family. Having been away from town you don’t get to go to all the traditional family events.”
Pat Zollner said because they had come each year for Christmas and Oktoberfest, “Mt. Angel felt like home to our kids.” She added another important factor. “One of the draws for me is the church and the parish. We love making music in that church.”
Near the end of their song, “Christmas in Mt. Angel,” the Zollners sing:
“It’s clear to see that we are very blessed,
To have a special family, that brings such happiness.
Christmas in Mt. Angel is Wunderbar, you know,
The same as in the ‘Old Country’ our folks left long ago.”
