Martin Stephan (1777–1846) was pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Dresden, Germany during the early 19th century. He organized the Saxon emigration to the United States in the early 19th century. Biography Martin Stephan was born August 13, 1777, in Stramberg, Moravia, presently the Czech Republic, of Austrian, German, and Czech parents. Martin attended St. Elizabeth's Gymnasium in Breslau, sponsored by local pietist and pastor Johann Ephraim Scheibel, rector of the gymnasium and father of Johann Gottfried Scheibel, a professor at the University of Breslau. He then attended the University of Halle and the University of Leipzig from 1804 to 1809. Stephan became pastor in Haber, Bohemia, in 1809. In 1810, Martin became the pastor of St. John's in Dresden, a specially chartered church that had its origins in those who had fled from Moravia and Bohemia in 1650. Stephan preached in Czech and German. For the next 30 years, Martin was known for his teaching, preaching, and compassionate counseling. He led the protest against oppressive practices by the Saxon State Consistory in the state-governed Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Saxony. He came under attack by the rationalist pastors for his confessional and orthodox stand. Stephan continued to uphold biblical and sacramental practices in his church. In 1824, Stephan began to consider America as a place to practice the faith without harassment. He and ten other men formed a or society for emigration from Dresden to St. Louis, Missouri. He organized the emigration of 665 people in November 1838 from Bremen to New Orleans on five ships. When four of the five the ships landed at the Port of New Orleans, Martin Stephan was elected bishop of this small band of Lutherans, according to the travel regulations of the Emigration Society. Forster indicates that Stephan was made bishop initially only by the passengers and clergy on board the Olbers at about the time this ship entered the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Forster states, "On January 14, 1839...they made Stephan their bishop and endowed him with a liberal grant of power to carry out the functions of his office." Only four of the five immigrant ships arrived safely in New Orleans (the Amalia never arrived) and the ships arrived at varying times over the course of a couple of weeks. Of note, after his appointment, it was Stephan who originated the practice of kissing the bishop's hand. After