Does MPHS have photographs: Yes
Address in Mount Prospect: 110 S. Elm Street
Birth Date: October 8, 1887
Death Date:
Marriage
Date: November 5, 1913
Spouse: Sophie Busse
Children: George, Paula and Jack
Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments:
Rev. J. E. A. Mueller was the first Pastor for Saint Paul Lutheran Church. He was educated for six years at Concordia College in Milwaukee and three years at Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis. In 1910 he became a circuit riding preacher in the Dakotas, although he was not satisfied with the work. Meanwhile, downtown Mount Prospect was developing. In the early 1900s and 1910s more and more people began moving into the area that had been originally developed by Ezra Eggleston. During these early years there was no church directly in downtown Mount Prospect and this was hard on the residents. Saint John Lutheran Church, the first congregation in the community, was located on Linnemann Road, a little over a mile from downtown. This could be a long walk, especially in the winter, so in 1912 a group of local leaders got together to organize a new church in the center of Mount Prospect. After receiving a charter from the state, Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded. William and Edward Busse donated land for the church and everyone began looking for a Pastor for the new congregation. Henry Haberkamp, a founding member of Saint Paul, eventually found one. He was in the wholesale dairy business and one day he was talking to one of his clients about the hard time they were having locating a pastor. This man told Haberkamp that the minister of his church had a son who was a minister and was in North Dakota freezing to death. Haberkamp looked into it and soon they were able bring J.E.A. Mueller, Jr. to the warmer climate of Mount Prospect as the first Pastor of Saint Paul. He arrived in Mount Prospect on New Years Day, 1913 and got to work immediately. There was still a lot of work to do on te church. They were still installing seats and putting together the finishing touches the night before the first sermon. On January 19 Mueller gave the first sermon at Saint Paul in the midst of a blizzard.
Mueller served not only as the first Pastor, but was also the first school teacher. A few months after giving the first sermon in Saint Paul he also began the first class in Saint Paul School. The original class had sixteen members, but it quickly grew. After a few years of working as both the Pastor and the School Teacher, Mueller got a full time School teacher to come and take over. He remained the Pastor of Saint Paul until 1957.