Dear Vertrees,
You mention Salem Lutheran Church, BlackJack, Mo. I know that church. Right about a couple weeks the ladies of the church were cooking apple butter, the old fashioned way...outside in caldrons under wood fires. You can smell the apple butter all over town. And delicious.
You know? I have ancestors who also lived in Edwardsville, Madison, Illinois on my dad's side. They belonged to Trinity Lutheran Church.
Before Trinity, I think they belonged to German Lutheran Church of Worden, Illinois.
Have you tried for clues in the Edwardsville Intelligencer Newspaper?