Pastor Gotthold Heinrich Loeber was born on January 5, 1797, in Kahla, Saxony, Germany, and died on August 19, 1849, in Altenburg, Missouri. He became one of the leading pastors in the Perry County Settlements. Altenburg was named by Loeber after Altenburg in Saxony, Germany. He built his own parsonage, which also served as Trinity's place of worship for six years. For a period of time he was the only professor in the log college seminary in Perry County founded in 1839. After other pastors in the area resigned or accepted calls, Loeber for a time ministered to all Lutherans within Brazeau Township. He was one of the founders of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, organized in Chicago, Illinois, in 1847, where he delivered the opening sermon. At the next convention of Synod, Walther's eulogy called Loeber "the crown of our Synod, its father in Christ, its lively example of an experienced and upright servant of the church,…its ardent peace maker…"