USA > Illinois > Brethren in northern Illinois and Wisconsin > Part 10
USA > Wisconsin > Brethren in northern Illinois and Wisconsin > Part 10
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Douglas Park (1938)
During the prosperous days of the Chicago Sunday School Extension, whose headquarters were at Hastings Street, Doug- las Park was one of the five schools in operation. Under the slogan, Invest a Dime, funds were secured from the entire brotherhood. Activities at Douglas Park date from about 1908. The first workers were Nora Holsinger, now Mrs. Fisher of Ames, Iowa, and C. May Manners, deceased. Besides religious teach- ing their labors centered in receiving clothing from Aid socie- ties and distributing the same either by sale or as a gift. They also distributed food supplies to the needy. Following these first missionaries came Antionette Hinz, a local member and an early convert, who carried on till 1917. Ministers and workers from Bethany Bible School were the agents through whom the mission was served. In 1917 Grace Kauffman Jasper of Elkhart, Iowa, and Marie Jasper, now Mrs. Jacob Eby of Marshalltown, Iowa, were the resident missionaries in charge of relief. Grad- ually the free relief feature was dropped so as to encourage larger community participation and develop an attitude of self- help.
To insure permanency for the mission there was need of a building. To this end a campaign was conducted during 1908 and 1909 to raise a building fund under the slogan, Buy a Brick for a Dime. The plan worked and in September of 1909 the treasurer reported $5,619.66 on hand. In September of 1912, in- cluding a $500 gift from Mary Geiger of Philadelphia, the fund had grown to $10,871.83. With this on hand the church was built the following year. In 1914 the first council and the first love feast were held in the building, though the mission was still a part of the Chicago congregation.
Many Russians lived in the church neighborhood. Through religious teaching and relief some of these, especially of the second generation, have been won for the church. A Russian Baptist minister who was working among his fellow Russians became deeply interested in the Church of the Brethren as he saw its workings at Douglas Park, with the result that he trans- ferred his membership. Since he had been baptized in Russia, trine immersion was natural and scriptural for him. He was
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received on his former baptism and has continued his mission- ary endeavors among his fellow countrymen. He is probably our only Russian minister. His name, M. A. de Sherbenin, ap- pears in the annual list of Brethren ministers.
In April of 1938 the Chicago congregation voted in favor of organizing Douglas Park as an independent congregation. Dis- trict meeting approved and on December 20, under the direc- tion of W. W. Slabaugh and M. Clyde Horst, the members met and organized. Officers chosen at that time were as follows: W. W. Slabaugh, elder; Charles Fausnaught, deacon; Mildred Her- out, clerk; Alva Fike, treasurer; Mrs. Charles Fausnaught, pian- ist; Walter Miller, Sunday-school superintendent; Mrs. Ezra Wise, pianist; Mrs. Roy White, chorister; Mrs. Louise Walker, secretary. The present pastor is Roy Irvin White.
A unique part of the story of this church is that it was an outgrowth of relief work. As in the time of Christ, and as has so often proved the case in mission fields, physical ministrations led to discipleship. In 1925 Merlin C. Shull and family located at Douglas Park and he became pastor for both this place and Hastings Street. Prior to this he had been doing much of the preaching at Hastings Street. His morning sermons at Douglas were largely along the line of children's sermons while at Hastings they were for all ages. Children predominated at Douglas. Mrs. Shull headed the women at Douglas under an organization known as the Ladies' Club. More and more this group took on the characteristics of the Aid and in 1934 reor- ganized under that name. They specialize in annual food and clothing sales. They make some of these articles while others are donated by merchants and residents of the community. They support the Chicago Church Federation, the Women's Pro- tectorate, and missions, and help supply the local congregation with equipment needed from time to time. A special feature is making it possible during the hot summer months for mothers and children to spend some time in fresh-air camps in the coun- try. Illinois and Indiana groups are loyal supporters.
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Wisconsin Congregations
The Wisconsin congregations are a part of the Illinois group, the whole being designated as the District of Northern Illinois and Wisconsin. Anthony Huddleson was the first member of the Church of the Brethren to come to Wisconsin. This was in 1835. The first Wisconsin church, which was the fifth congre- gation for the district, was organized in 1854. Notwithstanding this early congregation the denomination has not prospered in Wisconsin as it has in Illinois. We have records of fourteen congregations organized, six of which are active at present. These six congregations are served by four pastors whose sup- port comes from the local churches they serve, aided by the mission funds of the entire district. As was the common prac- tice for many years throughout the brotherhood, the free min- istry prevailed in Wisconsin. For many years the ministers from Illinois did much preaching in Wisconsin, sometimes re- ceiving pay for the expenses, but often laboring at their own personal expense. Later the mission board bore the expense, and also introduced the pastoral system. Seven hundred eighty- eight is the total membership of the Wisconsin churches at pres- ent.
Ash Ridge (1854)
In 1854 George W. Studebaker from the Mississinewa con- gregation of Indiana organized Ash Ridge, our first Wisconsin church. During that same year six families, consisting of Eli, Henry and David Troxel and their wives, Daniel Fouts and wife, John Bowman and wife, and Solomon Pittinger and wife, all from Indiana, had settled at Sylvan, Richland County, near Ash Ridge. At the time of organization the thirty members voted to advance Eli Troxel to the second degree of the ministry, called his brothers, Henry and David, to the ministry, and chose John Bowman and Solomon Pittinger as their deacons. Other mem- bers from Indiana and Ohio settled among them. Thus they had a goodly number and were well supplied with officials. In 1855 Eli Troxel passed away.
Eighty miles south of Ash Ridge was the Yellow Creek con- gregation in Illinois. Learning of this Wisconsin congregation,
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true to Brethren ministerial custom, Enoch Eby, Daniel Fry and Allen Boyer from Yellow Creek by private conveyance made their way through the woods, over hills, across streams, and held meetings for this new group. The membership did not increase in the immediate future for in 1860 there were only twenty-eight members, two less than at the time of organization. After the middle seventies ministers were making frequent trips to the Wisconsin field. Among this number was Daniel M. Miller of Milledgeville, whose labors in Wisconsin continued for more than a dozen years. His preaching was largely along doctrinal lines. Once the doors of a meetinghouse belonging to another denomination were closed against him. Not to be outdone he purchased a house and gave it to the local congregation. J. J. Emmert and George D. Zollers preached among the members in Richland and Sauk counties in 1877. Zollers being adept in verse left a poetic account of their trip making free use of names and places, thus giving a personal touch to the record of their labors.
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After worshiping in a log house for many years a new day dawned in 1896 when the old log house was abandoned and a new frame building was erected on the same lot. The congre- gation had been known by various names. Now that they had a new house, they reorganized and called themselves the Ash Ridge congregation and chose John Shepherd as their fore- man. Because the membership was weak in finances and in the ministry the mission board took charge and from time to time sent ministers in to conduct services. In May 1903 the board placed David A. Rowland among them as their pastor; he re- mained with them for two years. During this time William Lampin held a very successful revival which netted thirty-two new members by baptism. In this number was a young teacher, G. L. Fruit, who soon was called to the ministry. This gave them a young minister. The congregation continued with vary- ing success, but was finally disorganized, the property was dis- posed of and the proceeds were turned over to the district board, which had helped the congregation on different occasions. Such is the simple story of the first Wisconsin Church of the Brethren. Today only a few members live in the community. Ash Ridge called ten men to the ministry.
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Irvin Creek (1869)
In 1864 the families of John Pippinger and John Yoder from Indiana, whose wives were sisters, settled a few miles west of Menomonie in Dunn County. Two years later they were fol- lowed by their brother-in-law, Joseph Keck, who located in St. Croix County. In 1877 he settled in Dunn County, but south of the Chippewa River. His new home became the center of activities which later led to the organization of the Chippewa congregation. For this information we are indebted to Mrs. Lucy Yoder Cummings, of Menomonie, oldest of the sixteen children in the Yoder family.
The year 1869 was a memorable one for the Irvin Creek group. Meeting in the home of John Yoder they held a love feast and formed an organization. They chose John Pippinger as their elder. Either then or soon afterward Samuel Crist was elected minister. During this period the Nutter family was active in church work. A minister of the name of Brunk lived among them but we know nothing about his going or coming. About 1893 they built a small meetinghouse. In 1910 they sold this house and the few remaining members transferred their membership to the Chippewa Valley congregation.
Pierce County (1875?)
Anthony Huddleson, born in West Virginia in 1804, came to Pierce County in 1835. Our interest in him centers in the fact that he was a Dunker and the first man to settle on land where the town of Ellsworth later sprang up. His wife was Susannah Whetstone, sister to Samuel Whetstone. W. H. Robey, a min- ister, came to Pierce County early in the seventies. In Feb- ruary 1875 J. J. Emmert and Enoch Eby held some meetings for this group, at which time it seems the church was organized. Robey and several others lived near River Falls; others at Ells- worth about fifteen miles to the south. In the summer of 1877 Joseph Ogg and David Whetstone, ministers from Minnesota, were among them, held some meetings and a council at which Eli Bowman was installed in the ministry, and conducted a love feast.
In 1880 S. H. Baker moved to Ellsworth, settled in a log house and preached every two weeks at the Ottman schoolhouse
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four miles to the southwest, walking both ways. Members liv- ing in the neighborhood of the Ottman schoolhouse were the James Leonard family, Abe Bennett and wife, Richard Martin and wife and S. S. Thayer and wife. Mrs. Thayer taught the school. Though well begun there were signs of disintegration. Twelve members were reported in 1877, twenty in 1882. Robey died in 1881. Baker returned to Irvin Creek in 1882 and about the same time Bowman left for Irvin Creek and later went to Barron, where he became a charter member in 1888. This left Pierce County without a resident minister.
In 1882 J. J. Emmert and D. M. Miller held some meetings and adjusted certain troubles which resulted in the loss of two members. Names of other members of this church were Clark, Felig, Norman and wife, and Sisters Bacon and Livingston. H. A. Patterson and David Huddleson were deacons. With no house of worship and no ministers the work went to pieces.
Chippewa Valley (1879)
A group of members settled south of the Chippewa River apart from the main body of the Irvin Creek congregation, of which they were a part. They held regular preaching services, at least one love feast and several council meetings in which they considered matters pertaining to their local interests. On September 23 and 24, 1877, they held a love feast in the home of Samuel H. Baker. Present at this feast from Minnesota were Elders C. F. Wirt, David Whetstone and Peter Strubble, who then and there ordained Samuel H. Baker to the eldership.
They held most of their meetings in the Oak Grove school- house. Near by stood the home of Joseph Keck, in which they held a love feast on September 14, 1879. Present at this feast were Enoch Eby, Daniel Fry and C. F. Wirt, who assisted them in forming a church organization. At this time Samuel H. Baker was chosen elder, Henry C. Baker was called to the ministry and, at the suggestion of Katie Baker, the congregation was christened Chippewa Valley. In the cemetery near by lie the remains of Samuel H. Baker and his companion.
For fourteen years the members held their meetings and love feasts in private homes and schoolhouses. However, church consciousness was increasing. In 1891 they discussed
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building a meetinghouse, began the work the year following, completed it in 1893 and held their first love feast in it on Octo- ber 17. The General Mission Board loaned $100 which was re- paid in four annual installments. During the first five years they held three revivals: the first one by D. M. Miller with five bap- tisms, the second by C. P. Rowland with twenty-five baptisms, and the third by Henry C. Baker with twenty baptisms.
Because several families were living a few miles south and east of the church Henry C. Baker settled among them. This gradually shifted the church activities to the new location. In 1903 they decided to wreck their church house and use the material in building a new one in their present locality in the east part of Pepin County. To this end they appointed Ed Davis, J. A. Baker and Henry C. Baker as the building committee. That same year the new house was completed and a love feast was held in it in October. The house has an audience room and a kitchen, but no basement. A parsonage stands hard by the church. Howard Peden, elected to the ministry in 1923 and ordained to the eldership in 1933, serves as pastor on part time.
On December 15, 1915, thirteen women met in the Henry C. Baker home, organized an Aid Society and chose Ida Salsbury as president, May Cripe as vice president, Alice Peden as secre- tary and Florence Salsbury as treasurer. They adopted as their projects serving lunches, piecing quilts, knotting comforters and doing needlework. Among their chief interests are the home church program, missions, Bethany Biblical Seminary and vari- ous home charities. They estimate that they have contributed some $2,400 during the years.
A new experience came to this congregation in 1924 when they entertained the district conference, the meetings being held in the town of Mondovi. The congregation has called six men to the ministry, the present pastor being the fifth one called.
Maple Grove (1885)
In the fall of 1884 Wesley Berry and family from Indiana set- tled in Chippewa County in a wilderness a few miles southwest of what is now Stanley. The following year Almon Mock and family (the wife being a sister of Mrs. Berry) and his brother,
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William, and wife settled in the same community. Through a country peddler these families learned of other Brethren living in Dunn County. At their request Samuel H. Baker came and held a week's meetings, baptizing a Mrs. Gaudy. Later others were baptized. Following this winter, meetings were held at irregular periods. Baker lived sixty miles distant; the winters were cold, the snow deep and the roads mere trails through the timber. During the summer, however, Baker came every two weeks.
October 16 became a red-letter day, for this group of wilder- ness Brethren who met in the log house of Henry Schock or- ganized the congregation, elected their officers and closed the day with their first love feast. Directing this day's work were D. M. Miller and Samuel H. Baker, who had been preaching for them. They called themselves the Maple Grove congregation, chose Samuel H. Baker as elder, Almon Mock as clerk and Sam- uel Mitchel as treasurer. Those present at the organization were: Almon and Phoebe Mock, Wesley and Rose Anna Berry, Charles and Hulda Kohlberg, Charles and Eve Clemmens, Mrs. A. R. Berg and Kate Mock, all from Indiana. Present also were the following who had been baptized from the community: Wil- liam and Elizabeth Llewellyn, Samuel and Anna Mitchel, Adam and Lena Shock and John and Kate Gaudy.
The Sunday school was organized in May 1888. On the Sun- days when there was no preaching they had a prayer meeting. In August of that year Baker located ten miles from the Maple Grove center, thus providing them with better ministerial serv- ice. At the same time Thomas D. Van Buren (minister) and wife from Nebraska settled in their midst. Van Buren did most of the preaching at Maple Grove while Baker proclaimed the gos- pel in outlying districts. Sunday school and preaching were conducted every Sunday during the summer months, the serv- ices being held in the schoolhouse.
Feeling the need of a meetinghouse they began assembling material in 1890 and circulated a subscription paper. The fol- lowing list shows that they had a will to do and hands to toil but money was a scarce article. Note the statement and the amounts subscribed:
Maple Grove Congregation of the Church of the Brethren or German Baptist Brethren in Chippewa County, Wis., Dec. 25, 1890.
We, the undersigned members of the above church, for the purpose of
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building a house of worship, do hereby agree to pay in cash or labor or timber or any material set opposite our names respectively, said house to be a neat plain frame structure 36 by 50 feet [later changed to 28 by 40 feet] to be owned, used and controlled exclusively by the Brethren, ex- cept for funerals it shall be open to all. Kate Mock paid $2.00; Wesley Berry ten days work and paid $5.00, Rose A. Berry paid $2.00, Lewis Shock ten days work and paid $5.00, Libbie Clemmens paid $1.00.
Men went to work in their own timber, felled trees, and took them to the sawmill of Mathias Swihart and sons, who donated the sawing. Thus they toiled on for two years before the house was enclosed. Nor were they discouraged when a storm blew down the frame after they had erected it. After the house was enclosed in warm weather they worshiped within its walls nor did they murmur because of unplastered walls and the crude seats on which they sat. In December 1892 the treasurer re- ported that he had received $249 and had paid out $247.41 on the building project. Rose Anna Berry had about $100 received from friends in Indiana. In the years immediately following Van Buren did most of the preaching. In 1894 he was ordained to the eldership. Becoming dissatisfied he withdrew from the church in 1899 but came back later.
The Aid was organized in 1906 with only three charter mem- bers. Their small number did not hinder them from seeing church needs so they undertook first the task of soliciting eggs to buy kerosene lamps for the church. From that they went on to other fields of operation.
Maple Grove is the only congregation in the district in which a church debate has been held. The Church of Christ or Dis- ciples, as it is often known, had a congregation in this neigh- borhood. Almon Mock frequently had discussions with the members of this flock. From this grew the desire to have a representative of each church present his church teachings on certain doctrines. As a result a five-day discussion was ar- ranged for August 1908. Eld. B. E. Kessler defended the doc- trines of the Brethren and Rev. Wilson Mallory those of the Disciples. John Heckman was moderator for the Brethren and Albert Mock for the Disciples. There was a large attendance with the best of interest. The year following the debate Wil- liam Lampin held a revival which resulted in twenty-five bap- tisms, mostly heads of families.
This congregation has experimented with associate member-
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ship. In 1931, under the leadership of O. L. Harley, who was serving Maple Grove, Worden and Stanley as his enlarged parish, twenty-one members of the above-named Disciples church became associate members of Maple Grove without sev- ering their connection with their own people. This arrangement has continued, thus providing leadership and Christian fellow- ship for a group that were not otherwise provided for.
After eighteen years of the free ministry in this congregation the mission board located James M. Moore as the first pastor in 1905. Other pastors followed in rapid succession until Lewis Hyde became pastor in 1933 and has served since that time. Because of the load of supporting a full-time man the mission board has worked out a plan by which Maple Grove, Stanley and Worden are served by one man. Because this larger parish idea has proved almost too much for one pastor, this year a slight change has been made so that a local minister assists some in the work. Hyde is the tenth pastor for the congregation. Two men have been called to the ministry.
Barron (1888)
In 1887 the Brethren families living in Barron County held their membership in the Irvin Creek congregation. These members held a council in a private home on April 15, 1887, at which John Pittinger, elder of Irvin Creek, presided. Minis- ters from Irvin Creek preached for them regularly. That same year D. M. Miller from Illinois came and held some meetings. He returned the following year for a second series of meetings, and a love feast was held in the home of Marion Joyce in June. Church interest continued to grow and on October 27 the mem- bers met in the Wiseman schoolhouse and organized under the direction of John Sellers, John Pittinger and Henry C. Baker. At that time Baker was chosen as elder; Eli Bowman was a minister. O. H. Berry and B. F. Williams were called to the dea- con's office. They continued to worship in the Wiseman school- house.
Feeling the need of a meetinghouse they met in October of 1894 and appointed a building committee consisting of Henry Wood, B. F. Williams and James Cramer. While the house was not yet completed they met for their first services on June 30,
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1895. Changing conditions caused them to transfer the prop- erty to the mission board in 1907. Services were continued rather irregularly until 1913 when the house was sold and church activities were centered in Rice Lake, fifteen miles to the north. At the completion of the meetinghouse Sunday school was organized and continued to meet until 1910 when the mem- bership close at hand was no longer able to carry on. Here, as has often been the case elsewhere, the moving spirit of the school was a woman in the person of Aunt Molly Barton, whose enthusiasm and devotion surmounted difficulties that baffled others. She had the happy faculty of turning stumblingblocks into steppingstones.
A few Brethren families lived near Spooner, about forty miles north of the main body at Barron, the Miller and Shoemaker families being among them. Because of the distance they could not worship with the main body. This induced C. P. Rowland to give them meetings in 1903 and again in 1904. On both oc- casions love feasts were held. Conditions seemed ripe for an advance step and there was considerable sentiment for a church organization. The matter was taken up by the mission board, but the board felt that it would be well to wait for more definite signs of permanency to develop. Apparently the board judged wisely.
Long before there was a Men's Work organization as we now have it the men of the Barron church pioneered in this line, perhaps the first project of its kind in the district. They planted six acres of potatoes, cultivated, harvested and sold them, and used the proceeds to discharge part of the debt due the General Mission Board for funds which had been advanced in building the meetinghouse. At a later date when the history of the Men's Work is chronicled this incident should not be overlooked.
Greenwood (1897)
In the fall of 1893 the following Brethren families from Indiana settled in Door County, eleven miles north of Sturgeon Bay on the west side of the peninsula: Henry J. Cripe (a dea- con) and wife, Francis Peden and wife (parents of Howard), J. B. Felix and wife, Lulu Felix and Viola Felix. In the spring
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of 1896 Simon E. Yundt of Mount Morris held some meetings for them and baptized John and Manfred Cripe, sons of Henry. Meetings once a month were continued by Simon E. Yundt, Henry C. Baker and C. P. Rowland, and Sunday school was con- ducted by local talent, all in the home of J. B. Felix.
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