USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Memoirs of Milwaukee County : from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Milwaukee County, Volume I > Part 38
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There is at the corner of Scott street and Seventh avenue a Scan- dinavian Methodist Episcopal church, over which Rev. Jens P. Ander- sen presides as pastor. On Oct. 18, 1908, the cornerstone of the first Swedish Methodist church in Milwaukee was laid at the corner of Scott street and Seventeenth avenue. The pastor of the congregation, which was recently organized, is Rev. L. Johnson.
Probably one of the most bitter church riots in the history of any church was that which occurred in Milwaukee in 1850. For the fol- lowing account of the affair we are indebted to a publication issued in Milwaukee in 1881: "It was during this year (1850) that the notorious church riot occurred, brought about by the presence of the Rev. Mr. Leahy, an ex-monk, who had renounced his vows and joined the Protestant Methodist church. During the progress of an evening service held by him in Spring Street church, one Sabbath evening, the doors were forced and the building filled with a mob armed with bludgeons and other missiles. A short conflict ensued ending in the retiring of the mob. The affair caused a great deal of excitement in the young city, and a public meeting was held to condemn this outburst of mob law. Mr. Leahy was guaranteed the protection of the com- munity and under this protection spoke several times afterwards at different places without molestation."
The church in Milwaukee has in the course of its history been under the direction of three different conferences. From its earliest recognition until 1840, the year of the formation of the Rock River Conference, it was part of the Illinois conference. From 1840 to 1848 it was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of the Rock River Confer- ence and since the latter year has been a part of the Wisconsin con- ference. In connection with the church is maintained a deaconess' home. The building it now occupies was formerly the parsonage of the Summerfield church, but was purchased in 1893 by Mrs. R. P. Elmore, who donated it to the church for its present purpose.
Besides the churches in the city the Methodist Episcopal church has places of worship at Menomonee Falls, South Milwaukee and Cudahy (one charge), Wauwatosa and West Allis, all in Milwaukee county. The report of the Milwaukee district made at the 1908 con-
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ference held in Neenah, Wis., shows that the Methodist churches in the city have a total membership of 2,468, and the other churches of 512, a total for the county of 2,980. Bishop Thomas B. Neely, pre- siding over the Wisconsin conference, appointed Rev. William Rollins as superintendent of the Milwaukee district.
There is also one Free Methodist church in the city, at Tenth avenue and Madison street, of which Rev. Henry Wolfe is pastor.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
To Presbyterianism belongs the credit of organizing the first church in Milwaukee. Prior to 1836 the Rev. Hiram Barber, a Congre- gational minister, had visited Milwaukee several times and had preached at the services held by a few persons interested in Christian worship. On April II, 1837, a number of persons met in the court-house to discuss the feasibility of organizing a Presbyterian society. The idea met with favor and two days later at an adjourned meeting held in the same building, with Rev. Moses Ordway presiding and Rev. Cutting Marsh, a missionary to the Stockbridge Indians, acting as clerk, articles of faith and covenant were adopted and the organization was effected. Thirteen persons offered letters of dismission from eastern Presbyterian churches and Samuel Hinman, John Ogden and Samuel Brown were elected elders. On April 27 a call was extended to the Rev. Gilbert Crawford, of the Niagara, N. Y., presbytery, and he began his ministry in the July following. During the summer a church building was erected at the corner of Wells and Second streets, and was occupied until 1840. The first record of the church bears the date of Dec. 12, 1837, and tells of the election of John Y. Smith, Albert Fowler and James H. Rogers as trustees and a motion prevailed to call the organization "the First Presbyterian Society of Milwaukee." Early in 1840 it was discovered that at the meeting of Dec. 12, 1837, the statutes of the territory had not been complied with in the organization of the society and on the 6th of February at a meet- ing of the society the following resolution was adopted :
"Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to investi- gate the statutes of Wisconsin relative to the organization of religious societies ; also, to examine the previous formation of the First Presby- terian Society of Milwaukee-consider the propriety of a re-organiza- ton ; and, if deemed expedient, to draft a constitution, and report at an adjourned meeting : the committee to consist of A. Finch, Jr., Rev. S. Peet and W. P. Proudfit."
In just what manner the society had failed to comply with the
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statutes the records do not show, but at the adjourned meeting held on Feb. 10 Mr. Finch as chairman reported :
"That the First Presbyterian Society of Milwaukee, by the statute under which they are organized, has become extinct, in failing to comply with the requirements of the statute in the election of trustees. Second: That they deem it expedient to enter upon a new organization and third, report the following constitution of the Presbyterian Society."
The constitution as drafted was adopted by sections by the meet- ing and the re-organization was effected. In the same year (1840) the congregation had increased to such size that the church building was no longer adequate for service and a hall was leased of James H. Rogers. This continued to be the meeting house of the congregation until 1842. The building of a new church was discussed as early as 1841 and on March 2 the society resolved "That we build a meeting house forty-two by sixty in size, with a basement story of brick, the superstructure of wood, with a steeple * *",
and "That we let the job of building said meeting house to William Payne and N. C. Prentiss for the sum of $3.300." The edifice was to be erected at the corner of Milwaukee and Mason streets, where the Colby & Abbott block now stands. Work was begun immediately and in the autumn of 1842 the basement was finished and ready for occupancy. It was not until January, 1844, that the whole was com- pleted, and on the 24th of that month the dedication ceremonies occurred. Three years after its dedication the building was extended some twenty feet and again in 1853 it underwent extensive repairs and remodeling.
On Jan. 31, 1849, was organized the North Presbyterian church, being an outgrowth of a desire on the part of the old-school Presby- tery to gain a foothold in Milwaukee. During the sumer and fall immediately preceding the regular organization a small building had been erected on a lot at the corner of Martin and Milwaukee streets, and the society took possession of it. Rev. Mr. Buchanan, who had held missionary meetings previous to the organization, was installed as pastor and his services continued throughout the life of the church. In 1854 on the same lot a larger building was erected at a cost of $7,000. In the late sixties a number of members of both the First and North Presbyterian churches determined to organize a church on the west side, which afterward became known as Calvary Presby- terian. A history of this latter church appears below. The deflection caused a serious weakening of both the east side churches and it was determined by both societies to unite in one church. On Nov. 29, 1870,
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commissioners from both churches appeared before the Milwaukee Presbytery and asked for an organic union of the two. After listening to the statements of the commissioners the favor was granted and on December 7 the members of the two societies met and under the direc- tion of the Presbytery united under the name of Immanuel church. An act passed by the legislature of 1871 allowed the separate bodies of trustees to transfer all property held by them to the corporate body existing under the above title. On Aug. 25, 1873, the cornerstone of a new church on Astor street between Martin and Juneau was laid and on Jan. 3, 1875, the building was dedicated. At the time of its erection the building was the finest church edifice in the west. During the night of Dec. 30-31, 1887, the edifice was burned to the ground, and work was at once begun on a new building. The chapel portion of the church was ready for service on Dec. 16, 1888, and the whole was dedicated on March 3, 1889. During the interim the society secured the Athenaeum for purposes of public worship.
As before indicated Calvary Presbyterian church is an outgrowth of the old First and North churches. On March 30, 1869, west side Presbyterians met in the old church building so long occupied by the St. James Episcopal congregation and it was unanimously resolved that it was expedient and desirable to organize a Presbyterian church on the west side of the river, to be called the Calvary Presbyterian church. A committee was appointed to take the necessary steps for an organ- ization and this committee requested that all those desirous of joining the new church should meet a committee of the Presbytery on April 3. Fifty-one members of the First and twelve of the North church members responded and these persons were then constituted the Calvary Presbyterian church. The building in which the society had first met was purchased from the St. James' society, but the next year the society erected its own church and the former edifice was re-sold to the St. James' society, which afterward used it as a chapel. Rev. A. A. Kiehle served the church as pastor for some twenty-five years. Its present minister is the Rev. W. E. Graham.
For the following sketch of Perseverance church at the corner of Walnut and Eighteenth streets we are indebted to an article by Nicholas Smith, on "Presbyterian Church History", written for a pub- lication issued in 1895 :
"What is now known as Perseverance Presbyterian church began its existence in the winter of 1857 and 1858, when a few Hollanders formed a society and began to hold religious services in a school house on Fifteenth and Fond du Lac avenue. In 1859 John Plankinton gave the society a lot on the corner of Eighteenth and Walnut streets and on
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that site a small church was built, which afterward became known as the First Holland Presbyterian church. *
"Up to 1878, the First Holland church had a very checkered career. Its history was full of discouragements. In 1859, several months after the first church building was finished, it was totally de- stroyed by fire, with no insurance to cover the loss. The church was rebuilt, and in 1869, when Dr. Post accepted the pastorate, it was nec- essary to provide more commodious accommodations; accordingly a large addition was erected in the fall of 1870, but in the middle of January following-only three days before the day appointed for the dedication, fire swept everything away. % *
"In 1878 the church extended a call to its old pastor, Dr. Post, of Chicago. He accepted on condition that the English language should be given a prominent place in church worship, and also that the church should be called 'Perseverance Presbyterian Church,' instead of the 'First Holland Presbyterian Church', which was agreed to. The name 'Perseverance' was suggested because of the trials and tribulations through which the church had passed. On the 15th of May, 1890, the church voted to discontinue the use of the Holland. This action caused the withdrawal of a large number of the Holland speaking members, who joined the Holland Presbyterian church only five blocks away. In 1893, the church, which had all the years previous been more or less dependent on home missionary aid, declared itself to be self-supporting." The present pastor of Perseverance church is Rev. R. S. Donaldson.
Westminister church can trace its origin to the establishment of Immanuel Mission Sunday School, opened on Nov. 17, 1876, in a build- ing erected on lots purchased in 1873 at the corner of Cambridge avenue and Dane place. A young minister, Rev. S. W. Chidester, who afterward became the first pastor of Bethany church, was appointed to take charge of the mission together with the Bethany mission on the south side. In 1889 the church building was moved to Thomas and Frederick streets and on March 14, 1890, the mission having grown to sufficient size, the Westminister society was incorporated and four days later the church organization was affected. In April, 1893, a new site was secured at the corner of Farwell and Belleview places, and in 1896 the handsome new edifice which the society now occupies was erected. Rev. Everett A. Cutler is now serving the church as pastor. The church also maintains a mission at 1297 Booth street.
Grace church, likewise, had its origin in a mission. On Nov. 23, 1872, a committee of the Milwaukee Presbytery organized Bethany church on Winchester street between South Bay and Lincoln avenue,
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with twenty-two members. The organization was not a success, how- ever, and in April, 1879, by a formal vote of the Presbytery it was dis- solved. Immanuel church, however, continued to conduct a mission there until 1884, when Grace church was formed from the mission. The Grace church pastor is Rev. W. M. Clarke.
The Holland Presbyterian church was formed by members of the old-school Presbytery on June 9, 1863, the original membership of sixty-three being mostly from the Dutch Reformed church of Milwau- kee. The first meetings were held in a school house on Vliet street, but subsequently property was secured at the southwest corner of Walnut and Thirteenth streets and the present church building erected thereon. Services are conducted at this church in the Dutch language in the morning and in English in the evening. The pastor is Rev. Louis H. Benes.
The German Presbyterian church was established and located as a mission in June, 1890, and on May 3 of the following year was dedi- cated as a church. The present edifice on Nineteenth street between Meinecke avenue and Wright streets was dedicated on Dec. 12, 1892. The pastor is the Rev. Frederick L. Wolters. The parsonage was built in 1896. This church also maintains a mission on Jones Island, where Mr. Wolters conducts services each Sunday.
The other Presbyterian churches in Milwaukee, and their pastors. are Berean, on Thirty-second avenue, Rev. John Kronemeyer ; Bethany, Washington and Fourteenth avenue, Rev. J. F. Slagle ; Messiah, Thir- ty-second and Chestnut, Rev. John J. Simpson ; and the Welsh Presby- terian church, at Milwaukee and Martin streets, Rev. John E. Jones. There is also a Presbyterian church in the town of Granville. The re- port of the Milwaukee presbytery to the Wisconsin synod of 1905 shows that there were 1,887 members of the Presbyterian church in Milwaukee county.
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The earliest Congregational service held in Milwaukee was in 1837, and a society was started in that year, which, however, had but a short life because of the majority of its members moving to Prairie- ville, now Waukesha. Nothing more was done until on May 6, 1841, a meeting of Christians desiring the privilege of worshipping under Congregational auspices was held to take steps to organize the Congre- tional society. On May 20, a council consisting of Revs. D. A. Sher- man, of Troy, O. F. Curtis, of Prairieville, and J. U. Parsons, of Mt. Pleasant and the church was organized with the following persons
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bringing letters from other churches: Robert Love, Mrs. Martha Love, Sarah A. Love, William J. Love, John Childs, James Lyon, Susan Smith, Lyman Stodard, Otis Sprague, Mrs. Catherine H. Sprague, Daniel Brown, Cordelia Brown, Samuel Brown, Mrs. Cla- rissa Brown, Joseph Dewolf and Mrs. A. W. Dewolf. After a confes- sion of their faith the following were also admitted to membership : Sarah Childs, Rebekah Burdick, Angeline L. Brown, Asenath Petti- bone, Jane A. Stodard, Sarah C. Stodard, Marietta E. Stodard and Almira W. Stodard. Thus the first Congregational society was com- posed of twenty-four members, nine males and fifteen females. By the close of the first year the enrollment numbered sixty-five. The church was first named "The First Congregational Bethel church of Milwau- kee", but upon reorganization under state laws the name was changed on Aug. 21, 1850, to The Plymouth church of Milwaukee. On June 29, 1841. Rev. J. J. Miter, of Knoxville, Ill., was called to the pastorate and on Nov. 17 of the same year accepted the invitation. On Feb. 6, 1842, the church determined to become connected with the Congrega- tional and Presbyterian Convention of Wisconsin. With the exception of a very few years this connection was continued for a long time, re- sumption under the convention being made on Oct. 13, 1853. The first deacons, elected in March, 1842, were Benjamin Moffit. Samuel Brown, Robert Love and Daniel Brown. The meetings of the society were first held on the second floor of a store building at Spring and West Water streets and early in the winter of 1843 the society took posses- sion of its new edifice at the corner of Spring (now Grand avenue) and Second streets, which was dedicated on Jan. 3, 1844. The formal in- stallation of Rev. Mr. Miter occurred on the evening of the same day, the sermon of the occasion being given by Rev. A. L. Chapin, presi- dent of Beloit College. The society was formally constituted by special charter on March 10, 1845, and the first trustees elected were Eliphialet Cramer, Frederick B. Otis, Alanson Sweet, James Bonnell and Abram D. Smith. The church was appraised at $5.000 and the lot at $1,000. The increase in membership of the society was so rapid that it soon be- came apparent that more commodious quarters were necessary and in 1850 the society began the erection of a new edifice at the corner of Oneida and Milwaukee streets. On May 24, 1851, this building was appropriately dedicated. Failing health compelled Rev. Mr. Miter's resignation on May 7, 1856, and a call was extended to Rev. Zephaniah M. Humphrey, of Racine. The call was accepted and on Oct. 5. 1856, Mr. Humphrey was installed.
Rev. John J. Miter. D. D., was born in Lansingburg, N. Y., on March 20, 1809. His father, Thomas Miter, was a communicant of
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the Episcopal church and his mother, Eleanor Miter, of the Presby- terian church. Dr. Miter was baptized in the faith of his father. At the age of thirteen years he was left an orphan and during the winter of 1826-1827, remained in Troy, N. Y., to treat a physical ailment. During that season occurred a series of remarkable revival services by Dr. Beman and the young man was converted to the Congregational faith. In the fall of 1827 he was sent by a wealthy physician, also a convert of the same revival, to the Lane Seminary, but impaired health necessitated his leaving after he had completed a year of study there. During the following two years he was a student in a theological class conducted by Messrs. Beman and Kirk in Troy and at the end of the period was given a license to preach. A change of climate being ad- vised for the benefit of his health Mr. Miter came west to the state of Illinois in the spring of 1837. For a few weeks he supplied the pulpit of the First church in Chicago, and then accepted a call to the pulpit of the new village of Hadley. He remained in charge there for eight months and then went to Knoxville, Ill. Thence he came to Milwau- kee, and his life here is already known. In 1860 he accepted the pas- torate of the Hanover Street Congregational church, but ill health again compelled his resignation from active service. In 1869, the de- gree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon Mr. Miter by Beloit Col- lege, in whose behalf his labors had been incessant. In July, 1864, Mr. Miter was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian church at Beaver Dam, and served as such until his death on May 5, 1879.
Mr. Humphrey served as pastor of Plymouth church for three years, until 1859, and was succeeded by Rev. Charles D. Helmer, who was installed in the fall of 1859 and remained as pastor for over five years. His successor was Rev. John Allison, who was installed in June, 1866. During the pastorate of Mr. Allison dissensions arose which resulted in a portion of the congregation leaving with Mr. Alli- son in the fall of 1867 to found Olivet church. This latter church had a checkered career for a few years, and in 1877 it was dissolved, its members being given letters to other Congregational churches in the city and its property passing into the hands of the All Saints' Epis- copal parish. Rev. J. L. Dudley was installed as pastor of Plymouth church to succeed Mr. Allison on July 1, 1868, and resigned after eight years of faithful service to the church. In September. 1875. Rev. Henry T. Rose became pastor of Plymouth and served in the position until 1882. His successor, Rev. Judson Titsworth, became pastor in May, 1883, and is still the incumbent of that position. During the pastorate of Mr. Titsworth the present sightly edifice, at the corner of Oneida and Van Buren streets, has been erected. The building was
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started in 1889 and the cornerstone laid in March of the same year. A review of the career of Mr. Titsworth, who has become one of the leading figures in the Congregational church in the state and nation, is included in the biographical section of this work.
What is now known as the Grand Avenue Congregational Church was organized on Feb. 10, 1847, as the "Free Congregational Church of Milwaukee", with a membership of twenty-two. Among other causes that led to the formation of this society was a conviction that the other ministers of the gospel in Milwaukee did not give the hearing and sympathy to the cause of the oppressed which the word of God and true Christianity required. The church at its organization adopted the following resolutions :
"I. Resolved, That slavery, being a great sin against God and man, a palpable outrage on human rights, the duty, safety and inter- ests of the whole country require its immediate abolition.
"2. Resolved, That duty requires of all the churches, institutions and benevolent associations in any way connected with or affected by slavery, in the name of the Lord of Hosts to lift up a standard against it.
"3. Resolved, That we will not receive into this church of Christ nor invite to its communion table or pulpit, such persons as are guilty of slave-holding, or who take sides with oppressors."
The first church edifice of this society was erected in 1848 on the east side of what is now Broadway between Mason and Oneida streets and was occupied from January, 1849, until the spring of 1852. The congregation then moved into the building formerly occupied by the Plymouth church at the corner of Spring and Second streets. Two years later the property was sold to the Spring Street Methodist So- ciety and the society erected a new building at the corner of Spring and Sixth streets. This was the church home until 1888, when the present edifice at the corner of Grand avenue and Twenty-second street was completed, the dedication exercises occurring on May 13. On April 7, 1852, the name was changed from the Free Congregational church to the Spring Street Congregational church, and when Spring street be- came Grand avenue by law the name was changed to what it is at present. Rev. Otis F. Curtis was the first pastor of the church. The man about whom most of the history of the Grand Avenue Congre- tional church centers was the Rev. George Henry Ide.
Mr. Ide was born in St. Johnsbury, Vt., on Jan. 21, 1839. He re- ceived his preparatory educational advantages in the academy of his native town and entered Dartmouth College in 1861. When he had completed the studies of his freshman year he enlisted in the Fifteenth
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Vermont infantry for one year. At the close of his term of service, by which time he had been promoted to the rank of orderly sergeant, he returned to Dartmouth and graduated with the class of 1865. For a year he taught in the high school of his native town and then matricu- lated in the Andover Theological Seminary, at which he graduated in 1869. His first pastorate was at Hopkinton, Mass., where he served faithfully for a period of seven years. He then accepted a call to the Central Congregational church of Lawrence, Mass., and there re- mained until he accepted a call to Grand Avenue Congregational church in Milwaukee in December, 1880, entering upon his labors early in 1881. For more than twenty-two years he remained as pastor of the Grand avenue church. His demise occurred on March 23. 1903.
An article on "Congregationalism in Milwaukee" written by Charles E. Monroe for a publication issued in 1895, contains the fol- lowing concerning the Hanover Street Congregational church :
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