Church Records: Part 2
This article originally appeared in Exchange,
a newsletter published by the Wisconsin Historical
Society. (Volume 28, Number 2) It is the third in a series of articles titled Researching
Community History. The series highlights
the Society's resources available to local
historians. It
was written by Tim Ericson, assistant library director
for archives and special collections at the University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Community historians excited by the richness of information contained
in church records in the Archives of the Wisconsin
Historical Society will also find useful
materials in the Society Library's
large collection of resources about Wisconsin churches
and religious organizations. Like the records in the
Archives and Manuscripts
section, Library collections contain unique information
about Wisconsin's early settlers, and the cities, villages
and rural localities they inhabited.
Included, of course, are hundreds of individual church histories
from throughout the state. But community historians
probably will find even more unique and fascinating information in
one of the many publications issued by various religious organizations
active in Wisconsin during the 19th century.
One of the earliest and most extensive is the Home Missionary (1828-1909: DS.7H7). This publication regularly featured letters from missionaries living in all parts of the Wisconsin frontier, especially in the years prior to 1880. Although these letters focus primarily upon religious matters, they also contain a wealth of material about individual communities, and about the people who had immigrated to the state. For example, the following selection, from a letter written in 1856 by a missionary in Trempealeau County, gives an early account of the origin of that county's name.
"There is, just east of the Trempealeau River...a conical bluff which appears to stand in the water when the rivers are high. To this the French gave the name 'Trempe a l 'eau' [which means] soaked in water. This is the origin of the name now applied to the range of bluffs, river, county and town."
Another selection, from North Pepin in 1857, tells something about the hardships faced by early settlers.
"... many thoughts and cares are about the comfort of wife and
children. Till within about ten days past we lived
in a very uncomfortable log cabin — so low
that we must always stoop or hit our head upon the boards
above. It is no slight trial of one's patience to
be always thumping the head against a rough board
or beam. This cabin became so cold that we really
suffered in it before we left. Some of our Eastern
friends would not think such accommodations endurable. But such
we have to put up with in a new country."
A third example, from Prairie du Chien, gives an excellent idea of how scarce money was on the Wisconsin frontier in 1858.
"The [$2] fee [for baptizing two children] was a 'godsend.' We
had been, for some time, borrowing, and the last dollar was spent,
the flour barrel was empty, and over every store door is now written
in large letters TERMS CASH. The $2 bought
us a sack of flour and one dollar, a donation from an old lady,
got us some butter and cheese. These, with some stores remaining
from last year's garden, afforded bountiful supplies."
Other publications, similar to the Home Missionary,
contain equally useful information about the establishment and building
of churches, and about the early history of Wisconsin communities.
For example, Church Building Quarterly (1883-1909:
DS.7C57), published by the American Congregational
Union, lists facts about hundreds of Wisconsin churches, including
the year they were built, the amount of aid they received, and the
amount that had been returned through local donations. Also included
are many church building designs which feature an artist's drawing
of the building's exterior, and detailed floor plans such as the one
shown below.
The Minutes of the Wisconsin Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1861- : BX/8381/W51) represents only one of several denominational publications that typically contain statistical and biographical information. However, such proceedings also include revealing evidence about the attitudes and beliefs of Wisconsinites at a given period of history. The resolutions below, from the 1861 Methodist Episcopal annual meeting, illustrate strong feelings on the subject of liquor, and the outbreak of the Civil War:
Resolved, That we will do all that we can to cast odium on the liquor traffic, and to banish from good society all that are engaged in the nefarious business.
Resolved, That we strongly recommend that a sermon be preached at least once a year, in all our congregations, on the subject [of temperance reform].
Resolved, That all the war power of the nation should at once be used to crush the rebellion.
Resolved, That the citizen who withholds from the Government, in this time of peril, his earnest and cheerful support, is a traitor to his country, and an enemy to his God.
The Baptist Home Mission Monthly (1881-1909: DS.7B21) featured regular statistical tabulations of church membership and financial giving, biographical information on ministers, diagrams of church buildings, and occasional articles concerning work with ethnic groups in several Wisconsin regions. A regular feature entitled "From the Field" included occasional excerpts of letters written by Wisconsin clergymen. Focusing more heavily on spiritual matters than the typical Home Missionary letters, they still contain some gems about pioneer life in Wisconsin. An 1888 letter from Chippewa Falls adds to our knowledge about the importance of lumbering in that community:
"Thousands of young men this winter have been here and are now
away in the camps far from everybody. ... This occupation
takes many for six or eight months of logging, so
that the term 'woods widow' has grown up in this north land and
signifies the woman whose husband is off in some distant camp earning
a livelihood."
The Journal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Wisconsin (1847- : BX/5918/M6/J7) lists parishes and the names of all ministers, proceedings with resolutions concerning social issues with which the church was involved, and reports from missionaries and rectors. The following excerpt tells a few intriguing details about mass migration from one Wisconsin village during 1862 and 1863:
"I left my station in Theresa, Dodge Co., on the 18th of October,
1862, the Rev. F. A. Beckel taking my place. He found there yet
15 families of the old congregation; the most of them have left
since the time he took charge of the parish, and moved to Minnesota
and Nebraska, whereby the once flourishing mission has been destroyed
entirely."
The Wisconsin Historical Records Survey's six-volume set entitled Inventory
of the Church Archives of Wisconsin (CD/3590/H48)
is the only portion of the WPA church records survey
(discussed in Church Records - Part 1)
that was published in its final form. The set encompasses six
denominations: The Church of the United Brethren, the Protestant
Episcopal Church (Diocese of Fond du Lac), the Church of the Nazarene,
the Disciples of Christ, the Assemblies of God and the Moravian
Church. Each volume includes a denominational history, a bibliography
of secondary resources, a map showing the distribution of churches
in Wisconsin, and a brief historical sketch of churches, missions,
hospitals, schools and other denominational organizations. Much
of the information duplicates the WPA records (Series 1953), although
it is more complete and easier to use. Individual churches are
indexed both by their name, and the name of the community or county
in which they were located. Typical church listings include founding
and ending dates, the names of ministers, and information about
the construction of church buildings. The Inventory
of the Church Archives would be especially useful
to persons researching counties or regions since
it includes both defunct and ongoing churches.
The periodicals mentioned above represent only a sample of the many
publications that have been preserved in the Wisconsin
Historical Society's Library. A host of
denominational journals and almanacs contain articles
and sermons dealing with issues of the day, including
the activities of reform groups like the Anti-Saloon
League, and reports about work among particular ethnic
groups. Religious newspapers contain names of clergymen,
lists of churches and other facts, figures and narrative
information important to understanding the history
of Wisconsin churches and the communities of which
they are a part. The types and the amount of the information
available in each of the titles vary considerably depending
upon the date, the denomination, and the nature of
the journal. Some, especially Lutheran publications,
require a reading knowledge of German or Norwegian, but almost all
contain at least some information that will be useful to church
or community historians.
Many of these resources are available on interlibrary
loan. For further information the Reference Librarian at the
Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State
Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1482, or via e-mail.
When conducting research on the history of your county, township,
village or city, remember to consult religious records. From the beginning,
churches were important forces in Wisconsin communities. Missionaries
and clergymen were astute observers of the conditions that prevailed
in the newly settled territory, and of the attitudes of the early
immigrants. In addition to telling about religious history, church
records and publications document aspects of the social, political
and economic life that our Wisconsin ancestors experienced as they
built the communities in which we now live.
|
