| Additional Information: | Early Welsh church. Church was founded in 1847.
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2023: Representative of the “proverbial little white church” building type that were ubiquitous throughout rural America before the turn of the twentieth century (Swierenga 1997: 415). The structure is rectangular in plan, has a symmetrical facade, and has a front gable roof (though surmounted with a relatively small cross vs a tall steeple), and the front central entrance has a wide doorway flanked on each side by a window.
The Peniel Church is a Greek Revival style church. It was constructed in 1856 by Welsh immigrants who settled in the area. It is located on Zoar Road (County Highway F), 0.5 miles west of State Highway 26, Eldorado, Fond du Lac County.
This early Welsh church was founded in 1847. The 1893 map shows a Calvanistic Methodist Church located here along the section line in the northwest quarter of Section 6; it was set on a 113.37-acre farm owned by Henry Jones (Foote 1893). Aerial photographs indicate the church underwent at least one addition before it was first inventoried in 1974. The Oshkosh Public Library’s Pioneer Churches collection includes the Peniel Chapel and notes it is historically significant because it is “well presented in historical authenticity and home of one of the best attended Gymanfa Ganu [Welsh for ‘Gathering for Singing’] in the state and well loved by those of Welsh ancestry near and far.” The church was established after “a half-acre of land was donated to the society by Peter Jones in 1847. The first Welsh sermon in the settlement was preached in Peter Jones’ house in August 1847. Sunday School classes and prayer meetings were held in homes before the church was built. Peniel Church was derived from prayer meetings begun in October 1850 in the home of Edward Shone. The church was established July 17, 1856, in the home of David Roberts. They began to build a church soon after organizing and the end of 1856 completed it,” with the “opening meeting was held in March 1857.” The building underwent its first enlargement in 1868 when a sanctuary was added to the building, “the [first] kitchen (‘little room’) was built in 1871 and a vestibule was built in front in 1894. Early photos show the vestibule had separate doors for men and women. Later the vestibule was modified with a single center door and the separate doors removed.” The current kitchen was built in the 1960s. The building was constructed without restrooms, and the facilities remain in an outhouse just south of the building. The 1890s entry vestibule addition is attributed to architect Caleb Lewis, but architects have not been identified for the original construction or other alterations.
The Peniel Church was originally Calvanistic Methodist, a denomination that became known as Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Churches by 1920, and in 1955 “they united with the Presbyterian Church (USA)” (Oshkosh Library n.d.). This congregation was one of five Welsh churches in the rural area in 1897, but “by 1947 only two remained, Bethesda and Peniel,” both lacked a fulltime minister. The size of the congregation dwindled throughout the twentieth century, especially after World War II, and by “1977 membership had fallen to 20. The congregation decided to close the church and the property reverted to the local presbytery and members transferred to churches of their choice or convenience.” Services continue to be held at the nearby Bethesda Church in Ring. Later, former members of the church established the Peniel Gymanfa Ganu Association and purchased the church building. The church is occasionally used for weddings and funerals, in addition to continually hosting the annual Gymanfa Ganu since 1923. The gatherings originated as singing schools that “were held once each year” among four Welsh churches in the area from 1904 to 1912, with the Peniel Chapel being the only one that continued and evolved into the Gymanfa Ganu.
The building has undergone various alterations since it was constructed in 1856 but retains a good degree of architectural integrity (the most significant alterations occurred more than 50 years ago). Two additions were added before the turn of the twentieth century, including the front entry vestibule with two doorways that was altered again later for a single entrance. According to the Peniel Welsh Chapel’s Facebook page, in 2020 the windows were restored, its clapboard wood cladding was replaced with vinyl lap siding, and the front entry steps were replaced. Despite the alterations, the church retains architectural and historic integrity.
The church holds associations with the Welsh community that settled in this rural area of Wisconsin in the mid-nineteenth century. The building was used for regular services for more than a century until at least 1977 and has continually hosted the annual Gymanfa Ganu celebration since before 1923.
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Kohler, p. 40.
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2023
Oshkosh Public Library
n.d. “Pioneer Churches” Local history collection. Online resource, https://www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org/localhistory/pioneerchurches and https://box2.nmtvault.com/Oshkosh/jsp/RcWebSearchResults.jsp, accessed March 2022.
Swierenga, Robert P.
1997 “The Little White Church: Religion in Rural America.” Agricultural History. Vol. 71, No. 4 (Autumn, 1997), pp. 415-441. Online resource, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3744470, accessed November 2022.
Welsh Gymanfa Ganu Association of Wisconsin (WGGAW)
2022 "Peniel Welsh Church." Online resource, https://wggaw.org/peniel-saturdays-2/, accessed November 2022.
Peniel Welsh Chapel Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/penielwelshchapel, accessed November 2022. |
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