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Home Wisconsin County Histories 38
Memoirs of Waukesha County. From the earliest historical times to the present with chapters on various subjects, including each of the different towns, and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in the county, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information.
38 INTRODUCTORY   SKETCH
About 1841 the puritanic lines were drawn more closely at Prairie¬ ville than ever before probably, or since. The population was essen¬ tially almost the same as that of a rural Massachusetts village at the same date. If not a Presbyterian or a Congregationalist, one must necessarily be an object of distressed anxiety to most of the settlers. When the summer of 1841 brought three young Episcopalian mis¬ sionaries to the settlement with instructions from Bishop Jackson Kemper, then having his headquarters at St. Louis, to take up their residence there and try to convert the inhabitants, both native and white, it may be safely assumed that there was a sensation in the na¬ ture of horror among the earlier arrivals.
The young men were of fine character and extensive culture, how¬ ever, and soon obtained a following. They were recent graduates of the Theological Seminary at New York and one of them, William Adams, was an alumnus of Trinity College, Dublin, while another, James Lloyd Brock, was from the University of Pennsylvania, and the third, J. W. Hobart, son of a former bishop of New York, had studied at Columbia. On Sundays they held services at the school building on Wisconsin Avenue where the German Reformed Evangelical church now stands, and on week days carried the word through the outlying districts over a radius of thirty miles north, west and south. They were celibates and occupied one cabin together, performing their own housework mostly. During the fall their strenuous exertions had been so effective as to cause a church building to be commenced and car- tied forward, but it was thought best the next year for them to estab¬ lish their mission farther westward and they accordingly settled at Nashotah in August, 1842, with later results as set forth in the story of Nashotah, elsewhere related. The chronicles of the Waukesha churches from that time may be summarized as follows:
The "First Congregational Society," (now "church,") was the earli¬ est church organization in the county and the first of its denomination in Wisconsin. It had its beginning January 20, 1838, in Mr. Robert Love's log house near the Bethesda spring, the original members be¬ ing Ezra Mendell, Asa Clark, Robert Love, J. W. Rossman, Edmund D. Clinton and Allen Clinton and their wives, Mmes. Laura Barnett, Achsa De Wolf, Sally Cushman and Caroline Eggleston, and E. H. Marshall. Up to May, 1839, services were conducted by ministers of various denominations as they might be induced to officiate, taking place at private houses, the school houses or in the open air. In the summer of 1840 a church was built at the corner of Maple and Wis¬ consin avenues, and occupied until February, 1866, when the premises were sold and the congregation held services in the Baptist church during the construction of a new building on the present site, Broad¬ way and East avenue, which was completed in December, 1867, at a cost of $11^254. It was reconstructed with considerable alterations in 1899 and has now a membership of 280, Rev. I, L. Cory having been pastor since February, 1898. On January 20, 1908, the seven¬ tieth anniversary of the church will be celebrated with appropriate ceremonies.
Title Memoirs of Waukesha County. From the earliest historical times to the present with chapters on various subjects, including each of the different towns, and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in the county, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information.
Title of work Memoirs of Waukesha County. From the earliest historical times to the present with chapters on various subjects, including each of the different towns, and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in the county, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information.
Short title Memoirs of Waukesha County
Author Haight, Theron Wilber
Description This 1907 work on Waukesha County, Wisconsin, provides a history of the county, the Indians of the area, its early settlement, the Underground Railroad in Waukesha County, Waukesha County residents in the Civil War, politics and government, businesses and industries, the medical and legal professions, summer resorts, schools, public institutions, banks and banking, and newspapers, as well as histories of the cities and towns of Waukesha, Oconomowoc, Brookfield, Delafield, Eagle, Genessee, Lisbon, Menomonee, Merton, Mukwanago, Muskego, New Berlin, Ottawa, Pewaukee, Summit, and Vernon. Biographical sketches of residents of the county are also included.
Place of Publication (Original) Madison, Wisconsin
Publisher (Original) Western Historical Association
Publication Date (Original) 1907
Format-Digital xml
Rights We believe that online reproduction of this material is permitted because its copyright protection has lapsed or because sharing it here for non-profit educational purposes complies with the Fair Use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. Teachers and students are generally free to reproduce pages for nonprofit classroom use. For advice about other uses, or if you believe that you possess copyright to some of this material, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org.
Identifier-Digital Wauk1907000
State Wisconsin;
County Waukesha County;
Decade 1800-1809; 1810-1819; 1820-1829; 1830-1839; 1840-1849; 1850-1859; 1860-1869; 1870-1879; 1880-1889; 1890-1899; 1900-1909;
Page Number 38
Format-Digital jpeg
Full Text 38 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH VI. About 1841 the puritanic lines were drawn more closely at Prairie¬ ville than ever before probably, or since. The population was essen¬ tially almost the same as that of a rural Massachusetts village at the same date. If not a Presbyterian or a Congregationalist, one must necessarily be an object of distressed anxiety to most of the settlers. When the summer of 1841 brought three young Episcopalian mis¬ sionaries to the settlement with instructions from Bishop Jackson Kemper, then having his headquarters at St. Louis, to take up their residence there and try to convert the inhabitants, both native and white, it may be safely assumed that there was a sensation in the na¬ ture of horror among the earlier arrivals. The young men were of fine character and extensive culture, how¬ ever, and soon obtained a following. They were recent graduates of the Theological Seminary at New York and one of them, William Adams, was an alumnus of Trinity College, Dublin, while another, James Lloyd Brock, was from the University of Pennsylvania, and the third, J. W. Hobart, son of a former bishop of New York, had studied at Columbia. On Sundays they held services at the school building on Wisconsin Avenue where the German Reformed Evangelical church now stands, and on week days carried the word through the outlying districts over a radius of thirty miles north, west and south. They were celibates and occupied one cabin together, performing their own housework mostly. During the fall their strenuous exertions had been so effective as to cause a church building to be commenced and car- tied forward, but it was thought best the next year for them to estab¬ lish their mission farther westward and they accordingly settled at Nashotah in August, 1842, with later results as set forth in the story of Nashotah, elsewhere related. The chronicles of the Waukesha churches from that time may be summarized as follows: The "First Congregational Society" (now "church") was the earli¬ est church organization in the county and the first of its denomination in Wisconsin. It had its beginning January 20, 1838, in Mr. Robert Love's log house near the Bethesda spring, the original members be¬ ing Ezra Mendell, Asa Clark, Robert Love, J. W. Rossman, Edmund D. Clinton and Allen Clinton and their wives, Mmes. Laura Barnett, Achsa De Wolf, Sally Cushman and Caroline Eggleston, and E. H. Marshall. Up to May, 1839, services were conducted by ministers of various denominations as they might be induced to officiate, taking place at private houses, the school houses or in the open air. In the summer of 1840 a church was built at the corner of Maple and Wis¬ consin avenues, and occupied until February, 1866, when the premises were sold and the congregation held services in the Baptist church during the construction of a new building on the present site, Broad¬ way and East avenue, which was completed in December, 1867, at a cost of $11^254. It was reconstructed with considerable alterations in 1899 and has now a membership of 280, Rev. I, L. Cory having been pastor since February, 1898. On January 20, 1908, the seven¬ tieth anniversary of the church will be celebrated with appropriate ceremonies.
Memoirs of Waukesha County. From the earliest historical...
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Introductory Sketch
Memoirs of Waukesha County
Chapter I. Natural Conditions
Chapter II. Indian Affairs
Chapter III. Pre-Territorial History
Chapter IV. The First Settlement
Chapter V. Territorial History
Chapter VI. Political Organization and History
Chapter VII. The Postal Service
Chapter VIII. Highways, Waterways and Railroads
Chapter IX. The ''Underground Railway'' in Waukesha County
Chapter X. Waukesha County in the Civil War
Chapter XI. The Bench and Bar
Chapter XII. The Medical Profession
Chapter XIII. The Waukesha County Press
Chapter XIV. Education
Chapter XV. Public Libraries
Chapter XVI. Banking in Waukesha County
Chapter XVII. Public Institutions
Chapter XVIII. Waukesha County as a Summer Resort
Chapter XIX. National Groups in Waukesha County
Chapter XX. City of Oconomowoc
Chapter XXI. Business and Industrial Review of Waukesha City
Chapter XXII. Review of the Commercial and Industrial Conditions of Waukesha County
Towns of Waukesha County
Town of Brookfield
Town of Delafield
Town of Eagle
Town of Genesee
Town of Lisbon
Town of Menomonee
Town of Merton
Town of Mukwonago
Town of Muskego
Town of New Berlin
Town of Oconomowoc
Town of Ottawa
Town of Pewaukee
Town of Summit
Town of Vernon
Town of Waukesha