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Baptist church as had varied life

By WENDELL NELSON
Special to The Gazette
The lives of buildings can have as much variety and unpredictability as the lives of people. This is obviously true of the human lives in those buildings - the lives of the owners and occupants - but it is also true of the structures themselves. The original First Baptist Church building in Stevens Point, though made of wood and stone and steel and, later, brick, has led a peripatetic and eventful, if not always lucky, life. And like most people's lives, its life has its share of mysteries.

According to the history included in the Stevens Point Daily Journal's Centennial Edition, published on June 28, 1958, a history that used church records and members' memories, the congregation was organized in "March or April" of 1855 at a meeting in the city's first schoolhouse, at 420 (now the 1000 block) Clark St., later Lizzie Cadman's house. The first resident pastor, Rev. D.H. Cooley, came in 1857, and in 1858 the first two baptisms were held; the stalwart candidates were "immersed in the Wisconsin River."

In 1859, Andrew Warren Jr. gave the young congregation two lots at "the upper end of Main street" (i.e., far from the heart of the village, which was clustered near the river and around the Square), lots 19 and 20 of block 16, Smith, Briggs and Phillips addition to the city, where now the address would be 1740 Main St. The deed (Volume K/page 23, dated May 5, 1859) recording this transaction specified that the church's trustees "shall forthwith erect upon said lots ...a commodious Meeting House, to be used by said First Baptist Society for the Public Worship of God, and to be maintained as such house forever. But should said Trustees, or their successors, fail to erect and maintain such a House upon said lots, or convert the same to any other use...then said lots…shall revert to the party of the first part (Warren)."

(Andrew Warren was an early speculator who owned large tracts of Stevens Point land. He owned a house on Main Street in the city, but also lived in Chicago and Alton, Ill., and, later, Wausau, according to various issues of the Pinery, the Journal and The Portage County Gazette first series.)

The Daily Journal Centennial Edition recounts the construction of that first building. "Courtland Livingston, Sunday School superintendent, and A.B. Redfield went to Jordan to haul in timber for the first church.... A Milwaukee man donated $300, J.A. Martin gave 20,000 feet of lumber, while (Gaines) Spaulding and others contributed money, materials or labor to help build the church. However, the building was not completed until some time later."

What "some time later" might mean was the church was functional within a few weeks. According to the Pinery of May 27, 1859, "The Baptist Church is so far finished that we understand it will be used for Divine Services next Sabbath. The Rev. Mr. Cooley is the settled minister."

The Dec. 14, 1867, Pinery reported, under the catchall title of "Scraps" (listing recent evidences of progress), the fact that "The Baptist denomination have had preaching and regular service at their church for (the) last few weeks." Likewise, the Feb. 15, 1868, issue listed "PUBLIC (?) INSTITUTIONS IN STEVENS POINT -Five churches, to-wit: Episcopal;--Catholic;-- Congregational;---Methodist, and Baptist;--all but the last mentioned have regular, settled Ministers."

This last statement is corroborated by an announcement --implying the lack of a resident minister-in the Nov. 23, 1867, Pinery; "SERIES OF MEETINGS IN THE BAPTIST CHURCH.

"Eld. J. Post, of Waupaca has arrived and commenced a series of meetings in the above place of worship. The following will be the order of meetings for the present: Prayer and Conference at 2 o'clock p.m. and preaching at 7 o'clock evening and at half-past 10 o'clock on Sunday morning...."
By Order of the Church."

And the Centennial Edition of the Daily Journal confirms and explains the point. "Elder Cooley remained as pastor until 1861. For nearly 10 years after his resignation, the church has had no resident pastor."

If we judge from a picture postcard of that church building, a photograph taken long after the construction, the building was wholly conventional for its time. It was typically, if generically, Gothic, like thousands of other American churches built between 1850 and 1930. That is, it had a single ridgepole-no cross gables, no wings, no dormers--a high-pitched roof, and Gothic or lancet (curving up to a pointed top) windows. (It appears not to have been a full-blown Gothic Revival building; that is, it appears not to have had board-and-batten (vertical) siding, or barge-boards -ornate trim - on the gables.) It was probably small, like the original Episcopal Church of the Intercession, built six years earlier, with only three or four evenly spaced windows on each side. The windows were probably not stained glass, at least not all of them, because that first congregation was small and probably not wealthy. The front door or doors were probably Gothic or lancet, and the building was a frame structure, with narrow clapboard siding, and was probably heated with a wood-burning stove, and lighted by candles or kerosene lamps.

(The wealthiest congregation in the city's first 100 years was without doubt the Episcopalians, who included in their parish most of the early lawyers, judges, lumbermen, doctors, and other prosperous men. For that reason, its second, stone church was the most expensive church in the city, costing $25,000 in 1893-94, The Gazette of Jan. 3, 1894, reported. But this fact of Episcopalian wealth was true around the whole nation, according to the 1978 book "The Power of Their Glory," by Kit and Frederica Konolige.)

For reasons that are not clear at the moment, that first church did not stay at its location long. The Journal of June 2, 1877, reported that "The Baptist church has this week been removed from the upper end of Main street, to the west side of Church street, about midway between the Court House and the depot, where the society bought a lot of Matt. Slutts, for which it paid $210. We regret to lose the building from Main street, but presume it has been put where it will do the most good. We understand that one of the improvements in the church, and a needed one, will be a baptistry."

A warranty deed, Volume 33/page 5, dated May 30, 1877, certifies the sale of "Lot number Seven hundred and Sixty two (762) in Block number Eighty three (83) in Strong's second addition to Stevens Point...." to the "Trustees of the first Baptist Church and society...." But the deed also reveals an error in the Journal report; the seller was not Matthew Slutts but Moses Strong, the Mineral Point lawyer, speculator and owner of the lands along the street that came to bear his surname.

(Both the Daily Journal Centennial Edition's and the congregation's own history, say that a new building was constructed on the Church Street site, implying that the original building stayed on Main Street. But Ed McGlachlin, the Journal editor, clearly says that the building was moved, and contemporary evidence is usually more reliable than accounts long after the fact.)

One possible reason for moving the church off Main Street was the steady takeover of that street by businesses. By 1877, many new "business blocks" had been built, several of them of brick or stone, and the earlier structures were moved off their sites or torn down. It is possible that the Baptist congregation was offered too large a sum for its lots to turn down, or that the neighborhood had begun to feel too commercial or crowded for the church's mission.

On the other hand, McGlachlin put the emphasis on the new location, implying that the church could save more souls on Church Street (the street was probably named for the first Episcopal church building, which sat on the northeast corner of Clark and Church). Did he mean to suggest that the Church Street neighborhood (near the South Side and the railroads) had more sinners than the Main Street neighborhood (where he lived) did?

In any case, a quit-claim deed, Volume 26/page 476, dated Aug. 4, 1877, records a payment made by the Baptist Church trustees to Andrew Warren, of $150. In return for that money, he deeded the two Main Street lots to them. They in turn sold the lots.

At its new location, the church underwent various enlargements and remodelings. The Gazette of May 23 and June 13, 1883, reported the closing of the church for "a thorough repair on the inside," including "a general over hauling and remodeling of the interior" and the purchase of "considerable new furniture." The Baptists worshipped at the Presbyterian church - the original, frame building -on Main Street on the Sunday when their church was closed.

Judging by the same old photo of the building, we can surmise that a large addition was put on the northeast corner of the old building. That addition may be the "prayer meeting room" mentioned in "A Standard History of Portage County" (1919) as having been built during the pastorate of Rev. L.G. Carr (from about 1889 to about 1897). It was shorter than the original building, and had two large gables, one to the east and one to the north, with a corner doorway between, it also had a large Gothic window in the front (east, facing Church Street), and a smaller one facing north. Both windows had ornate designs in colored glass. Giving still more interest to the addition was a horizontal belt of narrow siding laid diagonally in alternating panels over the windows.

Also added in those years was a tall, square bell-tower with a four-sided (apparently; the photo is hazy) conical roof. Below the roof are four small gables above louvered Gothic openings that let the bell's chimes be heard better. Below the belfry section are more gable peaks, and Greek Revival pilasters cover the four corners. This tower stood at the southeast corner of the original building.

At the rear (west end) of the old building is a small, gabled section with a Gothic window on its north side (and probably one on its south side, too). This part may well have been added earlier, and could have served as a kitchen or storage area.

In late October of 1888, the church was badly damaged in a fire, the Nov. 3 Journal reported. "The fire caught in a row of sheds back of the Baptist church, spread to the adjoining shed back of the South side engine house (on Strongs Avenue) and thence to the calaboose (the South Side
Jail) near by, all of which were destroyed. The Baptist church, although quite a distance away, took fire, but burned very slowly. It was a full hour before the flames broke through the sides, although the roof was nearly burned off.... The loss to the church is estimated at $3,000. It is insured for $1,700." (The Oct. 31 Gazette, after reporting the fire, said the church was insured for $2,000.)

The church was "immediately rebuilt," "A Standard History" says, and the congregation's own four-page history, compiled by W.H. Clements, says the rebuilt, enlarged church reopened in January of 1889. (Rev. Glenn Bremer, the current pastor of the church, says that some charred timbers were discovered during a recent remodeling of his office and adjacent rooms.)

Ten years later, The Gazette of Feb. 19, 1898, reported that the congregation "unanimously" voted to begin "the building of a stone and brick church next spring (1899). Negotiations are now in progress for the sale of their building and lot on Church street; also the parsonage property directly opposite, and as soon as spring opens(,) work will be actively commenced on a modern edifice, the estimated cost of which is $10,000. It will probably be within a few blocks of the present location, but the exact site has not been decided on as yet. Building and finance committees will be appointed within a few weeks, when necessary material will be secured, contracts awarded and other details attended to. Stevens Point has long been noted for its fine school buildings and magnificent churches, and the Baptists will do all in their power to further extend this reputation."

The Gazette of June 1, 1898, followed up with a short article. "The excavating for the new Baptist church building on Division street is expected to be begun within the next two weeks, and thereafter work will be pushed rapidly for several months. It is the intention of the society to finish the building as far as the means will allow this summer, though it is not expected that it will be completed before next year…"

In fact, the building was never completed, and The Gazette manifested a long silence on the subject. It probably explained the mystery sooner or later, as must the Journal have, sooner or later. But one explanation appeared in The Gazette about 12 years later, on Nov. 8, 1911. In an article entitled "More Modern Mansions," the paper reported that "Two modern houses will adorn the lots at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Division streets, the site purchased several years ago by the local Baptist congregation and upon which the stone foundation for a new church was erected. About the time this work was completed, the Wisconsin Central shops and divisions were moved from here (to Fond du Lac) and it was deemed advisable to suspend building operations. For upwards of eleven years nothing had been done with the property, but a few months ago Dr. J.M. Bischoff bought it and has let a contract to Frank Spalenka for re-laying the stone work and an up-to-date dwelling will be erected on either end of the lots, both houses facing Division
street...." (See my book "Houses That Grew," page 78.)

(The connection between the moving of the railroad shops and offices and the construction of a church was economic. With those shops and offices went dozens, if not hundreds, of men and their paychecks. The city viewed this move as a disaster, and much of its south end experienced an economic depression from the loss of the money spent by engineers, firemen, conductors, mechanics, car-builders and other well-paid workers. The Baptists probably feared that their congregation would shrink, or at least not grow, and that it would not be able to pay for its large, expensive new church.)

(A warranty deed, Volume 65/page 534, dated May 7, 1908, records the sale of two lots - numbers 9 and 10 in Block number 15 of Boyington and Atwell's (First) Addition to the city - by Peter and Kate Raab to the Baptist Church Trustees, for $1,325. For $825 of that sum, the trustees received a mortgage (Volume /page 445) from the Raabs, stipulating that they had three years to pay it off. Another warranty deed, Volume 99/page 390, dated May 11, 1911, records the sale of the same lots to Gertrude Olive Bischoff, presumably Dr. Bischoff's wife.)

So the church remained on Church Street. And in fact, part of the old church still sits there, behind the new, very different edifice. When the new sanctuary was built, some of the old part was moved back (west) on the lot, veneered with brick, and converted to a gymnasium, which function it performs to this day.

And now the First Baptist Church - the original building - rests after its journeys, misfortunes, and changed plans. Through all its 140 years, it has seen much history in the city that is its home, and inconspicuous at the back of its lot, it will probably stand for a long time to witness more.

NEXT WEEK: The new church---where did it come from?



	Baptist church as had varied life By WENDELL NELSON Special to The Gazette The lives of buildings can have as much variety and unpredictability as the lives of people. This is obviously true of the human lives in those buildings - the lives of the owners and occupants - but it is also true of the structures themselves. The original First Baptist Church building in Stevens Point, though made of wood and stone and steel and, later, brick, has led a peripatetic and eventful, if not always lucky, life. And like most people's lives, its life has its share of mysteries. According to the history included in the Stevens Point Daily Journal's Centennial Edition, published on June 28, 1958, a history that used church records and members' memories, the congregation was organized in "March or April" of 1855 at a meeting in the city's first schoolhouse, at 420 (now the 1000 block) Clark St., later Lizzie Cadman's house. The first resident pastor, Rev. D.H. Cooley, came in 1857, and in 1858 the first two baptisms were held; the stalwart candidates were "immersed in the Wisconsin River." In 1859, Andrew Warren Jr. gave the young congregation two lots at "the upper end of Main street" (i.e., far from the heart of the village, which was clustered near the river and around the Square), lots 19 and 20 of block 16, Smith, Briggs and Phillips addition to the city, where now the address would be 1740 Main St. The deed (Volume K/page 23, dated May 5, 1859) recording this transaction specified that the church's trustees "shall forthwith erect upon said lots ...a commodious Meeting House, to be used by said First Baptist Society for the Public Worship of God, and to be maintained as such house forever. But should said Trustees, or their successors, fail to erect and maintain such a House upon said lots, or convert the same to any other use...then said lots…shall revert to the party of the first part (Warren)." (Andrew Warren was an early speculator who owned large tracts of Stevens Point land. He owned a house on Main Street in the city, but also lived in Chicago and Alton, Ill., and, later, Wausau, according to various issues of the Pinery, the Journal and The Portage County Gazette first series.) The Daily Journal Centennial Edition recounts the construction of that first building. "Courtland Livingston, Sunday School superintendent, and A.B. Redfield went to Jordan to haul in timber for the first church.... A Milwaukee man donated $300, J.A. Martin gave 20,000 feet of lumber, while (Gaines) Spaulding and others contributed money, materials or labor to help build the church. However, the building was not completed until some time later." What "some time later" might mean was the church was functional within a few weeks. According to the Pinery of May 27, 1859, "The Baptist Church is so far finished that we understand it will be used for Divine Services next Sabbath. The Rev. Mr. Cooley is the settled minister." The Dec. 14, 1867, Pinery reported, under the catchall title of "Scraps" (listing recent evidences of progress), the fact that "The Baptist denomination have had preaching and regular service at their church for (the) last few weeks." Likewise, the Feb. 15, 1868, issue listed "PUBLIC (?) INSTITUTIONS IN STEVENS POINT -Five churches, to-wit: Episcopal;--Catholic;-- Congregational;---Methodist, and Baptist;--all but the last mentioned have regular, settled Ministers." This last statement is corroborated by an announcement --implying the lack of a resident minister-in the Nov. 23, 1867, Pinery; "SERIES OF MEETINGS IN THE BAPTIST CHURCH. "Eld. J. Post, of Waupaca has arrived and commenced a series of meetings in the above place of worship. The following will be the order of meetings for the present: Prayer and Conference at 2 o'clock p.m. and preaching at 7 o'clock evening and at half-past 10 o'clock on Sunday morning...." By Order of the Church." And the Centennial Edition of the Daily Journal confirms and explains the point. "Elder Cooley remained as pastor until 1861. For nearly 10 years after his resignation, the church has had no resident pastor." If we judge from a picture postcard of that church building, a photograph taken long after the construction, the building was wholly conventional for its time. It was typically, if generically, Gothic, like thousands of other American churches built between 1850 and 1930. That is, it had a single ridgepole-no cross gables, no wings, no dormers--a high-pitched roof, and Gothic or lancet (curving up to a pointed top) windows. (It appears not to have been a full-blown Gothic Revival building; that is, it appears not to have had board-and-batten (vertical) siding, or barge-boards -ornate trim - on the gables.) It was probably small, like the original Episcopal Church of the Intercession, built six years earlier, with only three or four evenly spaced windows on each side. The windows were probably not stained glass, at least not all of them, because that first congregation was small and probably not wealthy. The front door or doors were probably Gothic or lancet, and the building was a frame structure, with narrow clapboard siding, and was probably heated with a wood-burning stove, and lighted by candles or kerosene lamps. (The wealthiest congregation in the city's first 100 years was without doubt the Episcopalians, who included in their parish most of the early lawyers, judges, lumbermen, doctors, and other prosperous men. For that reason, its second, stone church was the most expensive church in the city, costing $25,000 in 1893-94, The Gazette of Jan. 3, 1894, reported. But this fact of Episcopalian wealth was true around the whole nation, according to the 1978 book "The Power of Their Glory," by Kit and Frederica Konolige.) For reasons that are not clear at the moment, that first church did not stay at its location long. The Journal of June 2, 1877, reported that "The Baptist church has this week been removed from the upper end of Main street, to the west side of Church street, about midway between the Court House and the depot, where the society bought a lot of Matt. Slutts, for which it paid $210. We regret to lose the building from Main street, but presume it has been put where it will do the most good. We understand that one of the improvements in the church, and a needed one, will be a baptistry." A warranty deed, Volume 33/page 5, dated May 30, 1877, certifies the sale of "Lot number Seven hundred and Sixty two (762) in Block number Eighty three (83) in Strong's second addition to Stevens Point...." to the "Trustees of the first Baptist Church and society...." But the deed also reveals an error in the Journal report; the seller was not Matthew Slutts but Moses Strong, the Mineral Point lawyer, speculator and owner of the lands along the street that came to bear his surname. (Both the Daily Journal Centennial Edition's and the congregation's own history, say that a new building was constructed on the Church Street site, implying that the original building stayed on Main Street. But Ed McGlachlin, the Journal editor, clearly says that the building was moved, and contemporary evidence is usually more reliable than accounts long after the fact.) One possible reason for moving the church off Main Street was the steady takeover of that street by businesses. By 1877, many new "business blocks" had been built, several of them of brick or stone, and the earlier structures were moved off their sites or torn down. It is possible that the Baptist congregation was offered too large a sum for its lots to turn down, or that the neighborhood had begun to feel too commercial or crowded for the church's mission. On the other hand, McGlachlin put the emphasis on the new location, implying that the church could save more souls on Church Street (the street was probably named for the first Episcopal church building, which sat on the northeast corner of Clark and Church). Did he mean to suggest that the Church Street neighborhood (near the South Side and the railroads) had more sinners than the Main Street neighborhood (where he lived) did? In any case, a quit-claim deed, Volume 26/page 476, dated Aug. 4, 1877, records a payment made by the Baptist Church trustees to Andrew Warren, of $150. In return for that money, he deeded the two Main Street lots to them. They in turn sold the lots. At its new location, the church underwent various enlargements and remodelings. The Gazette of May 23 and June 13, 1883, reported the closing of the church for "a thorough repair on the inside," including "a general over hauling and remodeling of the interior" and the purchase of "considerable new furniture." The Baptists worshipped at the Presbyterian church - the original, frame building -on Main Street on the Sunday when their church was closed. Judging by the same old photo of the building, we can surmise that a large addition was put on the northeast corner of the old building. That addition may be the "prayer meeting room" mentioned in "A Standard History of Portage County" (1919) as having been built during the pastorate of Rev. L.G. Carr (from about 1889 to about 1897). It was shorter than the original building, and had two large gables, one to the east and one to the north, with a corner doorway between, it also had a large Gothic window in the front (east, facing Church Street), and a smaller one facing north. Both windows had ornate designs in colored glass. Giving still more interest to the addition was a horizontal belt of narrow siding laid diagonally in alternating panels over the windows. Also added in those years was a tall, square bell-tower with a four-sided (apparently; the photo is hazy) conical roof. Below the roof are four small gables above louvered Gothic openings that let the bell's chimes be heard better. Below the belfry section are more gable peaks, and Greek Revival pilasters cover the four corners. This tower stood at the southeast corner of the original building. At the rear (west end) of the old building is a small, gabled section with a Gothic window on its north side (and probably one on its south side, too). This part may well have been added earlier, and could have served as a kitchen or storage area. In late October of 1888, the church was badly damaged in a fire, the Nov. 3 Journal reported. "The fire caught in a row of sheds back of the Baptist church, spread to the adjoining shed back of the South side engine house (on Strongs Avenue) and thence to the calaboose (the South Side Jail) near by, all of which were destroyed. The Baptist church, although quite a distance away, took fire, but burned very slowly. It was a full hour before the flames broke through the sides, although the roof was nearly burned off.... The loss to the church is estimated at $3,000. It is insured for $1,700." (The Oct. 31 Gazette, after reporting the fire, said the church was insured for $2,000.) The church was "immediately rebuilt," "A Standard History" says, and the congregation's own four-page history, compiled by W.H. Clements, says the rebuilt, enlarged church reopened in January of 1889. (Rev. Glenn Bremer, the current pastor of the church, says that some charred timbers were discovered during a recent remodeling of his office and adjacent rooms.) Ten years later, The Gazette of Feb. 19, 1898, reported that the congregation "unanimously" voted to begin "the building of a stone and brick church next spring (1899). Negotiations are now in progress for the sale of their building and lot on Church street; also the parsonage property directly opposite, and as soon as spring opens(,) work will be actively commenced on a modern edifice, the estimated cost of which is $10,000. It will probably be within a few blocks of the present location, but the exact site has not been decided on as yet. Building and finance committees will be appointed within a few weeks, when necessary material will be secured, contracts awarded and other details attended to. Stevens Point has long been noted for its fine school buildings and magnificent churches, and the Baptists will do all in their power to further extend this reputation." The Gazette of June 1, 1898, followed up with a short article. "The excavating for the new Baptist church building on Division street is expected to be begun within the next two weeks, and thereafter work will be pushed rapidly for several months. It is the intention of the society to finish the building as far as the means will allow this summer, though it is not expected that it will be completed before next year…" In fact, the building was never completed, and The Gazette manifested a long silence on the subject. It probably explained the mystery sooner or later, as must the Journal have, sooner or later. But one explanation appeared in The Gazette about 12 years later, on Nov. 8, 1911. In an article entitled "More Modern Mansions," the paper reported that "Two modern houses will adorn the lots at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Division streets, the site purchased several years ago by the local Baptist congregation and upon which the stone foundation for a new church was erected. About the time this work was completed, the Wisconsin Central shops and divisions were moved from here (to Fond du Lac) and it was deemed advisable to suspend building operations. For upwards of eleven years nothing had been done with the property, but a few months ago Dr. J.M. Bischoff bought it and has let a contract to Frank Spalenka for re-laying the stone work and an up-to-date dwelling will be erected on either end of the lots, both houses facing Division street...." (See my book "Houses That Grew," page 78.) (The connection between the moving of the railroad shops and offices and the construction of a church was economic. With those shops and offices went dozens, if not hundreds, of men and their paychecks. The city viewed this move as a disaster, and much of its south end experienced an economic depression from the loss of the money spent by engineers, firemen, conductors, mechanics, car-builders and other well-paid workers. The Baptists probably feared that their congregation would shrink, or at least not grow, and that it would not be able to pay for its large, expensive new church.) (A warranty deed, Volume 65/page 534, dated May 7, 1908, records the sale of two lots - numbers 9 and 10 in Block number 15 of Boyington and Atwell's (First) Addition to the city - by Peter and Kate Raab to the Baptist Church Trustees, for $1,325. For $825 of that sum, the trustees received a mortgage (Volume /page 445) from the Raabs, stipulating that they had three years to pay it off. Another warranty deed, Volume 99/page 390, dated May 11, 1911, records the sale of the same lots to Gertrude Olive Bischoff, presumably Dr. Bischoff's wife.) So the church remained on Church Street. And in fact, part of the old church still sits there, behind the new, very different edifice. When the new sanctuary was built, some of the old part was moved back (west) on the lot, veneered with brick, and converted to a gymnasium, which function it performs to this day. And now the First Baptist Church - the original building - rests after its journeys, misfortunes, and changed plans. Through all its 140 years, it has seen much history in the city that is its home, and inconspicuous at the back of its lot, it will probably stand for a long time to witness more. NEXT WEEK: The new church---where did it come from?