Thirty Years in the Itinerancy

by W. G. Miller

Leaving Oneida, I next visited Appleton, where I was kindly received by Rev. C.G. Lathrop, the Pastor, and his good wife. Though three years had scarcely passed since the echoes of the woodman's axe first rang through the forests of this locality, yet I found Appleton to be a village of considerable pretensions. The location of Lawrence University at this point, and the great promise of business, given by its almost unparalleled water-power, had already drawn together an enterprising community. Good buildings had been erected, and the village was putting on an air of thrift.

The first sermon preached in Appleton, and probably in Outagamie County, was delivered by Rev. Wm. H. Sampson, Oct. 8, 1848, in a shanty occupied by Brother John F. Johnson and family. The first class was formed by Rev. A. B. Randall, the Pastor of Oshkosh circuit, whose charge included Appleton, in February, 1849. The first members were Robert R. Bateman, Leader, Robert S. Bateman, Mary Bateman, Amelia Bateman, Electa Norton, Theresa Randall, L. L. Randall, J.F. Johnson and D.W. Briggs. Brother Randall organized the first Sunday School in March, 1849, with Robert R. Bateman as Superintendent.

The meetings were held in private houses until the Chapel of the Institute was ready for use. They were held in the Chapel thereafter until the first Church was erected. In June, 1854, the corner-stone of the Church was laid by Edwin Atkinson, Dr. Edward Cooke officiating. The lecture-room was occupied during the following winter, and the Church was dedicated by Dr. N.E. Cobleigh in June, 1855.

The Quarterly Meeting, the first held in Appleton, was convened in the Institute Chapel, Sept 27, 1851. The members of the Quarterly Conference present were C.G. Lathrop, R.O. Kellogg, Jabez Brooks, D.L. Atwell, George E. Havens, Charles Levings, John Day, H.L. Blood, A.C. Darling, L.L. Randall, D.C. Weston, William Rork, and J.F. Johnson. The meeting was well attended, and the services indicated a healthy spiritual condition.

Rev. Curtis G. Lathrop entered the Rock River Conference in 1842, and his first appointment was Aztalan. Before coming to Appleton he had been stationed at Lancaster, Oneida Indian Mission, Green Lake and Fall River. After leaving Appleton his fields of labor have been Green Bay, Oneida, Indian Mission, Presiding Elder of Watertown District, Menasha, Neenah, Waupaca, Dartford, Fox Lake, Vinland and Randolph. He took a superannuated relation in 1868, but during 1870 and 1871 he was able to serve as Chaplain of the Western Seaman's Friend Society, at Washington Island. Having removed to Nebraska, he was made effective in 1874 and transferred to the Nebraska Conference.

Brother Lathrop is a man of vigorous mental endowments. He is an able Preacher, has a reliable judgment, and possesses a kind spirit. He hates shams and thoroughly detests the superficial. He never hangs out a flag to catch the popular breeze, and does not turn the prow of his craft down the stream. His convictions are strong, but Curtis G. Lathrop is the soul of integrity, and is most highly appreciated where best known.

The Lawrence University, located at Appleton, deserves special notice, it being the first, and, at the present writing, the only school of the Church within the bounds of the Conference.

In the Spring of 1846, Rev. Wm. H. Sampson received a letter from H. Eugene Eastman, Esq., of Green Bay, informing him that a gentleman in Boston, Mass., proposed to donate ten thousand dollars to found a school in the West. And as the gentleman entertained an exalted opinion of the adaptations of the Methodist Church to the work contemplated, he was authorized to give the proposition that direction. The conditions on which the trust must be accepted were, that the School should be located on the Fox River between Neenah and Green Bay, and that an additional ten thousand dollars should be contributed by other parties.

Brother Sampson submitted the proposition to the Conference, which met in August, and was instructed by that body to continue the correspondence, and, if possible, reduce the negotiations to a definite form.

In December following, Rev. Reeder Smith, who had been employed as Agent of the School at Albion, Mich., came to Fond du Lac, bearing the proposition directly from Hon. Amos A. Lawrence, the gentleman referred to. Not finding Brother Sampson at home, he went down to Brothertown and secured the co-operation of Rev. H.R. Colman in making an exploration of the Fox River. They went to Green Bay, thence to Kaukauna, and, accompanied by George W. Law, Esq., thence to Grand Chute, the present site of Appleton. After looking over the grounds now constituting the campus of the University, they passed on to Oshkosh, and thence to Fond du Lac.