Thirty Years in the Itinerancy

by W. G. Miller

The Sabbath gave me a fair congregation, and at the close of the service we enjoyed a good Class Meeting, Led by my old friend, E.J. Smith. And as one of the living members of the class, I found also an old acquaintance of my boyhood and later years, Albert Cook. There were also a few friends of other days still residing in Ripon, and several who had come from other places to reside in the city, to join in the cordial greeting that was given me. The Sunday School, under the charge of Rev. Byron Kingsbury, so well known throughout the State in the Sunday School work, met also at the close of the morning service. It was in a flourishing condition, as it could not well be otherwise with such a Superintendent. The Superintendent introduced the new Pastor to the school, and playfully asked them if they thought the new Pastor was as good-looking as the old. Quite to my surprise, they answered in the affirmative. In the few remarks that followed I accounted for the good looks of both the former Pastor and the present on the score that I was the Father and the former Pastor was one of my boys, as I had introduced him to the Conference some years before. This little sally reconciled the children to the new state of things, and secured me a kindly greeting from all of them.

Since my Pastorate in 1845, a variety of changes had passed over the place and the Church. I found Ripon no longer a small settlement, nestled in the little valley between the bluffs, but a veritable city, now largely perched on the brow of the prairie, with its numerous business houses, its Churches, and its College. The Church, instead of being a small class with its meetings first in the dining hall and afterwards in the small school house, was now a large Society, and comfortably quartered in a respectable Church edifice.

But all these changes had not come in a day. The Circuit of twenty-four appointments, of which Ripon was only one, had been divided and subdivided until they had become nearly a score of charges. To trace these changes in detail would weary the reader, and hence I have only referred to them incidentally, as they have fallen into the line of my subsequent labors. In this connection, I must confine myself to Ripon and its immediate vicinity.

The first Quarterly Meeting of which I can find a record was held in Ceresco by Rev. J.M. Walker, Oct. 15th, 1855, Rev. William Stevens was then the Preacher in charge. The official members were: George Limbert, Local Preacher, Z. Pedrick, Recording Steward, Thos. P. Smith, Steward, and David S. Shepherd, Class Leader. There were at this time four classes connected with the charge, and these were located at Ripon, Ceresco. Rush Lake, and Utica. At the fourth Quarterly Meeting of this year there were two Sunday Schools reported. One at Ceresco, with thirty-three scholars, and one at Ripon, with twenty-one.

The following year, 1856, Rev. R. Moffat was sent to the charge. Utica was now put into another charge, and Democrat Prairie attached to Ceresco. During this year, a small frame Church was built in Ceresco, on the east side of the street, and about forty rods south of the Ceresco mill. The pioneer Church was used until 1860, when it was sold to Mr. W.H. Demming, who removed it to its present location for a cooper-shop. From 1856 to 1860, while the services in Ceresco were thus held in the small Church, the meetings in Ripon were held in the City Hall, which was rented for the purpose. When the new Church was built, the congregations were united.

The new Church, under the Pastorate of Rev. William Morse, was commenced in May, 1860, and the lecture-room was ready for use in March, 1861. The audience room was not completed until the Pastorate of Rev. J.T. Woodhead in 1862. Brother Woodhead was succeeded by Rev. Joseph Anderson.

Brother Morse had entered the traveling connection in the State of New York, had located, and had come West, seeking health for his wife. The death of Brother Maxson, of which mention is made in a former chapter, had left Ripon without a Pastor, and Brother Morse was employed to fill the vacancy.

Besides filling out the unexpired year, he remained two years on the charge, and during his Pastorate there were many accessions. He filled several other appointments subsequently in the Conference with great acceptability, but on account of family affliction, he was finally compelled to retire from active labor. At this writing he is in Western Iowa, where he does what he can to help on the good cause. He is a man of sweet spirit, and is highly esteemed by all his brethren.

Brother Anderson entered the Wisconsin Conference in 1852, and was stationed at South Grove, in Racine District. His subsequent appointments had been Milton, Geneva, Sheboygan Falls, Fond du Lac District, and Appleton. On the stations, and during his four years on the District, he had done efficient work, and was now brought to Ripon as the successor of Brother Woodhead, where he was well received. After leaving Ripon, his appointments have been, Presiding Elder on the Waupaca District four years, Waupaca Station, Second Church, Oshkosh, and Omro, his present field.

Brother Anderson is a man of large frame, and gives evidence of unusual physical strength. He has a strong head, a kind heart, and is inclined to the humorous. He can tell a good story in a social circle, and can relate a good anecdote in the pulpit. In the latter he is gifted in the line of similes, which often in his hands make the sermon interesting and profitable. He gives promise of many more years of usefulness.