Thirty Years in the ItinerancyMiller, W. G. (Wesson Gage)
Philosophy
Thirty Years in the Itinerancy
Miller, W. G. (Wesson Gage)
Frontier and pioneer life -- Wisconsin; Methodist Episcopal Church. Wisconsin Conference
Soon after their settlement, Rev. Wm. H. Sampson, Presiding Elder of
Green Bay District, visited the place and held the first religious
service of which I can obtain information. Not long after the minister
in charge of the Winnebago Lake Mission at Oshkosh visited Ceresco, and
formed a class of seven members. The names, as far as ascertained, were
Rev. Uriel Farmin and wife, Mrs. Morris Farmin, Mrs. Beckwith and
George Limbert. The first named was appointed Leader.
The Association had erected two long buildings, one for a tenement house
and the other for a dining hall. The first was built with a wide hall
running from one end to the other. On either side of this hall suits of
rooms had been provided for the accommodation of the several families,
giving to each family at least a parlor and one or more sleeping
apartments, according to its needs. Here families were as exclusive in
their relations as good neighborhood could well require. The dining hall
was a long, narrow building, giving in its width, barely room enough for
the table, a row of persons on each side, and the free movement of the
waiters behind them. The tables would accommodate one hundred and fifty
at a fitting. In the rear of the dining hall, there was a large kitchen
in which the cooking was done for the entire Association. The service of
the kitchen, as well as every other department, was performed by persons
who either volunteered or were assigned to their positions by lot, and
were paid by the hour from the common fund. Divided into squads, each
section had a foreman or directress, elected at reasonable intervals. It
was expected that all the members would take their meals at the common
table, yet exceptions were allowed in certain cases. It was affirmed
that with this division of labor and a common table, the cost of board
for a single individual per week did not exceed fifty cents.
The Association had under cultivation several hundred acres of land and
were now putting flour mills in operation. Goods were purchased at
wholesale by the Association and re-sold to individuals at the same
rate. A school had been established and was under the care of a very
competent teacher. Thus, externally, everything appeared to promise well
and the people seemed orderly and happy. But, like all other enterprises
of the same character, selfishness and corruption finally crept in, and
the institution fell into decay, and ultimately disappeared.
The people of Ceresco were always gratified to receive the attention of
the outside world, and their hospitalities were proverbial. And, though
not a few of the leading men were professed Infidels, they always
received ministers gladly and treated them with consideration. They were
specially gratified to have religious services held among them, and the
ringing of the bell would generally insure a good audience. The dining
hall was used as a Chapel until a more convenient place was provided in
the erection of a large school house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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