Page 88

STORY OF A CENTURY                            MNTWCCUTW
sary of the parish was properly
observed on Feb. 28, 1948, with
Bishop Harwood Sturtevant of
Fond du Lac in attendance.
      First Baptist Church
  In 1849-50, a number of Bap-
tists came from Germany and
settled in Kossuth. E. Grimm,
originally of Germany, came to
visit his Baptist friends and
through   his efforts converted
and   baptized 29 persons. On
June 2, 1850, the German Bap-
tist church of Kossuth was or-
ganized with Mr. Grimm as the
first pastor. A warranty deed,
conveying two acres of land in
Kossuth   to  the  congregation,
was executed on Feb. 25, 1851.
The first log church was built
on the site by members at a total
cash outlay of $21.30.
  In 1856, 28 members left the
Kossuth church to organize a
Baptist church   in  Manitowuc.
This organization stayed in ex-
istence until 1890 when the mem-
bers sold their Manitewoc prop-
erty and returned to the Kos-
suth church. In 1888, the frame
edifice was built at Kossuth and
remained   there, about a mile
north  of Francis Creek, until
1945 when it was moved to Man-
itowoc. The plans were to con-
vert it into a modern house of
worship   but the  project was
abandoned because of building
difficulties and the structure was
sold.
  In 1894, a parsonage was built
in Kossuth. This structure, to-
gether with a portion of the site,
was sold in 1944. The congre-
gation decided to hold its servic-
es after May, 1943, in the Lin-
coln park field house with the
view of making Manitowoc its
headquarters.   On  August 15,
1943, the parish voted to change
its name to the First Baptist
church of Manitowoc. The con-
gregation purchased the Schuet-
te property at 812 Huron street,
on May 11, 1947, for church -pur-
poses. The second floor has been
remodeled for a parsonage while
the first floor houses the church
and Sunday school rooms. The
basement has been made avail-
able .for social purposes.
  The school history of Meeme
four records the fact that a Bap-
tist church was established and
maintained for many years by
the Welsh across from the Min.
eral Springs school. The church
is gone, but a large well-kept
cemetery remains north of the
school.
      Methodist Churches
  St. Paul - The honors of pio-
neer Methodism in our county
belong to Rev. H. W. Frink who
held the first Methodist services
in Manitowoc on June 23, 1837.
Missionaries held services from
time to time in the homes of set-
tlers as there were no public
buildings at that time. Jacob Con-
roe offered his home as a place
to worship during the times that
e   - s  mll iiaty lla e  - _i sUIU.
The small but attentive congre-
gation  looked forward to his
quarterly visits as time of great
spiritual refreshing.
  In 1850, Rev. Lewis was ap-
pointed the first full time Man-
itowoc pastor. There was no
church   nor  parsonage. After
renting  a  dwelling for   some
months, Benjamin Jones donated
a lot on Park street, the present
site of the St. Paul Methodist
parsonage. A small frame build-
ing was erected, largely by the
minister himself, and into which
he moved in the spring of 1851.
By the end of the next year, the
congregation boasted 35 mem-
bers.
  Funds to erect a church build-
ing were obtained in 1852-3 and
a frame structure erected and
dedicated on the present North
Seventh street site in 1855. The
church building has been remod-
eled and enlarged several times
since its erection and is now
valued at about $26,000 in ad-
dition to a parsonage worth $10,-
000. The membership now totals
350. Since its first resident pas-
88
STORY OF A CENTURY
I
MANITOWOC COUNTY,