Title: Christ Episcopal Church (La Crosse, Wisconsin) Records
Date: 1854-1990

Creators:

• Christ Episcopal Church (La Crosse, Wis.)
• St. Peter's Mission (La Crosse, Wis.)

Unique Identifier: MSS 100

Quantity: 5.3 cubic feet

Physical Description: 7 archives boxes, 7 bound volumes, 2 flat boxes

Repository:

La Crosse Public Library
Contact Information

Archival Location:

La Crosse Public Library (Map)

Abstract:

Records of Christ Episcopal Church, one of the oldest organized denominations in the city of La Crosse, Wis., also called Christ Church, 1854-1990, and records of its mission church, St. Peter’s, located on the North Side of La Crosse, 1886-1932.

Historical materials include genealogical information on the Mary Edgar Sill (1838-1919) family, originally from Scotland. Other historical materials include newspaper clippings, photographs, and information on the stained glass “Window of the Beatitudes” designed by Charles S. Connick in 1933 and donated by Alice E. Hixon in memory of Frank Pennell Hixon. Congregational records include a parish list, parish registers, registers or logs of church services, vestry minutes, and sacramental records (1887-1951).

St. Peter’s Mission, which was located on the North Side of La Crosse, included some Syrian and Greek families. These sacramental records consist of baptisms, 1887-1929; communicants, circa 1893-1896; marriages, 1886-1902; and burials, circa 1887-1932.

Financial records include cash books, records of member donations, and miscellaneous materials. Related materials pertain to the Diocese of Eau Claire and consist of annual journals, a written history, and proposed canon revisions.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.lcpl-mss100

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(Accession nos. 2006.016, 2006.026) Donated by Christ Episcopal Church via Charles H. Miller III, Feb. 2006

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

[Identification of item], Christ Episcopal Church (La Crosse, Wisconsin) Records, MSS 100, La Crosse Public Library Archives, La Crosse, WI

Processed by Christine Stolz, 2006

Arranged in four series:

Series 1: Historical Materials

Series 2: Official Congregational Records

Series 3: Financial Records

Series 4: Diocese of Eau Claire

Historical materials include genealogical information on the Mary Edgar Sill (1838-1919) family, originally from Scotland. Other historical materials include newspaper clippings, photographs, and information on the stained glass “Window of the Beatitudes” designed by Charles S. Connick in 1933 and donated by Alice E. Hixon in memory of Frank Pennell Hixon.

Congregational records include a parish list, parish registers, registers or logs of church services, vestry minutes, and sacramental records (1887-1951).

St. Peter’s Mission, which was located on the North Side of La Crosse, included some Syrian and Greek families. These sacramental records consist of baptisms, 1887-1929; communicants, circa 1893-1896; marriages, 1886-1902; and burials, circa 1887-1932.

Financial records include cash books, records of member donations, and miscellaneous materials. Related materials pertain to the Diocese of Eau Claire and consist of annual journals, a written history, and proposed canon revisions.

The first complete worship services connected to Christ Episcopal Church were held June 23, 1850, on Grandad Bluff on the eastern edge of La Crosse. Services were held in various homes and businesses occasionally thereafter. On February 10, 1857, Christ Episcopal Church was officially organized. Christ Church was the only church in Wisconsin to celebrate communion every week during 1860.

Christ Church’s first house of worship was constructed in 1863 at the corner of 9th and Main streets. This church was home to the first pipe organ in La Crosse and the first vested boys’ choir in Wisconsin. A new church facility on the same premises of the original (111 N. 9th St.) was dedicated September 10, 1899.

The architectural survey describes the structure as being constructed from gray and red sandstone quarried from Grandad Bluff, Romanesque in style with a Venetian Renaissance interior. The church was completed with a gothic cruciform shape with counter balancing buttresses, a 108 foot tower, and has two impressive leaded stained glass windows. A window, depicting a figure of Christ, was designed by the Tiffany Glass Decorating Co. of New York in 1898. This window underwent an extensive restoration process that began in August 2000 and was completed in November 2001.

A second stained glass window, the Window of the Beatitudes, also known as the Hixon window, was designed by Charles S. Connick of Boston. The window was given in memory of Frank Pennell Hixon by his widow, Alice E. Hixon and was dedicated on Oct. 15, 1933.

Vinter Hall, an addition that provided space for church school classes, offices and a nursery, was constructed in 1962. The church was presented with a Heritage Award in 1982 by the La Crosse Area Society for Historic Preservation for its outstanding efforts in historic preservation. In 1985, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

(Clipping file)

La Crosse--Churches--Episcopal--Christ Episcopal Church

(Ephemera file)

Churches--Episcopal--Christ Episcopal Church

(MSS 046)

Christ Episcopal Church (La Crosse, Wisconsin) Records

(MSS 066)

Christ Episcopal Church (La Crosse, Wisconsin), Friendship Program Records

(283.77572 C4615LH)

A Short History of Christ Church, 1850-1899: The Seventy-Fifth Jubilee of the Building of Christ Church

(283.77572 C4615L)

Christ Episcopal Church directories

(283.77572 C4615LI)

Index of the First Register of Christ Episcopal Church, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1857-1865

• Christ Episcopal Church (La Crosse, Wis.)
• Episcopal Church. Diocese of Eau Claire.
• St. Peter's Mission (La Crosse, Wis.)
• Church records and registers--Wisconsin--La Crosse
• Greek Americans--Wisconsin--La Crosse--Religion
• Syrian Americans--Wisconsin--La Crosse--Religion

(Series 1)	Series: Historical Materials
Box 1   Folder 1	Altar services book, undated
	Edgar family
Box 1   Folder 2	Genealogical collections concerning the Scottish House of Edgar, 1873
Box 1   Folder 3	Letters and genealogy of the Edgar family, 1930
Box 1   Folder 4	Miscellaneous, 1899-1923
Box 1   Folder 5	Heritage award, 1982-1984
Box 1   Folder 6	History, 1930-1984
Box 1   Folder 7	Newspaper clippings, 1892-19(?)
	Photographs
Box 1   Folder 8	Building, undated Note: Photocopies only
Box 1   Folder 9	Miscellaneous, 1950s-1960s
Box 1   Folder 10	Nativity program, 1952
	Stained glass windows
	Connick, Charles S.
Box 1   Folder 11	Adventures in Light and Color illustrations, circa 1937
Box 1   Folder 12	Miscellaneous, 1933-1946
	Window of the Beatitudes (Hixon Window)
Box 8	Artwork, circa 1930s
Box 1   Folder 13	Correspondence, 1932-1941
Box 1   Folder 14	History, 1930s-1980s
Box 1   Folder 15	Other windows, 1979-1982
Box 2   Folder 1	Vinter, Reverend Robert recordings, circa 1957, 1990 Physical Description: 12 audio cassette tapes; runtime unknown
(Series 2)	Series: Official Congregational Records	⇧
Box 2   Folder 2	Christian education building, 1962
Box 2   Folder 3	Constitution and bylaws, 1857, 1971-1976
Box 2   Folder 4	Parish list, 1874-1892
Volume 1 Volume 2	Parish register, 1854-1922
	Publications
Box 2   Folder 5	Lenten service booklets, 1922-1927
Box 2   Folder 6	Miscellaneous, 1899-1987
Box 2   Folder 7	Newsletters, 1930-1949
Box 3   Folder 1-2	Register of church services, 1921-1944
	Sacramental records
Box 3   Folder 3	Marriages, 1919-1962
Volume 3	Register C, 1877-1895 Scope and Contents Baptisms (1887 April - 1895 July), Confirmations (1887 May - 1895 April), Marriages (1887 April - 1895 April), Burials (1887 May - 1895 September)
Volume 4	Register C, 1895-1917 Scope and Contents List of families (1900), Baptisms (1895 December - 1917 November), Confirmations (1896 May - 1917 April), Communicants (circa 1907-1917), Communion statistics (1901-1905), Marriages (1896 January - 1917 December), Burials (1896 January - 1917 December), Index
Volume 5	Register D, 1918-1951 Scope and Contents Index, Communicants, Baptisms (1918 January - 1950 November), Confirmations (1918-1951), Burials (1918 January - 1950 December)
Volume 6	St. Peter's Mission register, 1886-1932 Scope and Contents Photograph of interior of church, Index, History of church, Communicants (1902-1903), Baptisms (1887 March-1929 October), Confirmations (1887 May - 1906 June), Communicants (1893-1896), Marriages (1886 December - 1902 June), Burials (1887 - 1932 October)
Box 8 Box 9	Scrapbooks, 1922-1949
Box 4 Box 5   Folder 1	Vestry minutes, 1956-1988
(Series 3)	Series: Financial Records	⇧
Box 5   Folder 2-3 Volume 7	Cash books, 1899-1920
Box 6	Donations, 1899-1928
Box 5   Folder 4-6	Member contributions, 1922-1927
Box 7   Folder 1	Miscellaneous, 1915-1922
Box 7   Folder 2	Receipt book, 1902-1903
(Series 4)	Series: Diocese of Eau Claire	⇧
Box 7   Folder 3	Annual journals, 1944-1957
Box 7   Folder 4	History, 1928-1978
Box 7   Folder 5	Proposed canon revisions, 1984