Summary Information
Immanuel United Methodist Church (Kenosha, Wis.) Records
1854-1979
- Immanuel United Methodist Church (Kenosha, Wis.)
Parkside Mss 57; Parkside Micro 12; Micro 882
2.5 c.f. (5 archives boxes and 1 oversize box) and 4 reels of microfilm (35mm)
UW-Parkside Library / Parkside Area Research Ctr. (Map)Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Records documenting the history of the Immanuel United Methodist Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin, formed in 1854 as the Ebenezer German Methodist Church. Records include sacramental and membership records, financial records, minutes, photographs, records of women's and youth groups, and other records.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-pks0057 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The history of the Immanuel United Methodist Church can be traced to the 1850s when Methodist ministers from the German Chicago-Northwest Conference began mission work in the small communities between Chicago and Milwaukee. In Kenosha recent immigrants from Germany formed a congregation and incorporated as the Ebenezer German Methodist Church in 1854. A church building was erected in the following year.
From 1854 to 1860, the congregation was part of the Waukegan mission circuit. The Kenosha parish was left without a pastor in 1860, when the circuit disbanded, until 1863 when the Reverend Karl Becker assumed the pastorate.
Church membership increased dramatically in the first sixty years of the congregation, from 26 in 1856 to 230 in 1904 and 350 in 1924. During this period the name of the congregation was changed to the German Methodist Episcopal Church of Kenosha. A new church building was constructed in 1882 but was destroyed by fire in 1890.
During World War I, the name of the congregation was again changed, this time to Immanuel Methodist Episcopal Church. Prior to the pastorate of Reverend W. H. Schwiering (1917-1924), all services were conducted in German. During his term, some English language Sunday school and evening services commenced. In the succeeding years, a large number of recent German immigrants joined the congregation and as a result, separate English and German language Sunday services continued until the 1950s, when under the pastorate of Reverend Carl Hagen (1948-1952) German language services were discontinued.
In 1932 the German Methodist Conferences and the English Methodist Conferences merged. With the subsequent disbanding of the German Chicago-Northwest Methodist Conference, Immanuel Methodist Episcopal Church became a member of the Wisconsin Conference. Further organizational changes came in 1939, when the Methodist Episcopal Church South, the Methodist Episcopal Church North, and the Methodist Protestant Church merged to form the Methodist Church. The Immanuel congregation adopted certain structural changes, such as the consolidation of women's societies into the Women's Society of Christian Service, and the conversion of the Epworth League to the Methodist Youth Fellowship.
The Immanuel Methodist Church building was damaged by fire on January 4, 1960 and subsequently remodeled.
Scope and Content Note
The collection is divided into five series: Historical Materials; Administrative Records; Financial Records; Church Organizations; and Photographs. Consisting of newspaper clippings, booklets, and miscellaneous correspondence, the HISTORICAL MATERIALS document the history of the Immanuel congregation. A transcription of an oral history collected circa 1890, with the English translation, concerning the founding of the Ebenezer parish, booklets issued for the 50th, 75th, and 100th anniversaries of the congregation, and a copy of the Immanuel congregation's constitution as well as the charter of the Emmanuel Methodist Episcopal Society are included in this series. Some of the records are in German.
The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS consist primarily of two types of documents, the Official Board Minutes, and the Church Registers. The former are complete only from 1950 to 1966 and are mainly concerned with the daily administration of the congregation. Information on membership, baptisms, marriages, and deaths can be found in the Church Registers and Membership Rolls, which cover almost continuously the period from 1855 to 1974. Other details on the administration of the Immanuel Methodist Church can be found in the Quarterly Conference Reports and Correspondence, 1917-1924. The marriage affidavits and licenses, 1887-1980, provide valuable information for those interested in family history. Some of the documents are in German. The records of the educational activities of the Immanuel congregation are unfortunately limited to the Board of Education Minutes, which cover the period only from 1950 to 1961.
The FINANCIAL RECORDS consist primarily of the annual reports of
the treasurer. Most of the documentation concerns the local budget, the Apportionment Statistics and the Correspondence with the Board of National Missions. The latter two provide insight into the congregation's relationship with district and national Methodist organizations.
The social and structural changes affecting the Immanuel United Methodist Church and other German Methodist churches during this period are documented in the CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS series. Under Methodist Church national directives issued in 1939, auxiliary organizations such as the Women's Mission Society and the Martha Tarbell Circle were consolidated into the Women's Society of Christian Service. The Jugend Bund, which was the predecessor of the Epworth League, formed in 1898, thereafter became the Methodist Youth Fellowship. The German Sick Benefit Society was a fraternal insurance association, which assisted members of the congregation and the associated German community. Most of the materials, created before 1940, are in German. Regretfully, some organizations are not represented at all in this series, such as the Tabea Circle and men's groups, while the records for the represented organizations reflect their activities for a fairly brief time period.
The PHOTOGRAPHS contain prints of the church structure, congregation, members of sundry organizations, including the 1929 basketball team and some Sunday School classes. Photos of the 1882 and 1890 structures are in the collection along with those of the Kenosha Fire Department extinguishing the 1960 fire and the remodeling of the edifice resulting from that blaze. The series is divided into photographs that are dated (1882-1954), and those that are undated.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by the Immanuel United Methodist Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 1980. Accession Number: M81-008
Processed by Gerald Noeske and Vivian Laflamme, January 17, 1983.
Contents List
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Series: Historical Materials
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Box-folder
1/1
Reel-frame
1/1-22
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Clippings, various dates
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Box-folder
1/2
Reel-frame
1/23-134
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Booklets, various dates
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Box-folder
1/3
Reel-frame
1/135-140
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Emanuel Methodist Episcopal Society, Incorporation Papers, undated
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Box-folder
1/4
Reel-frame
1/141-214
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General Correspondence, in German, 1868-1869
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Box-folder
6/1
Reel-frame
1/215-228
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Scrapbook, 1960-1974
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Series: Administrative Records
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Official Board
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Box-folder
1/5
Reel-frame
1/229-275
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Membership Lists, 1959-1974
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Box-folder
1/6-7
Reel-frame
1/276-571
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Minutes, 1950-1966
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Box-folder
1/8
Reel-frame
1/572-592
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Administrative Board, Minutes, 1972-1974, 1979
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Box-folder
1/9
Reel-frame
1/593-669
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Board of Education, Minutes, 1950-1961
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Quarterly Conference
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Box-folder
1/10
Reel-frame
1/unnumbered
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Minutes, 1905-1924
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Box-folder
1/11
Reel-frame
1/671-713
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General Correspondence, 1917-1924
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Church Register
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Box-folder
2/1-3
Reel-frame
2/unnumbered
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1855-1924
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Box-folder
6/2
Reel-frame
2/unnumbered
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1923-1926
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Box-folder
3/1
Reel-frame
2/unnumbered
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1926-1975
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Box-folder
3/2-3
Reel-frame
3/1-317
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Membership Rolls, 1950-1972
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Box-folder
3/4
Reel-frame
3/318-341
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Register of Church Membership, 1949-1963
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Box-folder
3/5
Reel-frame
3/342-383
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Marriage Affidavits and Licenses, 1887-1950
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Box-folder
3/6
Reel-frame
3/384-427
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Guest Book, 1960-1968
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Series: Financial Records
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Box-folder
4/1
Reel-frame
3/428-681
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Treasurer's Reports, 1938-1939, 1950-1974
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Box-folder
4/2
Reel-frame
3/682-754
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Estimated Budgets, 1959-1970
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Box-folder
4/3
Reel-frame
3/755-871
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Apportionment Statistics, 1958-1974
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Box-folder
4/4
Reel-frame
3/872-1137
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Account Ledgers, 1962-1974
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Box-folder
4/5
Reel-frame
4/1-27
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Correspondence with the Board of National Missions, 1964-1971
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Box-folder
4/6
Reel-frame
4/28-48
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Gifts and Memorials, 1952-1974
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Box-folder
4/7
Reel-frame
4/49-175
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Bills and Receipts, 1854-1974
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Series: Church Organizations
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Box-folder
5/1
Reel-frame
4/176-216
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Women's Mission Society Reports, 1922-1924, 1936-1938
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Box-folder
5/2
Reel-frame
4/217-325
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Martha Tarbell Circle, Minutes, 1940-1952
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Box-folder
5/3
Reel-frame
4/326-331
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Women's Society of Christian Service, Treasurer's Report, 1969-1973
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Box-folder
5/4
Reel-frame
4/332-407
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Kenosha Jugend Bund, Protokoll des, 1891-1898
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Box-folder
2/4
Reel-frame
4/408-514
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Epworth League Minutes and Booklet, 1929-1936
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German Methodist Sick Benefit Society
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Box-folder
5/5
Reel-frame
4/515-661
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Reports, 1907-1930
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Box-folder
5/6
Reel-frame
4/662-714
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Correspondence, 1928-1940
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Series: Photographs
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Box-folder
6/3
Reel-frame
4/715-742
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1882-1954
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Box-folder
5/7-9
Reel-frame
4/743-819
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Undated
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