HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



   St. John's Episcopal Church, Wisconsin Rapids, was started in the late
70's,
and on Oct. 1879, Daniel Rezini, Thomas Rezin, John Albee, Emanuel Dutruit,
and S. H. W. Lord as a building committee purchased from Ella R. Cochran
and
J. Wilbur Cochran the site at Third Avenue North and McKinley Street. Until
about 1885 a priest came from Wausau, the first resident priest being Father
Gardner. There were many changes in the ministry, and in 1916 the present
pastor, Rev. Johannes Rockstroh came. A sanctuary, guild hall and rectory
were built in 1898, a portion of the expense being met by the congregation
and a
part by Bishop Grafton personally, the small remaining indebtedness being
cleared
away three years later. A baptismal font was placed in the church in 1888,
in
memory of Lauchlau Alexander MacKinnon, child of a family in the church;
and
in 1902 Mr. J. D. Witter's bequest of $1,000 was used to purchase a pipe
organ.
In 1912 the church was thoroughly overhauled and redecorated and four years
later the vicarage was enlarged and thoroughly overhauled.
   The First Baptist Church, located at Second and Maple Streets, Wisconsin
Rapids, was organized by the Rev. C. H. Rust at a meeting held in the Chapel
Car " Glad Tidings", June 15, 1903. Rev. D. W. Hurlburt of the
Wisconsin State
Baptist Convention, conducted the work of the chapel car, and he and Rev.
E. B.
Edmonds, Wisconsin Sunday School Missionary, a member of the chapel cars
organization, assisted the Rev. Mr. Rust in the organization of the church.
Mr.
Rust remained to further organize the work, and was in charge of it for some
time. Services were at first held in rooms rented for the purpose in the
down-
town district, but in 1905, under the pastorage of Rev. A. L. Putnam, the
present
beautiful church structure was erected, overlooking the river. The first
elected
minister after Rev. Mr. Putnam was the Rev. William Barstow, who came in
1908, and was succeeded in 1909 by Rev. M. B. Milne, who remained three years.
Substitute ministers then filled the pulpit until 1914, when the Rev. J.
F. Dew
was elected; he was succeeded in 1916 by Rev. T. C. Hanson, who was followed
in the spring of 1919 by the present pastor, Rev. John De Vries. The present
membership is about 145, twenty of whom were organized in 1916 as a Polish
mission and joined the church at that time. The church has a well attended
Sunday School, a Ladies' Aid Society, a Baptist Young Peoples Union, and
a
branch of the World-Wide Guild, a young ladies' missionary society.
\1 Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wisconsin Rapids originated
about 1873 when it was founded with eight members by Rev. F. Leyhe, of Kellner,
Mr. Leyhe served the congregation until 1886, when he was succeeded by the
Rev. J. F. Bittner, who remained nineteen years. The Rev. H. Maack served
the church after this until 1912, when he was followed by Rev. R. F. W. Pautz,
who remained until the present pastor, Rev. F. H. Kretzschmar took charge
in
1920. The church now has 600 communicant members. The auxiliary societies
are the Walther League, both Senior and Junior departments, with approximately
90 active members, a Ladies' Aid Society with about 85 members, and a parochial
school whose enrollment last year was 110 pupils.>; Heretofore the school
has been
conducted in the basement of the church building, which was equipped for
that
purpose, but starting with the next school year it will be housed in the
building
that was formerly the Seventh Day Adventist Church and that has recently
been



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