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Potter / Redmond / Visgar CHURCH
York Township, Clark County, Wisconsin
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In the late 1890s and early 1900s, there existed a church
located in Section 32 of York Township; just east of the County
"Poor" Farm. The church was probably constructed in 1892 as an
excerpt from the 22 December 1892 issue of the Republican and Press
newspaper reads: "The dedication of the new M. E. (Methodist Episcopal) Church at Redmond's corner in the Town of York last Sunday was pleasantly attended and passed off very pleasantly. The sum of $135 was raised to go toward paying of the indebtedness, etc. The Rev's. Wooly, McManus and Ford were present and all pronounced the meeting a grand success." Although the article (further below) from the "York Centennial Booklet" refers to it as the County Farm Church, it was more commonly referred to as the Potter, Redmond, Visgar, Lyons or Dwyer Church. These was probably because those were the names of land owners that owned farms near the church's location. The pictorial excerpts from the 1893, 1905 and 1915 York Township plat maps imply this. |
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1893 Plat Map Excerpt Note: At this time; Potter, Redmond, Lyons, Visgar and Dwyer are adjacent landowners to the church. |
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1905 Plat Map Excerpt Note: At this time, Redmond and Potter are adjacent
landowners to the church. |
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Note: At this time, Potter is an adjacent landowner to the church. |
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| The links to the left are to "York News" columns and obituaries that reference the Potter / Redmond / Lyons / Visgar / Dwyer Church. | |
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Excerpt from "The Centennial History of the York Center United Methodist Church (1880-1980) and the Town of York (1857-1980)", 1980, page 94: County Farm Church: For the lack of a better, more accurate name, and to identify its place in the town, we will call it that. It was located 1/2 mile east of the corner on County "C" on the town line road in the Town of York. Several older women remember attending church there. Mariah Mortimer says they attended when she was a young girl. Ruth Magdefessel remembers going with her mother to a funeral there. Mariah thinks it may have been a Presbyterian Church originally but was a Methodist Episcopal Church in later years. When it was built and how long it was in existence no one seems to know. Raymond Northrup says it was 30' x 50' in size and was sometimes called the Basswood Church as that was the material it was made of. It was in 1910 that Raymond Northrup was baptized there by the Rev. W. P. Burroughs. Rev. Burroughs was pastor of the Neillsville Methodist Church also. Several members remember that it was used as a community center for spelling bees and other entertainments. By 1914, it was no longer used as a church. In 1916, it was sold and torn down by Paul Smalley who used the lumber to build two houses in Neillsville. There is no cemetery in connection with it. Some says that burials were made at York Center (and possibly at Neillsville.) |
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