Portland
Churches
The people in all parts of Portland were favorable to the maintenance of
churches. The school house in early
days supplied the place of a meeting house.
Ministers preached in them on Sundays. Sunday Schools were conducted
under their roofs, Wednesday evening prayer meetings were held within their
walls and funerals were conducted from them.
With the development of agricultural industries, the people acquired
financial means to erect buildings solely for the purpose of religious worship.
As stated in Mr. Whipple's communication, the Catholics who occupied
farms in the eastern part of Portland joined hands with Elba neighbors to erect
the church that is located just north of the Portland line.
The same class of people on the east side contributed to the erection of
a church which stood on what was known as Hoy Hill on the Plank Road east of
Hubbleton.
The Lutherans erected a building in the extreme northeastern part of the
town while the Moravian element
among the Germans erected a building in 1874 just south of the Van Deldan Bridge
(Gerah). The Reformed Lutherans
(German M.E.) erected a church upon the Youker farm about 40 rods south of the
Plank Road. The American element of
the western part of the town united their efforts in the construction of a
church building located on the county line on the farm owned by Levens Ward
which adjoined that of Eli Griswold. Mr.
Griswold is remembered as a popular violinist (fiddler) who so often furnished
the music that touched the right spot in the hearts of the young people of
Portland and particularly the Irish element.
Chauncey Sheldon of Milwaukee, who was a worshiper in this church speaks
of it as follows: "the church
was built on the east side of the road opposite the Ward farmhouse.
It was the only building of the kind in the township for many years, used
exclusively for church purposes. I
recollect well my mother used to insist on my brother William and myself going
to this church every Sunday. We took
our shoes and stockings in our arms carrying them in this way until we were near
the church and then put them on. We
then divested ourselves of them after the services and returned in light
marching order. I did not object to
attending church regularly at the start as one Julia Hunter usually managed to
be ready about the time we came along to accompany us to church.
People were all neighborly in those early days and Julia's promptness in
finishing her toilet in time to escort us was merely the act of a good neighbor.
All went well until the Deacon began to drop off and take a nap while the
elder was using his best efforts to get them interested in his sermons.
As time went on, they became more familiar with his expositions of the
Scripture and somewhat more careless of its application to their everyday life.
The outcome
was that one warm harvest Sunday, brother Ellis, who lived in the neighborhood,
began to snore during his nap and objections were duly made by many of the
faithful. Others defended the
brother and wished to settle the matter once for all.
They settled the dispute rather in a rough and tumble manner. The
arguments used were as strong as neck yokes and it was attempted to harmonize
matters by pounding each other over the head.
The services closed with this unusual performance and when we reached
home I declared to mother that I would no longer attend the church.
No amount of coaxing or even the enjoyable walks with Julia Hunter could
induce me to return. There were no
enjoyments either at the Church or along the way that sufficed to change my
mind."
The little church mentioned was well patronized for many years.
The young men in that neighborhood profited by its teachings and were
much better because of the sermons they had heard.
The people of the Village of Portland were satisfied with the use of the
school building for church services and it is said that no successful effort was
ever made to undertake the building of a church.
The Lutherans who became the successors to the early settlers became
members of the Waterloo congregation. This
was true of the Methodist element which maintained public services there for
many years and of which F. W. Hall made mention in his history of the Methodist
Church of Waterloo. In the Village
of Portland, a society of Presbyterians was organized in the '50's under the
leadership of Rev. William Drummond. The
society was small and failed to gather strength from among the residents.
It seemed that it failed to keep up its organization after the departure
of Mr. Drummond to Stone Bank, Waukesha County, where he still resides.