Guide to the Trinity United Church of Christ (La Crosse, Wisconsin) Records, 1865-1982

MSS U

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Historical Note

Scope and Contents

Administrative Information

Controlled Access Headings

OCLC Number

Collection Inventory

Summary Information

Abstract

Trinity United Church of Christ was founded by Swiss Immigrants in 1865 in the Town of Shelby, La Crosse County, Wisconsin, originally part of the Reformed Church. Collection includes burial and death records (1867-1982), church registers (1865; 1883-1909), consistory meeting minutes (1954-1979) and a few financial records (1961-1962; 1978-1979).

Collection Title

Trinity United Church of Christ (La Crosse, Wisconsin) Records

Date of Materials

1865-1982

Creator

Trinity United Church of Christ (La Crosse, Wis.).

Call Number

MSS U

Amount

0.2 cubic feet

Physical Description

1 archives box

Language of Materials

English

Repository

La Crosse Public Library Archives

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Historical Note

Trinity United Church of Christ, located on Highway 14 between La Crosse and Coon Valley, was founded by Swiss immigrants in 1865.

In the early 1840s, the first Swiss immigrants came to Mormon Coulee. The first formal church services in the Swiss colony were organized in the late 1850s. These early services kept in line with their Reformed Church heritage and culminated in the official founding of the Trinity United Church of Christ on September 7th, 1865. On that date, Wisconsin Secretary of State Lucius Fairchild signed the application for a charter that had been signed by Trinity members Peter Kienholz, John Anderegg, John, Casper and Peter Schild, John Hugger, Melchoir Eggler, Christian Schmocker and Christian Ott.

The first church was built in 1866 on land donated by Peter Kienholz. Trinity’s first resident pastor, the Rev. C.H. Schoepplle, came in 1879. In 1894, property was first purchased from Casper Eggler for $1200 and the original church structure was moved onto the newly acquired land. Shortly thereafter, a school room and tower were added and a cemetery was plotted as well. A new church was constructed in 1906.

A Ladies Aid Society was formed in 1910, and became the Women’s Guild in 1938. Joint services between Trinity and Zion Reformed Church of Hokah, Minnesota, began in 1934 and continued until 1964, when the United Church of Christ created a state-line boundary system. Extensive remodeling and renovation of the church took place in 1932 and again in 1946. The one-story brick building that currently serves the congregation was built in 1969.

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Scope and Contents

The records of the Trinity United Church of Christ contain burial and death information, church registers, Consistory meeting minutes and financial records.

The church register section consists of two church registers, one dated 1865 and the other dated 1886. Both are written in German. Because of problems encountered with handwriting in the registers and problems in photocopying from originals, some of the material in the registers was not able to be translated. In the 1865 register, the parts that were translated consist of the parish regulations, a list of members taking communion in 1873 and a baptism register listing two baptisms from 1865. In the 1886 register, the translatable material consists of a list of parish members and a list of 529 baptisms preformed from 1883-1909. This list of baptisms includes date of baptism, name of child and name of parents.

The burial and death record section contains purchase records of burial lots, a list of burial (and sometimes death) dates of parish members from 1867-1982 and a grave yard account from 1885-1914. The purchase records of burial lots show the names and dates of burials. Some also show the name of purchaser, the date of the purchase and the amount paid. The list of burials from 1867-1982 list names of parish member buried and date of burial. Some also indicate date of death. Names from both the purchase records and list of burials have been extracted and indexed and are included in this section. The grave yard account lists the name of the person paying into the account, the amount paid and the date it was paid.

The Consistory meeting minutes cover meetings held from January 6, 1954- September 1979.

The financial records include monthly financial reports for the church from 1978-April 1979. There are also estimated/proposed budgets for the church from 1961 and 1962. Some financial records for the County Tree House, a day care center run by Trinity United, and by the Consistory, as well as construction proposal estimates for the church grounds from Mathy Construction Co. can be found in the miscellaneous file of this section.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

La Crosse Public Library Archives 1987 March

Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

Acquisitions Information

These records of Trinity United Church of Christ are photocopies of the original records, which are still in possession of the church. Photocopies made in 1984.

(Accession No. 1984.023)

Processing Information

Processed by Bill Petersen, March 1987

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Evangelical and Reformed Church (La Crosse, Wis.).
• Trinity United Church of Christ (La Crosse, Wis.).

Subject(s)

• Church records and registers--Wisconsin--La Crosse
• Swiss Americans--Wisconsin--La Crosse--Religion

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OCLC Number

47227248

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Collection Inventory