Jerusalem Presbyterian Church

The history of Jerusalem Church

The history of Jerusalem Church coincides with the settlement of the Welsh community in this part of Waukesha County. The first Welsh to settle here - John Hughes, his wife and six children - arrived in 1840. The first Welsh religious service was held on June 12,1842 in the home of Richard "King" Jones on his farm, Bronyberllan. That property, which straddles County Road G a mile east of the village of Wales, now belongs to Hugh Rees.

For the next three years, Bronyberllan was the center of worship for the newly organized Welsh congregation that later became Jerusalem Church. In winter, services were held in the house, while in the summer they moved down the hill to the log barn. Hugh Elias (whose first house still stands directly across the street from the present Jerusalem Church) and Griffith Roberts became the church's first Elders.

The Welsh people were religious folk, founding many small congregations. Their fellowship meetings, or seiat, were run by Elders of the church, using traveling ministers when they were available. (The Index, June 11, 1992.)

The first resident minister serving the Wales area was the Rev. William T. Williams, who arrived in 1844. One year later, on July 20,1845, Williams preached at the dedication of Jerusalem's first house of worship, Capel Log. Its name means "log church" in Welsh. It was built by the members themselves at the intersection of Highway 83 and County Road G.

Capel Log was a modest 18 X 20-foot log structure with plank seats arranged around a wood stove, and with a basswood box serving as pulpit. Sunday School classes began on June 16,1846. Worship services were held at Capel Log for the next 15 years. It also served as the local school for eight years, until a school (fondly referred to as "Old Number Six") was built across the road.

As the Welsh community grew, smaller churches branched off from Capel Log. The Welsh always thought a church must remain their neighborhood house of worship. Also, distances seemed longer then, as people went to church on foot or by wagon. The other Welsh churches were Zoar, Bethesda, Salem, Bethania and Bethel, all of which built edifices in the 1850s. (Source: centennial program.)

In 1850, Richard and Charlotte Jones deeded an acre of land next to Capel Log to the church's trustees, for a consideration of 12 1/2 cents "to them in hand paid." (Source: Waukesha Freeman, April 24,1913.) It was on this property, located where the Jerusalem Cemetery now rests, that a frame church was completed in 1859. This church, the First Jerusalem Church, was built at the urging of church members who deplored that "we all have better homes now than the house built for the Lord." (Source: centennial program.)

Although the First Jerusalem Church was initially considered "a large and commodious house of worship," within ten years the congregation had outgrown it. In 1870, the church was enlarged wth a 20-foot addition, and remodeled. This became known as the Second Jerusalem Church, where services were held until 1913. (Source: centennial program.)

Mildred Southcott recalls attending the Second Jerusalem Church with her parents. "The women dressed up very nicely for church. You could hear the dresses rustling at the back of the church when they came in."

According to Jane Jones, it was customary for families to rent pews and always sit in those designated places. Her family, however, arrived in the area after all the pews had been reserved. Luckily, some members who had paid their rent failed to attend services, leaving room for the newcomers. Jones also remembers the Sabbath days at the Second Jerusalem Church as being filled with events: Junior Christian Endeavor and Sunday School all morning, a 2:00 service in Welsh, Senior Christian Endeavor in the evening, followed by a service in English. (Source: letter from Jane Jones to Ruth Roberts, May 1992.)

In 1878, Jerusalem received its first regularly installed pastor. Prior to this, there had been an itinerant form of ministry like that common in Wales. Ministers followed a circuit every Sunday, preaching at one church in the morning and another in the afternoon, and moving on to two different churches the next week. They visited every church in the area before repeating the circuit.

In 1880, the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad purchased a right-of-way from the township. By 1882, the first train was steaming through what soon became the village of Wales. "It was the railroad that made Wales 'Wales,'" recalls Mildred Southcott. "Before that it had just been a mail stop. It was a great thing for the countryside when the railroad came through."

Almost immediately the village grew, adding a grocery store, a bank and a hotel. It was on the verge of becoming a metropolis, some thought. So, when the congregation again began to outgrow the Jerusalem Church, many favored relocating it to the Elias property in the village, a mile and a half to the north.

"There was some difference of opinion," Southcott said. Her father joined the minister and a little over half the 100 members of the congregation in deciding to move the church to Wales. "I think it was a wise decision," she said. Southcott recalled the dedication of the present stone edifice by the Rev. R.J. Williams in May of 1913 as being "a very big event."

The opposing faction did not share this enthusiasm for the Third Jerusalem Church, having adamantly insisted the new church be located on the same site as the old one. "He (the Rev. Williams) was criticized severely at church meetings and some turned against him completely," says Clayton Evans.

"Rev. Williams had faith that over time these members would change their minds and return," Evans continues. Some never did return to the Jerusalem congregation, although many families that had been split by the decision to move eventually did come together at the new church.

After Williams and 10 followers removed everything from the abandoned wooden structure, including the seats, altar, organs, lighting fixtures, heating equipment and even the firewood, they were served with a court injunction by the opposition. (Source: Waukesha Freeman, April 24,1913.) The matter was settled before a court commissioner without any arrests. The second Jerusalem Church was dismantled in 1925.

It was a great leap of faith for Williams to go forward with his idea of moving the church to town, against opposition. He believed it was the right thing for the future of the congregation, and that the people would follow.

The new stone church was impressive for its day, having cost $15,000, a considerable sum. The entire basement was carved out by hand by church members, who hauled out the fill with a stone boat and team of horses driven by R.J. Roberts. (Source: Helen Buchholz, Roberts' daughter.)

Over the years, the church has been adorned with beautiful stained glass windows, the largest three dedicated to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Elias (on whose property the church was built), T.J. Hughes (Mildred Southcott's father) and the Rev. R.J. Williams. Later, two more windows were added in memory of Arvin Jenks. The brick steeple was badly damaged in the 1930s, and later removed.

Today, Jerusalem Church has become a major historic site in Wales. Its quaintness makes it a popular setting for local weddings.

In 1920, the Jerusalem congregation, along with the other Welsh Calvinistic Methodist churches in the area, merged with the Presbyterian Church. The larger denomination offered more resources, more ordained ministers and a wider appeal. As Daniel J. Williams writes in his 100 Years of Welsh Calvinistic Methodism in America (a book commissioned by the Welsh church at the time of the merger):

The Welsh Church as a separate body had a real mission, and no man can tell the extent of its service or the magnitude of its influence as an agency among the Welsh immigrant population and their descendants for several generations. But that particular form of service, where the Welsh language was especially required, had now become practically negligible. Our correspon-dence and similarity, in almost every detail of doctrine and polity, to the Presbyterian Church, made union desirable and profitable, not only to the Welsh Church as such, but to the wider interests of the Kingdom of God as expressed through the channels of the Church.

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