CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (LA CROSSE, WIS.). RECORDS, 1857-1917. ST. PETER'S MISSION (LA CROSSE, WIS.). RECORDS, 1887-1932. 1 reel of 35 mm microfilm

Abstract

Records of Christ Episcopal Church, also called Christ Church, 1857-1917, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and records of its mission church, St. Peter's, located on the North Side of La Crosse, 1887-1932.

Christ Episcopal Church is one of the oldest organized denominations in the city of La Crosse, Wis., and boasted membership of some of the oldest and well known families in La Crosse. Church records include baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials, 1857-1917; and some lists of communicants and families.

St. Peter's Mission, which was located on the North Side of La Crosse, included some Syrian and Greek families. These records consist of baptisms, 1887-1929; communicants, ca. 1893-1896; marriages, 1886-1902; and burials, ca. 1887-1932. All records were written in the English language.

Acc. No. 1997-23

Purchased by the Archives with gift funds from the Genealogical Society of Utah with permission of Mrs. Avery Gundersen, Senior Warden of Christ Episcopal Church, Oct. 1997; originals filmed in July 1981; GSU control number 1306447.

Finding aid written by Anita Taylor Doering, Oct. 1997.

History

The first complete worship services connected to Christ Episcopal Church were held June 23, 1850, on Grandad Bluff on the eastern edge of La Crosse. Services were held in various homes and businesses occasionally thereafter. On February 10, 1857, Christ Episcopal Church was officially organized. Christ Church was the only church in Wisconsin to celebrate communion every week during 1860.

Christ Church's first house of worship was constructed in 1863 at the corner of 9th and Main streets. This church was home to the first pipe organ in La Crosse and the first vested boys' choir in Wisconsin. A new church facility on the same premises of the original (111 N. 9th St.) was dedicated September 10, 1899.

The architectural survey describes the structure as being constructed from gray and red sandstone quarried from Grandad Bluff, Romanesque in style with a Venetian Renaissance interior. The church was completed with a gothic cruciform shape with counter balancing buttresses, a 108 foot tower, and two impressive leaded stained glass windows. A window, depicting a figure of Christ, was designed by the Tiffany Glass Decorating Co. of New York in 1898. The church sanctuary can seat 550 people.

Vinter Hall, an addition that provided space for church school classes, offices and a nursery, was constructed in 1962.

Scope and Content

When the original volume had pagination (page numbers), those are noted in the reel list below.

Church records include baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials, 1857-1917; and some lists of communicants and families.

A compiled list of the church register was compiled by the La Crosse Chapter of the DAR in approximately 1941 titled Index of the first register of Christ Episcopal Church...1857-1865.