Historical Committee
Archives and Research
American Missionary Association
Amistad Resources
Three
Wisconsin
Conference Historical Publications Available
That
All May Be One: Historical Essays on the Wisconsin Conference of the United
Church of Christ, edited
by Barbara Dotts Paul, traces the history of the Wisconsin Conference from
initial discussions in the 1940s and formation in 1962 through the first forty
years under conference ministers Clarence McCall, Ralph Ley and
Frederick Trost
. Authors of the chapters include
James D. Mohr, Richard L Christensen, Gerald W. Bertsch, Cynthia E. Bertsch and
Justus F. Paul. This book is
available for $10.00 plus postage from the Conference office.
The United Church of Christ: Ordained Ministers
of Wisconsin by
J.D. Peterson and
Harvey
Kandler
is a listing of all UCC clergy who have been ordained in
Wisconsin
. They are listed according to the
church where they were ordained and their year of ordination.
This booklet is available free of charge at the Annual Meeting and for
the cost of postage from the Conference office.
A copy has already been mailed to each UCC church in
Wisconsin
.
Reflections
on the Roots and History of Camps, Conferences and Youth Work in the Wisconsin
Conference United Church of Christ (In commemoration of the 50th
Anniversary of the United Church of Christ) compiled by
Harvey Kandler
. The managing directors and others
who helped shape our two
Wisconsin
camps offer their reminiscences of the Wisconsin Conference’s camping and
youth program during the past fifty years. You
may order a copy for $5.00 by contacting the Conference Office.
Wisconsin
Conference UCC P.O. Box 435 De Forest WI
53532
email mail@wcucc.org.
Archives and Research
The State Historical Society of Wisconsin Archives house
historical material of the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ including:
Congregational Church
Evangelical and Reformed Church
United Church of Christ
Church history
Church records
(Name of individual church)
The records were generated by many different church agencies and
include minutes, correspondence, reports, scrapbooks, programs, directories, financial
records, constitutions and other materials dated from 1839.
If you are interested in researching your church or the United
Church of Christ, contact them at:
Address: 816 State Street, Madison WI 53706-1482
Phone: 608-264-6400
Web addresses:
Library catalog includes books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers and periodicals
http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/index.html
Archive catalog includes church records, papers of individuals and records of
organizations
Top of Page
The American Missionary Association
(AMA)
Wisconsin Churches on the Eve of the Civil War
by the Rev. Ramon R. Hernandez
The AMA
It's a tame name, so tame that it almost evokes a yawn when you hear it - the American
Missionary Association (AMA).
Yet it was conceived during a racially-charged cause celebre, and born and
nurtured as the clouds of war gathered over our nation. After The Civil War, it
helped educate former slaves in the South in viciously turbulent years that were
punctuated by deplorable economic conditions.
Its Roots
The AMA has its roots in the Amistad incident of 1839, that captured national attention
and rallied those committed to the abolition of slavery. A ship of 53 kidnapped
Africans (including children) revolted off the coast of Cuba en route to slavery, and took
over the Spanish ship "Amistad" ("friendship" in Spanish). After
a zigzag journey up the eastern seaboard, they ran aground at the eastern tip of Long
Island. Arrested by federal authorities, they were incarcerated in New Haven,
Connecticut.
A two-year legal struggle ensued that eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court.
They won their case and were free to return home to Africa.
During their incarceration, divinity students of the Congregational Yale University and
eastern abolitionists, including three evangelical benefactors known as the Amistad
Committee, looked after the Africans. Both the notoriety in the press and the
legally successful outcome gave fuel to the church-oriented abolitionist cause.
Its Beginnings
Following the incident, two of the Amistad Committee members, Lewis Tappen and Simeon
Jocelyn worked with other eastern evangelicals, mostly Congregationalists and "new
school" Presbyterians, to form The American Missionary Association (AMA) in 1846.
At the time, there was also the American Home Missionary Society, the institutional agency
supporting new and struggling Congregational and Presbyterian churches. However, the
AHMS would not disqualify churches from support that counted slave owners in their
membership.
Not so the AMA. It took the abolitionist message to churches throughout the American
frontier, including Old Northwest (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin).
From 1846-1865, it financially supported struggling churches and pastors who were
committed to the abolition of slavery.
Of course, there were churches, such as First Congregational in Ripon which were
abolitionist, but not financially support by the AMA. The city of Ripon (along with
Jackson, Michigan) claims to be the birthplace of the Republican Party, whose anti-slavery
plank was what brought it to prominence in 1856 and gained it the presidential election of
1860 - and with that, civil war.
The Wisconsin Connection
In Wisconsin, the AMA supported almost 50 Congregational churches at various times during
this period. First Church, Baraboo and First Church, Lake Mills, were supported
during almost the entire period of 1846-1865. In all, some eleven AMA-supported
churches or their successors survive today. The others are Barneveld, Brodhead,
Burlington, East Troy, Janesville, Mazomanie, Raymond, Rosendale, Somers, and Waupun.
These churches dealt directly with Lewis Tappen, who was treasurer of AMA, and Simeon
Jocelyn, who was secretary. Correspondence by the local church's pastor or
representative is probably on file at the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University in
New Orleans.
The pastor in the late 1840's at Lake Mills was an 1843 Yale student, who possibly had
first hand acquaintance with Amistad participants. The Rosendale church was founded
in 1848 with AMA funds and from 1849-51 AMA supported its pastor Lewis Bridgman.
Union Church, Waupun, in 1850 notes "assistance from abroad" a probably
reference to the AMA.
Plymouth Church, Burlington, which received AMA support from 1856-1861, had strong
anti-slavery activities, including a report of moving Wisconsin abolitionist Joshua Glover
along the underground railroad in 1854. One of the tenets of the church during this
time read: "No slaveholder or apologist for human slavery need apply for
membership."
First Church, Brodhead, which received AMA support only in 1859-60, nonetheless reported
in November 1859, it applied for $200 for "the preaching of the gospel."
On Christmas day, the Church recorded that its application was accepted on
condition that its pastor, W. Cochrane, devotes one-sixth of his time as an agent of the
AMA. The Church accepted the condition. On April 8, 1860, the Rev. Mr.
Cochrane preached on the subject of missions, and $10 was given for the work of the AMA.
Three weeks later, another $18 was given.
Epilogue
With the Emancipation Proclamation and then the end of the Civil War in April 1865, the
AMA in the last third of the 19th century turned its attention to the education of former
slaves. Although its financial resources were stretched to its limits, and through
borrowing even beyond it filled a tremendous need of schooling at all levels.
It went on to help other disenfranchised ethnic groups in human rights, hospitals, and
vocational training, as well as education.
On May 1, 2000 (a Hebrew Bible jubilee year), PBS aired a documentary on the (once
AMA-supported) Fish University Jubilee Singers.
In 1999, a replica of the Amistad was dedicated on the Connecticut shore, the largest
contributor to the project being the United Church of Christ. In May 2000, the UCC
national headquarters building in Cleveland opened its new 4,800 square-foot Amistad
Chapel.
AMA exists today as an agency largely within the new Justice and Witness Ministries of the
United Church of Christ, with programs in health and welfare, racial justice, liberation
ministries, HIV/AIDS ministries, lesbian and gay concerns, family life and human
sexuality, community empowerment, labor relations and economic justice, volunteers services,
and persons with disabilities. In February 2000, it hosted a conference on rural UCC
churches (40% of the UCC), followed by definitive statistical data.
And it all began when a group of slaves wanted to be free.
Top of Page
Amistad Resources
available for loan from the Wisconsin Conference Office
Videos
Amistad - 1997 Oscar-nominated movie by director Steven Spielberg.
Although Spielberg took artistic license with some facts and characterizations, he
captured its stirring drama, tragedy and zeitgeist. The UCC has produced a
study guide for churches using this video.
The Amistad Revolt (33 minutes) - 1995 production portrays the campaign
that sparked the Abolitionist movement.
I Remember the Amistad - A resource packet with a 20 minute videotape and
study guide, poster and brochure. Available from UCCR 1-800-654-5219
Bridging the Divide, Seeking Transformation: The American Missionary Association
1846-1996 - 1996 sesquicentennial video about AMA history and work today.
Books
Amistad: The Slave Uprising Aboard the Spanish Schooner by Helen Kromer,
Pilgrim Press: Cleveland, 1997.
The Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition by Karen Zeinert, Linnet
Books: North Haven, CT, 1997.
Lewis Tappen and the Evangelical War Against Slavery by Bertram Wyatt
Brown, Louisiana State University: Baton Rouge and London, 1997.
Political Abolitionism in Wisconsin, 1840-1961 by Michael J. McManus,
Kent State Press, Kent, OH, 1998.
Top of Page
Wisconsin
Conference UCC
4459 Gray Rd.