The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-12-19
First Methodist. Church on the East
Side Burned to Ground This
Afternoon.
Loss Is About SIS, 600 Total In
surance Is $14,5oo-Fir Fought
Under Difficulties.

( The First Methodist church building,
Fifth street and Ninth avenue Sc, was
headway soon after 1 o'clock this after
noon. BY 3 o'clock only. the. walls of
the edifce We're standing ana the rstruc-
ture was accounted a toal loss. ,.....+' ,..-
General services We're to have been held
| in the church this afternoon and the jani-
tor, had built a hot fire in the furnace. The
flames communicated with. the woodwork
of the church, through a detective f1ue,
and within a few minutes the entire inter-
Tor was a mass of flames. An alarm was
turned in and a ''3-l1" summoning all the
available apparatus in the southeast section
of the city was ounded by Chief Canter-
bury upon his arrival. Il 49,. =. ..-..
1t was fifteen minutes after the fire de-
partment arrived before a stream was
playing on the fire. The dfiremen ha
scarcely turned as treame on the blaze; be-
fore 1t began to have trouble; with the
hose, which seemed to be of inferior quail
| ty or else old, and engines had to be cut
out frequently to permit Of repairs. There
seenad to be al ack Of fuel also and diff
Guilty In keeping steam UP to "a proper
pressure. -: -, .... - -, -
.:.' JanItor Not Accounted For. .,
| The janitor is a university student
Some fear is expressed that he may be
in the ruins, but it is thought that he
| started the fire and went away, after
which the church took fire. -
| The loss on the building is from $14, 900
| to $4,000 The insurance placed by NJ
S. Head & Son on the building is $500,
surable value Of the building is estimated
| at $15 900.
| No. q truck. .eollided with "a delivery
wagon of I'VE Old Tyne bakery to the
great confusion of the latter and it's con-
tents. The driver narrowly escaped in-
| iyyr~xy IN f1,a l. IT
dings and other pastries were scattered
all over Ninth avenue. ~
Church Society an Old One.
The burned structure which was form
erly occupied by the Olivet Baptist
church, passed into, the hands Of the First
! Methodist church in 1890. The property
was. valued at $S5, 000. The membership
OF the church was then about $50. The
| First Methodist church is one of the old
est religious societies of Minneapolis
The first pastor, Rev. Enos Stevens was
appointed by the Wisconsin conference OF
| lS49, as a missionary to st. Anthony Falls
now the East Side. A typical Methodist
pioneer missionary. his circuit included
St. Anthony, Fort Smelling, Red Rock,
| Cottage Grove, Point Douglass and Bis
sells. mound. The next preacher of The
struggling church was Rev. c.. A. New
comb. who remained two years. Rev. E.
w. N1oiA ILL., lOCdi preacher. served the
church in 1872. Rev Eli c. Jones was
appointed to this mission in 1852 and re-
manned two years. In his passionate a
frame building for; church purposes was
erected at a cost Of $1,000. Rev. S. i.
| Creighton took charge of the church ili
1854, and was followed the next year by
Rev. Andrew J. Nelson. Rev. Silas Bolles
became pastor in 1856. The church build
ing was enlarged jim this passionate. The
financial panic of 1861 Threw the strug
Cling church into serious straits bat
through the. good mana cement, Of Rev. J
F. Chaffee,- HID gocitfay tWas, abe to hold
it's own. In his two years of service large
! additiQDs were made to- the membership
His passionate was distinguished BY one O.
| the most remarkable revivals ever known
in the history of northwestern eMthodism
+ Other pastors of the church were Rev
Cyrus Brooks, Rev. Thomas Day. Rev. E
f. Lathrop who enlisted in the Tenth
i regiment of Minnesota volunteers in 1862
entire amount be added to the eXpenditul
and Rev. William Mckinley. who was ir
| charge of the church until 1864. during the
civil war. The pastors who followed were
c. F. Wright, F. W. Barry. Harvey
Webb, j. W. Shank. D. Cobb w. W
Satterlee, j, R. Creighton, S. G. Gale
Harvey Webb. J. w. Martin. IT, McCleary
Robert Forbes. A. c. Williams, John Stat
| ford, c. A. Van ,Anda, W. C. Rice, J. F
Stout. Thomas McClary, and William
| Fielder
The old church building was sold fol
5000 and was moved across the street. II
! was succeeded on the original site by &
church costing $4,000. The building. witt
parsonage, was valued at $50, 600. 1t was
sold in 1890.