ROBINSONVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Brown County, WI

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Article from The New Franken Shopper (April 1997)

ROBINSONVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Brown County, WI

The spring of 1861 was a season drenched in the weariness of storms.
The soggy earth meant poor conditions for planting. The sky stayed for
several days at a time clouded in the mist of a gray haze, making it
impossible to see what  lay along the horizon. Yet this was not the
only cloud hanging above Wisconsin. There was another storm looming,
which held far more severe conditions than hail, thunder, or lighting
could bring--that of the Civil War.

The Robinsonville Presbyterian Church was established in February of
1861, just two months before the Civil War erupted with gunfire at
Fort Sumter in South Carolina. At a time when the North and South
seemed hopelessly divided, and war was about to ravage the nation, the
new church sprung up in the heart of the community, a symbol of hope
for the future.

The  church itself was a product of the 1860 wheat harvest, which had
set record highs and ranked Wisconsin in second place among the
nation's largest wheat producers. The Green Bay Advocate described the
harvest of that year, which seemed to be piling up in the fields
faster than coins spilling out of a slot machine. The article stated,
"The complaint is general throughout the state that there are not men
enough to harvest the wheat. Here in Brown County we are told of wheat
fields where the grain is scattering from the ear for want or
harvest."

Wisconsin had hit the jackpot, and farming communities such as
Robinsonville were reaping the financial benefits. It is no wonder,
then, that residents were able to establish a new church, the French
Presbyterian Church of Robinsonville, that following February. "Wheat
is a big money crop, (and) the construction of the church represented
the financial success of the community," said Richard Zeitlin,
Director of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

According to Carel Frisque, Robinsonville Church began with a donation
of 10 acres from Francois Petinoit. The church was comprised of 21
original members, who had come to the United States from the same part
of Belgium where they had been farmers together. Francois had spotted
the advertisement for rich farmland overseas, and convinced his
neighbors to journey with him. The flood of immigration at that time
could be compared to the California gold rush, in that the farmers
were also looking for gold--the golden acres of an abundant crop of
wheat.

In 1856, Francois purchased 10 acres of land in Robinsonville for 75
cents an acre. Each year he reinvested some of his profits, buying
several more acres of farmland until 1860, when at the height of wheat
production in Wisconsin he had accumulated a total of 60 acres. The
Robinsonville Church was raised high on a hill he donated. Church
members used a team of horses to dig out the basement, furnished the
interior with handmade pews, and heated the inside with an iron stove.
"The Little White Church on the Hill" stood as a proud monument to
their success in the new world.

Though Robinsonville was enjoying prosperous times, the threat of war
was spreading out like a storm cloud across the nation. And while
golden peace still shone in rural Wisconsin, the storm front was
moving closer, threatening to eclipse the pleasant life the farmers
had traveled across an ocean to find.

Repercussions of the strife between North and South could be felt as
far as Wisconsin, including in the banking industry. "A lot of
Wisconsin deposits were sitting in South Carolina," Zeitlin said.
"When (South Carolina) left the union, it took the state of Wisconsin
with it." The June 1861 issue of the Green Bay Advocate announced that
several banks had closed, leaving signs on their doors explaining the
conditions in the south which forced them to suspend their operations
until the trouble subsided. On June 14 the Northern Bank Closed, and
on June 18 the Bank of Green Bay followed suit. Banks were getting
swallowed up in the whirling cyclone of wartime conditions.

For farmers such as Francis Petinoit, the bank was the earth they
sowed, for even during the war they were able to withdraw a plentiful
harvest of grain--enough to feed soldiers in battle as well as
themselves. However, for Robinsonville soldiers such as Jacques
Minsart, Francois Depas, Joseph Hannon and Gregorie Dupont, who had
been supporting their families through agriculture, the question
arose, who would be capable of taking their places? With the advantage
of new developments in farming technology, the women and children were
able to do the work themselves without sacrificing crop yield. While
men were shining valiantly in the battle fields, women were earning
their honors back home in the farm fields, providing the crops to feed
the nation. "Fifty percent of the adult male population went off to
fight the war," Zeitlin said. "The agricultural efforts were taken
over by women and children, partly because of the introduction of
mechanized equipment."

Men such as Jacques Minsart, who left his farm and family when he was
drafted in 1865, did not even live to see the front line. Even before
reaching the battle fields, soldiers were up against a different but
merciless opponent--disease. As documented in the book The Second
Battle, by John Henry Mertens, Minsart never fought a battle against
the Confederates because of his own fight for his life against chronic
diarrhea. Though Adele Minsart received many letters from her husband
while he was in the army hospital, all shining with words of hope and
reassurance she never again saw the sparkle in her husband's blue
eyes. The plagues of war had stolen her goodnatured spouse, who signed
each of his letters, "Your completely devoted and faithful husband--
Jacques Minsart."

For this very reason, to the relief of their families, wealthy farmers
such as Francois Petinoit had the option of hiring a substitute to go
to war for them, for the sum of $300. Xavier Martin, a Robinsonville
Church member, also hired a substitute who died a short time later
from disease.

Today, the Robinsonville Church is evidence of the settlers' many
triumphs, a badge of honor that is as old as the nation's greatest
conflict. Its construction tells of the success of the 1860 record-
setting wheat harvest, while the cemetery graves commemorate the lives
of Civil War veterans who helped shape today's community.

Each Memorial Day, when the Robinsonville Church recognizes its
veterans by laying flags across their graves, church members are
reminded of what holds the country together--the same element which
has held the Robinsonville Church together for 136 years--the courage
of each individual to struggle for the prosperity of tomorrow.