Statewide County WI Archives History - Books .....Introductory Note. 1900
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Book Title: PAST MADE PRESENT - Presbyterians In Wisconsin.  1830 - 1900.

Introductory Note.

Pliny says that the historian, Varro, having inserted in his
volumes the portraits of seven hundred individuals, was thus
the inventor of a benefit to his fellow men.*  The president
of the Pan Presbyterian Council, which met at Washington, D.
C, in the summer of 1899, urged delegates to form
illustrated histories of their churches, presbyteries, and
synods.  This the writer had already begun to do the Beloit
church, not in order to benefit those represented so much as
to make a more living record for the reader.

The work was first planned was nearly all completed and
printed by the Fall of 1899.  Fuller investigation led to
the belief that a more thorough illustrated history of
Presbyterianism in Wisconsin would be of interest and value,
and that the best time to get the facts and face was now.
And as the two parts were not meant to be bound separately,
Part I was therefore kept unbound, awaiting the completion
of Part II.  The amount of time and labor which that part
will yet require, however makes it necessary to bind Part I
and a portion of Part II without further delay as Volume I.
(Much valuable material and many illustrations have already
been gathered for Volume II.)

The writer having been born and brought up in Beloit, and
having kept in touch with it, has personally known the
twelve successive ministers of the First Presbyterian
Church, and indeed the whole progress of church and town
from almost the very beginnings.  Of a thirty years public
ministry twenty-eight have been spent in Wisconsin,
including, since his thirteen years pastorate of the First
Presbyterian Church of Janesville, one year of service
(1894-1895) as the Synodical Missionary for this State.  He
has written, therefore, from original as well as secondary
sources of information, and has aimed to produce a record
which might be interesting but should be  accurate and
manifestly reliable.  Place is given to the experiences of
our young people so that the work may be of more interest to
them.

The writer desires to especially acknowledge here the
encouragement and material aid in the production of Part I,
which was received from Hon. William B. Strong.

The photogravures and other illustration of Beloit scenery
are from original negatives, several of which were taken
expressly for this book by Herman P. Dailey.  The steel
engraving frontispiece, made in New York, is a very likeness
of Mr. Eddy.

The author has sought to introduce only such pictures and
portraits as really illustrate the text, and has tried to
place each where it would best serve that object.  The
expense  of this feature of the work has been large and the
difficulty of carrying it out does not need to be stated.
If, however, to the reader of the Past of our church is thus
in some measure made Present, and if by this means also that
our Present when it becomes Past shall more clearly live in
the minds of those who come after us, the chief object of
this work will have been gained.

Beloit, Wis., August, A. D. 1900. W.F.B.

* Natural History.  Book XXXV, Chapter 2

Additional Comments:
The First Fifty Years of the First Presbyterian Church and
Congregation of Beloit, Wisconsin.  Comprising also a
variety of experiences in our connected with the lives of
its member during the times of peace and of war; together
with

A History of Presbyterianism in our State up to the Year
1900.

In Two Parts --- Amply Illustrated.

Part I. Presbyterians of Beloit, Wis.
Part II.  Presbyterianism in the State and Synod of
Wisconsin.

For sale by

The Presbyterian Board of Publication, 37 Randolph Street,
Chicago and by Foster and the College Book Store and the
Author, in Beloit, Wis.

Copyright, 1900. by William Fiske Brown.

Printed and bound by the Marsh and Grant Company, Chicago,
Ill.

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