The History of Durand United Methodist Church (since 1837)

The genius of Methodism has been the extraordinary blend of theology and practical, simple organization. The "circuit rider" was the means of taking the Gospel throughout the country both in England and in America. He was also that deliberate and certain link of this "connectional" Church. Methodist circuit riders spent endless hours riding in the saddle or walking from preaching station to preaching station. Millions of miles were logged by well-known and little-known or unknown men who were committed to the spreading of Scriptural holiness and God's Word in Jesus Christ. This unique itinerate ministry is one of the marks of Methodism as it is attested to by the number of clergy who have served the Durand community. We now thank them all for their integrity of faith and life and their good examples as leaders.  

At the same time, one must not forget that the laity is the true Body of Christ. No clergy ever forgets that fact. The Church exists because God has called men and women into faith and witness to his truth. Clergy are set apart only for special functions consistent with the rite of ordination. They are but ministers among ministers as each baptized person is called to minister to one another in Christ's name. While we list former clergy, we never forget former laity persons who served equally well.  

LOCAL CHURCH HISTORY: 

Sometime in the late spring of 1837 an itinerant Methodist circuit rider stopped at the homes of Arphaxed Crane (in section 36) and Nathan Varnie (also in Howard Township, Winnebago County, Illinois), and preached to any of the settlers who would come to hear him. Perhaps he was the Reverend Mr. Whitford, who is credited with preaching the first Methodist sermon at the home of Scott Robb (in section 14). Not many people lived in the woods or on the prairies of the township at that time. The very first settlers had come in 1835 and the number of votes cast in the whole county in 1836 was only 158.  

The area was part of the Pickatolica territory, which was all that land west and north of the Rock River, and was administered by Rev. Thomas W. Pope. He extended the Buffalo Grove (Polo) circuit into this part of the country. At annual conference in the fall of 1837, Rev. James McKean was appointed to the Picotolica circuit (note the evolution of Pecatonica), and the membership increased from 132 to 170. The next year it was called the Freeport circuit and Rev. McKean continued in charge. In 1839 Samuel Pillsbury had the Freeport circuit and he was returned to the charge in 1840 when the Rock River Conference was formed from the northern part of the Illinois Conference.  

More people moved into the area every year and they came with a rush in the 1840's. After the land office was opened in Dixon in 1842, people began getting title to their land from the government. They had families and wanted a stable, God-fearing way of life for their children. In 1846 Hiram Waterbury purchased land for a mill race and mill along the south branch to Otter Creek at what is now the southeast corner of Durand. This helped those in Laona and the northern part of Howard (now Durand) township because Elton, the other settlement, was four muddy miles further south.  

Rev. Pillsbury retired in 1846 and was living in the mill village in 1850. The census that year lists "William Smith, age 26, M.E. minister" in the Elton area. Through most of the 1840's we were part of the Sugar River circuit. In 1851 we became the Medina charge, which had "three preaching places" and bore that name until 1857. In May of that year the railroad reached what is now Durand, and, as the momentary terminus, it mushroomed into a village of 500 people. At the May Quarterly meeting of the Medina circuit, held at Elton, it was agreed to build a house of worship in Durand, and name of the circuit was changed to Durand at the August meeting. Apparently work was soon begun, for the August 1858 minutes carried a motion to finish the church basement.  

This is not what we think of as a basement today. A picture taken at the time the building was being moved, almost 40 years later, shows that the basement floor must have been at or slightly above ground level. This was a popular design in that era. This lower level had a house-height ceiling and was used for Sunday school and class meetings. From it a single or double flight of stairs rose to the sanctuary. The wooden sanctuary level was not completed on the Durand church until 1864. This building stood at the northwest corner of present State and Washington streets.  

In 1893 plans were made to build a new church on Center street back of Van Sickle's hardware store, just north of the present building. This was carried out and the buildings were dedicated in 1894. Two years later the old building was sold and moved to Center and Washington streets. An addition was put on and it became the Bella Opera House serving the community as a hall for many years.  

On the night of November 7, 1925, the hardware store caught fire. There was no adequate fire department at that time and the flames, fed by paint and fuel oil, spread rapidly. Small fires kept starting on the church roof and there was grave danger that burning shingles, carried by high wind, would spread the fire all over town. There was no hope of saving the church itself. After removing books, pulpit furniture and some pews, dynamite was procured from Shirland and the church was dynamited, making the walls and roof fall inward. A doctor's office building and the second story of a house east of the hardware store were also lost in the blaze.  

 (1926)
Immediate action was taken to replace the church. Through the generosity of the entire community in pledging for the costs, quick drawing by the architects, and the hard work of the contractor and his men, the new brick building was dedicated on September 23, 1926. It faces the park on the site of the former hardware store at the corner of Main and Center streets. It served well until the 1960's when signs of wear and weakness began to appear. The exterior brick was cleaned and tuck pointed, a new roof was applied, and in 1966 the pipe organ was rebuilt.  

After Miss Mae Crowder died in 1968, the church bought her property to the east. Sunday School classes were held in the house a year before the house was removed for new construction. Commencing with George Lockwood's appointment in 1970, new construction and a remodeling program was undertaken. An educational wing was consecrated on April 23, 1972. The main building was largely remodeled. It was consecrated on January 7, 1973 with Bishop Paul A. Washburn presiding.

In the spring of 1980 property immediately north of both buildings was purchased. In the fall of 1983 a paved parking lot was completed on this property. In the summers of 1984 and 1986 renovation and improvement of the stained-glass windows in the original building was undertaken. During the fall of 1986 the entire debt on the new construction and remodeling was paid off and celebrated in March of 1987.  

Parsonage history is brief. In 1854 the Methodist trustees bought land near the mill for a parsonage. Sometime later the pastor lived in a house on the east side of Center street south of Washington. In 1912 the house at 314 West Main was purchased. This was used until 1966 when a new parsonage was built at 508 Freemont on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Downing.  

                                                                            (1970)

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF METHODISM  

1739 - Anglican Priest John Wesley forms first Methodist "society" - England

1766 - First Methodist "society" in new colonies - America

1769 - New York Methodists built Wesley Chapel (now John Street Methodist Church)

1773 - First "conference" in America: Thomas Rankin "superintendent" - 10 clergy  

1784 - December 24th, "Christmas Conference", Baltimore, Maryland - Methodist Episcopal Church organized - Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury authorized and officiating "superintendents" - later "bishops"  

 
1789 - Methodist Book Concern established  

1792- First General Conference of Methodist Episcopal Church  

1813/1817 - Black Methodists form independent bodies  

1830 - Methodist Protestant Church secedes - bishops at issue  

1837 - Methodism in Durand area (local church history commences)  

1844 - Split: Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Episcopal Church. South - slavery at issue  

1872 - Laity men admitted to General Conference  

1906 - Laity women admitted to General Conference  

1939 - May 10th, St. Louis, Missouri:
The Methodist Church organized by merger of Methodist Episcopal Church. Methodist Protestant Church,
and Methodist Episcopal Church. South  

1956 - Ordination of women approved in The Methodist Church  

1968 - April 23rd, Dallas, Texas: The United Methodist Church organized by merger of The Evangelical United Brethren Church and The Methodist Church

1980 - First woman elected bishop: Marjorie Swank Matthews  

The Durand congregation was first "connected" on a circuit as part of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was in the Rock River Conference when it came into existence in 1840. It remained in that conference until it was superceded by the Northern Illinois Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church after the merger in 1968. It is currently on the Rockford District, one of seven districts in the conference. In 1968 the official name was listed as "The United Methodist Church of Durand." but Durand United Methodist is commonly used.  

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The CLERGY in DURAND UMC History

James McKean (Picatolica Circuit)  1837-39

Samuel Pillsbury, Rollin Brown 1839-41

Richard A. Blanchard and

Alfred M. Early   1841-42

Alfred M. Early (Sugar River Circuit) 1842-43

Robert Delap, J. Lewis  1843-44

Samuel Martin    1844-45

L. F. Moulthrop   1845-46

Rufus J. Harvey   1846-47

Edwin Brown, S. Guyer  1847-49

William J. Smith   1849-50

(To be supplied)   1850-51

Henry Whipple (Medina Circuit) 1851-53

George Lovesee   1853-55

Jacob Hartman   1855-57

James McClane (Durand Circuit) 1857-59

Charles Best    1859-61

(To be supplied)   1861-62

Leander S. Walker   1862-64

Leonard Holt    1864-66

Hiram W. Reynolds   1866-67

Thomas Cochran   1867-69

M. G. Sheldon    1869-70

Alonzo Campbell   1870-73

T. L. Helliwell    1873-75

Peter C. Stire (Durand-Davis)  1875-76

Theodore H. Hazeltine  1876-78

Daniel W. Linn   1878-81

William J. Liberton   1881-84

James G. Eberhart   1884-85

William Shambaugh   1885-86

Alonzo Newton   1886-88

Thomas Westerdale   1888-90

Francis Asbury Read   1890-92

Frank Barnes Hardin   1892-94

Charles Wesley Jaycox  1894-97

Charles Amon Gage   1897-00

John Hitchcock   1900-01

Harry Collins    1901-03

Ernest O. Storer   1903-05

R. J. Wyant    1905-07

O. J. Simmons    1907-10

Johiah V. Bennett   1910-12

Albert Bauman   1912-17

Enos Holt    1917-19

Manly J. Mumford   1919-20

A. E. Ulrich    1920-24

Charles S. Clay   1924-25

J. A. L. Warren   1925-27

F. D. Sheets (Supply 6 months) 1927-27

Louis Winter    1927-31

Everett Knight Hester   1931-34

      (Durand-Burritt)

Eugene C. Wood   1934-38

Carleton C. Rogers   1938-43

Kenneth Thompson   1943-46

Richard C. Wedel (Durand only) 1946-49

Ira Sherman (to mission field) 1949-50

Richard C. Wedel (Supply 6 months) 1950-50

John J. Main    1950-53

Samuel Weisshaar   1953-54

Billy Jo Usher    1954-57

Ralph Totten    1957-59

Virgil Smith    1959-62

Darrell D. English   1962-67

Ellery J. Beal    1967-70

George F. Lockwood III  1970-74

Thomas M. Hardwick   1974-00

John Allan Boryk   2000-04

David Decker    2004-06

Lana Thompson Sutton  2006-07

Larry Moody (Interim)  2007-08