Thursday, October 2, 2008

Little Brown Church

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There's a church in the valley by the wildwood

No lovelier spot in the dale

No place is so dear to my childhood

As the little brown church in the vale!

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As some of you may have figured out, my destination last Sunday afternoon was The Little Brown Church in the Vale, near Nashua, Iowa, about 35 miles from my home. The photo above definitely shows a "WILDwood" branch next to the church!

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Click this next photo to enlarge and read the church's sign, where you will learn the pastor's name and the time of Sunday services. That's right, The Little Brown Church is not just a tourist attraction........it owns a real-live Congregational congregation!

The sign on the door states that you may not bring food or drink into the Church........but, yes, by all means BRING PRAYERS!!
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"LET ME LIVE BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND BE A FRIEND TO MAN." ---- Sam Fosse

[Addendum: Go to this post on Rhymeswithplague Blog to read more about author/poet Sam Walter Foss, from whom the above quote originates.]


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Sign your name in the guestbook, please!

These photos don't do justice to just how lovely and peaceful the church's sanctuary was, with the September afternoon sunshine sending a golden glow throughout.

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Why is The Little Brown Church famous? You can read the Church History link on The Little Brown Church website. This blogpost will attempt to relay the story, too.......just for fun.

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The man pictured below, William S. Pitts, is the major reason for it all! One day in June of 1857, Mr. Pitts, a young music teacher from Rock County, Wisconsin, was a passenger on a stagecoach which made a noon rest stop in a wooded area near the prairie town of Bradford, Iowa. Here is a description of the area, later recollected by William Pitts: This part of the Cedar Valley will always be beautiful, but it was even more so then with the corn hills left by the Indians, the oaks and green prairie, flowers and woodland, and the Little Cedar River, running like a thread of silver through the valley.


On that day in 1857, William Pitts was journeying to visit a young lady in Fredericksburg, Iowa, who would eventually become his wife. Evidently, he was quite taken also with the scenery near Bradford, for when he returned home to Wisconsin, he wrote a song, "The Church in the Wildwood", in which he envisioned a BROWN church amongst the trees there near Bradford. The song he tossed in a drawer, but was compelled to retrieve it a few years later when he moved to Fredericksburg, Iowa, following his marriage, and discovered that a church had been constructed in that woodland near Bradford, and had been painted BROWN because white paint (containing lead) at that time during the Civil War, was hard to come by and very expensive!

In Mr. Pitts' words: I would return to Iowa in the spring of 1862, settling in Fredericksburg, where my wife's people lived. The Bradford Academy, founded by the church's congregation [As was customary for pioneers, they had constructed a school building BEFORE building a church!] hired me to teach a singing class in the winter of 1863-64. Only rough seating existed in the church when I sang the song for the first time and my choir sang it at the dedication of the building.

Mr. Pitts later sold the rights to his song, "The Church in the Wildwood"----plus four others he had written----to help finance his entry into Rush Medical School in Chicago. He and his wife had lost two babies at birth, and that evidently prompted his decision to become a doctor! After his schooling, Dr. Pitts returned to Fredericksburg, Iowa, and practiced until 1906. He died at his son's home in Brooklyn, New York, in 1918, and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Iowa. (I suddenly feel a road trip to Fredericksburg coming on!)

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Click the photo below to enlarge and view the original Communion service set of The Little Brown Church:

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Reverend Mann and his wife kindly gave me a tour of the sanctuary and offered tidbits of church history. Rev. Mann related that he had officiated at three weddings the day before, bringing the total of Little Brown Church weddings to 72,750! He said the church hosts around 250 weddings every year! He mentioned 1918 as being the year that couples began coming here to be married. He related the interesting fact that before that time church weddings were not the tradition........marriages took place in homes or at church parsonages. I can vouch for that........my grandma told me many times that her wedding in 1922 was the first church wedding ever in Dunkerton!! She had read of a church wedding in a novel and liked the idea! My great-aunt and uncle were married here at The Little Brown Church, and I know of others who were, also. Possibly YOU know of someone who was married here!

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Rev. and Mrs. Mann related the significance of this quartet pictured below, dating from the 19-teens, The Weatherwax Brothers, of Charles City, Iowa. They sang throughout the U.S. and Canada on the Lyceum and Chautauqua Trail, and in 1921 used "The Church in the Wildwood" as their theme, and told the church's story at every show, thus making the name of The Little Brown Church familiar across the country. Willam Weatherwax recollects: It is easy to recall that at the time we were singing the song and telling the story of the Church and where it was actually located, the automobile was becoming the mode of travel. Before our concerting days were over, travelers began to look for "The Little Brown Church." (This quote and Dr. Pitts' quote above are found in The Little Brown Church history booklet available for purchase at the church......obviously, one was purchased by me!)

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Hey.....why not......The Little Brown Church in black & white! That's Highway 346 running right in front. The pioneer town of Bradford, Iowa, faded away after the railroad bypassed it in favor of nearby Nashua in the late 1800's. My father-in-law always pronounced Nashua as "NAY-shwee".

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Well, this was a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Please visit the Little Brown Church website for more information! As I was pulling away from my shaded parking spot beneath the tall oak and pine trees, a car with Montana license plates pulled up in front of the Church........people come here from all over!!

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Go to the Cyberhymnal website to hear the tune of "The Church in the Wildwood". There's historical information there, too, and a photo of Dr. Pitts. Below are the song's words as found in my old Service Hymnal. (The lyrics on the Cyberhymnal site are a bit different, more personal and sad, with an additional verse included. I would guess those were the original words written by William Pitts.)

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There's a church in the valley by the wildwood

No lovelier spot in the dale

No place is so dear to my childhood

As the little brown church in the vale

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Oh, come to the church in the wildwood

To the trees where the wild flowers bloom

Where the parting hymn will be chanted

We will weep by the side of the tomb

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How sweet on a clear Sabbath morning

To list to the clear ringing bell

Its tones so sweetly are calling

Oh, come to the church in the vale

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From the church in the valley by the wildwood

When day fades away into night

I would fain from this spot of my childhood

Wing my way to the mansions of light

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REFRAIN:

Come to the church in the wildwood

Oh, come to the church in the vale

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As I prepared to leave the church building, Rev. Mann invited me to pull the thick rope in the entryway, to ring the church's bell! He said it is traditional for each newly-married couple to pull on the rope TOGETHER following their marriage ceremony........to symbolize that they will now be "pulling together" through the ups and downs of life!!

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(At the Church, I purchased a packet of a dozen note cards......they feature a sketched picture of The Little Brown Church on light brown card stock. I will send you one blank card and envelope if you email your address to me at junebug1976@hotmail.com .)

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19 comments:

Laura ~Peach~ said...

ohhhhhh I would love one! that is so awesome and cool I never realized that there really was a little brown church and how totally cool that he wrote the song before they actually built it! So wonderful! it reminds me of the church I gre up in it was a little white church (it was blown up in the 70's when some kids decided to rob it for antiques (they had all be stolen years before) they got angry when they could not find anything to steal and piled the hymnals in the sanctuary floor and set them on fire, the gas furnace blew up. Now ther eis a beautiful brick church in its place but I will never forget the original church!

Country Girl said...

This is just the peace I needed this morning, Jeannelle. So sweet and beautiful. And calming. Glad I stopped by before George's walk.

(I took the day off because we have an appointment in Baltimore later).

Deb said...

What a lovely post for today. And I never knew the Little Brown Church in the Vale was an actual place.
I'll be singing the song in my head all day. I fondly remember learning this on the organ a million years ago. Ahhh...brings back sweet memories.

Caution/Lisa said...

I am nominating you for official Blogosphere Historian. You always find marvelous things and their stories.

Pat - Arkansas said...

A wonderful post, Jeannelle! I'll be humming the tune all day and thinking about this lovely place.

DesertHen said...

What a lovely post. I had heard the song before, but never realized the chuch was an actual place. Thank you for another wonderful history lesson.....=)

rhymeswithplague said...

Great job, Jeannelle! A wonderful post. I'm glad I suggested that you blog about that little church.

A minor detail in your post provided me with the inspiration for my own post today. So double thanks.

My wife says you should be writing for the local chamber of commerce because you make everyone want to come and visit the places you photograph and write about!

Nancy M. said...

That is so cool! I never realized there actually was a Little Brown Church. The song always reminded me of my little church. How awesome to be able to go there!

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

That really is a lovely sanctuary. I enjoyed the photographs very much.

Russell said...

Okay... one more place on my "must visit soon" list!!

I have actually seen the outside of this church many years ago and vowed to go back before too long. I used to have grandparents that lived in Nashua and so I got to that part of the state often until they died - and that was in the late 1960s. So it is high time I got back there!

The church is bigger on the inside than I thought it would be. Thanks for some great photos and lots of wonderful information.

Take care.

Jeannelle said...

Oh, Laura....what a sad story about the church vandalism. :(

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country girl,

I'm glad you stopped in early. Hope you had a good day!

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deb,

Yeah, the song has a catchy tune to it.....especially the beat in the refrain.

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caution,

Thanks for the kind words!


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Pat,

Have a good day! One could have worse songs running through their head, I guess.


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deserthen,

I guess I didn't realize everyone didn't know that the "Little Brown Church in the Vale" was a real place, but how would people from other areas know about it, really.....I just hadn't thought about that!

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rhymsie,

Yes, your suggestion did give me the impetus I needed to finally go to the Little Brown Church, after having the idea way in the back of my mind for quite awhile. Thanks!

And, your post today was just superb, filling in the story of the quote on the church steps! You know so much more than I do about poetry and literature! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and interests always!!


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Nancy m.,

That's the nicest thing about the song.....it can make each one of us think of a special place from our past! Thank you for visiting.

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Ruth,

Thank you always for stopping by! This sanctuary seemed very peaceful, but they always do, I guess.

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Russell,

Oh, yes, do go there sometime! I think the sanctuary looks bigger because its quite simple and unadorned.



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Thanks to everyone who stopped by today!! Even if you didn't leave a comment!

Suz Broughton said...

Great post! Wonderful writing and storytelling! I especially liked the link as well.
Thanks for taking the time (which I know it took at lot) to post this.

Jeannelle said...

Hi, Suz!

Thanks for your kind words! It is just plain fun doing these posts, and gives my mind a focus. Plus....there are so many interesting places and things in the world around us.....we don't need to look far!

Mrs. B said...

Thanks for posting about this! I never knew that it was a real place. My husband had taught [our then] 2yr old daughter the chorus to this song, and EVERY time we went to church, she would sing it (though our church is a red brick). I was tickled to read this!

Yes, I would love one of those cards. Hubby's birthday is one month from today, and I know that he would love to have one...

Thank you for your interesting, informative posts! I love reading them & seeing all of your wonderful pictures.

Callie
p.s. I have lots of places to visit when I come back to Iowa to see family....thanks!!!

Jeannelle said...

Mrs. B,

Oh, that's sweet....that your husband taught the song to your daughter....the chorus does have a catchy beat!

Thank you for your kind comments and your card will go into the mail tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

If any of you are able to visit The Little Brown Church, I do enjoy meeting folks and sharing the history and ministry of the church. You may or may not be able to catch us at the parsonage across the road from the church, or feel free to contact us to arrange a time we can meet. info@littlebrownchurch.org or 641-435-2027

Blessings, Pastor Jim

Estella said...

Found you while doing a web search for genealogy. Imagine my surprise when I found Pastor Jim & Vicky's names, as I grew up with them both in a small rural NW Ohio town! It's wonderful to hear of their ministry & The Little Brown Church is blessed to have them serving there. Thank you for your eloquence as I felt like I'd visited Pastor Jim & Vicky along with their church!

Jeannelle said...

Thank you, Pastor Mann for stopping by to read and comment!

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Sheila,

Oh, that's neat you found this post then, to be updated on the Mann's. Happy to accidently be of service! Isn't the internet great like that!

robert said...

Today is the 91st anniversary of the death of William Pitts, author of the song about "The Church in the Wildwood." That's what brought me to your site. But I greatly enjoyed the many pictures you have posted. Well done!