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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