September 10, 1837

The first sermon was preached in [Beloit] by Prof. Whitney/Whitman, a Baptist minister from Belvidere, Ill.; the 1879 history places it in the old Beloit House, the 1908 history in the big boarding house built for Blodgett's mill men — both readings reported.

Meanwhile, closer to home

Property1837During 1837

Caleb Blodgett erected a house of boards, the product of Goodhue's mill — the beginning of the Rock River house.

PropertyJanuary 1837Month

Chauncey and Mrs. Tuttle, with four sons (Chester, Frank, William, George), came from Meacham's Grove, persuaded by Blodgett.

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The evidence

BeloitSeptember 10, 1837

A 2 independent sources

1AQuotation found on a page of our own sources

The first sermon was preached in the old Beloit House, September 10, 1837, by Prof. Whitney, from Belvidere, 111.

Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.PDF p. 611 / book p. 615

2AQuotation found on a page of our own sources

Here may titly be noted some of the first things of Beloit. The first large building erected was a temporary structure, a big lodging and boarding house, made in 1837 for the men who were building Blodgett's mill. It stood on ground now occupied by the Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, next south of where the Beloit house was afterwards built, and in it, September 10, 1837, Professor Whitman, formerly of Madison university. New York, a Baptist minister from Belvidere, 111., conducted the first public preaching service in the settlement, preaching morning and afternoon two most lugubrious sermons from Genesis 47 :9 and Job 4:1.

Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.Vol. 1, PDF p. 167 / book p. 151

1837 / September 10

BeloitA