NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG3078.AM: United Methodist Parish (Humboldt, Neb.)
Records: 1860-1968
Humboldt, Richardson County, Neb.: Methodist church
Size: 2 reels of microfilm
HISTORICAL NOTE
Regular Methodist services were begun in Southeastern Nebraska in 1858, conducted by G.L. Griffing, Gabriel Westfall and G.W. Giddings. In April of 1859, a petition was sent to the Kansas-Nebraska Methodist Conference asking that a circuit be organized in Pawnee County. The Table Rock Circuit was duly formed, comprising Pawnee Station, Cincinnati, Table Rock, and Humboldt. The various Church groups met in schoolhouses and private homes. Later, various congregations were organized including Pleasant Prairie, The Humboldt Methodist Church, and the German Methodist Mission. The first building of the Humboldt Methodist Church was built at a cost of $1,400. Improvements continued throughout the years, and in 1909, a new brick veneer building was completed.
The German Methodist Congregation in Humboldt began as a mission in 1856, holding services in various homes or schools. These services were conducted by Circuit riders for some twenty-three years. In 1870, a Sunday school was begun at the Old Rock School south of Humboldt, under the direction of Mrs. Riechers. In the fall of 1874, the Humboldt Mission became part of the Tecumseh Circuit, and a Church building was erected in 1879. This Church was thereafter known as Emmanuel Church. During the following years, a parsonage was constructed, and a new Church building completed in 1907.
In 1925, the conferences of the German Methodist Church and the Humboldt Methodist Church approved the merger of the two Churches. Services were held in the Humboldt Methodist Church, which was remodeled in 1928 to meet the needs of the expanded congregation. In May of 1941, the Church held an anniversary celebration of Methodist work in the Humboldt community. This service marked the 70th anniversary of English methodism in the area, and the 85th anniversary of the German speaking congregation.
The first religious services in the Pleasant View Community were conducted by the Circuit riders, beginning in 1857. After 1871, meetings were held in the Grove and Pleasant Prairie Schoolhouses, and in 1874, in the New Bratton School. The following year, the congregation became a member of the Humboldt Circuit. In 1885, the Pleasant View Church was constructed, seven miles north of Humboldt, and shared a pastor with the Humboldt congregation until 1917 when a resident pastor was secured. Since 1941, the Pleasant View church services have been again conducted by the Pastor of the Humboldt Methodist church.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of two reels of microfilm containing 18 volumes of records and additional printed materials of the United Methodist Parish of Humboldt, Nebraska. The materials date from 1860-1968 and are arranged in four series: 1) Records of the Humboldt Methodist Church, 1885-1967; 2) Records of the German Methodist Church of Humboldt, 1860-1924; 3) Records of the Pleasant View Methodist Church, 1885-1954; and 4) Miscellaneous printed matter.
These records relate to the activities of the Humboldt Methodist Church, the German Methodist Church, and the Pleasant View Methodist Church, of the United Methodist Parish, Humboldt, Nebraska. Included are records of each Church, containing registers of pastors, members, officers, baptisms, marriages, deaths, funerals, minutes of board and church meetings, and financial records. Also included are Sunday school records and records of various affiliating organizations, such as the Women’s Home Missionary Society, and the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society. The printed matter consists primarily of pamphlets and publications relating to various church histories, church directories, programs of worship services held at the Humboldt Methodist Church, and newspaper clippings.
INVENTORY
Series 1 – Records of the Humboldt Methodist Church, 1885-1967
Reel 1
Volume
- Register of Officers, 1888-1892
Register of Probationers, 1886-1897
Register of Members, 1885-1899
Register of Marriages, 1886-1899
Register of Baptisms, 1886-1899 - Historical record, Humboldt Circuit Statistical record, 1920-1967
Register of Baptisms, Humboldt and Pleasant View, 1925-1948
Register of Marriages, 1921-1939
Register of Deaths, 1925-1948 - Minutes of Official Board, 1919-1926
- Minutes of Official Board, 1926-1935
- Minutes of Official Board, 1938-1943
- Minutes of Official Board, Pastor’s private record, 1928-1932
- Treasurer’s reports, 1943-1949
Secretary’s reports, 1944-1949 - Sunday school Secretary’s Record, 1913-1916
Minutes of Sunday School Meetings, 1913-1916 - Sunday School Secretary’s Record, 1917-1920
Minutes of Sunday School Meetings, 1919-1920 - Sunday School Secretary’s Record, 1921-1923
Minutes of Sunday School Meetings, 1921-1923 - Membership rolls, 1963-1964 transfer of membership, miscellaneous
- Records of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society, 1932-1939
- Records of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society, 1938-1940
- Records of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society, 1917-1932
Reel 2
Volume
- Treasurer’s Book, Women’s Home Missionary Society, 1926-1927
- Treasurer’s Book, Women’s Home Missionary Society, 1937-1940
Series 2 – Records of the German Methodist Church of Humboldt, 1860-1924
Reel 2
Volume
- Historical Record (in German)
Register of Pastors, 1876-1924
Statistical Record, 1872-1910
Register of Probationers, 1902-1924
Register of Baptized Children, 1888-1925
Register of Members, 1860-1923
Register of Baptisms, 1904-1921
Register of Marriages, 1904-1924
Series 3 – Records of the Pleasant View Methodist Church, 1885-1954
Reel 2
Volume
- Historical Record
Register of Members, 1885-1951
Register of Probationers, 1915-1930
Register of Baptized Children, 1921-1940
Register of Baptisms, 1917-1954
Register of Marriages, 1886-1951
Register of Funerals, 1916-1944
Series 4 – Printed matter
Reel 2
“Humboldt Methodism, 1856-1961” by Esther Sanfort and Lois Sterner
United Methodist Parish, Church Directory, 1968
Miscellaneous typed articles regarding Church History, anniversary pageant, 1946
Programs and Yearbooks, Women’s Society of Christian Service, 1944-1950
Miscellaneous worship programs, Humboldt Methodist Church, 1933-1955
Subject headings
German Methodist Church (Humboldt, Neb.)
Germans in Nebraska
Humboldt Methodist Church (Humboldt, Neb.)
Humboldt (Neb.) — Churches
Methodist Church in Nebraska
Pleasant View Methodist Church (Humboldt, Neb.)
Richardson County (Neb.) — Churches
United Methodist Parish (Humboldt, Neb.)
Revised 07-06-2009 TMM
