Photos courtesy of First United Methodist Church

NEBRASKA CITY – The First United Methodist Church held a church service Sunday in the historic Old Wyoming Methodist Episcopal Church, which is linked the famous Circuit Riders of the Methodist Church and the Episcopal cathedral built in Nebraska City.

The newly renovated church building north of Nebraska City dates back to the 1870s and is described as an outgrowth of services held in homes and schoolhouses in the first work of denomination ever held in Nebraska.

The historic Giles schoolhouse, which is located nearby, was a popular site for Methodist Circuit Riders.
Mrs. Mary Pendleton McKinnon, the only living child born to pioneer settlers at Camp Creek in 1942, said Joseph E. Foote built a cabin for circuit riders near Nebraska City prior to 1856.

 


In 1865, the Rev. Fletcher B. Pitzer and wife Mary were pioneer ministers. Mary was the daughter of one of the earliest circuit riders in the Nebraska Territory and contemporary of the famous W.D. Gage for whom Gage Hall at Nebraska City is named. The Methodist Church at Nebraska City is the oldest in the state.

The first Circuit Rider for the old Wyoming area was the Rev. J.T. Cannon. The Cowles Cemetery near the church originated in 1872.

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Nebraska City dates back to 1857 and was the base for the Episcopal bishop Rev. Henry Lee. As it was the base for a bishop, the small church claims the first cathedral west of the Missouri River.

Will M. Maupin writes that the first missionaries in Nebraska were Catholic priests who accompanied Francis Vasquez Coronado in the 1500s.

 

 

 He said spreading the gospel 400 years after Coronado was made more difficult by fur traders and whiskey dealers. Maupin said a story was told that the whiskey dealers convinced the Otoe Indians that it was bad luck for a minister to live nearby without giving them presents. The inhabitants of the region came to expect gifts of whiskey and other items the preachers did not have or could not afford.

Maupin claims that an early sermon that was affective was one that focused on the spiritual dangers of skating rinks. Skating rinks were appearing in New York in 1866 and a Nebraska City News article says boys made a skating rink near Central Avenue due to cold weather in 1869.

A book of scripture and hymns  titled “WDTWHTL WDWDKLHA EVA WDHONETL" was written by Rev. Merrill in the Otoe language (circa 1833). Some say it is the first book published in Nebraska.

The Wyoming Methodist Episcopal Church celebrated its 50th anniversary on Thanksgiving Day in 1928.

William G. James, the only person to hold continuous membership to that point, read a history of the church. He was also in charge of the music from a six-piece orchestra, church quartets and a duet by Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Cross of Union.

The church was an outgrowth of services held in homes and school houses in the first work of denomination ever held in Nebraska. The circuit extended from Nebraska City to Rock Bluffs, established in 1854, and included all of Otoe and Cass counties.

A Nebraska Daily News-Press story marvels about transportation the anniversary service.

 

 

Newspaper: “From the days of going to church by horse back, buggy or bobsled, the modern the method of traveling by automobile is a far cry, but a few members of the Wyoming Methodist Episcopal Church, who will attend the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the church today, have experienced both.”

Changes for the anniversary include discarding the old melodeon for a new piano and the loss of the old hitchin’ post.

A letter from the church’s first pastor, Rev. F.B. Donistorp of Geneva, was read.

The sermons by Dr. George I. Wright of Lincoln and Dr. E.T. George of Omaha were titled the “Memorials Spoken of in the Bible” and “The Love of Our Heavenly Father.”

Members of the congregations at Union and Wyoming were reported to be holding social meetings together by 1926.  W.G. James was chosen president of the Wyoming aggregation.

The City of Wyoming was laid out on the west side of the Weeping Water Creek, where it empties into the Missouri River. It contained 317 acres and, in 1857, is believed to have had two stores, a blacksmith shop, a printing office and a half dozen house. One store had a hall above where church services were held.

Jacob Dawson began to publish the Wyoming Telescope. It was the first radical anti-slavery newspaper in Nebraska Territory. From 1864 to 1866, 22 organized companies of Mormons and about 6,500 people left from Wyoming.

The name was changed to Dresden in 1878, when there 200 inhabitants. In 1936, the town no longer existed. The railroad was called the town’s downfall.

A new town sprang up two miles away, where the railroad passed, it was also called Wyoming. Church was held in the Giles schoolhouse from 1875 to 1878.

It was a popular site for Methodist circuit riders. The first circuit rider was Rev. J.T. Cannon. The Giles school was merged with Nebraska City in 1994. Cowles Cemetery was originated in 1872.

Methodist Minister Michael Brown gave the sermon Sunday at the Wyoming M.E. Church. He spoke about the dry bones visioned by the Prophet Ezekiel.