The History of perry lutheran church
Daleyville’s most known landmark, Perry Lutheran Church, was established in 1854 as the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Town of Perry, Dane County, Wisconsin on November 5 by Norwegian immigrant pioneers. Many of these pioneers were originally part of the nearby Hauge log church, the first Norwegian Lutheran church in western Dane County, built in 1852. The Haugean movement started by Norwegian Lutheran lay minister, Hans Nielsen Hauge, focused on less formal worship and stressed personal belief in the Haugean tradition, or “low church.” After only two years, several members became disenchanted with the Haugean teachings and decided to start a new church that would affiliate with the more conservative State Church of Norway (Den Norske Kirke) because of their desire to return to the formal “high church” style of worship they were accustomed to.
In Febr
uary of 1855, this group purchased two acres of land for $2.50 from O. B. Dahle to build a new church. This land was located just a mile east of the Hauge log church, in an area that would later become known as Daleyville. The only business in the area at that time was O. B. Dahle’s general store. The construction of a 46’ x 65’ stone church began in 1856 and was completed in 1858. Although these pioneers had little money, few possessions and were struggling to buy and establish homesteads in their new country, they made it a priority to build a church and parsonage, and call a minister. The Hauge and Perry congregations continued to share the log church, until Perry’s new church was complete.
A tornado destroyed the first stone church in 1878, caused extensive damage to the parsonage and several outbuildings, and injured Rev. Abraham Jacobson. The parsonage was repaired, but the church had to be torn down. The furnishings were saved and put back into the congregation’s second stone church, which was completed in 1879 and built in the same location. The second church was built in the Gothic Revival architectural style and included a 132-foot wooden steeple, making the Perry church visible for several miles. Although the steeple was magnificent and drew much attention to the church, it was also detrimental. It was struck by lightning in 1888 and again in 1903. After the second strike, the steeple was rebuilt of local limestone and the spire covered in copper.
A major renovation project took place in 1913 and 1914 with an addition that included a chancel, sacristy, ladies’ waiting room, and a partial basement for a church kitchen. The existing interior was remodeled, and seating capacity was increased by 25 percent. This was done to meet the needs of the growing congregation and in preparation of the church’s 60th anniversary celebration. The cemetery was also updated at this time. The church was completely redecorated in 1930 with colored shadings and mosaic-like patterns resulting in a stunning interior.
Things were going well at Perry in the 1930s, despite the Great Depression. With a membership of one thousand, the congregation was debt-free and had a beautiful church, a large two-story brick parsonage, and a 40-acre parsonage farm. But disaster hit on July 11, 1935, when lightning struck a nearby electric pole and followed the highline wires directly into the church’s attic igniting a massive fire. With flames shooting high into the night sky, the fire was visible for miles. The church was completely destroyed, and all that remained were the severely damaged limestone walls. A week later, the congregation met and decided to rebuild the church as closely to the original structure as possible. Few changes were made, but a full b
asement was dug out at this time to allow for a larger kitchen and to provide space for Sunday School classes, and a stairway was added in the rear of the church for access to the basement. Construction began in October of 1935 and was finished in late 1937. Limited to available resources, the rebuilding was done in phases and took a couple of years to complete. The steeple was never rebuilt, but the bell tower was capped off in 1954 for Perry’s Centennial celebration. A two-story educational unit was added to the church in 1961 to house the congregation’s large group of Sunday School-aged youth numbering 200 at the time.
Despite the devastating tornado and fire that destroyed Perry Lutheran’s first two church buildings, there was never any doubt or hesitation that the congregation would carry on. In both instances, quick action was taken to begin the rebuilding process. The strong faith and determination of members, and their love of God and community were always evident and guided their decisions.
Perry Lutheran Church has been affiliated with various Lutheran synods throughout the years. When the church was founded in 1854, it became part of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 1865, Perry joined the Den Norske Synod, which had been organized in 1853 at Koshkonong near Madison, when accepted after their third application. This synod experienced internal division over the topics of predestination and conversion which resulted in the loss of one-third of its congregations including Perry, who withdrew from the synod in 1887.
Perry then became part of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America in 1890, which was created as a merger of those congregations leaving the Den Norske Synod, as well as the Norwegian Augustana Synod and Norwegian-Danish Conference. Change occurred again in 1917 when the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America was created as a merger of the Hauge Synod, Norwegian Synod, and the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America resulting from doctrinal discussions and compromises to unite the Norwegian Lutherans into a single jurisdiction. The name was then changed to the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) as part of the Americanization process in 1946.
In 1960, the American Lutheran church (ALC) was created as a merger of the American Lutheran Church (German), Evangelical Lutheran Church (Norwegian), and United Evangelical Lutheran Church (Danish) resulting in the first Lutheran body in North America with multiple ethnic backgrounds. The last change occurred in 1988 when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELC) was created as a merger of the American Lutheran Church, Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, and Lutheran Church in America.
Twenty ministers have answered the call to serve the Perry Lutheran congregation with the longest tenured pastor being Rev. Ingvald Lavik, who served for 19 years. Rev. Joseph Green, who was with the congregation for 13 years, went on to become a Bishop and President of the Eastern District of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, which included all states east of the Mississippi River at that time. Rev. Abraham Jacobson, who had a 10-year tenure, went on to serve in the Iowa State legislature for two terms after he retired from preaching. Perry is currently served by Rev. Kelli Fisher, who has been with us since 2014. The congregation is also proud to have numerous former members who went on to become ordained ministers since the church’s founding.
For many years, Perry was part of a three-point parish with the nearby York Lutheran (old York) and Primrose Lutheran churches. These three congregations shared a minister and held many joint events. Perry always had the largest congregation of the three and provided a parsonage. As a result, they were considered the head church. By paying a larger share of the pastor’s salary, they were able to have weekly services, whereas York and Primrose alternated every other Sunday. All three churches had their own holiday services.
Perry was known for its large and talented choir. In addition to singing at worship services, they also performed many Easter and Christmas cantatas, performed on a WIBA radio broadcast and were recruited to sing at many local church events. Members often sang in small groups of 3-8 at various events too. The choirs of the three churches also performed together occasionally.
The Daleyville community was formed around the Perry Lutheran Church. Not only was it a place of worship, it was a gathering place of comfort and friendship among others facing the same hardships in a new land. Located in southwestern Dane County, Perry drew its large membership primarily from the townships of Perry and Blue Mounds, but also from the neighboring townships of Moscow, Brigham, and York in nearby Iowa and Green counties. Today’s congregation is still spread across a large geographical area, with many of the members being descendants of the original pioneers. Daleyville was once a thriving little community with many businesses that included several general stores, blacksmiths, a wagon shop, barbershops, telephone exchange, newspaper, post office, community hall, auto garage, cheese factory, creamery, chicken hatchery, fire house, restaurant, feed and grist mill, flour house, saw mill, physician and surgeon, dentist, photographer, boarding house, bakery, dressmakers, millinery shop and a two-room school at the start of the twentieth century.
While Daleyville has changed and become smaller through the years, Perry Lutheran Church has been the one constant fixture throughout the history of this area. When one thinks of Daleyville, the image of our beautiful rock church and the nearby old Hauge Log Church where our congregation originated always come to mind.
Perry Lutheran is well known for our decades-long tradition of hosting an annual Memorial Day Dinner, our annual Holiday Bazaar on the third Saturday of November, our annual Advent Concert to ring in the holiday season, and of course, our famous fruitcakes.
We have many visitors who come to visit the Perry Historical Center (located within the church), the Veterans Tribute, which honors local Veterans and all branches of the Armed Forces, the Memory Garden, and the church cemetery, which has over 1,500 burials.
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