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A" . 7 By ELMO SCOTT WATSON J"""JKT others sing of tlie au-i au-i v E clent callieilrals of the I 8 - S world or tlie mighty B'S structures, dedicated to """""J religion, which are rising ISi in some of the great pop-I pop-I &fcCa ulntion centers of this I co,,n"'y' Mine be the Ilyl tllelne of the "little i ifii tl c'ul,'c',cs" which are scat-I scat-I vi-7 L tored throughout the BsiseS t'nited States, little white-painted white-painted frame churches that you find standing on a small plot of ground along some country road; little red brick churches, tucked away on some village side street ; quaint little old churches which date from the earliest days of tlie communities in which they stand; little churches wherever they may be in which there Is no man-made architectural magnificence magnif-icence to divert the mind of the worshiper wor-shiper when he comes into them from the busy world outside to commune with the Great Unseen. Tourists may gape in wonder at the splendor of metropolitan skyscraper churches, but it is doubtful if any of these great buildings will have the place In the hearts of so many people peo-ple as does a little church out In Iowa. And that Is because for more than CO years a song familiar to thousands thou-sands Invites one to "Come to the church by the wlldwood. Oh, come to the church In he vale." The Little Brown Church of song and story Is located in northeastern Iowa, In the beautiful valley of the lied Cedar. It stauds today among the same giant pines that were there when it was built back in Civil war days, in the wildwood which made the setting and provided the Inspiration for the carol. As a matter of fact the song, variously vari-ously known as "The Church in the Wlldwood" and 'The Little Brown Church In the Vale," was not written about any church specifically. Its author, au-thor, Dr. W. S. Pitts.' a native of Wisconsin, Wis-consin, received the Inspiration for the song while on a visit in Iowa. He wrote the song ut his home in Rock county. Wisconsin, but it was sung for the first time publicly In the now-famous now-famous Little Brown Church in the Vale, In Bradford, Iowa, two miles northeast of Nashua. How he came to write the song and how It enme to be applied to this particular church ntid to make it famous Is told In Doctor Pitts' own words. In a historical histori-cal booklet, published by the Little Brown Church, as follows: "One bright afternoon of n day in June, 1S."7, I first set foot In Bradford, Brad-ford, Iowa, coming by stage from McGregor. Mc-Gregor. My home was then in Wisconsin. Wiscon-sin. The spot where 'The Little Brown Church' now stands was a setting of rare beauty. There was no church there then but the spot was there waiting for it. When back in my home I wrote the song, 'The Little Brown Church in the Vale.' I put tlie manuscript manu-script away. "In the spring of 1S02 I returned to Iowa and settled at Fredericksburg, inasmuch as my wife's people were there. In the winter of lStjo-4 I taught a singing class In Bradford. We held our school in tlie brick building known as the Academy. In the years 1Sj9 and 1SC0 Die good people of Bradford wei determined to build 8 church. I will not take time to tell of the trials, the disappointments and the successes that followed ; suffice It to say, by the early winter of 1SG4 the building was ready for dedication. "While I was holding the singing school, near its close in the spring, the class went one evening to tlie church. It was not then seated, but rude seats were improvised. My manuscript man-uscript of the song I hart brought with me from Wisconsin. It had never been sung before by anyone but myself. I sang it there. Soon afterwards I took the manuscript to Chicago, where It was published by 11. M. Higjins. It won a speedy recognition locally and with the years won its way into the hearts of the people of the world. "Soon after its publication the church at Bradford (which had been painted brown for want of money to buy better bet-ter paint, some say) became known as 'Tlie Little Brown Church In the Vale.' Under the circumstances what is more natural than the little church at Bradford, painted brown, and the song should be wedded and known as one and the same. Some people may try to rob the little church of its fame but as long as it stands It will be known as 'The Little Brown Church in the Vale.' " At the time tlie Little Brown Church was built Bradford was a thriving town and the largest settlement in that part of the state except Dubuque and McGregor. Of the times. Rev. John K. Nutting, the pastor under whose ministry the building was erected, wrote: "We lived well. My salary was paid in products, at prices of which I could not complain. Wheat was 30 cents per bushel mill close at hand. Best cuts of beef, G cents per pound. Potatoes never more than 2o cents per bushel at planting time in the spring often given away. Other farm products were valued on the same scale. In winter, carcass pork, Frozen, could sometimes be secured for 1 cent per pound. A threatened thaw would generally overwhelm the parsonage with 'spare-ribs.' Many (1 with tlie rest) had sugar camps In the forest and made our own sugar. Others Oth-ers raised sorghum." Tlie church grew, and as a kind of by-product came Bradford academy. The school was housed better than the church, in a line brick structure. Beginning in a small way, the school grew and did notable work, elevating elevat-ing the standard of education In the region around, so that at one time it was said that no territory of equal size In Iowa could claim so many people with a college education. In 1S0S the 'long-hoped-for railroad came and passed Bradford by, touching touch-ing at Nashua two miles away anl across the river. Bradford, tlie largest larg-est town for many miles, gradually became a town of the past, while Nashua grew to the dignity of a population popu-lation of 1,000. Where Bradford once stood, tlie land was turned into farms. The Little Brown church survived, however. This was on account of Doctor Doc-tor Pitts' song, mainly, for after It was taken to Chicago and published, jubilee singers took it up, concert companies carried It all over America aud Europe, and it was heard In Australia, Aus-tralia, New Zealand and South America. Amer-ica. For 20 years it was one of the popular songs of the country. For some years after this the song was little iu evidence, like the church Then about 25 years ago the song haj a revival of popularity and again he gan to he heard widely at religiouf meetings throughout the country. Meantime, following Bradford's change from a town into open country, the Little Brown Church was abandoned. aban-doned. But the need of a place of worship caused it to be reopened and it was restored as nearly as possible to the way in which It was built. Thus for more than a quarter of a century it has been a real country church. A little church which sprang into fame within recent years is a quaint old Quaker meeting house In Sandy Spring, Md., 20 miles from Washington, Washing-ton, and It came into prominence when President Herbert Hoover attended at-tended services there. There was a particular reason for his guing to thai church. The President's biographers tell how Herbert Hoover is a descendant descend-ant of Andrew Hoover, a stalwart colonial pioneer, who "held farms In the uplands of Maryland," meaning the vicinity of Sandy Spring. It was in this meeting house, built in 1S17, that earlier generations of the Hoovers Hoo-vers worshiped. Off the coast of New Hampshire is a little church which is unique. It stands alone on Star island, Isles of Shoals, ten miles from the mainland, which is said to be the only island in America dedicated entirely to religious services. Built in 1S0O, after the wooden wood-en meeting house was destroyed during dur-ing the Revolution for fuel, this stone structure for 130 years has been the scene of worship by mothers, sisters and sweethearts, praying for the safe return of their loved ones, fishermen at sea. At ten o'clock each night when all is hushed, the pilgrims place themselves them-selves in column formation. Lighted candles, encased in glass shades and swung from handles like lanterns, are passed out to them. Theu the column col-umn silently winds its way up the rock-strewn path to the top of the hill where the little gray stone church with its old-fashioned pine pews. Its cracked hell and the metal codfish on tlie belfry, stands. There by the dim light of the candles, the pilgrims inside in-side the church and outside for It is nut large enough for all bow their heads in prayer. Then voices are raised in tlie words of some appropriate appropri-ate hymn and after this brief service the culiwnn moves slowly down the bill again. In naming tlie little churches there is one which should not he passed by without mention. On the top of .Mount Casino, some two miles south of Covington, Cov-ington, Ky., on tlie Highland pike. Is what is said to be the smallest church in tlie world, since it is capable of accommodating a congregation of not more than three persons! This small brick structure was built in 1S90 by some brothers of the Benedictine order, or-der, who used it as a shrine during tlie years they were engaged there in the making of sacramental wine. During Dur-ing the years of its use it contained an altar, the usual church candles, a crucifix xnd pews for the accommodation accommoda-tion of three persons. But It is no longer used as a church, though still owned by St. Joseph's parish of Covington. Cov-ington. It is now merely an out house of the estate on which it is situated. OsX 1S31. Westerj Newspaper L'olnn.) |