THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 3, 1991

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            Rev. Silas Miller came to Waupaca about 1850, in search for a good location for a sawmill.  He made a bargain with E. C. Sessions for his entire claims.

            For payment he traded his 80 acres of land in the Township of Alto, in Fond du Lac County, six head of cattle and a promise of 6,000 feet of lumber as soon as it could be sawed.

            Rev. Miller and Mr. Sessions went to Alto to sell the land and bring back the cattle to Waupaca.  They had good luck and sold the land and sold the cattle before they reached Ripon on the way home.

            Soon upon arriving home, Mr. Sessions went up on the prairie northwest of Waupaca (Township of Farmington) and secured a claim.  This became known as Sessions Prairie; now we know it as Sheridan.

            Rev. Silas Miller did build his sawmill and sawed one Norway pine log and part of another on September 10, 1850.  A couple of years later he sold out to W. C. Lord.

            He then went north to Iola, along with Samuel S. and John W. Chandler and built their sawmill in 1854.

            Rev. Silas Miller did not live long enough to “saw” his mark into the history of Waupaca.  He passed away May 30, 1855, at the age of 59 years, 4 months and 28 days.  Eunice, his wife, passed away in 1878, at the home of her son in Milwaukee.

            Rev. Silas Miller did leave a little history in Waupaca, as a Methodist minister.  He was a circuit rider and was the first man to deliver the Word of God to the people in Waupaca, where he preached in the homes.  The Methodists were the first to build their own church in 1853.

            On October 19, 1975, the Methodist church celebrated 125 years of Methodism in Waupaca.  The first church that was built in 1852 was of wooden construction located on the corner of Badger and Main Streets.

            After the second church was built it became a blacksmith shop.  This location, you may remember as the location of the Waupaca Motor which was owned by the Laux brothers, where they sold Buicks and Chevrolets. It is now the used car lot for Colligan Motors (northeast corner of Main and Badger Streets).

            A metal plaque with the figure of a circuit rider for Rev. Silas Miller, was purchased by the congregation and was mounted on a new white marble stone, that was donated by the Henry Haertel Company of Stevens Point.  This was dedicated on the morning of October 19, 1975, as the church bells chimed in the distance, Rev. Barry Shaw led the prayers of the group of people who had gathered at the gravesite of the Rev. Silas Miller.

            This was the start of the day’s festivities.