Rutland United Brethren in Christ Meeting House and Cemetery

The Rutland United Brethren in Christ Meeting House and Cemetery is a rather simple frame church built in 1852 in Rutland, Wisconsin. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 for its religious significance. The Church of the United Brethren in Christ is an evangelical denomination with Mennonite and German Reformed roots, formed in 1800. The first prayer meeting in Wisconsin of United Brethren occurred around 1840 at the home of "father" Johnson near Rutland. In 1840 the first United Brethren class in the state commenced in the home of Joseph Dominic DeJean in Rutland. In 1851 a congregation was formed, led by Reverend A. Bacher, with 65 members. Charter members included Joseph DeJean, Taylor Valentine, A.G. Newton, Mr. and Mrs. David Anthony, E.D. Sholts, Emma Graves, the Burtons, the Haskins, the Prentices, and Dan Pond. The congregation bought 1.5 acres for a meeting house and burial ground in a rise above the Janesville and Madison Road – now US-14. The land cost ten dollars. They built the meeting house in 1852 or 1853. The building is a simple rectangle, 26 by 36 feet. Walls are frame. At the top are frieze boards. Above that are returned eaves – simple features drawn from the Greek Revival style that was then popular. A wooden stoop spans the front of the building, now rebuilt several times. Inside, a platform spans the west end of the bui

Cemetery data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).