Winneshiek County IAGenWeb Universalist Church Of Bloomfield Township this page was last updated on Sunday, 05 January 2014

Source: HAWKEYE HERITAGE, Volume 20, Issue 2, Summer 1985

authored by Clair C. Cornell of Ossian, Iowa

(Hawkeye Heritage was a quarterly publication of the Iowa Genealogical Society, in Des Moines, Iowa)

 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP

                 WINNESHIEK COUNTY, IOWA BY C.C. CORNELL

 

     The Universalist Church  was constructed during 1875. Its birth was the result of a dispute between factions of the Baptist congregation in Castalia. History records that tempers ran high, with neighbors refusing to greet neighbors, almost reaching the point of violence. The dissidents, unhappy with the strict fundamentalist belief of the Baptist denomination, decided to construct a church of their own. They chose the more liberal Universalist faith.  The Universalist Church building was constructed by volunteer labor from its members as mentioned in the interesting remarks of the Rev. Countryman of Dubuque at the church’s dedication. He said: “It is a tasty edifice costing nearly $2,000 but which might have cost much more and have been less elegant, but best of all it is actually paid for.”

    This church endured until 1912 when the Zion Lutheran Congregation purchased the building and moved it to Castalia. One reason for the decline in membership was that many of the parishioners resided in Ossian. These worshippers had a four mile drive in horse drawn buggies or wagons, rain or shine, summer and winter. The Ossian people decided to build their own church in 1892. Their defection, along with the emigration of other members to the West, eventually spelled the end of the Bloomfield Universalist congregation. It is believed that the Bloomfield Cemetery had been a burying ground for many years as some of the tombstones date to the 1850’s with the names of people who were known to have been members of this church.

 

Note from the transcriber, Connie Ellis:

      Clair C. Cornell was born August 20, 1914 in Military Township, Ossian, Iowa in Winneshiek County. He was the son of Welton E. and Bessie E. (Rathbun) Cornell.  Sometimes Clair’s name has been listed as C. Clair Cornell or Chester Clair Cornell. He was named after an uncle who was also known as Chester Clair Cornell. Clair died on February 1, 2002. He is listed in the Bloomfield Cemetery burials as C. Clair Cornell on his tombstone.  Clair had a strong interest in history and was very knowledgeable about the past. He was a frequent contributor to the newspaper, the Ossian Bee in addition to being an active genealogist and a member of several historical societies. There are several books which he wrote which can be located on the internet (2014):

 

“INDEX TO THE HILLSIDE CEMETERY IN OSSIAN, IOWA, 1982”,

 “A CORNELL FAMILY HISTORY FROM ENGLAND TO WINNESHIEK COUNTY, IOWA”, Amundsen Publishing Company, 1984,

“THE HISTORY OF OSSIAN AND MILITARY TOWNSHIP: A CHRONOLOGICAL ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST 100 YEARS OF THIS TOWN’S EXISTENCE INTERSPERSED WITH TALES ABOUT ITS PEOPLE”, written by Clair and his sister, Elisabeth Cornell, Amundsen Publishing Company, 1984

“OUR COLONIAL ANCESTORS”, written in 1987.

 

Please, contact the County Coordinator to submit additions or corrections.

Winneshiek IAGenWeb Home

Please read the IAGenWeb Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer

~all of which applies to the Winneshiek Co. website. ~

this page was last updated on Sunday, 05 January 2014