RELIGION

Excellent statewide overviews of the major religious groups that settled in Wisconsin can be found in the CRMP's Religion Theme section and therefore will not be repeated here. 

The first religious services held in the nineteenth century in the Town of Perry took place in private houses.  Eventually, these pioneer congregations grew to the point where they were able to build their first real houses of worship and one of these pioneer churches still survives today.  This is the very modest but very intact Greek Revival style Hauge Log Church , which was completed in 1852 and which is now listed in the NRHP.(1)  This church and its Lutheran congregation are no longer active, but two other historic churches were also surveyed in the Town and their congregations are still active today and the churches associated with them are still two of the Town's most important buildings.  Both of these congregations are discussed below. 

Lutheran:
Occupying, as it does, one of the highest points in the entire Town of Perry, the Perry Lutheran church is the most visible landmark in the Town and it also houses the Town's largest congregation as well.  The Perry Lutheran Church, which is located in the hamlet of Daleyville, also has the honor of having the oldest active church congregation in the Town.  This congregation is of Norwegian-speaking origin and it was formed in 1854 as the result of a schism that had evolved out of doctrinal differences between its members and members of the older Hauge Lutheran Church.  This schism split the original congregation and the disaffected members subsequently left and formed a congregation of their own, the Perry Lutheran Evangelical Church.  In 1856, this new congregation began the construction of a church of its own, a stone building that was finished in 1858.  This stone Gothic Revival style building forms the core of the present church, which gained a wooden steeple in 1878 that as subsequently replaced by a stone steeple in 1903.  A further addition was made to the sanctuary of the church in 1914 but the entire building was gutted by fire in 1935, leaving only the stone exterior walls standing.  The church was then rebuilt in its present form utilizing the original walls, and in 1961 a stone educational wing was added to the side of the building.(2)

Roman Catholic:
The first Roman Catholic service held in the Town of Perry was celebrated in 1855 in the home of John Keller.  Services continued in this fashion until 1859, by which time the congregation had grown to some 29 families, whereupon the members raised $618 to build a church building.  This was a small Romanesque Revival style building that was built in 1861 out of stone quarried by the members themselves, and it was known as San Salvator Church of the Holy Redeemer.  San Salvator was predominately a German-speaking parish and it was a mission church whose congregation was served by priests from churches located in the Pine Bluff and Cross Plains up until 1895, when it was assigned to the priest in charge of the Catholic church in the nearby city of Mt. Horeb.  By 1895, the parish had been renamed Holy Redeemer after the German-speaking parish of the same name in the city of Madison, and by 1915 it had grown to the point where a new and larger church was a necessity.  As a result, the members demolished their original church in 1915 to make way for a new building on the same hilltop site.  This is a fine brick and stone-clad Gothic Revival style building that was built in 1916 to a design furnished by Milwaukee architect John Paulu.(3)  This church is still in a highly intact and well maintained state today and it is still in use by its congregation and is believed to eligible for listing in the NRHP for its architectural significance.

NOTES ON SOURCES

The best sources for the history of the Town of Perry's church congregations and their churches are the individual church anniversary publications cited below. 

EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED

Film Code              Address                                 Original Owner                                  Date                   _Hamlet__________

DA 203/11            10070 Spring Valley Rd.      Holy Redeemer R.C. Church               1916
DA 186/14-16       1051 STH 78                      Perry Lutheran Church                         1856-                   Hamlet of Daleyville
                                                                                                                    1861/1878/1903/1935/1961
DA 186/09            10828 CTH A                     3rd Perry Lutheran Church Parsonage  1919                     Hamlet of Daleyville

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Breines, Rev. Andrew R.. (pastor).  Holy Redeemer Mission, Perry, Wisconsin: 1861-1961.  Madison: Craftsman Press Corp., 1961.

Perry Ev. LutheranChurch: 100th Anniversary, 1854-1954.  Daleyville, WI:  1954.

Perry Historical Center.  The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement.  Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994.

Ruste, C. O.  Sixty Years of Perry Congregation: a souvenir of the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the Norwegian Evangelical Church of Perry, Dane Co., Wisconsin..  Northfield, MN: Mohn Print Co., ca.1915.

Endnotes:
 
1. Perry Historical Center.  The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement.  Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, pp. 189-190 (illustrated).  This church is no longer in regular use but it has been beautifully maintained and restored and it is open to the public.
2. Ibid, pp. 191-197 (illustrated).  See also: Perry Ev. LutheranChurch: 100th Anniversary, 1854-1954.  Daleyville, WI:  1954 (illustrated).
3. Ibid, pp. 198-199 (illustrated).  See also: Breines, Rev. Andrew R.. (pastor).  Holy Redeemer Mission, Perry, Wisconsin: 1861-1961.  Madison: Craftsman Press Corp., 1961.