Among the early settlers of Wisconsin after it became a state in 1848 were quite a few Quaker families. By 1855, it was felt that sufficient numbers had moved to the Valley to suggest organizing a Friends Meeting. They became members of the Winneshiek Meeting in Hesper, IA, which was part of the Red Cedar Quarterly Meeting in the Western Yearly Meeting. They met for worship in the house of Fielder Brown (a Friend who moved into the area in 1853) until they built a small log Meeting House in 1856, at a location called Oaks, at which time they also organized a Sunday School. This building was used for worship on Sunday and for school during the week; it was located near Oaks Cemetery, behind where a schoolhouse was later built.
In 1858, a committee from the Hesper Meeting approved of the request made by the Wisconsin Friends to have their own meeting; it was named the Baraboo Meeting when they organized in 1860. Early in 1863, these Quakers, along with those in Hesper and Minneapolis requested to have their own Quarterly Meeting, to be known as the Winneshiek Quarterly Meeting. This request was approved by the Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1864, which met for the first time in August, 1863. In 1866, the Friends in the Baraboo Meeting changed their name to the Ironton Monthly Meeting. Later, the names Ironton and Friendswood seem to have been used interchangeably.
By 1867, the Friends outgrew their first Meeting House and built a new one on County Road G, across from Norwegian Church Road. The second floor was intended for school purposes, but was not finished until 1880, when the Ironton Meeting had 128 members. Friendswood Academy opened in 1884 with 32 students, but closed in 1887 or 1888 when a large group of Friends moved out to help found Whittier, CA. About 1893, the Friendswood building was taken down, and the lumber was used to build a small building back by where it was before by Oaks Cemetery. The Friends changed their name again in 1900 to Oaks. The Oaks Meeting joined the Valton Friends in 1901.
Valton Friends Meeting was organized in 1873, and were subordinate to the Ironton Meeting. These Friends moved up the valley by this time, and needed a closer place to worship, so they met in Ben Burdick’s house. From 1880 to 1886, they worshipped with the United Brethren in their new building. After 1886, they met in different available places. James Stanley (“Uncle Jimmie”) was their minister. About 1888, Minister and Dr. Philip Slack moved into the Oaks community as their first salaried pastor. The Valton Friends had decided to build a Meeting House in 1886, so they were ready to build it when Dr. Slack became their pastor, and it was finally built in Valton in 1891. This building still stands as the back part of the current Valton Meeting House, where the main entrance, dining area, and kitchen are. The basement was dug out and partially finished in 1923 while Raymond Targgart was pastor. It was improved and finished in 1938 when Leslie McCargar was the pastor. The south exit of the basement was added sometime between then and 1961, when the east exit was added. The west side door (now the main entrance) to the Meeting House was put in, and many other improvements were made a few years later.
Pastors of Valton Friends Church
- James Stanley 1855-1898
- Philip Slack 1890
- Marion Risinger 1897
- Birdie and Inez Bachelor 1899
- William Figge 1900
- Melvin Smith 1902
- Carrie Curtis 1902
- Jessie Monroe 1905
- Ernest Tetweiler 1906
- Taylor Guthrie 1907
- Orin and Oshe Hutchins 1910
- Otto Martinson 1912
- Frank K. Smith 1914
- Viola Smith 1918
- Birdie Bachelor 1920
- Clayton Quackenbush 1921
- Raymond Targgart 1922
- Grover Simcox 1926
- Phillip and Bess Moon 1927
- Lawrence Sams 1928
- Samuel Jackson 1929
- Lewis May 1931
- Leslie McCargar 1936
- Anna Nixon 1941
- Sylvia Pipkin 1941
- Willis and Nora Craven 1945
- Eber Hobson 1949
- J. D. Stanley 1950
- Nora Craven 1954
- Winefred Eastman and Norma Henderson 1955-1976
- David I. Brown 1976-1984
- John Causey 1984-1987
- Mark McDonald 1988-1995
- Tammy Martin 1995-1997
- Joe Vlaskamp 1998
- George Kamwesa 1998-2002
- Paul Willis 2002-2009
- Michael Biesek 2009-2013
- Stan Bauer 2013-2017
- Nate Perrin 2017-2021
This history is summarized from previous research. Credit for History: Steve Spurgeon
