An adventure in Waldick Township, Iowa County, Wisconsin

"It is. supposed, and justly, too, that Waldwick was inhabited shortly after the discovery of the mines at Mineral Point, for the earliest known pioneer and settler in the town, James Fitch, who came here in 1833, found the relics of an old smelting furnace on the farm now owned and occupied by Joseph Griddle. The owners of this furnace, or the names of the men connected with it, Mr. Fitch could never ascertain, neither could he learn where, or from what mines, the mineral so smelted was obtained. These facts prove conclusively that the town was inhabited at least as early as 1830, or before the Black Hawk war."

In the spring of that year, the brothers, William and Benjamin White, of Indiana, immigrated to Waldwick, built a cabin, and broke twenty acres of prairie land.

About the year 1836, William Burr, of Dover, N. H., attempted to found here a colony of Free-Will Baptists, but his sanguine hopes were blighted, as but two persons of the contemplated colony immigrated here. These were Ansen Hall and I. W. Sargent. From 1840 to 1850 a number of settlers located in the town.

Prominent among the "diggings" of Southern Waldwick was the "Dyer Diggings." The Dyer brothers bought the mine from William's brother Amos Young and Amos's partner Uriah Groshong, after William's brother-in-law Ephraim White discovered "rich ore" in 1845.

Mineral was discovered at the "Young Diggings," by Pleasant Fields, in 1843. He operated the mine for a time and then sold it to William Young. The Waldwick Mining and Smelting Company also operated several mines.

The town was created 2 Jan. 1849 and originally contained eighty-four sections. at latitude 425147N and longitude 0900121W. The first post office was established in December, 1849. Ezra A. Hall was appointed postmaster.

 "WALDWIC, Town, in southeast corner of Iowa county, intersected by the east Peckatonnica and Yellowstone creek. It possesses both prairie and timber, is sparsely settled, and is adapted both to mining and farming." Description from John W. Hunt's 1853 Wisconsin Gazetteer:

In 1861 forty-two sections of the eastern part of Waldwick were organized into a separate town and named Moscow.

Waldwick Methodist Epsicopal Church ca. 1900  Wis Hist. Soc.

The Yellowstone Methodist Church was built in 1867. It was founded by settlers from Devonshire, Cornwall and Yorkshire, England. In 1902 the name was changed to Waldwick Methodist Episcopal Church


Alfred Teague built the first home in Waldwick.  He also built a store behind the church and in 1885 a post office was located at the store. The post office was disbanded in 1907. "As a child I remember Waldwick as the place where we attended church. sold the eggs, bought groceries, and chicken feed, and filled the truck with gas.  Besides the church, there was a frozen food storage locker, a telephone switchboard, blacksmith shop, school,...auto repair shop, cheese factory, Woodman's Hall, and two general stores." (info from Waldick by Marion Howard)

Allen Lodge, No. 207, Good Templars, was organized in Waldwick, by Ph. Allen, Jr., of
Mineral Point April 18, 1874.

The Primitive Methodist Church, located on Section 32, was erected in 1880. Today it is called Bethel Methodist Church at the intersection of Highways 39 and County W.

By 1895, a map of Waldwick village appears in the Iowa County Plat Book. The village was never platted into blocks, lots and streets but appears to have grown from the intersection of two main roads of the township.

A Handbook of Wisconsin published in 1898 notes that businesses included a cheese factory, feed mill, blacksmith shop, farm implements and two general stores. The village was never incorporated.

Waldwick Community Church, Waldwick Wisconsin.  photo by G.F. Glaeve 4-20-2014

Pastor David Richie

The Waldwick United Methodist Church was closed by the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church because Pastor David Richie's training was not recognized by the United Methodist Church. 

The congregation voted to disband their affiliation with the  United Methodist Church and to reopen as the Waldwick Community Church.  This re-opening was accomplished in August of 2011 with the symbolic placing of the cornerstone. The ceremony was conducted by the officers of the Grand Lodge of Masonry in Wisconsin. The builders' tools of square, plum, and level are used to represent virtue, uprightness, and equality.  The Scottish Rite is one of the appendant bodies of Freemasonry that a Master Mason may join for further exposure to the principles of Freemasonry.

   In the United States the Scottish Rite is officially recognized by Grand Lodges as an extension of the degrees of Freemasonry.  

Recently the Waldwick Town Board, without being requested by the church, took the step of declaring the building a Historic Landmark as a way to protect its significant place in the community.

From Dodgeville Chronicle 9/15/2011 6:24:00 PM  "Ceremony marks formation of Waldwick Community Church"  Jean Berns Jones (see entire article here)

Willmirth Ching gravestone in the Waldwick Cemetery bears the Scottish Rite double eagle. The double-headed eagle is a common symbol in heraldry. It is most commonly associated with the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Russian Empire and their successor states. In Byzantine heraldry, the heads represent the Emperor having authority over both secular and religious matters, Byzantine emperors were regarded as Christ's viceregent on Earth. It also signified the dominance of the Byzantine Emperors over both East and West. In the Holy Roman Empire's heraldry, it represented the church and the state. Several Eastern European nations adopted it from the Byzantines and continued to use it as did the Hapsburg Empire as well as the Russian Empire ; and as a fraternal emblem as in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.   In a Scottish Rite Masonic context: the Double-Headed Eagle was introduced by King Frederick the Great of Prussia, an early patron in the formative stages of the Scottish Rite.  The Constitution of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, was ratified on 1st May 1786 when Frederick, King of Prussia was proclaimed its Chief.