es until the new brick
school house was built. They were then held in the school house until
the Church was erected. The first Church was commenced under the
Pastorate of Rev. J. Harrington in 1849, and was completed under that of
Rev. J.M. Walker in 1852. It was dedicated by the last named, Feb. 5th,
1852. The Church was enlarged under the Pastorate of Rev. A.C. Huntley.

Whitewater Station erected a new brick Church, one of the finest in the
interior, under the Pastorate of Rev. C.N. Stowers, which was dedicated
by Bishop Merrill Oct. 19th, 1873. At this writing, Whitewater ranks
among the leading stations of the Conference, having a good
congregation and a most enterprising Society.

At the close of this Conference I was returned to the Milwaukee
District. There were only a few changes made in the appointments of the
Preachers. At this Conference the name of Rev. Henry Bannister, D.D.,
Professor in Garrett Biblical Institute, was transferred from the Racine
to the Milwaukee District, and he was made a member of the Summerfield
Quarterly Conference.

Dr. Bannister entered the Oneida Conference in 1842, and for two years
served as Professor of Languages in the Oneida Conference Seminary. At
the Conference of 1844, he was appointed Principal, and held that
position with distinguished honor until he was elected to a
Professorship in the Garrett Biblical Institute. At the present writing
he is still at the Institute, doing efficient work. Nearly a third of a
century he has devoted to teaching, dividing his time almost equally
between the Seminary and the Institute.

Dr. Bannister is one of Nature's noblemen, and his membership in any
Conference is an honor to the body. The Wisconsin Conference has
recognized his worth, and has sent him three times as one of her
delegates to the General Conference, and on one occasion was pleased to
put him at the head of the list. But he is not the property of a
Conference; he belongs to the whole Church, and is the peer of his
brethren in any convocation she may assemble.

The General Conference met in Buffalo, N.Y., in May, 1860. The agitation
known as the Nazarite movement was then raging through Western New York,
and it was understood that several cases would come before the General
Conference on appeal from the expelled members of the Genesee
Conference. I was requested to go down to the troubled District and look
the ground over before the opening of the Conference. I did so, b