September 20, 1963, Appleton Post-Crescent
The Reverend O. P. Clinton was born on November 22, 1808 in Ferrisburg, Vermont. Clinton first visited the area in December 1845 and in March 1846 moved his family from Lake Mills, Wisconsin to Winnebago Rapids (Neenah). At the time Reverend Clinton represented the American Home Missionary Society and worked as a missionary in northern Wisconsin. Reverend Clinton organized a Congregational Church in 1847 and moved to Menasha in 1848. On September 4, 1862 he enlisted and served as a Chaplain for the 21st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment in the Civil War. He died in Menasha on June 19, 1890.
Rev. Clinton preached his first sermon in Neenah in 1846. Twelve people attended which was three-fourths of the white population within eight miles. In the 50s he supplemented his income by making syrup from cornstalks and selling apples from his orchard. During the war he became ill a couple of times but still traveled across many states with the regiment despite being an old man.
ReplyDelete