Dear Don: Thank you for your letter. I will try to give you what I can remember....

I am sorry I have never seen and do not know if there ever were any pictures of the church when it was flat on the ground. I remember Mr. Elkins was the janitor and built the fire in the stove. He was a Civil War veteran and lived at the Northeast corner of Belden and Kimball. His wife was very crippled with arthritis, etc. When my parents moved to Logan Square, we were Lutheran, but my father did not like the Lutheran Church near Wrightwood and Kimball Avenue. [Kimball Church] had a tent meeting on Kimball Avenue north of Fullerton. My parents went there one night (or day) and people cried "Amen," etc. I think my sister Beate and I thought that was funny. That was about 1903 or 1904. Editor's note: records indicate that the tent meeting was held in 1902 at the southeast corner of Kimball and Altgeld.

Fullerton Avenue was a dirt road west of Kedzie and had willow trees on the north side of the street with ditches for the water to run in. My father had the contract to build the new church. He did not want them to save the old building, but I guess the conference wanted it used.

Now I must stop to tell of the people who were at the church from the early days. Dorothy Matrona was very active. There were others who lived near Armitage and what was called Ballou St. (Now known as St. Louis Ave.) Burtons and two men named Taylor and Mrs. Frei, mother of Arthur Frei. She always brought flowers to the church.

The Taylors painted a very large picture on canvas of Christ, I think ascending. This was glued to the wall above the old sliding doors that separated the old building from the new. Editor's note: These doors were removed in the extensive renovation of 1924. The pastor's name was Rassweiler and he lived on Medill near Central Park. We had a picnic for the Sunday School on the northeast corner of Fullerton and Cicero where Walgreen Drug Store stood for many years. Rev. Rassweiler climbed in a tree to take a rope swing down from our picnic but fell and broke a leg or an ankle.

About three blocks west of this was our old swimming pond where there were green snakes and blood suckers in the water. One day another group was swimming when we came and when they left, they took our clothes so we had to go after them as they threw them away. And no one had a swim suit.

Later, Rev. Marshall was pastor, but he moved to Montana.

Then, Pastor Schneider was pastor of Diversey Parkway Church at the corner of Best Ave. and Diversey. He became the pastor of Kimball Avenue Church. He had two daughters--Emma and Ida--and a son, Newton. Emma married Mr. Pelkow. Pastor Schneider died of cancer and my father took me to see him a few days before he passed away.

My father built six or more houses for an old man from the Diversey Parkway Church named Bergman. He was about 80 years old and as a young man had herded their cows along the Chicago River where Montgomery Ward is at.

Kimball Avenue church can thank [unclear, possibly Mr. Johnsos] for plugging for the church to buy the lots next to the church. One family that lived south of the church lots was Doderlines. The oldest daughter married Henry Aulie. They had a son who was crippled with some early sickness, but later with his wife is doing a tremendous job with Wycliffe Translaters. Another daughter, Laura, who was my age, was a missionary in India and died there. She was in my room in Darwin School so we were about the same age.

My wife, Mildred Schimke Hansen, along with her sisters Laura and Elsie all were early Sunday School Scholars. There are so many we should remember. The sisters of Einer Comfield. An early Sunday School Supt. was Mr. Witte Editor's note: Mr. Witte also served as a lay delegate to the Annual Conference in 1905

My father built the church parsonage and I think the price was about $2,300.00. Just to show you how times have changed. There were no electric lights in homes. The houses had pipes for gas lights. It was not until 1907 that I remember them starting to use cement for foundations.

Ella Reinart (Rostad) and my wife were very good friends and went to evening school at Moody Bible Institute after work. Ella had a very good job with Sears, Roebuck and travelled for them. When Paul Rostad had been in India for a term, he visited Kimball Avenue Church as he was a friend of Joseph Gunderson. While on furlough he was introduced to Ella Reinart and they were married.

I am sorry this is not very good. I will try to find early pictures and send them.

Harry R. Hansen