It is called Old First Church for a good reason. The building was the first church erected in Galesburg. It could be called the mother of all the churches organized since the establishment of the city in 1837.

The Reverend George W. Gale and his colony members organized their church on February 25, 1837, with 82 members. It was a combination of Presbyterian and Congregational Church members. There were at least two families of Universalists within the group.

Church services were held in Hugh Conger's cabin at Log City. He was one of the Universalists. He had the largest cabin because he had a large family. The services conducted by Reverend Gale and various traveling clergymen were frequent and long. When a school house had been erected on the north side of Ferris Street between Broad and Cherry in Galesburg, the Sunday services alternated between Log City and the village of Galesburg.

By December of 1838, Chauncey Colton had erected the first Academy building on the northeast corner of the Public Square. The ground floor was a large chamber with a slanted floor and wooden benches for seating. It allowed everyone to see the speaker. The upper floor had three classrooms. Instruction was of a preparatory nature leading eventually to study in the planned college. Church services were conducted there for 190 members.

In those early days few church members had money to contribute to the creation of a real church building. Several years passed before farmers cut logs of oak and hauled them to the Colony sawmill for the construction of the church. The most conspicuous location in Galesburg was chosen as the site for the First Church—the southeast corner of the Public Square. The trustees of Knox College donated the land.

The building was framed so as to be sixty feet by eighty feet and 24 feet tall. The wood was piled high on the lot awaiting more donations of money and supplies to complete the structure. There was some theological disagreement going on among the church members at the same time. A storm blew over Galesburg and knocked down the work that had been done. Some believed it may have been a sign from the Almighty to get on with the work of building a house of worship.

In 1846, First Church was completed. The first commencement of Knox College was conducted in it. Reverend Jonathan Blanchard, the president of Knox College, gave the sermon and nine students were graduated.

The church bell rang at seven in the morning, at noon and at six o'clock in the evening. It regulated the conducting of business in the town. It also served as an emergency and fire alarm. When the Civil War broke out in April 1861, the bell called people to the Public Square to learn of the event.

As the largest structure in town, it was used for many kinds of gatherings beside the religious services. There were concerts, lectures and conventions as well as commencements. Between 1850 and 1860, many well-known speakers and performers appeared in the First Church. They brought the outside world to Galesburg, especially after the railroad came though in 1854.

As the population of Galesburg grew, other denominations began to establish their own churches. The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1847 and the Baptists in 1848. A Swedish Lutheran Church was founded in 1852 and a Swedish Methodist in 1856. An African Methodist Church was organized in 1856. The Universalists founded their own church the same year. The City Mission was established in 1858 by the leaders of the First Church to serve the immigrants living on the south side of Galesburg. An old railroad car donated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company was used for the Sunday School.

Several decades later Carl Sandburg would be among the children taught at the Mission. For the rest of his life he gave credit to the Mission for his first experiences at public speaking and performing before an audience.

To be continued.