Radersburg Community Church
Radersburg was a thriving mining community in the 1860's and grew by leaps and bounds. Services were first held at the courthouse which was the Jefferson County courthouse at the time. Reverand E.L. Stanley was the first Pastor here in 1871. He died in Whitehall where his family descendants still reside. Reverend L.B. Statler was a pastor for a time. He came to the Montana Territory as a member of a wagon train of about 300 people under the management of famed frontiersman Jim Bridger. In 1873, W.W. Van Orsdel became a circuit rider which included Radersburg. In 1911 a basement was excavated with a roof built that served for the first Radersburg church. Six year later a first floor was added in 1917.
The Townsend Star reported the Church as a "modern frame building equipped with 1st class warm air heating and venitlation system. An invitation stated:
All trains stop at Toston where autos will meet them to take them to Radersburg for lodging and meals free. Come and make this a memorial day.
Later circuit riders and Townsend Pastors served the Radersburg Methodist Church along with Townsend and Toston. The Radersburg Methodist Church closed in 1974. Later a Baptist congregation used the Church for services until the Baptist Church was built. Today the Church belongs to the Radersburg Historical Preservation non-profit organization.
Brother Van
No history of the Radersburg Church would be complete without the mention of a circuit rider with a passion for reaching souls in the Montana Territory. W.W. Van Orsdel(1) or "Brother Van" as we know him was born in Pennsylvania and started preaching services at the age of 16. He stated he "had a nightly vision not only of Gods power but for the frontier of the Rockies with the miners, cowboys, stage drivers and copper colored natives holding up their hands beckoning to him". He had an impelling fire in his bones to go there an teach them. He came to Fort Benton in 1872. His zeal mixed with preaching and lusty gospel singing and commitment to his Church were instrumental in starting many Churches, Hospitals and homes in Montana Territory. Many parishes can still remember him as he traveled throughout the state. He was a pastor at the Radersburg Methodist Church in 1873.
From the book "Ghost towns of Montana" (information supplied by Mrs. William Schniedskamp Guntermann):
The Methodist circuit rider, Brother Van (W.W. Van Orsdel), frequently held services in Radersburg. One local businessman had no love for the popular preacher. One hot summer day when Brother Van was preaching, he left his horse tied up for several hours. The merchant had Brother Van arrested on a charge of cruelty to animals. Brother Van acted in his own defense and won the ensuing trial. The presiding judge requested that the preacher suggest an appropriate sentence. Although the prosecutor isn't usually "sentenced" when the defendant is acquitted, so went Montana justice. The penalty was leveled: attend church once a month for the rest of your life. And so it was, even after Brother Van's death, the merchant dutifully donned his "Sunday-go-to-meeting" clothes whenever services were held, which was about once a month.
It was Brother Van, indirectly, who was responsible for Radersburg's 'near-miracle'. A few years after Van Orsdel's death, the district superintendent of the Methodist church came to Radersburg to hold services and talk about Brother Van. An eyewitness says, "Hardly any men ever attended church there under most circumstances, but on the occasion, the pool hall (saloon) closed for the first time in its existence".
Notes:
(1): For more information about W.W. Van Orsdel -- widely known as "Brother Van" click on Brother Van