Frances Iglehart was an early settler: when she moved to Evanston there were only about 800 people in the area. The land was swampy and undeveloped. The only formal religious congregation was the newly formed Methodist Church, so Iglehart helped found the First Baptist Church. She created an ecumenical Sunday school in her parlor. This gradually expanded to include adult worship. Her sewing machine became the first pulpit. This gathering was referred to as the Oakton Chapel. In April, 1858, 6 people (including her) officially chartered the First Baptist Church. The name was later changed to the Lake Street Church of Evanston in 1995. Today, members of the church remember her by placing their annual pledge cards on her sewing machine. She was nicknamed the ‘Mother of Lake Street Church’, and a monument to her stands in the back of the church’s sanctuary. Included as part of Lake Street Church’s cloud of witnesses during the celebration of the church’s 150th Anniversary in 2008.
Frances Mary Iglehart
Name: Frances Mary Iglehart (Gano)
Birth Date: 1819
Death Date: April 23, 1886
Summary
Children: Four: Kate Inglehart Hoge; Fannie (Inglehart) Booth, later Fannie D. Rhodes; Anne (Inglhart)Odell; Nicholas Gano Iglehart (& his wife Ella Gano), of Evanston.
Years in Evanston: 1856-1880
Sources: EHC: Women Willard, Frances. "A Classic Town: The Story of Evanston". Women's Temperance Publishing Association: Chicago, 1891. Nelson Lloyd Stow, 40th Anniversary Address; 04/24/1898 James E. Low. 50th Anniversary Address; 04/25/1908 Howard G. Grey. Know Your Church, 1931. Lake Street Church Lake Street Church Archives Evanston Public Library Evanston History Center; Waukesha County (WI) Historical Society; First Baptist Church of Waukesha, WI 1880 Federal Census in Pewaukee, WI. Listed as age 61, and living with daughter Fannie Inglehrt Booth and granddaughter Ellen Booth.