All Saints Cathedral (Milwaukee)

All Saints' Episcopal Cathedral Complex
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	804-828 E. Juneau Ave Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Coordinates	43.0460°N 87.9013°W / 43.0460; -87.9013
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1868 and other years
Architect	E. Townsend Mix (Church) William D. Kimball (Guild Hall) Kirchoff & Rose (Bishop's House)
Architectural style	Gothic Revival (church)
NRHP reference No.	74000099
Added to NRHP	December 27, 1974

All Saints Cathedral is a historic Episcopal cathedral in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The cathedral as an ecclesiastical entity dates from 1867, when Jackson Kemper, the first bishop of Wisconsin, and his coadjutor William Armitage, were deeded the assets of a small mission church in downtown Milwaukee and renamed it "All Saints Pro-Cathedral." The cathedral moved to its present campus on Juneau Avenue in 1868, buying a wooden boarding house at one end of the block, then, in 1872, purchasing a church building at the other end when it came up for sale.

All Saints was the "see," or seat, of the Bishop of Wisconsin until 1886; from then until 2023, it was the bishopric seat of the Diocese of Milwaukee. With the 2024 merger of the Milwaukee diocese with those of Fond du Lac and Eau Claire, All Saints is again a historic cathedral parish within the Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin.

Historical and ecclesiastical context

The cathedral’s establishment was part of a general push among American bishops to create non-parochial seats from which they could administer and build up Episcopal dioceses.  The late 1860s and early 70s saw the founding of several Episcopal cathedrals in the Midwest, including Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Davenport, Iowa, and the Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior in Faribault, Minnesota.  All Saints differed from these, in that its early bishops ended up purchasing rather than building a church to serve as a cathedral.  As one of the earliest expressions of "the Cathedral system" in the United States, All Saints was the occasion, and even the scene, of notable controversy, adding to its significance as an historic site.

A Foothold on Juneau

In 1869, Bishop Armitage, the second bishop of Wisconsin, secured a parcel of land on the northwest corner of what is now Juneau and Prospect Avenues, where Judge Jason Downer's mansion would subsequently stand. A stone foundation for part of the cathedral was constructed, and the cornerstone laid, but financing was scarce, and the project stalled.  Instead, a wooden chapel with wings was built on the foundation, furnishing enough space for both a church and a school.  Here Bishop Armitage preached on Sundays, and boys and girls were educated during the week.

Evolution of the Cathedral Complex

In 1871, All Saints sold the property on Prospect and moved two blocks west, to the northeast corner of Juneau and Cass, purchasing a wooden boarding house known as Townsend House and some adjacent land.  All Saints’ moved its wooden chapel and school building to this site, using the Townsend House as a residence for the bishop and visiting clergy.  All Saints began worshipping at this new location on September 3, 1871.

The move placed All Saints adjacent to the Olivet Congregational Church, a towering brick edifice newly erected on the eastern end of the block.  Designed by Edward Townsend Mix, one of the city’s leading architects, the Gothic Revival church, begun in 1868 and dedicated late the following year, cost about $66,000 to build. By 1872, however, the Olivet church was “burdened by dissension” and “beset by grave financial problems.”  That June, the Congregationalists sold their new church and attendant property to their Episcopalian neighbors for $35,000.

By 1881, the All Saints Cathedral complex consisted of four buildings on the north side of Juneau Avenue between Marshall and Cass.

Architectural Features

Inside, the Olivet Church was plain. The nave was devoid of decoration, its altar simple. The leaded-glass windows were composed of uniform, diamond-shaped, pastel-colored panes. As it became an Episcopal house of worship, the interior underwent significant modifications over the years.

The church tower and steeple are approximately 200 feet tall. Since renovation in the 1950s, the steeple cross is mounted out-of-line with the facade, slightly angled towards Lake Michigan.

In the liturgical "east end" of the sanctuary, elevated on a triple-step dais of white marble, stands the high altar and triptych presented as a memorial gift to the cathedral in 1922 during the tenure of Dean Charles S. Hutchinson. The Sienna marble altar and triptych was designed and built by Eugene W. Mason, Jr. of New York City, and is of Italian Gothic styling. Embossed in the bronze door of the tabernacle is the Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God, signifying the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist. The five figures on the predella (just below the center panel) are, from left,Thomas á Becket, Joan of Arc, the Virgin Mary, Francis of Assisi, and Demetrius of Alexandria.

All Saints' High Altar

Most of the stained glass windows in the cathedral were designed and produced in England, mainly by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake of London. A large rondel window of Christ the King was made by the London firm of Heaton, Butler and Bayne.

Though continually in use as a bishop's see and place of worship from the early 1870s, the modification of canonical law to comport with the bishops' intentions for All Saints was not complete until the late 1880s. All Saints was consecrated as a cathedral only when it became debt-free in 1898.

The cathedral complex, which includes the church, guild hall, and nearby bishop's manse, was designated a Milwaukee City Landmark in 1973 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Bells

The Cathedral tower houses a swinging bronze bell that the Fulton Bell Foundry of Pittsburgh cast in 1867. The bell was installed when the Olivet Church was new. The "Tenor G" bell weighs 1,050 pounds, measures almost 40 inches in diameter at the mouth, and is usable today.

In the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks, a set of five memorial bells was added to the Cathedral belfry. The bells were repurposed, having graced St John's Episcopal Church on the south side for nearly 100 years. Made in the 1860s by the Meneely Bell Foundry in West Troy, NY, the bells were set aside and stored in a barn in Dousman, Wisconsin, after St John's parish closed. Lee Manufacturing Company, a firm specializing in bell and clock towers, was engaged to hang "the Bells of Remembrance and Hope" in the Cathedral's tower. A dedication ceremony was held June 3, 2007. An automated system rings the stationary bells daily, tolling on the hour and quarter-hour from 9am to 9pm, remembering all victims of terror and expressing hope for peace.

Today's church features a liturgy in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. With the closure of several of the city's earliest Episcopal parishes (such as St John's and St James), All Saints has worshipped in one location longer than any other Episcopal congregation in Milwaukee.

The Bishops of All Saints

• Jackson Kemper ( To 1870)
• William Edmond Armitage (1870-1873)
• Edward Randolph Welles (1874-1888)
• Cyrus Frederic Knight (1888-1891)
• Isaac Lea Nicholson (1891-1906)
• William Walter Webb (1906-1933)
• Benjamin Franklin Price Ivins (1933-1952)
• Donald H. V. Hallock (1952-1974)
• Charles Thomas Gaskell (1974-1985)
• Roger John White (1985- 2003)
• Steven Miller (2003-2020)
• Jeffrey Dean Lee (interim, 2021-2023)
• Matthew Alan Gunter (2024-present)

See also

• List of the Episcopal cathedrals of the United States
• List of cathedrals in the United States

External links

• Official website