At the time of the purchase the location was considered by not a few to be unfortunate, as the population at that period on the west side was quite limited, and it was even hinted that a leading member of the Board of Trustees had unduly influenced the selection in order to enhance the value of certain property in the vicinity.  But whatever may have been the complications of the case at the beginning, certain it is that it was found in due time to be a very excellent location.  The building, forty-five by ninety feet in size, was commenced soon after, and carried forward as rapidly as possible to completion.

It was a brick structure, trimmed with stone.  Standing with its front to West Water, the side was turned to Spring Street.  On the first floor there were four stores fronting Spring Street, and having cellars in the basement beneath them.  The auditorium was on the second floor above the pavement and was reached by a broad flight of steps in the front of the edifice.  Between the outside entrance and the auditorium there was a vestibule with a class room on either side, and above it a commodious gallery.  The auditorium was finished in a neat yet plain manner, and furnished sittings for about six hundred people.  The whole structure cost upwards of ten thousand dollars.  To defray the current expenses and erect such an edifice taxed the good people to the utmost limit of their resources, besides imposing on them a heavy indebtedness.  But there was no lack of courage, and the good work went forward.

In 1844 the Milwaukee District was again revived and Rev. James Mitchell was assigned to it, and Rev. F.A.  Savage was sent to the station.  In 1845 the station was left to be supplied, and Rev. Abram Hanson was called to fill the pastorate.  Finding it difficult to rent a house, Brother Hanson procured a boarding place for himself and good lady with Mr. Lindsay Ward, where he spent the year and founded an abiding friendship.  He was a man of superior pulpit ability and engaging manners.  The congregation filled the new Church edifice, and many valuable accessions were made to the membership.

Brother Hanson after leaving Milwaukee filled several important charges, and then retired from the work.  For several years he served as the representative of our national government at Liberia, where he fell under the fatal malaria of the African coast, and passed on to the better country.

The next session of the Conference was held Aug. 12, 1846.  At this Conference Rev. S.H.  Stocking was continued on the District, and Rev. W.M.D.  Ryan was appointed to the station.  Mr. Ryan entered the Ohio Conference in 1839, and came by transfer to the Rock River Conference in 1844.  After spending two years in Chicago, where he had wrought a good work for the Master, he was sent to this charge.