William C. Sisley (1850-1932), Architect-Builder
William Conquerer Sisley was born March 28, 1850, in Tonbridge, Kent, England. His father died when he was nine. A few years later, his mother with her younger children immigrated to the U.S. to join her oldest son, John, in Michigan. John was a convert to the Seventh-Day Adventist faith, which was centered in Battle Creek, Michigan, where the whole family settled in 1867.[11] William Sisley became a Seventh Day Adventist architect-superintendent who built many denominational structures, including Battle Creek Sanitarium and Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. From about 1894 to about 1900, Sisley worked as the manager of the Review and the Herald Publishing House in Battle Creek, Michigan.[c] In addition to designing several buildings in South Africa, Australia, England, and the European continent, Sisley was the architect and builder for some buildings in Nebraska, Michigan, and Washington. He died in 1932.[6][9]
This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the format and contents page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
Contents
Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings
Battle Creek, Michigan, ca. 1890-1910.[4][ed]
Lincoln, Nebraska, 1890-1892
Educational & Professional Associations
ca. 1890-1910: Seventh Day Adventist architect-superintendent.[9]
ca. 1894-1900: manager, the Review and the Herald Publishing House, Battle Creek, Michigan.[6][c]
1901-1918: architect and builder, London, England.[9]
Buildings & Projects
William C. Sisley-Peter Eno house (ca. 1890), 3919 S 48th, College View, (now Lincoln), Nebraska.[8] (LC13:F03-034)
Union College Main Building (1890-1891), 48th & Stockwell, College View, (now Lincoln), Nebraska.[1][2][10][a][b]
South Hall (women's dormitory) at Union College (1890), College View, (now Lincoln), 48th & Prescott, Lincoln, Nebraska.[10]
North Hall (men's dormitory) at Union College (1890), College View, (now Lincoln), 48th and Bancroft, Lincoln, Nebraska.[11]
Seventh-Day Adventist Church (1893-1894), south side Prescott Street, east of S. 48th, College View, (now Lincoln), Nebraska.[12]
Haskell Home [orphanage] (1891-1894), Battle Creek, Michigan.[7]
Main College Building-Administration Building (1892), Walla Walla College, College Place, Washington.[4]
College Building (1909-1910), Stanborough Park, England.[5]
Notes
a. He is probably also responsible for the other initial buildings on the campus, such as South Hall and the boiler house.[1][10]
b. Morton and Watkins, and A. J. Sawyer, list him as architect and superintendent.[2][3]
c. Source [6] lists the dates of employment as 1894-1899, but source [9] lists the dates as 1896-1900.
References
1. Everett Dick, “The Founding of Union College, 1890-1900,” Nebraska History 60 (1979), 458-460.
2. J. Sterling Morton and Albert Watkins, History of Nebraska (Lincoln), 507.
3. A. J. Sawyer, History of Lincoln (Lincoln), 224.
4. Terrie Aamodt, “Bold Venture: A History of Walla Walla College,” Westwind Online (Spring 2001), accessed October 12, 2011.
5. “World-Wide: The Dedication of Our New College Building at Stanborough Park, England,” Union Conference Record 14:48 (November 28, 1910), 2-3, accessed October 12, 2011, http://www.adventistarchives.org/docs/AAR/AAR19101128-V14-48__B.pdf
6. “December Manna Highlights: Profiles…[Forrest and Sue Wente],” ([McDonald Road Seventh Day Adventist Church], [1996]), accessed October 12, 2011, http://mcdonaldroad.org/church/manna/mann9612.html
7. E. H. Whitney, “Dedication of the Haskell Home,” The Medical Missionary 4:2 (February 1894), 40; photos, 43ff. Found at John Harvey Kellogg, The Medical Missionary. Accessed through Google books, October 12, 2011, http://books.google.com/books?id=aqzhAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=w+c+sisley+architect&source=bl&ots=jeKaezOD7a&sig=jVWM1rubekPEIoep6HCxkotjzXg&hl=en#v=onepage&q=w%20c%20sisley%20architect&f=false
8. Ed Zimmer to Patrick Haynes, email communication, “Eno house in College View,” October 12, 2011.
9. “Pioneers of Our Faith: William C. Sisley (1850-1932),” Repairers of the Breach website, © 2010, http://breachrepairers.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=102685563 Accessed, October 13, 2011. (includes portrait).
10. "New College Buildings--The Adventists to Begin Work at Once--The Main Hall and the Ladies' Home to be Erected This Season," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (February 9, 1890), 8.
11. Milton Hook, "Sisley, William Conqueror (1850–1932)," Encyclopedia of Seventh-Day Adventists accessed March 11, 2023 at https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AA64
Page Citation
D. Murphy & E. F. Zimmer, “William C. Sisley (1850-1932), Architect-Builder,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, September 29, 2024. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 22, 2024.
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