William C. Sisley (1850-1932), Architect-Builder
William Conquerer Sisley was born March 28, 1850, in Tonbridge, Kent, England, to Susannah and John Sisley. William was the fifth of seven children. His father died when he was nine. As a teenager William worked as a carpenter to help support his family. In 1863, widow Susannah immigrated with her younger children to the U.S., joining 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 embraced Adventism before he married Frederika ("Freddie") House in 1875, when she was serving as treasurer of the state and national Adventist Conferences. They had three daughters, born between 1876 and 1881. Sisley worked as a foreman in the construction of Adventist institutions in Battle Creek, then in California, before designing and building the Adventist Union College in College View (now Lincoln), Nebraska in the early 1890s. Subsequently he designed and built Adventist colleges in Washington State, Texas and Colorado.11] In the mid-1890s he traveled to England, Europe, South Africa and Australia, designing Adventist institutional buildings at every stop. He also managed Adventist publishing houses in Michigan and in London, the latter for nearly two decades.[c] Sisley returned to the U.S. in 1918 with Frederika, settling next-door to their oldest daughter's family in Nashville until his death in 1932 and Frederika's in 1934.[6][9][11][13]
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
None.
Educational & Professional Associations
ca. 1875-1910: Seventh Day Adventist architect-superintendent.[9][11]
ca. 1894-1900: manager, the Review and the Herald Publishing House, Battle Creek, Michigan.[6][c]
1901-1918: manager, Adventist publishing house, architect and builder, London, England.[9][11]
1920-1922: architect and contractor, Nashville, Tennessee.[13][16]
Buildings & Projects
Foreman, Battle Creek College ((1874), Battle Creek, Michigan.[11]
Foreman, Battle Creek Sanitarium (1877), Battle Creek, Michigan.[11]
Dime Tabernacle (1879), Battle Creek, Michigan.[11]
Healdburg (later Pacific Union) College (1886), Healdburg, California.[11]
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 (1892-1893), Walla Walla College, College Place, Washington.[4][11]
Keene Industrial Academy (1893), Keene, Texas.[11]
Frydenstrands Sanitorium (1894-1897), Frederikshavn, Denmark.[11]
Hamburg Publishing House (1894-1895), Hamburg, Germany.[11]
Claremont Sanitarium (1894-1897), Cape Colony, South Africa.[11]
Plans for buildings at Avondale School for Christian Workers (1894), later Avondale University College, New South Wales, Australia.[11]
Plans for Boulder, Colorado Sanitarium (1895-1896).[11]
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
12. "The Adventists Improve. Inhabitants of College View Erect a Handsome Structure. The Largest House for Worship. Will Seat 2,500 People and cost $20,000," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (May 13, 1894), 8.
13. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census, s.v. "William C. Sisley," [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
14. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. "William Conqueror Sisley, [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
15. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census, s.v. "William Sisley," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.
16. Nashville, Tennessee city directory, 1922 ("contractor").
Page Citation
E. F. Zimmer & D. Murphy, “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, October 1, 2024. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 26, 2024.
Contact the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office with questions or comments concerning this page, including any problems you may have with broken links (see, however, the Disclaimers link at the bottom of this page). Please provide the URL to this page with your inquiry.
