The history of the Mennonite church in Hamilton County was compiled by Albert Oswald and then was read by him during dedication services at Pleasant View Mennonite Church shortly before February 17, 1939. The building is gone now, but the cemetery remains.

In the late 1870's a sod structure was built on the site where now stands the Pleasant View Mennonite Church. This building was known as "Grangers Hall" and the early settlers met there for various kinds of social gatherings and entertainments such as the old style "Literaries" and dances. By 1883, this sod building had fallen down and was no longer used. About this time the country was rapidly filling up with settlers and among them were a number of Mennonite families from central Illinois, who had no church home here. In 1886, some of these families under the leadership of Christian Rediger, organized a church and held their services in Hamilton Center school house. This school house was also used by the Adventists for their religious services--they using the building on Saturday and the Mennonites using it on Sunday. Among those who attended these services, we find such names as Christian Rediger, Joe Maurer, Jacob Donner, Andrew Oesch, Christian Hochstetler, John Smucker, Dan Krebiel, John Swartzentruber, John Ernst, George Ernst, Chris Gimple, Jake Yordy, and Chris Gingerich.

About 1892, the members saw the need of a church home of their own and one of the preliminary steps was the formation of a legal organization. This was done as follows: "German Mennonite Church" in public. First Minutes: We do solemnly affirm that at a meeting of the members of the Mennonite Church held at Hamilton Center school house, Hamilton County, Nebraska, on the 31st day of December, 1892, at 2 p.m., for the purpose of forming a legal organization and electing a board of trustees of three men to see and attend to the wants of the church. The following members were elected trustees:
John Smucker, Secretary-Treasurer for three years; John Swartzentruber, for two years; Christian Hochstettler, for one year. Said church to be corporated "The German Mennonite Church of Hamilton precinct, Hamilton County, Nebraska." Peter Stuckey, bishop; Andrew Oesch, deacon of the above-named church.

Immediately after organization, plans were made to construct the present building. This was done in 1883, with Chris Donner as head carpenter. The 80 on which the church now stands had been granted as a timber claim to Jacob Donner on August 4, 1891. On March 3, 1893, Mr. Donner sold one square acre to the German Mennonite Church of Hamilton precinct for the sum of $40,000. This was the tract of ground where Grangers Hall had formerly stood and the sale was made on condition that the one-acre be used for religious purposes only. This one acre is the southwest acre of the S 1/2 of SE 1/4, 14-10-7.

While the aforementioned "first minutes" state that John Smucker was the first treasurer, an old bank deposit book indicates that John Swartzentruber was treasurer of the building fund. Among the contributor to the building fund at that time were many men of the surrounding territory who were not members of the Mennonite Church, but who realized the value of the church to the community. Also among the contributors were a number of Aurora business men of that time.

The building was first heated by two large stoves placed, one on each side, near the front of the church. These stoves were replaced by a furnace in 1906. The cement sidewalks were added in 1909. A metal ceiling was placed in the church in 1911. Then in 1916, the space under the south half of the building was excavated to make a primary Sunday School room. The first lighting was by large kerosene lamps hung from the ceiling by a cable run through a pulley so they could be lowered for attention. These were replaced by a gasoline lighting plant which in turn was replaced by a Delco lighting plant in 1926.

From 1921 on, the musical instrument was a piano; prior to that, it had been an organ. The above-mentioned changes were about all that were made in the 45 years between 1893, and 1938. Then in the fall of 1938, extensive remodeling and repairs were made at the church building. About 1890, a part of what is now the present membership began holding church services in the Scherz school house southeast of Aurora. Later they held their services in what is known as the Brickyard school house, two miles south of Aurora. Rev. C. Rediger ministered to this group also. They too, organized a church and built a church building on the southeast corner of what is known as the Forney place, or one mile south and 1/2 mile west of the fairground corner. This building was later moved to Aurora on 13th Street, one block north of the depot, and services were held there for a short time. In 1914, this building in Aurora was sold to the Salem Church Association and moved again, this time to a site northeast of Aurora. Just prior to this the membership of the Aurora church united with the Hampton Precinct Church,. About 1898, the name of the church was changed from "German Mennonite" to "Pleasant View Mennonite Church". The pastors of the Pleasant View congregation at different times throughout these years have been: Christian Rediger, Andrew Oesch, Peter Stuckey, David Augspurger, Jacob Donner, George Donner, Julius Oesch, and E.R. Augspurger, the present pastor, who is serving his 16th year at this place. The first Sunday School Superintendent in the church building was John Smucker, who resided on what is now the D.H. Oswald farm. A few years after the church was built, he moved back to Tiskilwa, Illinois.

The land for the Pleasant View cemetery, which adjoins the church, was purchased in the fall of 1899, and in the spring of 1900, was fenced, platted and planted to trees.

Of the Hamilton Center group which built the present building only one has been a member continuously since then. This one member is Mrs. John Troyer. Mr. John Rediger has more years continuous membership to his credit because he was a member of the group which worshipped south of Aurora before the Pleasant View building was put up.

One of the interesting sidelights on the character of the founders of the church, which was frequently called to the attention of the writer, was the conscientious effort they put forth to attend church services regularly and on time. It took more than snow-drifted roads, muddy roads, or slow means of conveyance to keep them away from God's House on the Lord's Day. The church has never had a large membership, yet many familiar family names of the southwestern portion of Hamilton County today, are also found in the early records of the church.