USA > Michigan > Cass County > A twentieth century history of Cass County, Michigan > Part 38
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Ohio
1833
364
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
NAMES ADDED IN 1884 AND 1885.
Lenguel Smith
Milton
Delaware 1833
Iliran Jewell
Cassopolis
New Jersey 1832
Alonzo Garwood
Cassopolis
Ohio
1850
Sowell Tull
Pipestone
Vermont
1836
Edward Chatterdon
Howard
New York
1836
Benj. F. Beeson
Calvin
Indiana
1833
Nancy Osborn
Penn
New York
1837
Ellen Jackson
Calvin
Calvin
1835
Turner Byrd
Calvin
North Carolina
1847
Jonathan Hill
Elkhart, Ind.
Cass Co.
1832
Jacob ITill
Favette Co., Ta.
Pennsylvania
1839
William J. Abbott
Milton
Delaware
18.43
Elias M. Ingling
Dowagiac
Ohio
1848
Alice E. Shanahan
Ontwa
Ontwa
1851
Damarius Allen
Mason
Massachusetts
1835
Rufus W. Landon
Niles
Connecticut
1832
Tarius Avers
Penn
New York
1837
Tames A. Williams
Edwardsburg
Milton
1845
Fliza M. Weatherby
Newberg
New York
1845
Sarah Fox
Howard
18.4.4
NAMES ADDED IN 1886.
Pleasant Arnick
Chicago
Diamond Lake 1834
Abram Hutchins
Newberg
New York
1835
Roxana Bement
Ontwa
New York
1837
Tane Jenkins
Pokagon
Ohio
1818
TIarriet Patterson
Newberg
Pennsylvania
1858
Mary A. Houghtaling
Newberg
Ohio
1858
Henry S. Quick
La Grange
New Jersey
1833
Eliza Smith
Milton
Delaware
1828
NAMES ADDED IN 1887.
Tohn Keegan
Jefferson
Ontwa 18.15
Thomas Kirkwood
Wayne
Ohio
1836
Melissa Kirkwood
Wayne
Ohio
1849
Micajah P. Grennell
Vandalia
New Jersey
1834
Margaret Pearson
Cassopolis
Ohio
1828
Anna M. Shurter
Jefferson
Mrs. Curtis
Cassopolis
NAMES ADDED IN 1888.
Henry Stevenson
Henriette Stevenson
S. TI. Morse
James T. Simpson
Penn
Pokagon
18.49
David Thomas
Penn
Indiana
18.42
365
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
NAMES ADDED IN 1889.
James Griffis
Wayne
Pokagen 1831
Parmelia N. Griffis
Wayne
Geneva
1831
Eliza F. Hunt
Calvin
Calvin
1833
Phineas Nixon
Penn
Penn
1839
Grace S. Pound
Newberg
Volinia
1839
Mary A. Dunn
Newberg
Mason
1810
Harriet A. Root
La Grange
Cassopolis
18.11
Henry D. Arnold
Newberg
Mason
1837
Mary Dunn Arnold
Newberg
Hillsdale
1840
Joseph W. Sturr
Wayne
New Jersey
1840
Levisa Sturr
Wayne
Ontario
18.40
Stephen .A. Nichols
Newberg
Ohio
1835
Mary .1. Nichols
Newberg
England
1873
Nelson Hedger
Jefferson
New York
1823
Samttel McKee
Newberg
Newberg
1848
NAMES ADDED FROM 1889 TO 1895.
Toutdan P. Oshorn
Cassopolis
Indiana
5tg1
Rhoda M. Huey
Penn
New York
1877
Smyra Spencer
Cass Co.
1852
Abner Brown
Volinia
New York
1837
Betsey J. Stephenson
Mason
Mason
1844
NAMES ADDED IN 1896.
Lovina Allen Haithcock
Calvin
Ohio
1848
Bennet Allen
Calvin
Ohio
H. Marquis Gibson
Calvin
North Carolina
1854
Percilla Casey Ford
Calvin
North Carolina
1850
Richmond Lake
Penn
New York
18H
Fred .A. Hadsell
Jefferson
Massachusetts
1855
Henry A. Crego
Volinia
Newbery
1812
Henry W. Harwood
()ntwa
Milton
1846
Joseph Foresman
La Grange
Pemsylvania
1844
William H. Owen
Calvin
Mason
1838
Robert C. Sloan
Cassopolis
New York
1842
Byron Fiero
La Grange
La Grange
1853
Iva Wright Fiero
La Grange
Volinia
1868
William R. Sheldon
Edwardsburg
Michigan
1833
Milton Wright
La Grange
Wayne
1833
Elizabeth Myers Wright
La Grange
Volinia
1837
NAMES ADDED IN 1897.
Ulysses S. Eby
Porter
Porter
1865
Willis Haithcock
Calvin
North Carolina
1846
George H. Curtis
Calvin
Indiana
1856
Mercy Wood Zelner
Dowagiac
Kent Co., Mich.
1878
E. W. Wagor
Tones
New York
1844
366
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Rachel Shanafelt Um- berfield
La Grange Ohio
1838
Andrew C. Foster
Volinia
Ohio
1845
Reason Freer
Cassopolis
New York
1866
1. II. Warner
Volinia
New York
1837
James Moreland
Volinia
Volinia
1840
William Laporte
La Grange
La Grange
1834
Elmore F. Lewis
Newberg
Newberg
1847
William Pegg
Penn
New York
1832
1. J. Cables
Volinia
New York
1850
Cynthia Allen Cables
Volinia
Penn
1849
William H. Beeson
La Grange
Indiana
1832
Nimrod Muncy
Dowagiac
La Grange
1833
NAMES ADDED IN 1898.
Mary A. Ilass
La Grange
Indiana
1860
Daniel Al. Fisher
Howard
IToward
1837
James Il. Abbott
Milton
Delaware
1844
John Bedford
Iloward
England
1862
Phillip Ware
Calvin
Ohio
1866
NAMES ADDED IN 1899.
Iliram Cobb
Ontwa
Ohio
1844
Nellie Beardsley Cobb
()utwa
Michigan
1891
William Butts
Milton
Michigan
1854
Leverett E. Mather
Iloward
Connecticut
1856
Nathan G. Stanard
Porter
Porter
1847
Lora Beardsley Stanard
Porter
Porter
1850
Ida Springsteen Benedict La Grange
La Grange
1864
Timothy B. Benddict
La Grange
La Grange
1850
Silas Il. Thomas
Penn
Indiana
1842
William J. Primrose David Judic
Volinia
Pennsylvania
1867
John D. Williams
Cassopolis
Jefferson
1837
Henry 1. Case
Mason
Ohio
1856
Cynthia Tyler Case
Mason
New York
1818
Clara Mead Zeller
Cassopolis
Ontwa
1860
NAMES ADDED IN 1900.
Thomas M1. Seares
La Grange
La Grange
1840
Perry A. Cays
La Grange
La Grange
1836
Elwood East
Calvin
Calvin
1843
Mortimer O. Hadden
Volinia
New York
1842
Susan Foresman
La Grange
New York
1847
Harriet Stephens
Calvin
New York
1866
Emily Wheeler
Dowagiac
Virginia
1860
George Scott
Volinia
New York
1837
Olive Parmenter Scott
Volinia
Ohio
1860
Samuel Hawks
Calvin
Virginia
1859
Jefferson
Delaware
1844
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
NAMES ADDED IN 1901.
Margaret Hedger Olmsted Jefferson
Ohio
1844
Royal Salisbury
Howard
Howard
1852
Edmund Landen
Jefferson
Vermont
1851
Paulina Allen Landen
Jefferson
New York
1835
Abram H. Ilaff
Volinia
Volima
1831
W. C. Griffith
Milton
Indiana
1839
Win. H. C. Hale
Calvin
Indiana
1804
Thomas M1. Areux
Jefferson
Canada
1807
Lucy Regnall reux
Jefferson
England
Elizabeth IIulse Stevens Mason
Mason
1843
NAMES ADDED IN 1902.
Luther J. Pray
Dowagiac
Kalamazoo (5 1852
Bruce Beebe
Marcellus
Ohio
1848
Joseph Parker
La Grange
Jefferson
1853
George Green
Vandalia
Ohio
1833
Franklin T. Wolfe
Wakelee
Germany
1854
David A. Squire
Decatur
Volinia
1834
Myron F. Burney
Newberg
Ohio
1841
Robert Patterson
Holly
Lenawee Co.
1805
Calvin A. Colley
Mason
Mason
1845
NAMES ADDED IN 1903.
Philo Brown
Calvin
New York 1800
Herbert E. Moon
Cassopolis
Penn
1852
Israel Hartsell
Penn
Pokagon
1850
Charles B. Zeller
Cassopolis
Ohio
1860
John R. Carr
Cassopolis
Nova Scotia
1805
Edwin White
Porter
Porter
1854
George F. Holliway
Cassopolis
Ohio
1850
Edwin W. Beckwith
Jefferson
Cassopolis 1848
Warren W. Reynolds
Cassopolis
Jefferson
1851
George B. McNiel
Cassopolis
New York
1835
George M. Rivers
Cassopolis
New York
1804
Harsen D. Smith
Cassopolis
New York
1870
Charles Harlfelter
Cassopolis
Ohio
1860
Allen M. Kingsbury
La Grange
C'assopolis
1856
William Hartsell
Penn
Ohio
1845
Franc A. Lamb
Cassopolis
Indiana
1868
John J. Fisher
Cassopolis
Pokagon
1870
Eher Reynolds
Cassopolis
La Grange
1841
Edward Keegan
Jefferson
New Jersey Georgia
1852
Gertrude Ferris Kingsbury La Grange
Berrien Co.
1868
Charles Tietsort La Grange
Cassopolis
1843
Charles A. Ritter
Cassopolis
Cassopolis
1858
Joseph Graham
Cassopolis
Pennsylvania
1844
Charles E. Voorhis
Cassopolis
Pennsylvania
1853
Emeline Crandall Voorhis Cassopolis
New York
1853
1810
Timothy B. Kingsbury La Grange
36%
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Wilbur F. Pollock
Cassopolis
Cassopolis 1854
Inlia Hlice Pollock
Cassopolis
St. Joseph Co. 1868
Marshall L. Howell
Cassopolis
Cassopolis 1847
David L. Kingsbury
Cassopolis
La Grange 1867
Samuel Anderson
Cassopolis
Berrien Co. 1841
Alamandal J. Tallerday Jefferson
Elkhart Co.
1845
Sterling B. Turner
Cassopolis
Cassopolis
1851
Jacob Il. Osborn
Vandalia
Cass County
1857
Lewis Freer
Vandalia
New York
1867
William Green
Vandalia
Ohio
1832
Omar J. East
Vandalia
Calvin
1867
David Long
Vandalia
Indiana
1867
Frank W. Lambert
Vandalia
Rhode Island
1868
Alice Osborne Lambert
Vandalia
Cass Co.
1853
Fred G. Pollock
Vandalia
Penn
1868
William Heaton
Vandalia
Indiana
1857
Wm. II. H. Pemberton
Vandalia
Indiana
1841
Delancie Pemberton
Vandalia
Cass Co.
1851
Narcissus Lewis
Vandalia
Cass Co.
1850
Tennie Mulrine Keene
Vandalia
Vandalia
1864
ITarry J. Koene
Vandalia
Kalamazoo Co.
Cass Co.
1868
Fiora James East
Vandalia
Calvin
1868
Charles W. Fast
Vandalia
Calvin
1842
Flen Curtis Fast
Vandalia
Pen
1851
Charles W. Chapman
Vandalia
Ohio
1850
Clarence L. Sherwood
Dowagiac
Pennsylvania
1808
Joseph R. Edwards
Dowagiac
New Jersey
1856
Frank W. Lyle
Dowagiac
Dowagiac
1861
Barak L. Rudd
"Forest Hall"
Neu berg
1876
Mert Clasky
Dowagiac
La Grange
18-8
ha Tietsort
Detroit
Cassopolis
1835
wille W. Coolidge
Niles
Edwardsburg
1839
Prory A. Tietsort
Detroit
Cassopolis
1832
barles C. Philbrick
Grand Rapids
Cassopolis
1817
Clitus W. Martin
Cassopolis
Cassopolis
1853
Label Grimm Martin
Cassopolis
Brownsville
1857
-rah Binberry Shaw
Howard
Berrien Co.
Asher T. Shaw
Howard
Howard
18446
Maria Shaw Kennedy
Howard
Howard
1860
Catherine Cullen
IToward
Howard
1854
Margaret Runkle Kingsley Ontwa
Milton
1849
William A. Wright
Volinia
Volinia
1860
Clara M. Wright
Volinia
Volinia
1864
Charles O. Haefner
Volinia
Volinia
1871
John IT. Root
Volinia
Volinia
1870
Simeon Huff
Volinia
Pennsylvania
1849
Benjamin F. Graham
Volinia
Cass Co.
1868
Lincoln P. Gard
Volinia
Volinia
1861
Andrew T. Canl
Marcellus
Pennsylvania
1856
Robert IF. Wiley
Dowagiac
Ilermian S. East
Vandalia
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
369
MI. Blanche McIntosh Link oling
1875
Charles E. . Isborn
-
1849
James H. Leach
1847
Nathan Marsh
Sarab Hind Marsh
Alaline Reboom Dicts)
C. Fred IUr spr
ute:
Der Paren
-
1 - 1 An Try
=
1
Edward Tirons
Tulle Thets ort Tror:
[
Charles W. Tistort
Abraham I. Clendener
Thomas J. Mealoy
Vandali-
1838
Cynthia Fisher Mealoy
Vandalia
Cass Co.
1843
Alfred T. Most
Vandalia
Calvin
1836
William T. Ovenford
Vandalia
Penn
1867
Den a Brody Oxenford
Vandalia
Penn
1870
Jacob McIntosh
Penn
1840
W. W. Hollister
Vandalia
Penn
1855
Frank Swinehart
Vandalia
Indiana
1872
Silas H. Thomas
Penn
Indiana
1842
Elvira Bogue Thomas
Penn
Penn
1836
-
Tono Ll n tean
A Tued
370
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
NAMES ADDED IN 1904.
Emily A. Smith Owen Calvin
Calvin 1840
James H. Beauchamp
Milton
Edwardsburg 1847
Samuel B. Hadden
Ontwa
New York 1867
Davis W. Ball
Volinia
Ohio
1835
Edwin G. Loux
Vandalia
Jefferson
1842
Mary E. Shanafelt-Wol
cott La Grange
La Grange
1850
Josephine Shanafelt-Me
rwin La Grange
La Grange
1857
Adelbert Kram
Edwardsburg
Edwardsburg
1855
Bishop E. Curtis
Calvin
Indiana
1858
John Hildebridle
Penn
Pennsylvania
1865
Sarah Lutz Hildebridle
Penn
Pennsylvania
1865
NAMES ADDED IN 1905.
llerbert Solomon
lones
La Porte Co., Ind. 1850
Vincent Reames
Penn
Jefferson
1832
Eliza Grubb Harmon
Cassopolis
Brownsville 1837
Jolin C. Harmon
Cassopolis
l'orter
1847
Fred B. Wells
La Grange
Wayne 1861
Hannah Crane Dibble
Howard
New York
1854
NAMES ADDED IN 1906.
C. H. Kimmerle
Cassopolis
LaGrange
1859
Gorden G. Huntley
Howard
Howard
1850
C. E. Lyle
Dowagiac
Dowagiac
1855
Marquis D. Witherell
Volinia
Volinia
1845
Elmer W. Griffis
Volinia
Wayne
1861
Jerman S. Draper
Volinia
New York
Henry Springsteen
Wayne
New York
1837
371
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
CHAPTER XXVL. RELIGION AND THE CHURCHES.
In the preceding chapters we have described many phases of Cass county's history, and have endeavored so far as possible to give a comprehensive account of its institutions and its people from the first settlement to the present date. For the last we have reserved an ac- count of religious influences and church organizations and personalities. It concludes the historical narrative with a certain happy propriety. For religion has well been called the capstone of the arch of life. bind- ing together and giving stability to the other parts-the culmination of the hopes and experiences of the human race.
Though last to be described, religion was by no means last among the stages of development in the civilized life of Cass county. The pioneers did not leave their religion behind when they settled here, but brought it with them. In the first settlements that were formed there were probably not a sufficient number of any one sect to form a church by themselves, and so they worshiped together. The points of doctrine or practice which divided them were held in abeyance, persons of each sect yielded a little for the good of the whole, and in a spirit of union and Christian toleration they came together and each one tried to derive all the good he could from the meetings, exercises and discourses. For a time there were no church buildings, but schoolhouses were soon erected, or private houses served for the purpose, and there in the winter, or in the open air in summer, the people assembled The pioneer religious meeting was spontaneous, necessarily had little formalism, and the first meetings, unrecorded in history, were of the kind told about in the Bible, where "two or three met together" to give expression to the rich and sincere feeling within them. This kind of worship was largely individual, was inherent in the nature of the pioneer man and woman wherever he was, and was not necessarily dependent on the organized religion known as the church.
CATHOLIC CHURCHES.
Of the first representatives of organized religion in this county there is, unfortunately, no definite record. As we have made clear in an earlier chapter. the first Christian influence to penetrate the wilder-
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Isther Melngan was that chamating from the devoted piele the Tour de the Aile to Prince, sought trying to their religion te
The through when we went to thirty feet & nding on the north, hore of Lore lake Hoops the titute of any floor but the earth. and the waits were roughly con benches. But services were held here lo yordu priests for five of six years.
This was the beginning of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Mary, which might well be considered the visible monument to the work begun by the Jesuit priests almost two centuries before.
In 1844 the first regular priest was assigned to this congregation
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
About the same time a school was established and Founder of is Joner
=
The to mix
1
dred and hity familie
The Meta dias have du as Des vierten xd ofgelip Theone out the middle west their on out rider. ar I missionaries we drown -t
374
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
usually first, and always among the first to develop the religious side of the scattered communities.
Of the beginnings of Methodism in Cass county a contributor to the collections of the Michigan Pioneer Society has this to say :
Rev. Erastus Felton, who was appointed September 29. 1829, by the Ohio conference to the St. Joseph Mission, labored in Cass. Berrien and St. Joseph counties, and in the following year returned to the sime field with Leonard B. Gurley as assistant. Classes were probably formed this year on the south side of Beardsley's prairie and on Young's prairie ( Penn township). In 1831 Felton was appointed to the Kala- mazoo mission, and Rev. T. J. Robe to the Wayne circuit, the latter being prominent among the Methodist workers in this section. Travel- ing from Kalamazoo "on horseback and with the traditional saddle- hags," Rev. Robe established preaching at Little Prairie Ronde (Vo- linia ). Young's prairie, Diamond lake, Cassopolis, LaGrange and Pokagon and Beardsley's prairies. There were twenty-five missions in all, arranged so he could reach each once in four weeks.
October 12, 1834. at the conference in Wayne county, Indiana, the St. Joseph circuit was represented by S. R. Robinson and the Cass. - polis circuit by R. C. Meek. In the same year Rev. Robe formed a class in Silver Creek, Nathaniel Weed being the class leader. . At the organi- zation of the Pokagon Prairie church, in 1832, Edward Powers was appointed class leader, and the first meetings were held in Powers' log house on Pokagon creek.
The Michigan conference was organized in 1836, but it was not until 1840 that the southwest part of the state was attached to its juris- diction. At the first conference in Marshall the Edwardsburg charge was represented by Revs. J. Byron and D. Knox.
From this description of the general status of Methodism in the county, we may proceed to mention the individual organizations. Ed- wardsburg evidently had the first, or certainly one of the first, classes. But the legal organization was not effected by election of trustees until February 13, 1837. when the corporate name was adopted and the following members elected as trustees : Hiram Rogers, Clifford Shan't- han. Henry A. Chapin, Leonard Hain, Asa M. Smith. The Edwards- burg church has had two brick buildings during its history. The Methodists and Presbyterians in Edwardsburg are now about on a par in point of strength and membership.
At Cassopolis the Methodists were early active, as noticed in the
375
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
preceding paragraphs. But for a number of years the circuit riders held their meetings in the courthouse and schoolhouses, and it was not until 1855 that Joshua Lofland and William Shanafelt gave to the denomination a house erected on Rowland street in 1846 by Jacob Silver and Joshua Lofland as a church edifice open to all denominations. This building now forms the front part of F. M. Fisk's drug store. On the lot, on Rowland street, from which the old building . had been removed. the society built in 1874 the present Methodist church and parsonage. at a cost of about $8.000. The building committee were W. W. Peck. William L. Jakways, D. B. Smith and John Boyd. Rev. E. A. Baldwin is the present pastor of the society, and the trustees are John Atkinson, Wm. B. Hayden. Wm. H. Coulter, E. Jay Brown, William Berkey, Horace Cobb. John Hilton. Harvey Noecker. There are about 130 names on the church roll.
The Methodists were active in the vicinity of Dowagiac before any village had been platted. The "Cataract House" was the place of early meetings under the direction of the circuit rider. R. C. Meek. already mentioned. Various lay preachers directed the work here for some years. In 1849 the church was organized, and was known as the Wayne circuit until 1852, when the name Dowagiac first appears on Methodist minutes. The trustees appointed in that year were Strawther Bowling. Aaron Henwood, Robert Watson. Samuel Bell, Benjamin Bell. John Huff. Eli Beach, showing who were some of the early leaders in Methodism in Dowagiac. The church building, in which the Metho- dists have worshiped for nearly half a century, was erected in 1859 while Rev. E. H. Day was pastor.
The carly establishment of a Methodist class on Pokagon prairie has been described. The Methodist church at Sumnerville originated in a very successful revival meeting held on the prairie in 1840. The meetings were held in a schoolhouse for more than ten years, and in 1854 the first building was completed.
La Grange was also a field of labor for the early Methodists. The church at La Grange village was organized November ro, 1858, at the house of Charles Van Riper, who was one of the first trustees, the others being John A. Van Riper. Washburn Benedict. Abram Van Riper. Jacob Zimmerman, John S. Secor. Joshua Lofland, Joseph W. Sturr. The house of worship was erected soon afterward. The church. like the village, has been on the decline for many years, and its mem- bership is reduced to twenty-seven. Rev. E. A. Baldwin, of Cassopolis.
٢٠٠١٥
HHISTORY OF GISS SOUNDS
low range of The surety, and jeans for them Sen Sunday Your
CED Wel, Clarence F. Wells.
full ., vill to meetillys vo ice de jmis s uee and
11-01,
م
I'm pre scelte a leveling of members and heaters . the al. b. minha mente at the - freue wy Cannon Simt is in the wall emmy Sollen to de purpose , pending a society by name and Tto tiny'S city of the Mi. b. church in the Township of Milton." le for thistice deste were James Lowery, Thomas Powell and AnuARIO. Downa. A church edifice was erected on land conated 1 bonn annch in section 14, and has been called Smith's Chapel
IHISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
1
Sale Theuse. The Trick Pointe in Marcellus vilige va bene
375
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
in 1874, largely through the work of Rev. John Byrnes, the energetic pastor.
The Methodist church at Jones originated at a meeting of the Methodists in the Baptist church at Poe's Corners, or the town center, in 1872. The meetings were held in the Baptist church there, later at David Fairfield's store in Jones, and later in the public hall at Jones.
The charter members of this society were: David Fairfield, Louisa Fairfield. M. E. Tharp, Phoebe Dyer, Elizabeth Pound, Sarah Rumsey, J. E. Van Buren, Esther Brooks, Elsey Bows, Mrs. Alexander, Jacob Rumsey, Andrew Correll, S. Todd, Margaret Todd, Catherine Cook.
There are also Methodist societies at Corey and at Wakelee.
BAPTIST CHURCHES.
On the authority of the Rev. Supply Chase, there was in 1836 a Baptist association known as LaGrange in the southwest part of the state, which had been organized about 1834-35, growing out of the immigration to that part of the state. No doubt reference is made to the church at Whitmanville, to which the founder of the village had donated a lot when he platted the village. A church was built on this lot, but both the building and the organization crumbled away in time.
At Edwardsburg the Baptist church must have been organized as soon as, and perhaps before, that of LaGrange. Mr. J. C. Olmsted is authority for the statement that the church was organized at the house of Dr. Dunning on the prairie about 1835. This is affirmed by the legal record, which is as follows: "At a public meeting of the male members of the Pleasant Lake Baptist Church and Society, held at Edwardsburg, May 14, 1835. Isaac Dunning and Myron Strong were chosen presiding officers, and H. B. Dunning, clerk. Myron Strong, Luther Chapin and Barak Mead were chosen trustees. It was resolved that the society be known as the Pleasant Lake Baptist Society." The Baptists were the most flourishing of all the church societies during the first ten or fifteen years of Edwardsburg's history. but for many years there has been little or no activity among them. They have a frame house of worship, but no regular services.
The Dowagiac Baptist church was organized in 1851, the first trustees being I. S. Becraft, D. M. Heazlett, Archibald Jewell, A. H. Reed, E. Ballenge, Jacob Allen, S. E. Dow. Isaac Cross, H. B. Miller.
The present building was erected in 1852. Present membership is
379
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
132. Pastors since 1880: E. R. Clark, N. R. Sanborn, H. A. Rose, G. M. Hudson, H. F. Masales, Ross Matthews, A. M. Bailey and M. F. Sanborn, present pastor. In 1900 a $1,600 parsonage was erected on the church property. In 1905 the church building was remodeled and enlarged at an expense of $2,000. . At present there is no indebt- edness and the work seems to be advancing.
The Baptist church at Cassopolis was organized March 8, 1862, with the following charter members: Elder Jacob Price, Sarah B. Price, Sarah B. Price, Jr., Ellen Price, Mary Price, Carrie Price, P. A. Lee, Barak Mead, Harriet E. Mead, Elizabeth \. Maginnis. Robert H. Tripp, Jemima Smith. The present building, which was the first owned by the society, was not built until 1868, the dedication taking place March 16, 1869. It was built at a cost of about five thousand dollars. The membership is now about eighty-five and the present trustees are Frank M. Fisk, Chas. O. Harmon, William H. Berkey and Rev. R. L. Bobbitt, pastor.
Volinia Baptist church, at the northwest corner of section 28, was erected about twenty years ago, but the society had existed in that township since 1858, having been formed as a branch of the Dowagiac church. James Churchill, Levi Churchill, Isaac Cross and Josiah Bond and their families were the constituent members of the society, but in a short time the membership had increased so that they were formed into an independent body.
Rev. Jacob Price, who organized the Baptist church at Cassopolis, also organized the Baldwin Prairie Baptist church at Union, in Feb- ruary, 1857, with six charter members. The church edifice was built in the early seventies, at a cost of $5,500, and a parsonage was erected later.
The Baptist church of North Porter was organized in August. 1837, so that it is one of the oldest Baptist societies in the county. They erected a brick church in 1857. The charter members of the society were : Alanson McHuron and wife, Henry Marsh and wife, Mila Sherrill, Almira Gilbert, Catherine Hebron. James Iladow and wife, Rebecca Davison, Orson Virgil, Ozial Storey, Mr. Godfrey and Mr. Hubbard.
The Free Baptist society of Porter township worship in the Meth- odist church building at Union. This society was organized in 1866 with a membership of sixteen.
A record in the county clerk's office states that the First Baptist
THESTORY OF FASS COUNTY
Current Species of Jefferson Connel ip was organize! December 7 Big benvenmy Lene hold "at go Baptist Liberty meeting house in Jeline of fariolup." The trusice dertod were Joseph Smith, Per- 010 À To . Noget I Nichols o. Gilliam Zinc. Isac Hull. This UTE ml n wd co nikdy t the tilling of the church on section I Hin wil mo gor. The storey Him beer in existence, however. se comp per day spaslep having been con luce | in a Ing house.
and sermusstely narrated by J. D. Obosted. At The seventy fifth anni With 67. 1000 be prepared ml und a sketch of the church which abund in hisuated data not only with reference to the founding of this church and the work of its first missionaries, but concerning many other features of pioneer life in this county. The following pertinent quotations have been excerpted from his article:
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