USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. I > Part 48
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Adolphus L. Skinner was born at Pierpont, St. Lawrence County, New York, Jan. 27, 1834, and came to Jackson County, Michigan, in the spring of 1840. He was educated at the common schools and
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Michigan Central College, when that institution was located at Spring Arbor, in Jackson County. He came to Grand Rapids in 1851, but returned to Jackson County in the spring of 1852, remaining there, attending and teaching school until the fall of 1854, when he came back to Kent County and purchased from the government 280 acres of land in the township of Nelson. There he lived, working on his farm summers and teaching school winters until March 23, 1863, when he moved to Grand Rapids. In public official positions the services of Mr. Skinner were often called for and zealously rendered. During his residence in Nelson he was supervisor of the township for six years. In 1860 he was appointed an assistant United States marshal and took the United States census in the north half of Kent County. Later, in Grand Rapids, he held the offices of justice of the peace, su- pervisor many terms, alderman for his ward, member of the Board of Education for several terms, and four years member of the Board of Review and Equalization. On the Board of Supervisors he served in all nineteen years and in 1889 was chairman of the Board. In 1890 he was elected Register of Deeds and served a term of two years.
John T. Gould was born in Clinton County, Michigan, Feb. 27, 1840. He came to Kent County in 1857 and settled in Plainfield town- ship. In 1877 he removed to Algoma, where he engaged in farming and conducted a saw-mill. Mr. Gould served in the Civil War in Company F, Sixth Michigan cavalry, for three years and three months, and was mustered out as second lieutenant. He held the office of su- pervisor in Algoma for a number of years, and in 1892 was elected Register of Deeds, being re-elected in 1894, and thus serving two terms. He was afterward appointed county agent of the State Board of Charities and Corrections and was filling that position at the time of his death, March 17, 1911.
Surveyors-1838, Charles Shepard; 1842, William Slosson ; 1846, Volney W. Caukin; 1848, William Slosson; 1852, James Dockeray ; 1854, Ezekiel Howell; 1856, David R. Smith; 1860, John F. Tink- ham ; 1862, Edward L. Briggs; 1868, Robert S. Jackson; 1874, Dorr Skeels ; 1882, Homer A. Collar; 1884, Emory W. Muenscher; 1886, Elias C. Martin ; 1888, Dorr Skeels; 1890, Frederick Stevens; 1892, Theodore O. Williams; 1896, Fremont E. Skeels; 1898, Theodore O. Williams, present incumbent.
Charles Shepard, the first man to be elected surveyor of Kent County, was born July 18, 1812, in Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York. He began the study of medicine at the age of eighteen and graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New York, Fairfield, in 1835. After practicing six months in Jefferson County, New York, he removed to Grand Rapids, then but the beginning of a small village, Oct. 20, 1835, second physician to settle within the limits of the present city, Dr. Stephen A. Wilson, the first physician, having been upon the ground in August of that year. Between these two physicians a co-partnership was formed, lasting until the death of Dr. Wilson, in 1839. Upon the organization of the county, Dr. Wilson was elected clerk and Dr. Shepard became sur- veyor. Dr. Shepard served as alderman in the common council of 1852 and 1854, and was elected mayor of the city in 1855. He con- tinued to practice his profession in Grand Rapids until the time of his death, March 8, 1893.
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Coroners-The following list, although not complete, gives the names of many of those who have served in this capacity: 1838, James Scribner and Matthew Patrick; 1840, Samuel Butler and Eliab Walker ; 1842, Harry Eaton and Robert Howlett; 1844, Harry Eaton and H. H. Allen ; 1846, Stephen O'Brien and Myron H. Balcom; 1848, Harry Eaton and Jonathan Nash ; 1850, Robert Howlett and Solomon Withey ; 1852, Robert Howlett and Rodney Robinson; 1854, Samuel F. Butler and Benjamin Davies; 1856, Leonard Covell and Arvine Peck; 1860, D. W. Bliss and Solomon Whitney ; 1862, E. R. Ellis and Smith Bailey ; 1864, Sterling W. Allen and Arvine Peck; 1866, E. R. Ellis and A. L. Pickett ; 1868, Charles M. Holden and Albert Thomas ; 1870, John Brady and Charles G. Hyde; 1872, John Brady and A. L. Pickett ; 1874, DeWitt C. Burch and Samuel R. Wooster ; 1876, Charles H. Maxim and DeWitt C. Burch; 1878, Horatio S. Holden and Her- man D. Streeter ; 1880, Daniel A. Laubenstein and DeWitt C. Burch ; 1882, Walter B. Morrison and George M. Bradish; 1884, George M. Bradish and George H. Chappell; 1888, Henry E. Locher and Daniel J. Wallace; 1890, William J. Penwarden and George M. Bradish ; 1892, George M. Bradish and Henry E. Locher ; 1894, Henry E. Loch- er and Leonidas E. Best; 1896, Leonidas E. Best and Albert J. Pat- terson ; 1898, Albert J. Patterson and Albert E. Luton; 1900, John Wright and Reuber Maurits; 1902, Simeon LeRoy and John B. Hilli- ker, present incumbents.
Judges, Prosecuting Attorneys, Circuit Court Commissioners and Sheriffs-See chapter on Courts and Lawyers.
CHAPTER XXXV. CHURCH HISTORY
BAPTIST, CATHOLIC, METHODIST EPISCOPAL, CONGREGATIONAL, EPISCO- PAL, REFORMED, SWEDENBORGIAN, PRESBYTERIAN, LUTHERAN AND CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCHES-OTHER DENOMINATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
The growth of religious sentiment in Grand Rapids has kept pace with the development of the city and county along commercial and other lines. The past fifteen years have been years of great ac- tivity in the erection of churches, not only in the building of churches for newly organized congregations, but also in the erection of edifices for older societies which have outgrown the buildings they occu- pied. In 1892 it was estimated there were about seventy churches, or religious organizations which in a work of this kind are classed as such, within the limits of the city. Today there are in the city more than 130, while the churches in the rest of the county would bring the total to considerably more than 170.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
The early history of the Baptist society dates back to 1822, when a Baptist mission was located here among the Ottawa tribe of Indi- ans. This mission bore the name of the Thomas Station, in honor of one of the early English Baptist missionaries to India. Little, how-
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ever, was done in the way of missionary work until about 1826, when the Rev. Isaac McCoy came and organized a school of twenty-five pupils. Soon after this, the Rev. Leonard Slater, a laborious, devoted and patient Christian worker, took charge of the mission, and in 1832 a church was formed among the Indians. In 1836 the mission, to- gether with the Indians, was removed to Gull Prairie and the next year, 1837, the first Baptist Church was organized in Grand Rapids, with the Rev. S. D. Wooster as pastor. This gentleman remained with the church but a short time, and for the next four or five years the congregation was without a pastor, and finally the organization was abandoned altogether. In 1842 the Home Missionary Society of the Baptist Church sent Rev. T. Z. R. Jones to reorganize the church. When this was successfully done a place of worship was lacking and services were held in different buildings in the village. However, regular weekly services were held during the two or three years of Mr. Jones' stay, but when he left the interest in the organization again reached a low ebb. The church was supplied at different times by the Rev. F. L. Batchelder, who organized a church at Indian Creek, now the Alpine and Walker Church. In 1848 the Home Missionary So- ciety again became interested in the organization and about the same time sent the Rev. C. A. Jenison to take charge of the same. The place of worship was established in the old Episcopal house of wor- ship, at what is now the northwest corner of North Division and Crescent streets. In 1849, Rev. A. J. Bingham assumed the pastorate, who in turn was followed by Rev. Francis Prescott, and in 1856 the Rev. L. M. Woodruff became pastor. At his suggestion the church was disbanded, for the purpose of developing a different organization, and the Tabernacle Church was formed. This led to an unhappy divi- sion of interests, to separation, and the reorganization of the First Church. After Mr. Woodruff resigned, the Tabernacle Church called the Rev. S. F. Holt to become its pastor, and a short time before the latter's resignation, which took place in 1860, the two churches came together and Mr. Holt was pastor of the reunited church. But in 1861 the Second Church was formed and a few years later both or- ganizations built houses of worship, the First Church a brick struc- ture on the site of the one which was burned in 1917, and the Second Church on North Division street, between Fountain and Pearl streets. In 1862, the Rev. Peter Van Winkle became pastor of the First Church, and during his pastorate the church in the adjoining town- ship of Paris was formed, from members of the First Church, but even after this loss it remained the stronger of the two city churches. In January, 1869, what was known as "The Baptist Church of the City of Grand Rapids" was formed of the congregations of the First and Second Churches. They decided upon the old site, at the corner of Bostwick avenue and Fountain street, for a new edifice, as this spot was already hallowed in the affections of many. The new church was dedicated in 1877. A few years later, in 1883, a portion of the congregation, feeling the need of a place of worship on the West Side, withdrew from the united church. Rev. Samuel Graves, D. D., served the church as pastor from 1870 until May, 1885, and during his pas- torate the name was changed from the Baptist Church of the City of Grand Rapids to the Fountain Street Baptist Church. In 1885 also
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some of the members of the Fountain Street Church, uniting with some from the Second Church, left to organize the Wealthy Avenue Baptist Church, now known as the Wealthy Street Baptist Temple. In 1917 the fine church edifice at the corner of Fountain street and Bostwick avenue was destroyed by fire, and the present temporary meeting place is in Powers' Theatre. Rev. Alfred W. Wishart is the present pastor of the Fountain Street Church.
As noted above, a Baptist society was organized on the West Side in 1883. Sunday School services had been conducted there for a couple of years prior to the organization of the church and a growing sentiment in favor of the establishment of a church on the West Side resulted in a meeting to formulate plans for the organization. Fifty- six members of the Fountain Street Church residing on the West Side withdrew their membership from that organization and on Oct. 8 or- ganized the Second Baptist Church, adopting the faith and covenant of the New Hampshire confession. In 1883 the liberality of Deacon J. W. Converse, of the First Baptist Church of Boston, Mass., who for many years had large business and real estate interests in this city, made it possible for the new organization to have a church build- ing. His liberality commenced by the donation of a lot, 132 feet square, and the building and furnishing of a house of worship there- on, which was appropriately dedicated, Sept. 30, 1883. Rev. Isaac Van Westenbrugge is the present clergyman.
The Wealthy Street Baptist Temple traces its origin to a Mis- sion Sunday School established in the summer of 1875 by the Foun- tain Street Baptist Church. Soon afterward a chapel was built on Charles street, near Wealthy avenue, where the school and other Sab- bath services were held until after the organization of the church, Jan. 12, 1885. On Oct. 19, of the following year, the cornerstone was laid for the fine church building now occupied, on Wealthy street at the corner of Eastern avenue. The edifice was dedicated on Jan. 16, 1887. The present pastor is Rev. Oliver W. VanOsdel.
The first African Baptist Church was organized, in 1889, as "The Messiah Baptist Church." Meetings were first held at Ringuette's Hall on South Division street, and the church now meets at 513 Henry avenue. Rev. Melville M. D. Perdue is the present pastor.
The Calvary Baptist Church is the result of a mission main- tained by the Fountain Street Baptist Church. The society was or- ganized Nov. 8, 1889, as the Calvary Baptist Church of Grand Rap- ids. The house of worship was dedicated in the latter part of the year 1890. The location of the church is at the northeast corner of Antoine street and Ionia avenue and its pastor is the Rev. Henry A. Lyon.
The other Baptist churches in the city and environs are: The Berean Baptist Church, at 1574 Coit avenue, Rev. William H. Gar- field, pastor ; the Burton Street Baptist Church, at the northeast cor- ner of Burton street and Horton avenue, Rev. Horton L. Williams, pastor; the Holland Baptist Church, at 1144 Quarry avenue, Rev. Douwe Laansma, pastor; Reed's Lake Baptist Church, at the corner of Lake Drive and Croswell avenue (East Grand Rapids), no pastor ; Scribner Avenue Baptist Church, at 1236 Scribner Avenue, Rev. Rob- ert N. McNemer, pastor; and the Swedish Baptist Church, at the corner of Sibley street and Gold avenue, no pastor.
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
While the Baptists were the first to hold services in the new set- tlement of Grand Rapids there can be no denial of the fact that the first apostle of the Christian religion to teach the faith on the site of what is now Grand Rapids was a Catholic. Ere the settlement was established here, the Rev. Gabriel Richard and other priests from Detroit had visited the Indian villages of this section, and they made many conversions among the red men. While no echo of the wars which wrested the country from French dominion and afterward from England into an infant republic reached the vicinity of Grand Rapids, the territory immediately surrounding underwent various changes in ecclesiastical rule. While a French possession, it was a dependency of the diocese of Quebec, and remained as such until 1810. When the diocese of Bardstown-now Louisville- Ky., was organized it was placed under the archbishop appointed to govern that district. Subsequently it became part of the diocese of Cincin- nati and ten years later, in 1832, was made a part of the diocese of De- troit. While the church claimed jurisdiction over the territory of what is now Kent County, it made no effort to establish missions or churches, and for many years the entire Northwest was visited only by Jesuit missionary priests. The historian Bancroft says of these, "Away from the amenities of life, away from the opportunities of vain glory, they became dead to the world and possessed their souls in unalterable peace. The few who lived to grow old, though bowed by the toils of a long mission, still kindled with the fervor of an apos- tolic zeal. The history of their labors is connected with the origin of every celebrated town; in the annals of French-Americans not a cape was turned, not a river entered, but a Jesuit led the way." After the suppression of the Jesuit order, in 1773, the whole of what now constitutes the States of Michigan and Wisconsin was left to the di- rection of one priest, stationed at Detroit. The real history of the Catholic Church in Grand Rapids begins with its transfer to the dio- cese of Detroit, and is almost synonymous with the secular history of the city.
The first permanent settler and the founder of Grand Rapids, Louis Campau, belonged to the same faith as the early French mis- sionaries. In 1837 he built a church for St. Andrew's parish on the southwest corner of Monroe and Division streets. It was never deed- ed to the Bishop, but the congregation worshiped there for some time. A Roman Catholic mission had been located here by the Rev. Fred- eric Baraga, in June, 1833, on the west bank of the river. In the fall of 1834 he was assisted as rector of St. Andrew's parish. which, as before stated, had been established in June, 1833, by the Rev. Andreas Viszoczky-who succeeded him in 1835-a Hungarian, whose emi- nently useful career was here ended by his death, Jan. 2, 1853, at the age of 55 years. For some months Reverend Viszoczky held services in the building erected by Mr. Campau, and later the pastor and flock were sheltered by the chapel of the Indian village, or a small red school house on Division street, between Crescent and Michigan streets, or in private dwellings. In 1847 the Bishop sold the lands which had been granted by the government for the benefit of the mission, and out of this fund Father Viszoczky bought the Richard
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Godfroy house and grounds on the southeast corner of Monroe and Ottawa streets, now occupied by the Aldrich-Godfrey-White block. There a stone church was built in 1849, dedicated to St. Andrews. It was used until March 27, 1874, when, the grounds having been sold to Moses V. Aldrich, the church was torn down and the stone used for the foundations of the present edifice. Upon the death of Father Viszoczky, he was succeeded by Rev. Edward Van Pammel, and in September, 1857, Rev. F. J. Van Erp assumed the duties. The church grew apace with the city and State and it was finally determined that Grand Rapids should be the seat of a bishopric, and on May 19, 1882, it was selected as a cathedral city. It was deemed advisable to ap- point one of the German tongue to assume charge of the Episcopal See, and the Rt. Rev. Henry Joseph Richter received the appointment. He was consecrated on April 22, 1883, and immediately assumed the duties of his office.
Catholic history from that time on for nearly thirty-four years is identified with the history of Bishop Richter's career in Grand Rap- ids. For the following sketch of the earlier life of that prelate we are indebted to Rev. Dr. Peter Moerdyke's article on Churches and Re- ligious Societies in Grand Rapids, prepared for another publication, in 1891:
"The Rt. Rev. Henry Joseph Richter was born on the 9th of April, 1838, at Neuen Kirchen, in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. After studying in the local schools and under a private teacher, he came to the United States in 1854, and entered St. Paul's School in Cincinnati in the succeeding year. This was followed by five years of steady application in St. Xavier's, St. Thomas at Bardstown, and Mount St. Mary's College in Cincinnati. He went to Rome in 1860, entering the American College, and, winning his Doctor's cap in 1865, was ordained on the 10th of June by Cardinal Patrizi. Return- ing to Cincinnati in October, he filled the chair of Dogma, Philosophy and Liturgy, in Mount St. Mary's Seminary, and a year later was made vice-president of that institution. In 1870 he founded the church of St. Laurence and made it a thriving parish; was chaplain to the Sisters of Charity at Mount St. Vincent's Academy, and a member of the Archbishop's Council, and one of the Committee of Investigation of the Diocese. When His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII, established the Diocese of Grand Rapids on the 19th of May, 1882, the Rev. Dr. Richter was selected for the new See. He was consecrated and en- throned in St. Andrew's, Grand Rapids, on the 22d of April, 1883, by the Most Rev. William Henry Elder, of Cincinnati. At the be- ginning of his administration Bishop Richter found thirty-six priests, thirty-three churches with resident pastors, and seventeen parochial schools with 2,867 pupils, out of a population of 50,000 Catholics. At present there are in his Diocese seventy-five priests, fifty-six churches with resident pastors, and thirty-eight schools with 7,244 pupils. At his request the Franciscan Fathers of the Holy Ghost and of the Most Holy Redeemer have established houses in the Diocese. Vari- ous new charitable institutions have been established, and substantial churches have been built and are in the course of erection in different parts of the Diocese. Having taken part in the Second Provincial Council of Cincinnati, in 1882, as one of the secretaries, he assisted
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as Bishop at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, in 1884. In the spring of 1885 he made his first official visit at Rome, and at- tended the Provincial Council of Cincinnati in 1889. Bishop Richter is of a very modest, quiet and retiring disposition. He has always had the reputation of being a very learned and able theologian. A man of principle and energy in the discharge of his duty, he always seeks the most unostentatious manner of performing it. Combining an unusual activity with such high talents, he labors with untiring zeal at the important work entrusted to his care."
The infirmities of age finally began to tell on the venerable Bish- op, and his waning strength was supplemented by the appointment of Rt. Rev. Michael J. Gallagher as coadjutor. On Dec. 26, 1916, Bishop Richter departed this life, and on the 29th of the same month the obsequies were held, Bishop Schrembs, of Toledo, Ohio, preach- ing the sermon. His remains were placed in a receiving vault at the old St. Andrew's cemetery. Much might be written of the institu- tions and organizations which came to Grand Rapids and to the Grand Rapids Diocese as the result of the efforts of Bishop Richter, but the limitations of space forbid more than the mention of a few of them in this connection. Under his direction the following insti- tutions were established: St. John's Orphan Asylum, at Grand Rap- ids; the Holy Childhood's Indian Industrial School, at Harbor Springs ; the Home for the Aged Poor at Grand Rapids : the House of the Good Shepherd, for wayward girls and fallen women, at Grand Rapids; hospitals at Grand Rapids, Manistee, Bay City, and Mus- kegon; and seminaries for girls in every large city in the Diocese. The Catholic population of the Diocese is now in excess of 152,000. Bish- op Richter was succeeded by Rt. Rev. Michael J. Gallagher. An ex- tended sketch of Bishop Gallagher may be found in the biographical section of this work.
There are in Grand Rapids today thirteen churches of the Catho- lic denomination, besides a number of missions scattered throughout the county. The Church of the Holy Name, at 1970 Godfroy avenue, is one of the younger organizations of the church in the city, having completed its organization in 1906. The Church of Our Ladow of Sorrows, located at the southwest corner of Sheldon avenue and Ma- ple street, was organized in 1917. The Sacred Heart Church, at 150- 152 Valley avenue, is one of the Polish churches of the city, its first pastor was Rev. L. P. Krakowski, and the date of its origin is 1903. The congregation of St. Adalbert's Church, whose edifice is at the corner of Fourth street and Davis avenue, was organized in 1880. St. Alphonsus Church, at 180 Carrier street, is one of the comparatively recently organized churches, its edifice having been dedicated in 1888. St. Anthony's, at the northwest corner of Broadway avenue and North street, a German congregation, was organized in 1906, and the pastor is Rev. Jerome Preisser. St. Francis Xavier's, at 240 Reynolds street, was dedicated in 1913, and St. Isador's, on Diamond avenue, in 1899. The consecration of St. James' Church, at 751 Bridge street, occurred on Sept. 16, 1902. The congregation of St. Joseph's Church was or- ganized in 1887 and the edifice of the parish was consecrated on Feb. 10, 1889. The first German church organized in the city was St. Ma- ry's, on Turner street, in August, 1857. SS. Peter and Paul Church,
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on the east side of Quarry avenue, between Myrtle and Webster streets, was consecrated in 1906. There are in the city about fifteen Catholic parochial schools, and the church also maintains a number of hospitals and other charitable institutions, all of which are men- tioned under different chapter heads.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Methodism in Grand Rapids had its beginning as early as 1835. Rev. Osband Monett, a member of the Ohio conference and one of the missionaries of the church, arrived in Grand Rapids during one of his missionary journeys. There is little doubt that he was the first minister of the Methodist faith to visit the settlement. He rode his circuit around once in four weeks, and held services in the primitive log cabins of the settlers; and it is altogether probable that he held the first religious service of any nature ever conducted among the white settlers at Grand Rapids. According to Methodist usage he formed, in the winter of 1835-36, a class for the purpose of organizing a church. Services were held in the upper part of Henry Stone's house on the west side of Bond street, between Michigan and Crescent streets. The first quarterly meeting of the church was held at Grand- ville, in May, 1838, the only people present being the Rev. E. H. Pilcher, presiding elder; Rev. James H. Freese, the missionary, and James Ewing, class leader. Knowlton S. Pettibone, Moses H. Rus- sell and Thomas Buxton were then appointed stewards of the Grand Rapids church. The first trustees recorded, in 1839, were William C. Davidson, James Ewing, K. S. Pettibone, Robert I. Shoemaker, and Harry Dean. The preachers sent, in September, 1840, were Elliott M. Crippen and Daniel Bush, and under the guidance of the latter an effort was made to secure an edifice for worship, one being erected on a lot purchased from Thomas Smith, of New York, at the south- east corner of Division and Fountain streets. The pastors succeed- ing Mr. Bush, whose terms were for various periods, were the Revs. Franklin Gage, Andrew M. Fitch, Jacob E. Parker, Myron B. Cam- burn, Reuben Reynolds, and James Summerfield. In the summer of 1851 the necessity of more room resulted in an addition of sixteen feet on the front of the house, making the seating capacity 225. Succeed- ing Mr. Summerfield came Rev. Francis A. Blades, and it was during his pastorate that the growth of the congregation made necessary a branching out.
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