History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.., Part 108

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co.
Number of Pages: 814

USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.. > Part 108

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1876, 11. L. Agens, S. Gilbert, C. F. Moore, II. P. Wands, Charles Beyschlag, D. W. Hathaway. 1877, Charles Beyschlag, Bruno Streit, J. L. Agens, F. 6. Moore. S. Gilbert, D. W. Hathaway. 1878. C. Beyschlag, G. Hathaway, B. Streit, F. C. Moore, John C. Clark, T. J. Rooney.

1879, Il. Fischer, William Grace. W. B. Morse. T. J. Rooney, B. Streit. G. C. Solis.

1880, William Grace. C. MeElroy, B. Streit, W. B. Morse, T. J. Rooney, G. C. Solis.

1881. 1. M. Sanborn, O. K. Hopkins, W. B. Morse. B. Streit, Fred. Barntrigger. G. C. Solis. 1882. J. M. Sanborn, J. R. Whiting. Mark Hopkins. W. B. Morse, B. Streit, Fred. Barntrigger.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

In the township history, the names of city supervisors are given. The following are the names of Justices elected by the citizens since the year 1858 : Albert A. Carleton and Obed Smith, 1858 62; David D. O'Dell. 1860 61: Marcus Il. Miles, 1861 ; George F. Collins, 1566-71 ; Albert Carleton, 1868-72 ; M. 11. Miles, 1868 ; David D. O'Dell, 1870-78; A. A. Carleton, 1876 ; William Black, 1880: Edward Canan, 1881 82.

The following officers were elected in April, 1882, the figures indicating the majorities : Mayor, R. II. Jenks. 35 ; Clerk, C. A. Currie, 75, Treasurer. A. Eber. 5 : Justice, Edward Canan. 146 ; As- sessor, (. I]. Waterloo, 131. First Ward, Supervisor. Geo. J. Ward, no opposition : Alderman, J. R. Whiting, 50 ; Constable. E. JJ. Hall, 115, no opposition. Second Ward, Supervisor. Benjamin Palmer, 68 ; Alderman. W. B. Morse, no opposition : Constable. L. Werner. 2. The Treasurer, Eber, and Constable Werner were the only offices the straight ticket secured in opposition to the union ticket.

POPULATION.

By reference to the table on another page, it will appear that in the early part of 1866 there were in the city 896 inhabitants between the ages of tive and twenty years. Taking this number as the standard of computation, there must have been at that time about 2,550 inhabitants in the city. This would give an increase of 874 over the census of 1864, and 143 more scholars than in the preceding census. In the statistics of population, given in the general history, the increase in the number of inhabitants since the close of the war. is shown.

THE CITY DURING THE WAR.

From the moment the flag of the Union was hauled down at Sumter, the people of the city and township vied with each other in a desire to avenge the insult. Patriotism and generosity ran riot. War meetings were appointed in almost every schoolhouse in the county, and speakers were in great demand. The demand. however, was supplied, as men who had never made a speech before, and have not since, proved to be fountains of patriotic eloquence. Party lines were nearly obliterated, old feuds were forgotten, and a new era in good fellowship and patriotism inaugurated. Old enemies, both political and social, met at recruiting gatherings, and made speeches together.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

Patriotism and a desire to do something for their country were not confined to the men. The la- dies were busy preparing little things for the soldiers to take with them ; making flags, committing patriotic songs, making rosettes of red, white and blue, and lending their influence by being present at all war meetings.

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHI.

The following historical sketch of the Congregational Church at St. Clair was prepared some years ago by Rev. Mr. Grannis :

"The history of the Congregational Church of St. Clair, dates from the fall of 1833. Before that Rev. Mr. Wells and Rev. Mr. Coe, Presbyterian ministers from Mackinaw, had preached occasionally, and during the preceding summer Rev. Albert Worthington, a Congregational Home Missionary, had preached regularly in the log court house. Mr. Worthington, assisted by Rev. Luther Shaw and a delegate from Romeo, organized a Congregational Church of fourteen members in September, 1833, at the house of S. F. Hopkins The following minute appears on the records of the Detroit Pres- bytery :

" 'MONROE, September 18, 1833 .- Request from Congregational of St. Clair, through Rev. L. Shaw, to be taken under the care of this Presbytery. Presbytery granted the request.

" This shows that in the same month of its formation, the church became Presbyterian on the plan of union, which was generally adopted by Congregational Churches in the State. In October, 1835, the Presbytery held its stated meeting with the church in St. Clair.

"The records show that in February. 1835, the church, at its request, was received into the Pres- bytery, as a distinctively Presbyterian Church. The causes of this change are to be found in a case of discipline in the church, which it was thought required the aid of the Presbytery.

" In those early days, the remains of old Fort St. Clair were distinctly visible, Pine River was bridged by a raft of logs, the forest stood close around the little settlement; sidewalks were not in use. Two or three houses stood on the south side of Pine River, one of which was a hotel. The town was laid out into squares, but the buildings were few. Conspicuous among them was the old log court house used for town meetings. Romeo was then called Indian Village, and St. Clair the village of Palmer.

" To make it more easy to remember the history, I will divide the forty-five years between 1833 and 1878, according to the different pastorates of the men who have been pastors of this church.

" The first is the pastorate of Rev. O. C. Thompson. Soon after the church was organized, Mr. Worthington left, and there was no regular preaching till the spring of 1834, when Mr. Thompson came up from Detroit. In the fall of 1834. he moved his family here, and was ordained and in- stalled pastor of this church by the Detroit Presbytery. Installation services were held in the court house at early candle light (the candles being fastened with forks to the sides of the house). Rev. J. P. Cleveland, presided, and preached the opening sermon from James, 1, xxii : 'Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only,' and offered the opening prayer. Rev. George Eastman gave the charge to the pastor and to the congregation. Mr. Thompson's pastorate was the longest of any, and being the first pastor his work and influence are strongly impressed upon the history of the church.

" The records of the thirteen years of his pastorate are not complete enough to enable me to describe fully the life and work of the church. In the spring of 1835. a society was formed called the Tabernacle Society of St. Clair; six trustees were appointed, and the organization was certified as required by law. This was substantially the beginning of our present Congregational society. The Trustees were E. Beardsley, S. Heath, H. Chamberlin, A. Northway, G. Palmer, J. Doran. E. Beardsley was elected Treasurer and S. F. Hopkins, our present Collector, was initiated into the work of the collectorship. E. G. Wells, a professed minister of the Gospel, occupied the pulpit a few Sun- days in the absence of the pastor, but turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing and set the teeth of the church on edge, doing great harm. Another man of this stamp named Van Wormer, ac- complished a similar disturbance in 1843. The project of church-building now occupied the thoughts of the people. In November, 1835, a committee was appointed to secure a site, and another com- mittee to draft a plan and estimate the expense. The first proposition was to build a house 40x55 feet, capable of seating 400, at an expense of $2,000. At this time, the records give signs that finan- cial troubles were elogging the wheels. The building project languished, and after more than a year. in December, 1836, an application was made to the Home Missionary Society for $200, 'to aid in the support of the Gospel.' In July, of the next year, 1837, the building committee reported

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY

that they could not devise any plan for going on with the building. Nothing decisive was accom- plished toward building until the spring of 1840, more than five years after the first steps were taken.

The frame work for the house on the large plan of a seating capacity for 400 was on the ground, but no way of going forward with the building appeared. At this point, Everett Beardsley entered into a contract to build the house on a smaller plan (40 feet by 26), promising to take his pay in " all kinds of produce, viz : wheat, corn, peas, barley, hay, meat, stock and merchandise."

The building was thus accomplished and with much effort and sacrifice, with the help of the Ladies' Sewing Society, who at one time nobly emptied their treasury to buy glass, the meeting house was finished and furnished by January 1, 1841. Two or three years later, an addition was made to the building, leaving it in its present conditition. The expense of this addition was $210, and the amount was raised by subscription and by the sale of slips. In 1838, on account of ill health, Mr. Thompson desired to have the pastoral relations between him and the church dissolved, but at a meeting of the church it was resolved unanimously that " we request Mr. Thompson not to leave us." The request, however, was again made in October, 1839, to the Presbytery, and as the con- gregation this time concurred in the request, the Presbytery voted that the pastoral relation be dis solved. Mr. Thompson prepared to go to Green Bay, but the boat failing to make its last adver- tised trip for the season, he was left with baggage packed on the dock and thus, as some of his people thought, he was providentially hindered from going. He went soon after to Port Huron, where he remained one year.

We have seen that the church became Presbyterian in connection with a matter of discipline. After about eight years of Presbyterian history during which the same trial hung persistently over them, they resolved to make an ingenious back-leap into Congregationalism, leaving their adopted father, the Presbytery, without ceremony. By this they escaped in a good measure from their case of discipline, but truth requires it to be said that a committee appointed by the Presbytery, in 18-12, passed a resolution of censure upon their action, after which the Presbytery had no further relation to this church. Twenty-one persons received letters of dismission from the Presbyterian Church and were organized into the Congregational Church of St. Clair, February 10, 1841.

Vine refused to take letters. Of these twenty-one, Mr. and Mrs. S. F. Hopkins, Deacon H. P. Cady, Samuel Webster. Parker Webster and Alpheus Earle are now members of the church.

The Congregational Church thus formed turned its eyes toward the former pastor, then in Port Iluron, and Rev. O. C. Thompson was installed over it by ecclesiastical council soon after its organ- ization.

The following month, eleven female members were received by letter and during the following three years, twenty-nine were admitted, twenty-one by letter, six on profession. We have no record of the membership of the church and Sunday school during Mr. Thompson's pastorate except for the years 1845-46. Reports from the Congregational Churches then first began to appear on the minutes of the general association, and there we find that in 1845, the church had forty-three mem- bers, the Sunday school one hundred and forty. In 1846, the church had thirty-seven members, the Sunday school one hundred.

During the latter part of this pastorate, services were held only every other Sunday, the pastor preaching on alternate Sabbaths at Algonac and Newport, which churches were formed at first as branches of this church.

About 1816, Mr. Thompson. on account of feeble health, asked the church to join with him in calling a council for dissolving the pastoral relation. They declined to do so, but released him from the obligation of supplying the pulpit and charged him to go and seek his health. llis pastoral relation has never been dissolved. The particulars of the religious life and work of the church during the twelve years of Mr. Thompson's pastorate cannot be gathered from the records. Men- tion is made of a revival conducted by Rev. O. Parker in the Methodist Meeting House which added many to the church. The resources of the church during all these years were small. The membership must have averaged less than fifty. The pastor's salary was small and often in arrears. The following is the collector's report at the close of the year 1836 :

ST. CLAIR. November 5, 1536. Paid over to the pastor, Rev. O. C. Thompson, as per receipts on hand. $116.00. Balance due on sub scription fist. $126. JOHN DORAN. Collector Tabernacle Soc.

Adding the amount collected and the amount due, we see that the salary paid by the church

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

for the year was $332. Whether this included the amount paid by the Home Missionary Society is not stated. Mr. Thompson is beloved and remembered tenderly by the remaining friends of those early days of hardship. He passed with them through the privations and toils incident to pioneer life. During the severe famine in the spring of 1837, a traveler received for dinner at the hotel a small piece of brown bread and a piece of pork two inches square, and was told that if all the eata- bles in town were gathered together there would probably not be enough for a full meal for each of the inhabitants.

In that year, the first boat from Detroit was hailed as a deliverer, and flour and pork were weighed out by the pound to the people that filled the dock. The church and its pastor struggled together through such privations as this ; their hearts were bound together by a common experience of hardship. While we regret the occasional dissensions that mar the history, we still are proud of the heroic spirit that held them together and sustained regular service in church and Sunday school in times like those. This first and longest pastorate will always be memorable in the his- tory of the church. The bell that now hangs in the steeple was placed there by subscription with the help of the Ladies' Sewing Society in 1813 or 1844, and for years was used as a substitute for a town cloek, being rung morning, noon and night. Mr. Thompson said to me at his last visit here, "It is the sweetest toned bell for me that rings, because of its associations." He writes from De- troit, " Up to this time my heart yearns over that church, my first love." Mr. Thompson's pastorale closed, as nearly as we can estimate, in the summer of 1847.

He was followed by W. P. Wastell, who was acting pastor for about two years, until August, 1849. During these two years, seven were received into the membership of the church, among whom appear the names of Henry Whiting. Harriett Rice and John Rankin.

The two following years, from August, 1849, to August, 1851, cover the ground of Rev. H. H. Morgan's pastorate. It was a period of great activity, and we may properly call it the equinoctial storm of this history.

During the first winter of bis stay, there was a revival and many were genuinely converted. The services were thronged so that the aisles were full, and many non-church-goers were seen for the first time regularly at church ; $400 were raised for his salary, and Deacon Cady was appointed a committee to see to the painting of the house, which was paid for by subscription.

March 3, 1850, forty-six were admitted at one communion service. During Mr. Morgan's first year, no less than seventy united with the church, but during his second year only four united.

In the fall of 1850, the following vote was passed :

"Resolved, Ist, That we make our pastor an honorary member of the A. B. C. F. M., by paying $50 into its treasury.

" 2. That we pledge an amount equal to 66 cents per member ; our present number is 110. The amount will be not less than $72.60.

"3. That the resolutions be published in the New York Evangelist and Observer, for the en- couragement of the board and to excite other churches to emulation."

This generous resolution is the first notice we have of contributions to the benevolent societies. Up to this time, aid had been received regularly from the Home Missionary Society. This good resolution, however, was afterward rescinded and the money used for society purposes, reminding us of the brother who said. " 1 go sir," but went not. The next year, however, $50 were sent to the American Board, This church was represented by delegates at the council which, in February, 1851, installed Rev. P. R. Hurd over the Congregational Church in Romeo. Under Mr. Morgan the question of building a new church was agitated and strongly favored by the pastor, but no efficient steps were taken.

In January of this year. the plan of rotation in the office of deaeon was first adopted. In the spring of 1851, Mr. Morgan was invited to settle as pastor over the church, and accepted condition- ally, but in the summer he gave six weeks' notice of his intended resignation, and in August he closed his labors here. Looking back over his two years' work, we admire his zeal and regret that it was not always according to knowledge. He had a sharp sword, but he drew it among his friends, and by indulging in personalities in the pulpit, he roused such strong feeling that fourteen stanch members of the church withdrew in a body after submitting their reasons for so doing in writing to the church.

The foundation of the church sustained the pastor. but all regretted that his preaching was so personally denunciatory. God granted His Spirit until personal feeling entered into the work, and

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

then the Holy Ghost departed. A good number of those who withdrew afterward returned When Mr. Morgan came, the church had a membership of 13. He left it with a membership of St.

The church with one month's delay engaged Rev. George M Tuthill, and in October, 1852. he was regularly installed. In the council that installed him, Rev. H. D. Kitchell was elected chair- man and preached the sermon. The charge to the pastor was given by Rev. P. R. Hurd and Rev. W. P. Russell gave the charge to the people (the same part which he took in the ordination of the present pastor in 1876, twenty-four years later). Mr. Tuthill's pastorate of seven years was a period of harmonious and normal church life. A decided effort was made in 1853 to raise money for the Home Missionary Society, to which the church was so much indebted for years of assistance.

Monthly subscriptions were started and $75 were collected for the Home Missionary Society. And for a time $100 a year was collected for the American Board. But the zeal gradually diminished, the subscriptions were neglected, and the plan failed.

The church was often compelled to do the work of the society, because the society neglected to do it. The benevolent contributions were better attended to than the pastor's salary - the church being generous before it was just -- and the records state that the finances of the society were at loose ends. The records, however, do not show that this church ever failed to fulfill its obligations. The question of building a new church came up for the second time during Mr. Tuthill's stay. Committees were appointed' and estimates made, but no agreement could he reached in regard to location. Deacon Reuben Moore volunteered to give one-quarter of the cost, but the subject was finally allowed to drop. Reports from the State Association records show that the Sunday school numbered about one hundred during these seven years. The church numbered in 1852, 71 mem- bers; in 1853, 88 members: in 1854, 98 members, and in 1855 it had increased to 100 members. After it was diminished by removals, and when Mr. Tuthill left in 1858, it had a membership of 82. This church was representated in 1858 by Andrew Blakie in the conneil that installed Rev. J. S. Hoyt pastor over the church at Port Huron. We ought not to fail to mention a revival in the spring of 1852, when union meetings were hekl and a number wore converted. Il uniting with the church. Up to this time, Sunday services had been held at 10:30 A. M. and 1:30 P. M., with a prayer meet- ing at 6 o'clock. In August. 1856, the afternoon service was changed to 4 o'clock, and the 6 o'clock prayer meetings omitted, but in October of the same year the church returned to the old plan. In 1857, the services were changed to the hours now in nse. A resolution was passed this year that the expenses of the pastor in attending ecclesiastical meetings should be paid from the church funds. but this practice was not continued. An interesting item in regard to the choir appears in the records :

" February, 1858, Mr. S. F. Hopkins, who has long led the singing in the worship of the sanet- mary, requests to be released from the duties of leader on account of physical disability to perform them."

The church expressed regret at this announcement, and requested Mr. Hopkins to procure a substitute, or with such assistance as he could get to go on with the choir. On one occasion in the old log court house. Mr. Hopkins was requested by the minister to " raise the tune." He declined. on the ground that the congregation all sang one part, but, on condition that four parts instead of one should be sung, he became leader of the choir, and filled that position for many years.

Another occurrence was a call upon the faithful Ladies' Sewing Society for assistance in pay ing off' a debt of $100, due the pastor. They generously responded. and the debt was paid. The Ladies' Society has been the reserve force of the church all along the way, and has often been called up to save the day in the hard fought battle. When the meeting-house was first built, the pews were sold to individuals to hold as permanent property. In 1857. the majority of the pew owners agreed to surrender their ownership for the benefit of the church, and the pews were rented then by the church. AAfterward the seats were made free. Some of the pew owners demurred to the vote to surrender the pews, but the church was in financial straits and no other way seemed to open to them. In November, 1858, owing to financial difficulties in the church, Mr. Tuthill was released from the pastorate by a council: Rev. W. P. Russell was Moderator of the council. and Rev. P. R. Uurd, seribe.

With its usnal promptness in choosing a pastor, the church, in July, called Rev. James Vin cent, who immediately began a pastorate which lasted four years. Three candidates had been heard before him - Rev. James Melain, Rev. M. Lightbody and Rev. Joseph Peart. The last of these came very near being called to remain. The church at this time made application to the

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

Home Missionary Society for $200 to aid in the minister's salary. It was during Mr. Vineent's pastorate that quarterly collections for benevolent objeets were established, the four objects being the Ilome Missionary Society, the American Board, the Bible Society and the American Tract Society. Seventeen new members were received during these four years. The membership for these four years respectively was 83, 88, 91 and 87. The Sunday school numbered about 100. Mr. Vincent was not installed. In February, 1862, a circular from Chicago aroused the ladies on the subject of Missions; a meeting was called at Mrs. Cady's and the Ladies' Auxiliary Missionary Society was formed. Mr. Vincent resigned in February, 1862, but remained until April.

This year William Grace was chosen to represent the church at the State Association which inet at Grand Rapids. Throughout its history, this church has regularly been represented at the meetings of the State Association and the Eastern Conference, except for a small period between 1871 and 1876.

Now comes an interval of eleven months filled up by reading meetings and occasional preach- ing. Rev. H. S. Clark occupied the pulpit for three months, but the choice fell finally on Rev. L. P'. Spellman, who, in March, began his pastorate. The Plymouth collection was adopted as the hymn book.

A memorable event during this pastorate was the meeting of the Eastern Conference in May, 1866. In this year, the cause of the Freedmen was substituted for the Bible cause in the benevo- lenees, and the whole amount of benevolent contributions was $107.65. The standing rules of the church were collected and put into shape. The building was repaired and banked for winter. Mr. Spellman's pastorate was quiet, earnest and enterprising, and resulted in adding thirty-three new members to the church, twenty-five of them on profession. For the four years of his pastorate, respectively, the church numbered eighty-four, eighty-eight, ninety-four, ninety-two. The Sunday school numbered seventy-five, eighty, ninety-five, eighty. The increase was about balanced by con- tinual removals of church members. Mr. Spellman was hired by the year and not installed, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Tuthill being the only installed pastors of this church. He elosed his labors in the spring of 1863. Rev. W. P. Wastell was then in Port Huron and reecived a call from the church to be aeting pastor for a year. He began his second pastorate here in May, 1867, and remained three years. These three years were the most prosperous in many respects which the church has seen. He found the membership ninety-four and brought it up to 120, the largest number it has ever had. The benevolent contributions averaged nearly $100 a year, except the last year, 1870, for which there is no report and the Sunday school was carried from a membership of ninety-five up to 150 members, the highest number it has ever reached. Evidences of the blessing of God upon the church appear in the records during the period, and many young persons were taken into fellow- ship, among whom are the names of Josephine Mortinger, George MeAdam. Louisa MeIntyre, Alice Grace, Mahala Mitchell, Millard Mitchell, Hattie Waterloo, Julia Palmer, T. L. P. Miles, Frank Paris, Edwin Earle, Joseph Johnston, Annie Johnston, Eliphalet Webster, Nancy Webster, Mary Earle. A general revival conducted by Mr. Graves was the occasion of bringing these accessions to the church.

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History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.., Part 108

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co. Number of Pages: 814

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co.
Number of Pages: 814