Dolt~ Conference Methodist Archives
THE DETROIT CONF3RENCE HISTORICAL MESSENGER Published by the "Friends of the Archives" Ronald A. Brunger, Editor Vol. IX, No. 4 September 1981 TABLE OF CONTENTS OUR FALL MEETING Here a..'ld THere Page 1 The fall meeting of the Confe ~ · Emce Commis Our Pall Meetin5 1 sion on Ar chives & History \-Till be held in the A Conference Concern in 1881 1 St. Clair Church on Oct. 29. Members of local A New Conference Sxhibition 2 church History Committees and all interested Accessions to our Archives 2&4 persons are invited to come and participate. Being a Friend 2 Coffee Hour at 9:30 a.m. The meeting starts The Great Fire of 1881 ••• 3-4 at 10:00 a.m. Bishop Thomas Nicholson 5-6 Several historical papers will be pre sented. Mrs. Al (Vera) Hartoog will bring a HERE A!\TD THERE paper on "The History of the Romeo Campmeet ing'! Rev. John Rozeboom, one of our re Papers will be presented on the histories of tirees in Ju.'le, had a notable care er in our river churches in St. Clair,_MarJsville, our Conf~renoe, -f'eat-ured particularly Marine City, and Algonac. We will eat lunch by 22 years on the Conference Staff as at the Voyageurs Inn on the St. Clair River, Educational Consultant. In this period where we can watch the great lakes ships he preached or spoke in 210 Churches pas sine; upbound a,nd down bound t of our Conference. This is more than We invite you to join us for an interest half of our Churches, a record unequal ing and significant day on Oct. 29. Reserva led in modern times by anyone except tions are desired. Contact Rev. Douglas Tre Bishop Marshall Reed. bilcock, 905 N. Sixth St., St. Clair, MI 48079 Another retiree, Lewis Redmond, retired after 28 years as a minister in AN ANNUAL CO TIJ F7::RENCE CONCERN 100 YEARS AGO inner city work at Case Avenue. ~fuat a record he has made1 This is one of the The Detroit Annual Conference 100 years longest pastorates in our history, sus ago met in Port Huron, Sept. 14-19, 1881. On tained in a difficult situRtion. We the fifth day of Conference, Monday Sept. 19, remember his coming out to Fowlerville, part of the J(.inutes ree.d: "A bu, let in from the to speak on a Sunday evening to this physicians of President Garfielc~ Nas read to village Church. He came early. He the Co nference, eliciting profound sympathy in stopped dolmtown, walked around, and view of its discouraging aspect concerning the talked to the youth who were lounging on President's recovery." the street. Then he announced to the Let us recall that Garfield t•Ja.s our second good people later, that there were prob President to be assassinated. James A. Garfielc l ems in Fo•,!lerville as well as in Det who had just t aken office on March 4, 1881, roit. He was a true spokesman and seemingly ranked ~ell a~ one our ~residents in worker for God. ability, education, and experience. He ha d beer The annual meeting of the Commission one of the ablest orr~. tors in Congress and in on Archives & Hi~tory , held at AdriA.n wide demand as a speaker; as ~ devout member College just prior to the opening of our of the Church of Christ; he was active as a t"' t~s Annut'l.l Conference, W:'\El outstanding. The lay preacher. Ho from Ohio (l.nd he.d been p'1pers pr esented were excellent; the born in a log cabin. Also he had ~erved in devotiona l l eaders insniring. A few the Civil friar. visitors joined us to enjoy the sessions. The spoils sys tem then prevailed. The Our Conference ~ms well repre ~ ented overwhelmine inrush of office-hungry Republi at the North Central Jurisdintion Commis cans brought anguish and tension to the new sion on Archives & History in Louisville, president. The country was shocked t-Then on Ky., July 7-9. Our delegation included July 2, 1881, he was shot by a disappointed Rev. Bruce Brown, Rev. & Jllfrs. Ronald A. office seeker n~med . Guiteau. He lingered in Brunger, Rev. & Mrs. Allan Gray, Mrs. Mar agony for eleven we eks. Our Conference as one t in(Sharon) Scott of Clinton, Mr. & Mrs. of its first actions had prayed for him. He Frank Crissman of Troy,and Mrs. Barbara died on Sept. 19, the day our Conference beca.me Brown Ka.tsurada 9f Otat J&.~
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO -- THE GREAT FIRE OF 1881
Just 100 years ago in early September 1881, a tragic forest fire struck Michi gan's thumb area.. It had been a hot summer, the second. in a row with no rain between the Saginaw valley and. Lake Huron. As August neared its close, streams and swamps were dried up; forests and vegetation were parched and virtual tinder. There were many farms in the thumb, but lumberin'g was still in process and the interior was only being settled. On August 31, fire started on the north edge of Lapeer County. It was said that a settler had been burnine brush. A dry wind fanned it. The whole country was ready to burst into flame. Small fires were going in Lapeer, Tuscola, and Huron Counties. A south.-rest gale on September 5 intensified the burning to a wall of fire 'that some times ran one hundred f eet high. It was £receded by an intense darkness of smoke in i~hich one could neither see nor breathe.' 'Fish were boiled in the stagnant rivers and birds we:·e driven out on Lake Huron to drown. Bears shambled out of the woods; they herded with cattle in the fields and all were burned together. Along the Huron shore at Forrester and Forestville, settl~rs drove their hor~es and c n.ttle into the lake and •,.•aded out with them while the smoke billowed over.' •Tall t--rees burned like candles, and flames fed by rising gases billowed a.nd roar~d high in the a.ir. Smoke and flying ashes obscured the sun and, except v1here the crackling flames cast a. lurid. light, it was dark at noonday.•3 Huron and Sanilac Counties were terribly affected; Lapeer, Tuscola, and St. Clair Counties less so. One estimc-.te •,,•as that 282 people had died, 15,000 were made home less, 3400 buildings had been destroyed, and the property damage exceeded two million dollars. Among the small towns almost or completely destroyed were Bad Axe, Minden, Huron City, Ubly, Deckerville, Carsonville, Sand Beach(Ha.rbor Beach) and ~lliite Rock. The first chapter of the American Red Cross had just been organited by Clara. Barton at Dansville, N. Y. This Michigan· forest fire ovlas the first disaster th<'J.t the ~ed Cross undertook to alleviate. A general relief committee was set up in Port Huron to dispense food and clothing. But the need was very great. The Methodists in the thumb had. been hit hard by this disaster. Bad Axe lost both the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Protestant church buildings. We do not have the records to give u ~· a clear picture of the losses suffered by the preachers and churches. Jo"b..n Bettes was the supply preacher at Bad Axe and probably at Minden and other places. He and his sister Nancy, drove s outh across Sanilac County from Minden to Peck during the firl;' 1 in a hors e-drawn buggy. They had a wild ride and often had to jump their horse and buggy over fallen tree trunks, and drive through smoke and fln,r.es. When they a.rrived at a hotel in Peck, they discovered a. bundle in the box at thP. back end of the buggy, which contcdned a baby boy. His eight-year-old brother, left with the baby while their parents foueht the fire, had not been able to run fast enough "to stop the buggy, an-1. he had thrown the baby into the long box. After a week, the parents, the boy, and the baby were rev.nited in Peck.
The 1881 session of th ~ Detroit Annual Conference met in Port Huron on the morn ing of !5 eptember 14. Meeting in this loc.o>.tion, so soon after the tr::tgio fire, the Con f er·ence was very conscious of the desperai.e need of the "Burnt District", as the 1t.etho dists designated the area. A special committee was immediately established to survey th<' situf.'tion a.nd raise relief fund'; . AYlxiety 'Iotas widespread for the "ministers .... rho have suffer t~d by fire. 11 The Conference immediA.tely raised $373 for the cause . On th The Great Fire of 1881 and Methodism's Response (Cont.) The Conference Committee recommended that the sum of $148 be allowed to Rev. John Bettes for personal relief. John Mc.y-vTood from Port Austin received $100, John Andrews from Tyre $75, and George ~ialker at Sand Beach $50. The Committee reported that there were three agencies dispensing relief, but t hat these general committees "cannot build churches no:- support ministers •• To maintain the ordinances of religion in this devastated r egion is ·1.t one~.:: O'J r duty to the people, to Methodism and to God." An a~peal must be made in the church papers, and ~ committee of five under the direc tion of the Presiding 3lder of the Port Huron District, was to take direction of the f und. It was noted that Bibles could be obtained for a ll destitute families by writ ing to the American Rible Society in Kalama•oo. The Methodist Protestant Conference in 1882 raised $175 to help rebuild the church at Bad Axe; the next year E. B. Sutton was mA.de an agent to raise funds for building t his church. The JY!ethodiflt Episcopal Church mF-',de a great and sustainAd e ffort in the "Burnt District" lasting through the decade. In 1886 the special committee reported that 18 churches and three parsonages had been built at a cost of about $20,000. Two more churches we~e under construction and would soon be finished. Three eligible building sites were vaid for and '~ould soon be used. Rev. Orrin Whitmore(one of the founders of the Michigan Chuistian Advocate) had taken supernumerary rank in 1882, and h~td been the fulltime agent for the Burnt District Relief Fund. Much indeed had been accomplished by faithful zeal on the part of the ministers concerned, sacrifi cial giving, and extensive publicity in the various Methodist publications of the time. 1 Margaret Macmillan: ~ Methodist Church~ Michigan: !h! Nineteenth Centurx, p. 335 2 Walter Havighjrst: ~Long Ships Passing, p. 116 3 Clever Bald: ichigan in Four Centuries (Note: i'!e hope the.t local church hiztorians c a.n help us to learn exactly where this rebuilding in the 'iTake of the fire of 1881, took place.) -- A C C E S S I 0 N S T 0 0 U R A. R C H I V E S (G 0 ntinued -~ rom 2J Methodism from Glenn Kjellberg; several valued historical books from Willi~m Mertz; some early printed Mtnutes of our Annual Conferences from ~i lli rum Moulton. Such eifts are invalua~le. \ole h n.ve purchased quite a nwnber of books this year; for instance th~ first two volumes published of the new.set of John Wesley's works\at about $38 each). tiere are a few other recent nurchases: Chal,'le ~ E. :ones: :erfectiqnj~t .l:'ersuasipn: The Holiness Movement anrl AJ!f~8ffi'sm. J. ;;)teven 0 Malley• .PILGRIMAG~ OF FAITH: Le~~~~ of the Otterhei ps. Warren Ti\Omas Smith: Harry Hosjer, C; rcujt Rid:er.He was the black man ,.roo acco~panied Bishop Asbury, and though unlettered became an able preacher) ~llen Jane ~orenz: GLORY HALLBLUJAHl T~! S~~~ i! :;; ~~~=tj:~ S~!;~!u~. Georee W. Swine' The dell-Tempered Lir: sSV e T peyement. We hr.ve r een l'lrorking to improve our holdings on the subject of "Women <'~-n o the Church" and h::we purchrosed sever~l booksj one a very rare one. This ye::.r ~"e recei'7ed a box of p(';Oe]'S from one closed <;hurch, aspcr., Four boxes of materic>.l fron the Metho dist Radio Parish have come in, and a fi1 of .;!...U.B. Camp r "cords on 1akes:i.d.e Camp. When we have visited the large West 0hio Conference ~ibrary at Ohio Wesleyan Unive:rsi ty, we h<:we alw~ys found several people doing research. We have had a fe;., reseA.rchers at Adrin.n this year. One m;;.n 'tr~?J.r:; -v1orkine on black history; onP- viOmP.n w£>.u intere;stec in missionary 'history; others 1tlere intere!'3t r. d in local church history. ~e have a fine historical lib r -\ry and archives at Adri(l.n, r:md it ought to be us·"d increasinely, hy more people. ~·le could envision researchers in church music, v.ror:1en s hif'tory in the church , Indian missions, black history, the social gospel, evaneiHism , preachin0, church social life, church campil?.g , ou:- varied institutions, etc.l Your archivi st , Ronald Erunserl.l'hone 517-456-7'.492' is normally ~n the library on ~uesd ,..ys, or other f1:-- ys by appointmP.nt . Or members of the Adricm ollege l.ibrrtry stafA vlill help you. ur libr;• r y :and i'lrGhives are to be used, and exist to serve our ethodist people. -5- BISHOP THOMAS NICFOLSOIV (1862-1944) (Bishop Thomas Nicholson was Michiean Methodism's second resident bishop. He fol lo•.,Jed dynamic Bishop Theodore TTenderson, l'l.nd came he-re in 1924, servin8' until 1932. This paper by Rev. Allan Gray was presented to the Confere ~c e Commission on Archives and History in 1978. Allan began his paper ''~i th this e stimate: "In t hese O.ays when Education and Evangelism seem to work at variance with one another, Thomas Nicholson repres ents the ideal synthesis of the two strains. His influence on Michigan Metho dism ha.r> effected us down to this very day.") Thomas nicholson •• was born January 27, 1862 in Woodburn, Ontario, the oldest child of James and Hannah Tiuckholder Nicholson. Eleven more children were to follow so young Thomas had to fend for himself and help out the family at an early age. His father left farmine; and became operator of a mill in Smithville, Ontario, a little town which only now has about 600 residents, west of Niaeara Falls. He worked around his father's mill and recalls Willi~m T. French manning the boiler of the mill; he later became one of the revered miniRters in the Michigan Conference, as did Joseph Berry who like\vise came from Smithville and Hent on to become editor of the Advocate and a Bishop. ifhis speaks well for the church in Smithville as well as t lf.e high school. After graduation Thomas went to Toronto 1lormal School and beca.me for a nhort while a teacher. However his mind and heart turned toward the ministry and whether to better equip himself, or because there was a raid on Ontario by enterprising Michi gan District Superintendents ~-re knol-l· not, but anyway in 1884, Thomas Nicholson ce.me to Michigan. An article in the MCA says he served as a supply minister for two years, 1882-84 but there is no record of it in the Michigan Conference Journal nor is it mentioned in the r::ncyclopedia of World Methodism. His name first appears in the Conferenoe Journal for 1885, when he was admitte.d on trial and assigned to Camden on the Cold r-1ater District. He served. a church of 125 members and received the munificent sum of $309 and yet it was the year he got married. In 1886, he did a little better moving to Girard where there were 176 members and the s alary was $891 . He stayed here two yea:r·s e.nd in 1888 moved to Union City where there were only 161 members but the salary was $1004. In 1889 after lea.dine the l f.l. rgest revival t he Conference had ever had at Union City, his t hir st for more education had to be assuaged, and he entered Northwestern University and subsecuently Garrett, accomplishing eleven ye:• rs work in four and at the ue.me time l ed in the b\Jilding of the Fowler Methodist Church which still stands on the corner of Mi lla.rd a.nd 23rd Streets in Chicago. Upon graduP.tion, he Wcl,S oppor tUBed by Northwest_ern to become a teacher of either Latin or Greek in the academy ann also in t he Freshman class with an ultimate full professorship. Likewise he was offered a. conspicuous charge in the Rock River Conference. Howeve r, he felt a loyalty to the Michigan Conference that ha d nurtured him and decided to return. Here he was off ered his choice of several churches of the fir ~t ra.nk but during conference week, Bishop Bol'iffian took him aside and mentioning the pro minent ohurohes that were available t o him, said that he had Bi g Rapids in mind fo~ him. Thi H church wa.s divided, depleted. and in sad r epair. The previoua year they had p<-1 id thei:r· pastor onl~r S800 . The Bishop said to him, "I will not a.ppoint you r~ . ga inst your Hill but if you have sufficient consecration to consent, I think the Lord needs you for that piece of ~rork and I think you can save the chur ch." This was all Thomas Nicholson needed to hear, an 1J. in a move that becC~.me chare.cter i stic of all his subsequent ap1:ointments, h e felt the calling of the Lord and ah mys took a step backward to go forward. Bishop Thomas Nicholson -6- Big Rapids at this time was much different than tou.ay . Then thn center of the lumbering trade, it was a wide open brawling town full of lumberjacks. The Sisters of Mercy hacl started a hosni ta.l in the community and Woodbridge Ferris had started a school in 1g84, to train young people in trades irrega.rdles f~ of their academic re cord in hieh school. This school remained private until 1931 and subsequently became FerriH St ~ te University, which pr~tty much shapes the city of Bie Rapids today. Then the church had only 201 members and had set a sala~; of Sl,OOO, though they had not paid it in full the previous year. By the time he left •• there were 279 members a.nd. the salary was $1,200. He went to Bie Rapids and two things happened. First, there was the greatest revival the city had ever known, many prominent business men joined the church, lay ing the foundations which Ta~e it one of the solid.est churches in Michiga.n 'Methodism today. Secondly he w?..s ins trumental in the fo·mding of the Ludington Assembly, sub sequently to become known af~ Epworth Heights, supervising its program for the first yer::.r. For two years he served hap ,)ily and Hell at 13ig Rapi ds, fighting off el0.ven opporttUlities to return to educatio ~al work. Finally kneeling at the ~.ltar on the last night of a reviva l in Big Rapids, he felt an unmistakable call to return to teaching. About thirty days later, Dr. w. F. King, President of Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, came to see him and asked him to move 600 miles, paying hiw own exnen ses, move out of a fine pa.rsonage to pay his O'"'l'l rent a.nd receive half t he salary he was getting in Big Rapids. Again the test of consecration t-ms met and he went. Aft t~ r they were settloo in Mt. Vernon, Mrs. NicholRon told him that the same night he felt thP c all in Big Rapi ds, she had been attending a Women's Foreign lt!issio:- <'!.ry Society rally in Grand Rapids, and in a similar consecratio~ service had felt for both her c>.nd her husband, a distinct call back into educ~.tion2. l ,.rork. For nine years he ser ved as professor of religion at Cornell consistently turnine down offers to return to the pastor~te or accept other op·:ortunities in the church. Each year the college had a. revival anc1 Dr. Nicrolson ;..re.s its leader. Then in 1903 came another of those "Crazy" moves, or so his friend8 CC!.lled it. Dakota ~e3leyan University at Mitchell, South Dakota, w~ s l ooking for a president. He l·rould only receive $1200 salary ann hr ve to furnish his own house, but aga.in the lure of the frontiPr was too great and despite admonitions he moved further ;.rect. For five years he served the struggling college valia-ntly, an·· then in 1908 \~as asked to become the gene ~C'CJ, l Secretary of the Board of Education 1<1ith headquarters in Ne~.; Yo rk City. Whoever thought that the pres ident of a small prairie college woul~ be called to head the entire educationa l structure of the ch. rch, but then only the church knows the ultimate r~sults. At the time of his selection, there was being planned the Jubilf>e Education ~ l movement not only to highlight th ·~ importance of church re lated colleges, but to r a ise fund ~ for their support and endowment. He plunged into the task with typio~. l Nicholson energy and ~onseoration ~nd in his eight years on the Board, r aised thirteen million dollars for church schools. This sum was sub seruently to swell to over $65 million. In 1916 he was elected to thP- F.piscopacy ~nd assigned to tbe city of Chicago. At this point, it mie;ht be \vell to digress and dis ouss his persona.l life. In 1885, he hAc1 ma rried Jane Boothroyd and to them l'Tere born two daughters. One of them, Florence, became Dean of t'iomen at Ohio Wesleyan Unive;'sity. His first wife died in 1915 and i n 1917, he married ~velyn Ril0.y of Mt. Vernon. It is this wife that Michiean Methodir-m r~members. 1N'hen I asked Mrs. Marshall Reed for her i mpres sions of Bishop Nicholson, all that she woulrl comment was that"he hA.d a great ~rife." (To be concluded in November)