CHURCH HISTORIES |
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The Benton Presbyterian Church was organized May 10, 1883, by the Rev. T. D. Davis. Four years later the Benton Church was disbanded and by order of the Presbytery of Lake Superior, its membership was transferred to the Pickford Presbyterian Church. Rev. H. Condy was the first Moderator of the Session and the first minister was Rev. M. A. Alleyn.
The first record of the erection of a church building states "the cornerstone of the new church was laid July 16, 1902. This edifice was dedicated December 12, 1902 and known as the First Presbyterian Church. The building was destroyed by fire in February, 1939.
Construction work on the present building began August 1, 1939 and finished on September 13, 1939. On December 3, 1939, the first worship services were held in the new church. The new pastor, Rev. Frank R. Mease, was installed December 12, 1939. In December, 1959, the First Presbyterian Church was changed to the United Presbyterian Church.
In October 1951, Rev. John Neuenschwander became pastor and served for 15 years. The present pastor, Rev. J. Robert Walter, came in 1967.
In 1967 the Mackinac Yoked Parish was set up with Pickford, Rudyard, DeTour, Stalwart, and Dafter as member churches. This was done to enable the smaller churches to remain open and active with the help of the larger churches. Rev. J. Robert Walter arrived in July, 1967, to act as pastor of the Pickford Presbyterian Church. In September of 1967, Rev. Frank A. Venn came to be pastor of the Rudyard Presbyterian Church and an Associate Pastor of the Yoked Parish. Rev. William C. Wartes came in October 1968, to be pastor of the DeTour Union Church and to be the other Associate Pastor of the Yoked Parish. The three ministers rotate among the churches of the Yoked Parish. The three ministers rotate among the churches of the Parish, so that worship services are held in each church each Sunday morning.
The Pickford Presbyterian Church now has 343 members as compared with the 78 members of 1931. The church was remodeled and enlarged in 1962 and a Building Fund is now being accumulated to build a new manse.
Pastors who have served since 1888:
When Mrs. Robert Kinghorn died in the new community of Stalwart, Michigan, there wasn't any church in which to hold funeral services nor a pastor to conduct a service. This led to a meeting of some of the pioneers in Thomas Forgrave's home. Among those present were Mr. and Thomas Forgrave, Robert G. Crawford and J. J. McKenzie.
As a result of this meeting, the Stalwart Presbyterian Church was organized on March 12, 1883. For the church building tamarack logs were cut on the homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Sims and hauled to the site donated by Thomas Forgrave. Mr. Forgrave and Robert Crawford donated adjoining half acres for church grounds. What lumber was needed was hauled from Swart's sawmill at Prentiss Bay.
The charter members were Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Crawford, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Forgrave, Henry H. Hall, Robert G. Kinghorn, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander McWilliams, and J. J. McKenzie.
Sometime between March 11, 1883, and June, 1890, the session records were destroyed by fire together with some money $7.00 belonging to the session. On June 11, 1890, a congregational meeting was held for the purpose of adopting a constitution and by-laws and election of officers. The following officers were elected by unanimous agreement: R. G. Crawford, elder; Thomas Forgrave and Henry H. Hall, trustee and managers.
In 1934 the old log church had to be abandoned and the congregation leased the vacant Methodist Church for one dollar a year. In 1954 plans were made to build the new church. The men cut timber in the woods and the women raised money as only churchwomen can and now the church is finished and completely furnished. The Stalwart Presbyterian Church is a member of the Mackinac Yoked Parish and is served by Pastors Walter, Venn, and Wartes.
The Pickford Church of the Nazarene came into existence as a result of revival services held in the old Orange Hall with Rev. W. R. Plarr of Jasper, Alabama, as evangelist and his party of singers in September 1939.
The Church was organized October 25, 1939, by Rev. C. T. Corbett in the Marquette Township Hall with 24 charter members and 6 others who joined within the first month.
In the spring of 1940 Mr. F. H. Taylor deeded the present church site to the church and a building program under the direction of William Talbot and Donald Holley was begun. The church was incorporated and the building completed and dedicated in December 1940, during the pastorate of Rev. Leroy Harris.
In 1941 Mr. F. H. Taylor deeded the lot adjoining the church on the west to the church as a gift. In 1947 plans were made for the building of a parsonage on this lot and the parsonage was completed during the pastorate of Rev. Lloyd Pounds.
In 1960 the front entrance of the church was remodeled. The entrance was from the east side and is now in the southeast corner.
The Church of the Nazarene has had the ministry of 9 pastors in its brief history of 33 years.
The following is the list since 1939:
* 1939-40 - Rev. Lorna Holley
* 1940-42 - Rev. Leroy Harris
* 1942-47 - Rev. M. G. Martini
* 1947-51 - Rev. Lloyd Pounds
* 1956-59 - Rev. Joseph Polmounter
* 1959-64 - Rev. Gaylor Rich
* 1964-66 - Rev. A. L. Fulton
* 1966 - Rev. Albert Lang
The Pickford Methodist Church was started in a private home by a missionary minister, Rev. Donaldson, who walked from his home in Donaldson each Sunday and held services at the C. W. Pickford home. He would spend the night at the William Best home and return to his farm in the morning. The former Pickford home now stands at the end of Church Street to the east.
After holding services for four years in this home, the congregation built a church in 1882 in the block just south of the present church building. Rev. James Pascoe was the first regular minister to serve the Methodist Church in Pickford. He was C. W. Pickford's son-in-law and served as minister until 1885. One of his favorite quotations was, "It does not take great men to do great things, it, only takes consecrated men."
Among the first trustees in this church were: Thomas Morrison, William Gough, and C. W. Pickford. Much of the carpenter work on the church was done by William Pickford, a son of C. W. Pickford.
When the congregation grew too large for this building, it was sold and later moved and remodeled for use as a meeting place for the Orange Lodge. The church that was to replace was built and dedicated in 1901 on the present church site. Through the years that, too, grew too smell and an addition was built on what was known as the Bible Class room. From 1883 until the present time there have been 26 pastors serving the Methodist Church in Pickford.
Some of the people who were active in the Methodist Church fifty years ago were the John Taylor family, David Beacom and his wife, Miss Lizze Beacom, the Thomas Morrison family, the W. P. McDonald family, the William Gough family. The pastor was Rev. Passmore and the organist, Miss Etta Best who later became Mrs. Fred Taylor.
The first parsonage was the house located between Russell Cottle's and Ethel Fountain's. It was moved there from a lot on the main road where a parsonage was built and occupied by the ministers until 1970 when it was sold and a new parsonage built in the western part of town. Rev. Ralph Pieper and his family were the first to occupy the new parsonage.
The years passed by, members came and went, and the church continued to grow until March 5, 1933, when disaster struck in the form of fire, and the church burned to the ground. It was a discouraging outlook indeed - the pastor, Rev. Beedon, was ill, there was no church to hold services in, and the country was going through a severe economic depression. However, friends at the Presbyterian Church offered their sanctuary for the Methodists to hold services in on Sunday afternoons and Rev. Hoyt of the Sault church came during the summer months and preached. With the coming of Rev. Combellack in September, arrangements were made to hold services in what was the Orange Lodge building. The first steps were taken towards a new church home with the appointment of a building committee of five members: James Parker, Fred Taylor, Percy Wallis, Simon Parker, and Forbes McDonald. On July 5, 1934, the cornerstone was laid with the late Hon. Chase S. Osborn as guest speaker. In November, 1934, they started holding services in the basement. On October 13, 1935, the new colonial-type church was consecrated free of debt.
In 1953 and for some time previous, a need had been felt for more room for special services, church gatherings, and especially for the expansion of the Sunday School, so Rev. Nachtrieb appointed a building committee with the following men on it: Forbes McDonald, Edwin McDonald, George Raynard, Russell Cottle, and Harold Mortensen. This new addition was consecrated on December 13, 1954.
The mission church of St. Matthias, Fairview, Pickford Township, Michigan, was built of logs by the congregation on a site in the Fairview Cemetery about the year 1880. The first members were settlers who had come from Canada, where they had been members of the Church of England (now known as the Anglican Church in Canada) and had established homes in Pickford Township.
Before 1880 the Rev. G. Mott Williams, who was then the Archdeacon of the Episcopal Church in Northern Michigan, made numerous trips through Chippewa County to minister to the settlers and he established a number of missions in various parts of the county, among them St. Matthias Mission in the district east of Pickford that has always been called Fairview.
Among the ministers who served this mission under the supervision of Archdeacon Williams who in 1895 was elected to be the first Bishop of the new Diocese of Marquette, were the Reverends Hiram J. Ellis, George and Robert Stillwell, and the Rev. William Maltas. Several years ago the name of the Diocese was changed to Northern Michigan.
In 1918 the Rev. Robert Leroy Harris was elected Bishop Coadjutor of Northern Michigan and until 1929 he regularly visited St. Matthias Church. In 1922 the Rev. Arthur Heyes, who was in charge of St. Stephen's Mission in DeTour, was sent to assist Mr. Maltas. From then until the spring of 1936, Mr. Heyes held regular services in Fairview and in a number of other missions in the county. In March 1936, he was called to the Diocese of Eau Claire in Wisconsin.
A short time before Bishop Harris decided to retire in 1929, it had been noticed the old log church was becoming the victim of time and not only was the building decaying, but it had become too small for the congregation. The Bishop therefore recommended that the congregation consider building a new and larger church, and to erect it in a token of appreciation for the long and devoted services of the Rev. William Haltas, who, though still active, was growing old. Not only the members of the congregation, but a large number of other people in and out of the county at once became greatly interested in erecting the new church and all contributed generously to make it possible. In the early winter of 1930 Mr. Boniface, who had larger timber holdings near the Munuscong River, donated the necessary logs for the new church and in January these were cut and brought to the site for the new church. In the meantime Mr. Edward Kelly and Mr. Peter Nally each donated a half-acre on which to build the church and it is interesting to note that the boundary of these two parcels of land runs down the center aisle of the new church. In June of that year the logs were peeled and fashioned for their purpose and through the following summer the church was erected under the supervision of the Rev. Arthur Heyes, who drew the plans for it. In early November of 1930 on a Sunday afternoon, the first service was held and the dedicatory sermon was preached by the late Venerable Archdeadon Poyseor of Crystal Falls, Michigan. It was named the Maltas Memorial Church, a house of prayer for all people. A large sign was erected in front of the church on which was written, "Stop! This is the Maltas Memorial Church, built by the people of the community as a house of prayer for all people." Services and Sunday School sessions were held regularly every Sunday. After the Rev. Arthur Heyes left, the work was continued with the help of clergy of the St. James Church in the Soo, with the assistance of Mr. Robert Stevenson, a teacher, who had been appointed a Lay Reader. Some time later Mr. Stevenson moved to Southern Michigan and for several years this mission was inactive, though from time to time the Reverends Glen Blackbum and E. R. A. Green of St. James Church held services.
In 1952 the Rev. Dudley B. McNeil who had become Rector of St. James Church and the Rev. Arthur Heyes who had retired and was then living in Sault Ste. Marie, were instrumental in reactivating the Fairview Mission, and in October, 1952, the church was reopened with a service conducted by the Rev. Arthur Heyes with a sermon by the Rev. Dudley McNeil. Then the work was under the direction of Mr. Ralph McBain, a high school teacher in Sault Ste. Marie, to whom the Rt. Rev. Herman Page, the Bishop of Northern Michigan had given a Lay Reader's license. Under Mr. McBain's devoted and able leadership this Mission has grown in a most encouraging way end the growing congregation has made possible a number of improvements to the fabric of the church building. In his work Mr. McBain was assisted by the clergy of St. James Church in the Soo and the Rev. Vaughan Norton, Vicar of the Church of the Good Shepherd in St. Ignace.
Services are currently being conducted at St. Matthias by Stephen Stiling, Lay Reader.