First United Methodist Church - Ann Arbor, Michigan
Posted by: GT.US
N 42° 16.847 W 083° 44.469
17T E 273976 N 4684590
The First United Methodist Church Ann Arbor branch is located at 120 South State Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Waymark Code: WM52TT
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 11/02/2008
Views: 25
The church website tells a history of the church in a timeline format here.
In "The Past and Present of Washtenaw County" written in 1906 by Samual Beakes, this History of the early Methodists in Ann Arbor, and the beginning of the Church is given:
"The Methodist Episcopal Church. The first Methodist minister to visit Ann Arbor was the Rev. John A. Baughman, who preached at the house of James Allen in October, 1825. After his visit, in the absence of a minister, reading classes were held until in 1826 Rev. William Simmons visited the village. No class was formed until July 29, 1827, when the Rev. John A. Baughman organized a class consisting of Ebor White, Harvey Kinney, Hannah B. Brown, Rebecca J. Brown and Calvin Smith. For the first half ofthe next year Ann Arbor was in the Monroe circuit and was supplied by the Rev. Geo. W. Walker, but in the latter half of the year it was included within the Detroit circuit, Rev. John Janes being- the circuit rider. In 1829 a new circuit was organized called the Huron, which included Ann Arbor. In the early circuits preaching- was held in Ann Arbor once in two weeks on Sunday. Part of the time after 1833 tne church was supplied by
two ministers who so arranged the work that one of them would be in the village every Sunday. At the Methodist conference in 1830 the name Ann Arbor appears on the list of appointments for the first time. In 1833 it was made the head of a district and the Rev. Henry Colclazer was placed in charge. Rev. James Gilruth, who died in Davenport, Iowa, in 1873, was one of the first presiding elders in the Ann Arbor district, which then composed almost all of the inhabitable portion of the state. In December, 1837, a series of revival meetings began, which resulted in 118 persons uniting with the church, among which were three who afterwards became ministers. In the spring of 1837 tne building of a church was undertaken
under the pastorate of the Rev. Peter Sharp and it was occupied in November, 1837, a revival being started in celebration of the building of the new church. The building was not fully completed until 1839, under the pastorate of the Rev. Elijah Crane, and The Michigan M. E. Conference was held in the church on the day of
its dedication. Rev. Thomas Wiley, who had been appointed in 1835 the first pastor at Ann Arbor after it had been made a station, died on
April 4 of that year. The Rev. Henry Colclazer, one of the earliest pastors, was the first librarian of the university, a position which he held from 1837 to 1845."
Pastors from beginning to 1906 are listed.