In 1923, Stanley Newton published, “The Story of Sault Ste. Marie and Chippewa County.” This is part thirteen of a continuing series about the history of Sault Ste. Marie and area in its early years. I have left punctuation and grammar intact. – Laurie Davis
Mr. Bingham, Dr. James, post surgeon, and Indian Interpreter John Tanner translated into the Chippewa language, a portion of the Bible in the winter of 1831-32, and the translation was published under Baptist auspices. These Indian Bibles Mr. Bingham carried with him in his ministrations to the natives, and he dispensed as well, some simple remedies for their ailments. Once, in the winter, he found nearly all the Indians at Goulais Bay dead or dying of smallpox. Of one family there was none left but a boy four years old. He had no clothing but a few rags, so Mr. Bingham wrapped the naked little body in his great coat and brought the orphan on his dog train down to Sault Ste. Marie. The little fellow was uncommonly bright, learned quickly, and lived several years with Mr. Bingham. Years after he enlisted in the United States Army and made an excellent record as a soldier, serving throughout the War of the Rebellion in the field.
The Reverand Jeremiah Porter
The Reverend Jeremiah Porter, a Presbyterian clergyman, came to Sault Ste. Marie in 1831 direct from his seminary, this being his first charge. He accepted the hospitality of Henry Schoolcraft on his arrival, was cordially received by Mr. Bingham, and preached his first sermon in the latter’s pulpit. He soon organized the first Presbyterian church in Sault Ste. Marie, of which Mr. and Mrs. Schoolcraft, Mrs. John Johnston, John Hulbert, sutler at the post canteen, and Mr. Bela Chapman were charter members.
The congregation met in an old store building close to the Johnston home, the same being loaned by Mrs. Johnston for that purpose. In the fall of 1832, Mrs. Johnston, daughter of the Indian Chief Waub-ojeeg and a full-blooded Indian woman, built a church edifice, small but substantial, and presented it to Mr. Porter and his flock. This is believed to have been the first instance in America where a man or woman, Indian by father and mother, constructed and devoted a building to the cause of Christianity, a really remarkable occurrence. The building has disappeared long since, but the memory of that gift should not be allowed to perish.
Hither came also the Reverend William Boutwell about this time to study the Chippewa tongue, and to prepare himself for a mission at La Pointe. Accessions to the two little churches were numerous, when, in 1833, Major Fowle, then commandant at Fort Brady, removed his troops to Fort Dearborn at Chicago. Mr. Porter went with them to the scraggly village at the head of Lake Michigan, and in the same year, he organized the first Presbyterian congregation in Chicago. The town at that time had three hundred inhabitants, a fewer number indeed than the population of Sault Ste. Marie, if the latter’s usual quota of soldiers were counted. So it came about that Sault Ste. Marie mothered the Baptist and Presbyterian denominations in Chicago, since becoming mighty. And through these outgoing missionaries and their labors here, the little village by the rapids redeemed itself from the reproach of godlessness.
Nor were the Protestant sects alone in good works of the period. The Roman Catholic Church re-established itself here after the lapse intervening from the death of the Reverend Father Albanel, and in 1834 Bishop Rese confirmed a class of about one hundred at Sault Ste. Marie. Two years later the Reverend Father Pierz came as a resident priest and in the following year, a handsome church edifice was erected very nearly on the site of the present church building.
M.E. Pastor Comes in 1834
To these early activities must be added those of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which established a mission about 1834 at the Little Rapids, near the present site of the Country Club. The best remembered of its clergymen here in that early day is the Reverend John H. Pitezel, who has left the narrative of his labors in a volume entitled “Lights and Shadows of a Missionary’s Life.”
The buildings of the first Methodist mission were erected on Government Reserve land near the Little Rapids and included the missionary’s home, a chapel, and some farm quarters. There was a day school in connection with the mission. Mr. Pietzel became superintendent of Methodist Missions in the north country and left Sault Ste. Marie. At the event of the war with Mexico in 1846, the troops at Fort Brady were ordered to the Mexican frontier, and the mission appears to have been discontinued shortly afterward.
The Government Reserve mentioned, was of course the land transferred to the United States by the Chippewas in their treaty of 1820 with Governor Cass. This tract was described as the territory within a boundary beginning at the Big Rock (since known as the Treaty Rock, at the head of the water power canal) on the shore of the River St. Mary, running thence down the middle of the river to the Little Rapids, the line extending back from the river a sufficient distance to set off in all sixteen square miles. By the terms of the treaty, the Chippewas reserved perpetual fishing and camping rights within this reserve.
Bishop Frederick Baraga
The Reverend Father Frederic Baraga was stationed at Sault Ste. Marie for a short time in 1846. This celebrated churchman was born in Austria in 1797, was destined for the law, but entered the priesthood and came to America in 1830. He labored for many years among the Chippewas at La Pointe, bringing many of them from paganism to Christianity. In 1853 he was made vicar-apostolic of Upper Michigan, and a few years later, when the diocese of Sault Ste. Marie was erected, he was appointed the first bishop of the see.
Bishop Baraga made his episcopal residence in Sault Ste. Marie during the years 1859-65. After becoming bishop he continued his former life of activity and exposure, often walking forty miles a day on snow shoes while making his visitations. He was a prolific writer, and some of his works compiled here or in this vicinity are “The Otchipwe Grammar And Dictionary.” “History of the Indians,” “Bible History,” and “Catechisms in the Otchipwe Language.”
When the episcopal see was transferred to Marquette in 1869, Bishop was named bishop of the combined diocese of Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie. He died at Marquette in 1868.
When the Reverend Mr. Pitezel went to L’Anse to take charge of the Methodist Mission, he found Father Baraga there, and the two became good friends. There is a pleasing reference to the Catholic missionary in Mr. Pitezel’s book: “Reverend Father Frederick Baraga was the resident priest at L’Anse at our arrival. He spoke readily six or seven living languages, including German, French, English, and Ojibway. He spent years on the shores of Superior, building a church and making extensive improvements. He traveled extensively on foot and by all methods then in use. Temperate in his habits, devout and dignified in his private and ministerial bearing, he was universally respected by the Indians and mining community, and affectionately loved by those in closer fellowship.”
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