By David Fleet
Editor
Ortonville — Not only did Amos Orton trek 500 miles through the wilderness, found a village and establish a thriving business, he also had faith.
Early in Orton’s life, along with wife Emily, united with the Universalist church. Orton then became an ordained minister and preached for many years in the surrounding country.
The founder of Ortonville was not alone in spreading religion across the wilderness of southeastern Michigan during the early 1800s.
Oakland County Historian Carol Bacak-Egbo and Ortonville resident has studied the day-to-day life of the early settlers of the area communities.
Bacak-Egbo says if you were a resident in Brandon Township during the early 1800s you would likely have attended Baptist services, but not in a church.
“You would have been in a house, likely that of Oliver Draper or Addison Cowden,” said Bacak-Egbo. “A Reverend Grow had begun to preach in those houses as early as 1837.”
“If you had been at the very first service you would have been joined by 61 other people, evidence that early settlers had been longing for a chance to worship together,” she said. “You would have been packed tightly in a house, likely sitting on the floor, listening to a four-hour sermon interspersed with several very long prayers.”
Perhaps some of the area residents attended neighboring congregations.
In the winter of 1837, Rev. Smith, a Methodist pastor, traveled through the wooded, rolling Groveland Township countryside gathering for services in the homes of a few settlers to the region.
Church records at Mt. Bethel Church, 3205 Jossman Road in Groveland Township includes the pioneer names of Cogshall and Ogden about seven families comprised the first church class, later named by the Ogdens for Mt. Bethel, N.J., their home prior to moving to the township. In 1840, a log church was built near the intersection of Jossman and Bald Eagle Lake roads.
Township resident Marvin Scramlin, a life-long member of the congregation, recalls some of the history of Mt. Bethel Church. Scramlin says the original 22-foot-by-32-foot log church existed about 100 yards south of the Mt. Bethel Cemetery, facing a swampy area.
The congregations eventually outgrew meeting in the small pioneer log cabins and moved to more established buildings, added Bacak-Egbo.
“By 1848 you would have found yourself worshiping in a school in services led by the Baptist minister William Wilder,” she said. “Then by 1866 you would have found yourself in an actual church building located on South Street in Ortonville.”
Bacak-Egbo says that throughout those years you would have learned that it wasn’t just the chance to worship together that early settlers valued so dearly but also the fellowship.
“You would have also watched the growth of other denominations such as Methodist and Lutheran which together became an integral part of Ortonville’s history.”
Today, more than 200 years later, the religious community in the Ortonville continues to be an integral component of the foundation of the area. From youth groups to weekly services to the Ortonville Community Emergency Fund, which unites multi denominations to assist those in need, area church continue to thrive.
“Just like the schools we attend, the parks we frequent, the community events we enjoy and the businesses we stop in to say “hi,” our churches serve as that essential gathering spot; renewing our residents, building our community’s culture and representing the values of Ortonville,” said Matt Jenkins, Ortonville DDA Director.