Wyandot Mission Church
Wyandot Mission Church | |
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| Location | East Church Street (Upper Sandusky, Ohio, U.S.) |
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| Coordinates | 40°50′10″N 83°16′43″W / 40.83611°N 83.27861°W |
| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Built | 1824 |
| NRHP reference No. | 76001552 |
| Added to NRHP | January 20, 1976 |
The Wyandot Mission Church is an early-19th century Methodist church in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Its single room is populated with dark, log pews and paintings of the missionary John Stewart and Wyandot converts. Surrounded by trees and a cemetery, the church is often described as peaceful.
The church was built of blue limestone in 1824 under the direction of James B. Finley, who had followed Stewart in meeting the Wyandots. They used the church for two decades. Before their removal to Kansas in 1843, they met there and deeded its land to the Methodist Episcopal Church. However, the church was soon abandoned and only restored by Methodists in 1888. Ongoing summer services at the church began in 1970. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Description[edit]
The Wyandot Mission Church is located on East Church Street in the northern outskirts of Upper Sandusky, Ohio.[1][2] Surrounded by a cemetery, it is considered the first U.S. mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church.[3] Its single room is adorned with portraits of the missionary John Stewart and prominent Wyandot converts, as well as paintings of its services during the 19th century. At the front is a raised platform and pulpit. As of 2009, the platform bore Christan and American flags alongside a Wyandot flag with a turtle, representing their belief that the world was created upon its back. On both sides of the platform are gray wooden doors with white crosses.[2] The church has hand-hewn, log benches, pews of a dark walnut color,[2][3] and a potbelly stove.[4]
Henry Howe reported in 1847 that the church was encircled by forest and stood in a small enclosure,[1] and Ron Simon of News-Journal wrote in 1973 that "old and graceful" trees sheltered the church. He thought it "enjoy[ed] a quiet, almost melancholy setting",[3] which The Marion Star's Lucy Wood thought enticed meditation, as well as "simple and sincere" ways of worship.[4]
History[edit]
In 1816, John Stewart, a Methodist son of slaves, traveled north of his home in Marietta, Ohio, after purportedly hearing a commandment from God. He met the Wyandots of Upper Sandusky, whom he began preaching and singing to in 1819.[5] Many Wyandots respected him and became his converts, including some influential chiefs.[2] Reverend James B. Finley joined him soon after,[5] though Stewart died in 1823.[2]
The Wyandot Mission Church was built In 1824 under Finley's direction.[6] He had traveled to Washington, D.C., with two chiefs to obtain its funds from the federal government.[3] John C. Calhoun, a secretary of war, granted him permission, and the government gave him $1,333.[6] President James Monroe suggested he used materials of such strength that the church would stand long after their deaths.[3] It was built of blue limestone quarried from the Sandusky River and hauled by carts and oxen, while the wood of its interior was cut from the Indian Mill a few miles away.[3][4] Over the next two decades, many Wyandots worshipped and learned at the church.[5]
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As a result of the Indian Removal Act, the Wyandots were forced west into Kansas City, Kansas in 1843.[5] That July, hundreds tearfully met at the church to place flowers across its graves and hear chief Squire Grey Eyes give a farewell speech.[4][7] The Wyandots sold 109,000 acres of Ohian land, but also deeded three acres where the cemetery sat to the Methodist Episcopal Church, requesting that they protect it from desecration.[5] Methodists used the church and tended to its graves until 1947, but it became abandoned, and eventually, its roof fell in and its walls crumbled.[5][8]
In the 1870s, Reverend Nathanial N. B. C. Love became enamored with the church. In 1888, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church allotted $2,000 to restore it. Construction began the following year, to which he took part.[7][8] The church was rededicated in September 1889. Elnathan C. Gavitt, who served for the church in the early-1830s, and General William H. Gibson were among the various ministers who gave speeches, and N. B. C. Love displayed a historical sketch.[4][9] Margaret Grey Eyes Solomon, nicknamed "Mother Solomon", was the only departing Wyandot to be present, having returned to Ohio in 1865. She sang a Wyandot translation of the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing".[4][10]
The church was designated a historical shrine by the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1960. That decade, the local historian Thelma Marsh set up tours of the church.[7] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and is now maintained by the John Stewart United Methodist Church.[4][7] Summer services have been held there each summer since 1970.[4] The 1973 season featured preaching from Heth H. Corl of the John Stewart United Methodist Church. Up until then, there were never less than 50 attendees, and at one point, there was a maximum of 135. Tourists explored the church daily and usually after services; the 1972 season saw 5,000 in total.[3] Services in 2009 drew between 30 and 96 people, the donations during which provided most of the church's maintenance funds. They also annually received a few hundred dollars from the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church.[2] In 2019, the church and three acres of land where it sits were formally deeded back to the Wyandotte Nation.[5]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Howe 1891, p. 598.
- ^ a b c d e f Yonke, David (January 8, 2009). "Ohio Church Was First Methodist Mission". The Blade. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Simon, Ron (September 2, 1973). "Old Mission Kept Alive By Church and Tourists". News-Journal. p. 13. Archived from the original on May 20, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wood, Lucy (June 14, 1987). "Wyandott Mission Retains Sacred Air". The Marion Star. p. 22. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lati, Marisa (September 24, 2019). "The U.S. Once Forced This Native American Tribe to Move. Now They're Getting Their Land Back". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
- ^ a b Howe 1891, pp. 597–598.
- ^ a b c d Wolf, Jeannie Wiley (May 14, 2023). "Old Mission Church Still Holding Services After 199 Years". The Courier. Archived from the original on April 27, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
- ^ a b Howe 1891, p. 600.
- ^ King, I. F. (October 1901). "Introduction of Methodism in Ohio". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications. 10: 203. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
- ^ Howe 1891, pp. 600–603.
Bibliography[edit]
- Howe, Henry (1891). Historical Collections of Ohio. Vol. 3 (Ohio centennial ed.). Henry Howe & Son. OCLC 749192755.
