History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests / compiled from the official records of the county, the newspapers and data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of Thaddeus D. Seeley.

CHAPTER XXIV

PONTIAC CHURCHES
EARLIEST METHODIST PREACHERS-FIRST METHODIST CHURCH IN
COUNTY-PASTORS FROM I826 TO THE PRESENT-MRS. SHATTUCK'S
REMINISCENCES-CENTRAL METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH —THE
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH-FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-HOW THE
CHURCH WAS BUILT-FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH-THIRD
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN THE STATE-NEW BUILDING-ST.
VINCENT DE PAUL'S CHURCH-ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCHST. TRINITATIS LUTHERAN CHURCH-THE AFRICAN M. E. CHURCH
-YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION-RED RIBBON CLUB OF
PONTIAC.
The churches of Pontiac were established at an early period of her
history, and they came to stay, for they are firmly planted and flourishing. In proportion to the population of the city, they are numerous and
strong. The Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians organized societies
in the early twenties, and were followed in the thirties by the Congregationalists, Catholics and Episcopalians, the African M. E. church having been organized the first year of the Civil war. The details forming the religious life of Pontiac are presented in the several sketches
which follow.
EARLIEST METHODIST PREACHERS
The earliest preachers of the Methodist Episcopal denomination to
visit Oakland county were the Reverends Alfred Bronson and Samuel
Baker, who preached in Pontiac and other points in the county in 1823.
Up to 1824 this section was connected with the Sandusky (Ohio) district. The nucleus of the First Methodist church of Pontiac was represented by a class of twelve members that met in a log house in Waterford township, two miles and a half west of that city. In 1827 a local
preacher of the name of Laban Smith held meetings in the house which
stood on the ground now occupied by the home of the late A. B. Donelson. At that time it was known as the Shattuck homestead. In 1828
the Ohio conference sent Rev. William Snow as a missionary.
In those early days the itinerant system was in full vogue and circuits were formed extending over many miles of country. The circuit
represented by Rev. Snow embraced Piety Hill (now Birmingham),
Farmington and Donation Chapel-the last now known as the village
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