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.

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY

357

tered the holy communion twice in the last three months; at the last meeting there were several additions, making the whole number eight or
nine."
The first parish of the church in Oakland county was St. Johns in
Troy, organized in I829 by Rev. R. F. Cadle. This was the third parish
in the territory of Michigan; St. Paul's of Detroit being the first and St.
Andrew's at Ann Arbor, in 1827, the second. The church edifice in
Troy was erected in I837. The parish subsequently became extinct and
the title vested in Zion church, Pontiac, which was organized September
23, I837. The service of the church was first heard in Pontiac when
Rev. Hollister, then rector of St. John's in Troy, in I836, officiated in
the court house. Permission was granted by Gideon 0. Whittemore, regent of the University of Michigan, on organization of Zion church, to
use the academy, then a branch of the state university, as a place of worship, and services were held in that place from 1837 to I84I. In 1839
Rev. J. A. Wilson was sent as a missionary, and in 1840 the old records
show that a committee was appointed to receive subscriptions with a view
to building a house of worship. Most of the men who served as first
vestrymen of the society and, in addition, Charles W. Whipple, A. Treadway, F. A. Williams, Robert L. Heindlen, Samuel G. Watson, William
Wilson, Thomas Bennett and Samuel Frost, were active in building the
church. A site was chosen on West Pike street where stands the old
brick church now occupied by L. J. Hosler as a plumbing shop. The
frame of the old church still exists as the frame of the old Stout house
on Williams street. The church was completed in July, I841, and consecrated by Rt. Rev. S. A. McClosky, D. D., Bishop of Michigan, on July
20, I841. In the same year, Rev. John A. Wilson, then rector of Zion
church, organized the parish of St. Paul's, Waterford, of which he was
rector until I847, when he was succeeded by Rev. William H. Woodward, who continued until I850, when the parish became extinct. On
July 24, 1854, the vestry of Zion church resolved to erect a new edifice,
and on the 5th day of September, that year, the corner-stone of the present building was laid. The sum of five hundred dollars was paid for the
lot. Today it is worth $I,500. The new church was opened and consecrated on January 22, 1857, and the old church sold to the Methodist
Protestant Society. The total cost of the church was $10,280, and it
was freed from debt on March 28, 1864.
Rev. O. Taylor, who became pastor of the church in November, 1850,
resigned in 1854, and for many years thereafter the rectorships were of
short duration. The clergymen appearing as rectors are: Rev. Thomas
Dooley; Rev. John O'Brien, D. D., who died in Pontiac in I864; Rev.
Charles Ritter; Rev. William R. Pickman; Rev. William Charles; Rev.
J. R. Anderson, who died in Pontiac, 1874; Rev. Richard Brass and Rev.
T. J. Broodles. Rev. S. L. Stevens was called upon to become rector and
entered upon his duties December I8, I88I, his rectorship lasting until
Easter, I904, when he became rector emeritus. During his service the
present rectory was secured. He was succeeded by Rev. P. G. Duffy,
whose rectorship lasted only about eighteen months.
In September, I905, the old church was destroyed by fire, and on June
23, I907, the corner-stone for the new church was laid. In November,