First Methodist Episcopal Church

First Methodist Episcopal Church is a Michigan historical marker in Dowagiac, Cass County, dedicated 1999.

31944 Middlecrossing Rd., Dowagiac

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Circuit-riding ministers established a Methodist class in Silver Creek Township in 1843. Five families attended the earliest meetings, held in the home of Leroy L. Curtis, the first class leader. In 1844 the Reverend David Whitlock was appointed minister to the group and conducted services in the Indian Lake schoolhouse. During the ministry of the Reverend John R. Richards, church members used lumber from nearby farms to build this Greek Revival style church in 1869. Two local men, Enos Bowerman and Will Hess, served as contractor and carpenter for the construction. Throughout its history the congregation’s societies and charitable fund raising have made it a vibrant participant in the local community.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

1843 · Indiana (Morse & Breese, 1843) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1849 · Illinois (Mitchell/Cowperthwait, 1849) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1850 · Indiana (Tanner/Cowperthwait, 1850) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1853 · Map of the surveyed part of Michigan (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
[Road map of northwestern Indiana and southwestern Michigan] (University of Chicago Library, Mapping Chicagoland · CC BY-NC 4.0, used by permission)

Map of the surveyed part of Michigan, 1853, covering the location of First Methodist Episcopal Church, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Map of the surveyed part of Michigan, 1853, covering this location. Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Michigan History Center
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