Mission Church - History: Original Mission

History: Original Mission

The first Christian pastoral presence on Mackinac Island was that of David Bacon, who lived on the island for a short time beginning in 1802. In 1821, Jedidiah Morse (the father of Samuel F. B. Morse) was reputed to have preached on the island for on Sunday, and later advocated for a permanent mission on the island.

In 1823, missionaries William Montague Ferry and his wife Amanda founded a mission on the southeast corner of Mackinac Island at the location since known as Mission Point. This mission was primarily to educate Indian youth, and took on students from all around the Great Lakes region. In 1825, they built a boardinghouse and school at the site, and for some time the schoolroom was also used as a chapel. During the winter of 1828-29, the Ferrys's congregation rapidly grew, adding 33 people to total 52 congregants. Soon the churchgoers included Island residents such as American Fur Company magnate Robert Stuart, geographer and ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft, and carpenter Martin Heydenburk. In 1829-1830 their congregation built this church. Heydenburk and helpers cut and planed lumber on the main shore, transported it to the island, and finished the church over the winter. The church was dedicated on March 4, 1831.

The congregation eventually grew to number about 80. However, changes soon came to the island: the American Fur Company withdrew, and the Indians which the mission school served were being deported further away from the island. The mission, and with it the church congregation, declined. The Ferrys left Mackinac Island in 1834, and in 1837, the mission was closed. In 1838 the mission property, including the church, was sold to a private owner.