The first Methodist minister who attempted to preach in this area, was Daniel Freeman, an elderly local minister from the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada. He preached one sermon and stayed only a few days in the Spring of 1804. He had made a major impression on local resident, Mrs. Maria C. McCarty, a charter member of the First Church.
In July of 1804, Dr. Nathan Bangs also made sermon in the old Council House in Detroit. His reception was a disappointment, as he had attempted to light candles and cause a small explosion from a deposit of gun powder he put at the base of the candles. Because the candles did not burn down to the powder, there wasn't any explosion. Before, Bangs had arrived in the Detroit area, he had been told by a Rev. David Bacon, a Congregational missionary, that he would have a difficult time in this area, Detroit, however he did wish him success. By the time, Bangs preached his third sermon, only some of the children had come, and none appeared to be interested in hearing the Gospel. With this, Bangs left the area.
On September 30, 1810, a Rev. William Case arrived and in his first report back to Bishop Asbury, stated in part that he couldn't understand that there weren't any serious people in the town... and there is no society formed here. He then made an appeal to the Governor for help and was granted the use of the old Council House in which to preach. His sermon, however, offended some of the residents, who later, broke into his stable, and closely shaved the mane and tail of his horse. One particular resident, Mrs. Robert Abbott, felt so strongly against Methodist preachers, that when Case had arrived, cold, and tired, she refused to answer her door to lodge him for the night.
Three months later, Rev William Mitchell arrived and organized the first Methodist Episcopal Church of Michigan, with a total of seven charter members: Mr. and Mrs. William McCarty, Mr. and Mrs. William Stacy, Mrs. Sarah McComb and with a change in heart, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Abbott. This Church was recorded as being located on the Rouge River, near Detroit.
During the War of 1812, the little flock became scattered, and when Rev. Joseph Hickcox arrived in July 1815, he found no members except that of the original seven. The morals of the city were described as being "deplorable; soldier and Indians were frequently seen intoxicated in the streets; profanity and unbelief were rife; the whole population were draining the dregs from the cup of water." Hickcox had a three point plan of attack; first, Detroit, then the River Rouge congregation, and finally the settlements around the River Thames in Canada.
Rev Jospeh Mitchell, came to assist Hickcox in the latter part of 1816. A sermon held in the Council House in Detroit, he preached "You must be converted and born again, or God will damn you as soon as the beggar on the dung hill. You, governor! You, lawyers ! You, judges ! You, doctors!" The next morning Governor Cass sent in a five dollar donation, expressing the sermon was the best he had ever heard. Only two years later, however, in 1818, Rev Gideon Lanning reported that there still was still no society in Detroit, and the only congregation around was seven miles distant, a little group on the River Rouge, who remained steadfast and unbroken.
The official organization of the River Rouge congregation was in the fall of 1810, by March 31, 1818, they had built a log cabin church measuring 24 x 30 feet, under the direction of Rev. Thomas Harmon, a local preacher.
The Methodist history has been continuous since it's organization here in 1810, and has been under the charge of over 70 Methodist preachers. The second building to be used for worship was a frame structure built at Park and Monroe Streets, in 1837. The third was a brick building that stood on Michigan Avenue, named the Ten Eyck Memorial and opened in 1892. A fourth was built in 1926 and had over 700 members.
Henry Ford became interested in the location of the early Methodist church and assigned a man to the task of surveying and researching property records. The man, Silas Farmer, found the church to be situated on Private Claim 52, then known as the Sargent Farm. The deed was dated November 21, 1817, and covered one square acre. (Liber 6 page 89 of Wayne County Records) It was purchased from Thomas and John Sargent and their wives for one dollar. The lot was on the north side of the Rouge River about one hundred and twenty yards from the river bank, and only about 20 yards west of the town line which forms the eastern boundary line of Private Claim 52, in the township of Dearborn. (today this would be on the east side of Greenfield Road, north of the D.T. & I. Railroad tracks).
In 1843, the original old log cabin church, burned to the ground. In June, 1851, presiding Elders, James Shaw, Elijah Pilcher of the Woodward Avenue Church, George Taylor, of the Congress Street Church, and Lorenzo D. Price of the Lafayette Street Church, all salvaged some of the lumber and made thirty canes with heavy silver heads, they inscribed: "Relic of the first Methodist, being the first Protestant Church, in Michigan, built in 1818." These canes have never been located.
