Baseline United Brethren Church (Fitchburg, Michigan)

In the mid-1850's the Jackson Mission of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ was formed serving the areas of Grass Lake, Waterloo, Henrietta and Bunkerhill townships--straddling the border of Jackson and Ingham Counties. The Baseline Church--usually found listed simply as Baseline UB Church, was built at Baseline and Haynes Roads in Bunkerhill Township and served families from both Henrietta Township as well at those in Bunkerhill.

My great-great-great-grandparents, Lawrence Hobart and Annice Ann (Aldrich) McCreery were early members of this congregation. They lived nearby and so did many members of their close knit family, including LH's older brother, John Breese McCreery. JB is closely identified with this congregation and is sometimes referred to as a preacher. It is most likely that JB served as a lay-preacher, filling in for the pastor when he was off to another preaching place under his charge, which included churches in the village of Waterloo and First UB Church of Waterloo Township on Parks and Territorial Roads. JB also donated land where the parsonage was built to house the preacher and his family, which would have made the Baseline Church a central location for the preacher.

When Annice Ann McCreery's father Edward Aldrich died in 1890, although not a member of the Baseline congregation, his funeral services were held at the church which was very close to his former residence in along Meridian Road in Henrietta Township.

Succeeding generations of the McCreery family were also members of the Baseline Congregation. On 16 August 1905, my great grandparents Anna Smith (granddaughter of LH and Annice) and Jesse Carley were married at the parsonage by Rev. H. Hollis of the Baseline Church. But it would not be long and the family seems to have become members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Munith. This has lead me to wonder what happened to the UB Church?

Here are some interesting observations concerning these UB congregation in the Munith-Waterloo area--

Traditionally, the United Brethren in Christ denomination was German speaking. Although much of the Munith-Waterloo area was of German origins, the names that appear associated with the UB congregations don't appear to be Germanic, e.g. McCreery, Smith, McCloys, Parks, Weeks, Garners and Hall. The UB denomination was Wesleyan in theology and the only real difference between this church and the Methodist Episcopal church was the language--UB's speaking German and ME's speaking English. There were ME churches in Fitchburg, Munith, Pleasant Lake and Stockbridge, which were all very close to the Baseline and Waterloo UB Churches. So, what was the attraction of my ancestors to this denomination?

What happened to the Baseline UB Church? Did it disband? Did it merge with another congregation? Are there any records that exist from this rural congregation?

To bring the story of the denominations up to date--in 1946 the UB's merged with another traditionally speaking German-Methodist denomination known as the Evangelical Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren denomination. This is why the Waterloo churches (one at Parks and Territorial Road and the one in the Village of Waterloo) were for a time know as the EUB churches. In 1968 the EUB and Methodist denominations merged to form the United Methodist Church--thus making these former rural churches all part of the United Methodist umbrella.

The religious life of our ancestors can weave and interesting story that many genealogist and family historians fail to recognize. The motivations, attitudes and practices tell us much about the way we were reared and helps us understand the lens with which they viewed the world. I encourage my fellow family historians not to overlook this very important aspect of our ancestors lives.

UPDATE--

I just purchased the book History of the Michigan Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church by William H. Watson and A. LaVerne Spafford, Sr., published in 1961. On pages 467-469 a short history of the Waterloo First EUB church appears. In this brief sketch it states, "With the division of the United Brethren Church into liberals and radicals, the Bunker Hill Class went with the radicals." In the 1880's the UB denomination experienced a schism over the revision of the constitution of the organization. The liberal faction updated the constitution with the removal of the prohibition of membership in secret societies and lay representation. A small faction, known as the radicals or the "Old Constitution" members objected to the libralizing of the denomination and in 1889 the two factions parted ways. The "New Constitution" UB Denomination would be eventually merge with the Evangelical Church in 1946. The "Old Constitution" UB Denomination is still in existence today. Based on this sentence from the Watson and Spafford history I conclude that the Bunker Hill UB congregation sided with the "Old Constitution" faction. However, this still does not bring us to the conclusion of when this local church dissolved, died or was abandon.

Dell (McCreery) Smith and a Thanksgiving Tradition

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day and a perfect time to reflect on family traditions and gives us time to think about our family members who have come before us and left these rich traditions to carry into the future. Although the first Thanksgiving that was celebrated in Plymouth, Mass. is filled with many idealistic images for us today, I can't help but to think about my ancestors who were Mayflower passingers and wonder what their lives must have been like. William and Susanna White, their son Resloved White and Richard Warren can all be celebrated in my lineage and I wish to honor their sufferings and sacrifices upon the venture across the Atlantic to the wildreness of North America in the 17th century. But ofcourse I never knew any of these folks and I'm sure our modern Thanksgiving celebration little resembles the feast that they celebrated back in the 1620's.

In 1899 Dell McCreery Smith, my gg-grandmother, began a tradition in our family of hosting a large Thanksgiving feast at her home for her immediate family, which also including her parents, Lawrence Hobart and Annice Ann McCreery, and any of her siblings and their families who were able to come. Dell lived on a small farm with her husband Daniel Edwin Smith, Sr. in rural Henrietta Township, Jackson County, Michigan--near the village of Munith. This became one of Dell's annual gatherings until sometime in the 1930's when the family had grow so large that it was nolonger room to feed so many family members in her house. About this time her daughters step-up to the plate. Anna Smith Carley would entertain family members at her home on Sayers Road and Nellie Smith Walz and Lulu Smith would organize the feast to be held a few miles away at the Wild Cat Mill's hall in Leoni Township. The growing family would soon outgrow this arrangement and a new venue was needed. The newly constructed Richard H. Reno Post of the American Legion would fit the bill. Located just south of the village of Munith, the Legion Hall was outfitted with a large kitchen where the meals could be prepared, a large dinning hall with enough seating for the 100+ family could sit together to enjoy a grand family celebration. Dell would attend the festivities throughout the rest of her life, the last one she attended at the ripe old age of 101 years old in 1959.

The Legion Hall was large enough to accomadate all ages in the family. A television set was brought in to entertain the men with their football games. A record player and plently of records were brought for the teenagers to listen too and dance on the upper floor of the hall. Even the young children had activities that included making the table decorations. Not to mention the team of mothers, grandmothers and great grandma's who where were busy in that huge kitchen. It was a well coordinated event. It became so well known that in 1965 the Jackson Citizen Patriot, the local daily newspaper, ran a feature story on this big family Thanksgiving tradition.

While the large gatherings didn't last beyond the 1960's, the memory of our family gatherings have lived on through the stories and the snapshots that have survived. In the center of the image included with this post, Anna Smith Carley is the women standing with her apron on. Lulu Smith is seated just in front of Anna and next to Lulu is their mother Dell Smith. Thank you Dell, Anna, Nellie and Lulu for bring the spirit of Thanksgiving too our family.