Belleville Township's
Methodist Episcopal Church

The Methodist Episcopal Church (and churches of any faith) have led the way in establisment to almost any other township "business." They have been a dominant factor in the life of the community, and the driving force for many prominent village officals.
The first minister in Belleville Township was Reverend John Hayden, who had come to the area around 1824. He was granted a land patent and settled in French Landing, on Section Number 24 on May 25, 1825. When Hayden first came to the area, there were less then a dozen families in the entire township. He conducted simple services of prayer and devotion and carried the "Word" to many cabins up and down the old Pottowatamie trail. He also served the Van Buren Township area, and held various township offices over the several years he lived here.
Reverend Elias Pattee, organized a class in 1825, that would later grow into the Methodist Episcopal Church. He held meetings in private homes, and served as Belleville's second pastor in 1841. This organization was developed 5 years prior to the establishment of a post office and 8 years prior to the plat of the village being recorded. The circuit area here contained Van Buren, Denton, and Dearborn village as well as Belleville Township. Another, minister, Reverend J.B. Findlay established a parish for the benefit of the Huron Indian, around 1823. The first regular minister appointed to the circuit was, Reverend Adam Minnis. Two township citizens, Robert Clark and Daniel L. Kirk donated the lot for the building of a church.
By 1862, a number of Methodists organized and built a church at French Landing, which stood south of the Wabash Railroad. It became known as the Second Methodist Epsicopal Church. Because of a lack of community support, however, it was later abandoned.

In the early 1870's, the Methodists of the Detroit Conference, leased a tract of land south of French Landing, upon the farm land of Neil Savage. The local trains and Detroit area trains made regular stops at French Landing, which brought nearby farmers and their families to the church. For many years the social activities of the township, centered around the church.

Ministers of the Belleville Methodist Episcopal Church

Name	Date of Service
Reverend Adam Minnis	1840
Reverend Elias Pattee	1841
Reverend Robert Howe	1841
Reverend John Gray	1842
Reverend William Taylor	1842
Reverend Alanson Fleming	1843
Reverend Cable Bruce	1843
Reverend R. Dubois	1843
Reverend Gideon J. Shurtliff	1844
Reverend Henry Penfield	1844
Reverend Robert Bird	1844
Reverend Jonathan Blanchard	1845
Reverend W.H. Hayes	1845
Reverend Daniel Bush	1846
Reverend William Benson	1846
Reverend Daniel Bush	1847
Reverend Francis Glass	1847
Reverend Isaac Abbott	1848
Reverend William Mothersill	1849
Reverend Robert Bird	1849
Reverend J.F. Collins	1850
Reverend William Fox	1850
Reverend Samuel Bessey	1851
Reverend William Fox	1851
Reverend Samuel Bessey	1852
Reverend Jacob Wortley	1852
Reverend Ebenezer Steel	1853
Reverend C.W. Leeman	1853
Reverend E. Westlake	1854
Reverend John J. Smith	1855
Reverend J. Kellogg	1856
Reverend Dwelle	1856
Reverend J.W. Kellogg	1857
Reverend A.J. Bigelow	1857
Reverend John Levington	1858
Reverend W.C. Way	1858
Reverend John Levington
Reverend Rufus C. Cane	1861
Reverend H.N. Brown	1863
Reverend S.P. Warner	1864
Reverend Charles M. Anderson	1865
Reverend Jesse Kilpatrick	1867
Reverend J.G. Morgan	1870
Reverend William J. Campbell	1872
Reverend James S. Sutton	1873
Reverend John Crippen	1875
Reverend W.J. Clack	1876
Reverend E. Barry	1878
Reverend S.L. Ramsdell	1879
Reverend W.R. Jordon	1881
Reverend R.B. Rogers	1883
Reverend H.A. Merrill	1884
Reverend L.C. York	1885
Reverend R.L. Hewson	1886
Reverend J.S. Rose	1890
Reverend Hartley Cansfield	1891
Reverend Timothy Edwards	1892
Reverend James A. Roberts	1894
Reverend Hiram C. Colvin	1896
Reverend Frank Dodds	1900
Reverend D. Stanley Shaw	1901
Reverend Nathaniel Harris	1903
Reverend Addis Albro	1905
Reverend T.H. Martin	1906
Reverend E.W. Frazee	1908
Frank L. Leonard	1909
Reverend H.A. Magoon	1911
Reverend S.J. Pollock	1912
Reverend A. Balgooyan	1915
Reverend William S. Smith	1919
Reverend Ralph Brown	1924
Reverend Frank Miner	1926

In July of 1841, the First Baptist Church and Society was organized in Belleville. It's first minister was Reverend John Goff. It's first church was erected in 1853, and occupied lots 47 and 48. Lot Number 48 was originally owned by Thomas & Hanna Spence who deeded it to the society. The building was used for worship until about 1885 and stood vacant for several years after. In 1913, Peter S. Smith, Eugene W. Conant, and Stephen Taylor, the trustees of the First Baptist Church and Society of Nankin, sold the property to the Michigan Baptist Convention.
Here are the following pastors of the Baptist Church:

Name	Date of Service
Reverend John Goff	1841 - ?
Reverend A. Whitman	1851 - 1857
Reverend T.L. Bulis	1857 - 1859
Reverend A.H. Harris	1860 - 1862
Reverend P. Gambell	1862 - 1868
Reverend D. Osborn	1868 - 1869
Reverend J.P. Chenworth	1869 - 1870
Reverend David J. Parker	1871
Reverend A.B. Kinne	1873
Reverend A. Snider1876 - 1878
Reverend A. Gower	1878 - ?
Reverend R.D. Herrington	1881 - 1883
Reverend A.M. Lyon	1883 - 1885
Reverend H.C. Scofield	May - November of 1885

The other near area church was that of Rawsonville. It was erected in 1876 by a society that was organized in 1843. It was known then as the "Good Templar Hall". The Denton village church organized in 1835 remained open until 1931, however the denomination is not mentioned.

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