Smith's Chapel and Cemetery
29858 Redfield Road
Niles, MI  49120

 

Located on Redfield Road between Brush Road and Fir Road, Milton Township - Cass County, Michigan

Property Type	Church
Historic Use	Religion/Religious facility
Current Use	Religion
Style	Late Victorian
Architect/Builder	William S. Beswick
Significant Person	Cannon Smith

 

 

 

 

 Narrative Description

The Smith's Chapel property includes both a one-story, gable-roofed, wood frame chapel covered with clapboard siding and a four-and-one-half-acre cemetery. The chapel features a gabled entrance with a transom surmounted by an oculus in front. Round-arch windows with wooden hood molds light the sanctuary. The chapel stands on a rubble fieldstone foundation. A gable-roof, clapboard-sided privy is located at the rear of the church. The cemetery contains stone (and one zinc) monuments. The grounds are partially contained within a modern chain-link fence.

 Statement of Significance

Smith's Chapel is the oldest known church building in Cass County, and probably also the oldest in southwest Michigan. Built in 1840 by settlers on Beardsley's Prairie in what became Milton Township, the chapel is the most visible product of an early colonization of the area by settlers from Delaware. The work of Methodist circuit preachers lead to the organization of a church on July 1, 1839. Cannon and Charlotte Smith, formerly of Delaware, sold the land and donated liberally to build the chapel which was named in their honor. In 1879, contractor W. S. Beswick was hired to remodel and modernize the church. The adjoining cemetery grounds were purchased in 1872 and many remains and monuments of early settlers, including those of the Smiths, moved from family plots to this ground. The chapel is no longer used for regular worship, but is occasionally the site of weddings and funerals.

 Marker Name  Smith's Chapel

Marker Text    SMITH'S CHAPEL The first Methodist church in Milton Township was organized in 1839. The following year, this church was built and named Smith's Chapel to honor Cannon Smith, who had contributed generously to the construction of the church. Smith, a native of Delaware, bought land here in 1829 and settled on it in 1831. The chapel is one of the oldest Methodist churches in southwestern Michigan. In 1967 regular church services were discontinued. Milton Township purchased the structure in 1972. It now serves as a wedding and funeral chapel.

 

Period of Significance	1826 - 1865
Significant Date(s)	1840, 1879
State Register Listed	04/24/1979
Registry Type(s) Marker Erected	04/07/1981
National Register Listed	12/31/1987
Site ID#	P22790