Saint Michael Roman Catholic Church - Grand Ledge, Michigan 48837
Parish History
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| In the early 1800's Native Americans led by Chief Okemos came each spring to the "Big Rocks" by the Grand River. The whole area was a natural wild park where deer, bears, wolves, wild turkey and pigs roamed freely. The first person, other than Native Americans, came in 1836 and in 1850 the settlers named the village Grand Ledge after the beautiful rock ledges along the river. Grand Ledge officially became a village in 1871.
The roots of the Church of St. Michael Parish go back to 1870 when, according to tradition, the first Holy Mass was celebrated by Fr. Louis VanDriss at the McMullen home. Fr. VanDriss listed Grand Ledge as a station of St. Mary Parish, Lansing, for the first time in his 1870 report to the bishop, but this station does not appear again till the 1880-1884 reports. It then disappears again. |
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 Fr. VanDriss was followed by Fr. Timothy Slattery, who pastored St. Mary parish from 1891 until 1897, but never listed Grand Ledge as a station. Grand Ledge reappears as a station of St. Mary on the 1901 annual report which Fr. Lafayette Brancheau sent to Bishop Foley in Detroit. The consistent presence of a Catholic community in Grand Ledge, with ongoing and regular church activity, begins with the year 1901. |
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 Fr. Brancheau's connections with Grand Ledge were solidified the following year. In 1902 Thomas Edison sent Archibald Campbell, first Superintendent of water and Power in Detroit, to bring electricity from a nearby town to Grand Ledge. When Archibald and Rosina arrived here and disappointedly discovered there wasn't any Catholic Church, they asked Bishop Foley to send a priest to Grand Ledge. Father Brancheau came during the week about once a month, saying Mass, administering the Sacraments and giving instructions. Services were held in the Campbell, Rossman and Juenker homes. It was remembered "people came to church in horse and buggy or sleigh and buggies were kept at the livery barn. The priest stayed overnight at the Baribeau home." Fr. Brancheau continued coming here until 1913 when he retired due to ill health. He was assisted occasionally by Fr. Paul Williams and Fr. Francis Malin. |
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Fr. Lafayette Brancheau & Archibald Campbell Family |
