St. Michael the Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel. . , French trader Médard Chouart des Groseilliers spent the winter of 1654–55 in Jacksonport, at the time a Potawatomi/Ottawa village known as Mechigan that was home to more than 3,000. Upon his return to Quebec, Groseilliers reported on the abundance of the area’s resources and on the multitude and character of its people. Having been invited by the Potawatomi to visit, Catholic missionaries requested they might be permitted to plant the cross of their faith within the village, calling their first prospective mission St. Michael, chief of the Archangels. Built more than two hundred years later, Jacksonport’s Catholic church was named St. Michael the Archangel. , (Continued on other side). , (Continued from other side). Prior to construction of the church, Catholic residents celebrated Mass at various nearby homes. In 1875, John Reynolds was the first recorded baptism in Jacksonport at a location referred to as St. Michael’s. The next year construction began on St. Michael’s church. The lakefront location, including the cemetery site, was donated by the Charles Reynolds family. Early St. Michael’s member families included LeClair, Londo, Cardy, DesJardine, LeMere, Butler, Campbell, O’Brien, LaPlante, Lautenbach, Orthober, and Searth. Many of these families still have a presence in Jacksonport. Leona (Cote) Grovogel attended Mass here for one hundred years, from 1899–1999.