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Title
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Bottrell, Thomas S.
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extracted text
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1
T H 0 MA S
S H UG G
1899
My
husband
s.
B 0 T T R E L L
1950
Bottrell, came from St. Ives,
Cornwall, England in 1899·
He Nent directly to the
a rea of Calumet, t1ichigan, and in 1902 be became a m
member of the Centennial Church.
He became very a ct-
ive in the work of the church, singing in the choir,
was a te a cher in the Sunday School, later was superintendent of the Sunday School and also did some local
prea ching.
He became interested in th e ministry
through the ministry of Rev. Edward Bickford. He made
his decision to go into the mi nistry when the Detroit
Annual Conference was he l d in Ca lument in 1910 .
Our f irst cha rge was Ewen, Mich. What a start
for a new pre acher with a wife and two children. There
was no parsonage so we lived in a farm house for a
month. This house had no foundation a nd the house was
perched on blocks of some kind which permitted chickens and other creatures to roam around underneath the
house.
The first ni ght we spent there, there i'las a
frightening
cackling and screeching of chickens
which were apparently being attached by some wild a
animal on the prowl.
A home was soon found for us
t hough it was quite a distance from the church. There
were flowing wells in the town se we ha d to walk a
2
block or more for a ll our wa ter.
My husband wo re a
yoke on his shoulders fromwh ich two pails were suspended and whi ch made it somewha t eas i e r to ca rry the
water.
We a lso had a r a in barr el at the back of the
house whi ch helped a gr eat deal during th e summer.
There was no electricity and it was a cold par sonage
but the folks were warm and fri endl y. Our
$ 600 a yea r so we were
th a~~ful
meat and eggs from our f a rmers.
sal~ry
was
for the g ifts of
We a lso had deer
meat g iven us during the season.
While living in Ewen my husba nd orga ni zed a church
a t Bergland wh ich was at the northern end of Lake
Gogebic.
Servi c es we re held in the school house. Mr.
Bottrell took the noon tra in to t h is small pl a ce,
made calls in the a fternoon and held a service in the
evening a t 7:30.
After the service he wo uld wa i t at
the hotel, which was owned by one of our church
families. Just before twe lve oclock he would roll up
a newspa per , set fire to it and flag the train that
passed near the hotel.
The train a l ways stopped for
him.
Rev. William Marvin, whose son is editor of the
Michi gan Christian Advoca te, was our Presiding Elder,
a s we called them then.
lived with us during this
He held reviva l meetings and
ti~e.
water during his stay there too.
He helped to ca rry
Because distances
J
were not so easily travelled in those days we naturallJ
expected to entertain any church offical or speci a l
speake~s
in our home over night for a week, perhaps
even t wo weeks during revival seasone
But we always
enj oyed them a nd missionaries especially were a facinatination, especially to our c ::ildren, since t hey
brought many exciting stories of their experiences of
f ar away pl a ces.
One little
story and perha ps our
first experience in ecumenicity.
,
to ri ng the church bell .
Our s mall son loved
We lived near the Ca t holic
church and at the first toll of t he bell he was g one
as f a st as his legs could run.
The village priest
always a llowed him to help him pull the rope which
rang t he bell.
Thus the Meth odist minister's son help-
ed ca ll the Ca tholics to ther mass.
Our third s on was
born in Ewen.
In 1914 we moved to Baraga and there en joyed a
new par sonage with running water and electricity e
However , there were no cupboards in the kitchen. While
living i n Baraga we h a d the rich experience of camping
wi th the I ndians in a beautiful spot near the shores o!
Kewanaw Bay just a mile or two north of Peq uaming
which is just north of L'anse.
It was as annul event
every summer when a few ministers and families of the
distric t met with the I ndia ns for s pe cia l services
under the lov ely pines and othe r t a ll trees in the
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a fternoon and in the bare and crudely built cha pel at
night.
Ho~<T
difficutl it
~>Tas
a t times to get a response
from these people s ince their stoic faces did not betra y their inward feelings. Also, the singing is very
crude and confined mostly to the white people present.
We stayed in very crudely built cabins and slept on
bunks t-Thich had ''mattresses " of pine and spruce
whi ch were very fragra nt but not very comfortable .
Many of the Indians erected tepees to live in during
the week we spent there.
We were bl e ssed as we spent
the week worshipping togeth er.
IN 1916 we were assigned to the pretty little
tm-Jn of Rockl a nd which had a nice church and fine
people.
In this parsonage we had our first telephone
but no electricity.
The church lighted by a l a r ge
gas l amp which hung in the center ·and 1..ras pulled dmm
to be ligh ted and then
r aised up high again.
I n thi s
Parsonage which h a d a woodshed attached to the re a r of
the house, we woke one morning to find we had a porcupine in the shed.
After much excitement it was
chased out and took refuge in a t a ll pine tree nearby.
The Epworth Leag ue was very a ctive in this church a nd
community. They spent hours in the parsonage making
candy, filling baskets for the poor and shutins, a lso
filling boxes with candy for the Sunda y School childre
at Christmas time.
We ha d an unusual experience here.
5
A man came to the parsonage at J AM one bitter cold
nie;ht.
He said he
'1'1aS
possessed ·Ni th a n evil spirit
a nd wanted my husba nd to g o into the church next door
to pr ay for him.
He 'I'Ias i nvited into our home where
it was warm b ut insisted on g oing into t he church. He
l eft to go to the ch urch while my husband hurriedly
dressed,
Howev er, I fea red for his safety and pers-
uaded h i m t o ca ll another man to g o i nto the church
with him.
\fuen they went i nto the church they could
not find the man though they searched
ever~~here.
Revival meetings were being h e ld a t the time and a few
days l a ter thi s man came to the parsonage with hi s
wife and in the cus tody of t h e sheriff.
He confessed
he h ad b een compelled to g o from pl a ce to place to
keep from killing some one.
He came tothe services and
went to the a lta r every ni ght for five nights and at
l ast he was gloriously saved.
His f a ce shone with the
glory of God. It was s urely a miracles wh ich we a ll
experienced.
Several years l a ter we heard he was still
a fine Chri sti a n.
Thi s town a lso brings ba ck memories of the delicious fo od which the Swedish people prepared for
th e ir picnics. etc.
Als o of the gypsies who camped be-
side the road just a short distance away from the churc
and of th e school stile being h oi sted to the top of the
flag pole on Halloween. The school was across f rom the
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churcho
It was here, a lso, that
of
som~our
fine young
men left for the war and were given Bibles by the
chur ch ~
This was a time of great concern when the
papers were scanned every day for names of those wh o
ha d been kill ed or wo unded.
In 1918 we moved to Trimounta1n, a mining community where even the parsonage was a mining house
purchased from the Copper Mining Company .
Here open
sewage ditches the usual thing in the loca ti on and . _ ...
of times - there \'las much ill ness.
The serious influenza
epidemic was a sad thing during our life there as many
were 111 and several died from the illness.
a nd I both were
My husba nc
i ll in bed with it at the same time
a nd neighbors brought food to the doorstep for our
children but left again before anyone should come outside to get the food.
No church services were held
a t this time so as to lessen a ll possibl e chances of
communicating th e germs of the flu .
This town had a l a r ge church of fine peopl e,
many of them being of English descent.
The church v1as
bubbling over with activi ties; class meeting s before
the morning service, a l a r ge choir and many fine young
people.
Sunday School was held i n t he a fternoon and
the Epworth League me t before the evening s e rvicee
This was a full day but a happy one.
My
hus band also
had another church in the nea rby mining town of Baltic
7
We had quite a serious time of illness while living in
Trimounta in. Our t wo sons were seriously ill . Fortunately the mini ng company operated a good hospital
very near our home.
When our younges t son became
dreadfully ill of a ruptured append i x one Sunday morning, my husband carried him in his arms the short di s t ance to the hospita l.
Now just a li ttle humor.
We kept some chickens
and had a rooster wh o a l ways crowed a t mid-night : why,
we never knew, but he did make a love ly dinner later
on.
The First \vorld War ended wh ile l'le lived here
a na how well we r emember th e excitement of that day.
i~
husband wal ked the rather long distance to our
church to ring the bell joyously.
We were transfered toth e friendly town of Republic
in 1921 where my husband a l so had the out-appointments
of Champion and Michigamme.
We were supplied with our
first model T Ford here and such experiences we ha d
with that car.
vJe
drove home fr om Michi gamme one
ni ght with a l ant ern hanging on the front of it because
our lights fa i led.
Since there were deep, da rk forestE
between towns it was rAther a lonely ride and no help
was availa ble when trouble arose.
While we were at
Republic the first youth camp wf the Me thodist Church
in the upper peninsula was started a t Lake Michigamme.
Being one of our cha r ges, Mr. Bottrell sold ma ny of the
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first . lots tha t were staked out there. A large tabernacle was built on the camp grounds but it colla psed the first winter under the weight of a heavy snow.
It was rebuilt but colla psed the second t ime. Fina lly
third at t empt to build proved successful as
a
it was constructed much more sturdily to stand the
s evere winter storms up there. There was a large barn
on the grounds which was used for a dining room . Late
the upstairs was used for a dormitory. We had one
hundred tents arranged in streets.
It was a wonderfu
experience, lots of fun, good fellowship, fine speakers a nd inspirational singing. On the Sunday ending
the week of camping, people came from many places
around that area to enjoy the insirational services
held in the big tabernacle.
While we were a t Stambaugh a nd Iron River in
1923, 1924 and part of 1925, we ha d a fine ministry,
especially when six churches joined together for reviva l services.
We started the meetings in the Me th -
odist Church in Iron River but beca use of the crowds
tha t attended it was ne cessa ry to rent the town hall.
The young people met at 7 PM and then joined the older people a t 7:20.
a nd song lea der.
We ha d a fine speaker, an organis
Every church received new members
beca use of these meetings.
f or all
ed.
Such a wonderful experien e
of us with so many denomi nati ons represen
The parsonage was a larg e a nd pleasent h ome in
9
stambaugh wh ich was up on a hill.
The winters were
very cold and we have memories of wal king down this
long hill to r each the other church in Iron Ri ver in
below zero weather.
When we were transferred next to the town of
Clayton which is near Adrian we experienced such a
difference in so many ways from the far north where
I was born and r aised.
But the people were just as
fine and friendly as those we had left.
Our own ch
children gr ew up with many rich experiences from living in parsonage and meeting people from a ll wal ks
of life - and education in itself.
~le
enjoyed our ministry.
As tole called on our p
people we fe lt ma ny times we had been blessed as we
hope they were.
I wish I h ad the space to tell of a l
the choirs my husband directed , as h e loved musi c .
He nad I often sang duets for various occasions, even
at funera ls.
Of course he was busy at the innumerabl
duties of a ministers, class meetings, prayer meeting ,
Bibl e s tudies, etc.
Also he directed the Christmas
Children's Day and Rally Day activities a nd I a lway s
helped where I could, including spending many ho·urs
calling with my husband.
Of course
serving these
C 1l
urches wasn 't a lways
sunshine , as we, like many other pastors and famlies,
have had our times of being deeply hurt a nd days of
10
of discouragement.
But the many ble ss ings tha t we
have received have surpa ssed the disturbingthings we
experienced. We cherish the memories of a ll the other
churches we have served to.
In 1928 we were sent to
the Federa ted Church of Capac, a community in the
"thumb 11 of which we l<:new noth ing until moving t here.
This church h a s special memories for us since it was
here tha t our da ughter was married by her f a ther. This
church a lternated ministers between the Baptists and
the Me thodists.
The Me t hodis t term ended in 1928 a nd
we were moved to Richmond which had a nice church and
l ovely l a r ge pa r sonage.
Following the serving of this
church we moved to Cass City when our country was goine
thr ough the thro e s of the depression.
Our l ate r moves
were Davison, Williamsto n, Br istol Church Flint and
our fina l move before retiring, Hemlock, a town a few
miles wes t of Saginaw.
Wh ile serving here we took a
gro up of young pe ople to Lake Louise to attend the
fir s t M.Y.F. camp h eld there . We had a fine time and
wonderful e xpe rience.
Fa cilities were q uite crude a nd
not to comfort a ble b ut t h e spirit existing t he re overcame the physical discomforts.
In 1947 my husba nd r et ired from the ministry a nd
wemoved to Willis.mston.
~ly
husba nd was t ake n ill soon
afterward and had a seri ous oper ation.
In due time he
re gai ned his health and fe lt the need to serve a church
11
agai n though retired.
wa~
At the conference of 1948 he
assigned to a rura l c urch at Richfield Center, about
four miles north of Fli nt.
He was h a ppy doing this
work until he became ill again and God ca lled him home
January 27,
1950~
But his work still goes on in the
lives of many young people to whom we ministered.
Som
are in the ministry, others doing Christian work in
other fields.
It's very rewarding to feel your min-
istry was fruitful and worth whil e.
now in t h e lives of others,
Our work goes on
espe ci ~lly
in our own
family, as my daughter and her husband,, Rev . a nd Mrs
Ernes t ' Combellack and grand-daughter and her husbAnd,
Rev. and Mrs. David I Lutz are serving churches in the
Mi chi gan Conference.
I 't'fas born a :nd raised in a Christia n home. We
spent for ty years in the mini stry and God has b een
very near to us a ll the way.
It is now my joy to call
on folks who are confined to their homes. My prayer is
tha t every minister will have the joy of seeing some
of his young peopl e go into the ministry or some other
Ch r i stian v1ork.
I t is most re't'farding a nd the i'lorld d
despe ratly needs to hear God's Word.
1966
Mrs. Thoma s S. Bottrell,
201 La peer St.
Davison, Mich.
r-
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tt:u~n
REV. T. S. BOTTREif,(.Bt~d ilhl\li
ber of lhc Detroit Conference, dtPd at the
home of hi s so n, Thromas H. Bottrell , in
Davison on Friday. January 27. Funeral
services were held at the Davison Methodist church on ·January 31. Mr. Bottrell
had been serving the Richfield church.
Rev. Thomas S. Bottrell
MRS. THOMAS S. BOTIRELL of Davison, widow of Rev. Thomas S. Bottrell
of the Detroit Conference, died September 20 in St. J oseph Hospi tal, Flint.
Mrs. Bottrell, 85, was ·born in Calumet
and a daughter, Blanche, is the wife
of Rev. Emest Combellack of Quincy.
Funeral services were held in the First
Church, Davison, Septem'b er 23. A full
obituary will appear in a sJ;b~ quent issue of the MCA. It>-.3·
EATH came to this good minister
1\l RS. CORA L. BOTTRELL, widow
of the church, Friday, Jan. 27, 1950, of Rev. Thomas S. Bottrell, died Friday,
at the home of his son, Thomas H. Bot- September 20, in St. Joseph Hospital in
trell 305 Lapeer St., Davison, Michigan. Fl int. Her death was due to complicaAt the time of his tions following a two-week illness. Mrs.
'
death he was a re- Bottrell was born in Calumet, Septcmtired supply pastor ber 10, 1883, •a nd lived in Davison for
at Richfield Center. the last sixteen years, where 'her husIn 1914 he was re- band had served as pastor of The Methceived into the De- odist Church from 1933 to 1936. She
t r o it Conference, was a member of the Chur ch and of the
and served in the ef- Woman's Society of Christian Service
fective relation for and the Golden Age Class of the Church
39 years.
school. On February 25, 1905, s he was
Mr. Bottrell was man;ed to Thomas S. Bottrell, who preborn in St. l ves, ceded her in death, January 27, 1950.
Cornwall, England, She was a good wife and mother, a deJul y 4, 1875, coming vout Ohristian and minister's helpmeet.
here when a you.ng Parsonage homes in which they had lived
man. H e marned included many in the Upper Peninsula
l\lr. Bottrell
Cora J:Iam, of Ca!t until Hl25, after which they served
_
. met, m 190S. M . 0 church es in Clayton, Capac, Richmond,
this union three children were born, rs. Cass City Flint Davison Williamston
'
•
•
I o f L an.st.·ng' Thoma;:; and · HC'm lock.
Ernest Comb e II ac'
After retirement they
Bott rell of Davison, and Wtlhabm Blottr~IJ served the Richfield Center Ohurch until
. t • T wo sisters
•tnd
a rot ter m January, Hl50. Funeral ser'V!ces
.
of Fl
' Ill
..
'
were
Englund also survwe.
.
. held on September 23 at 2 p.m. in the
He ser ved several years 11: the ~pp~ t First .United Methodist Church of Dnvi111
Peninsula, but the last Zll y]e)al~
son with Rev John W . Bray officiating
Capac, Richmond, C~ss ~ity,
av•son, nnd' the closi~g prayer by Rev. D. I.
Williamston, Bristol m Fltnt, and H em- Lutz, hu sband of Mrs. BottreJI's grandlock.
.
daughter, Joyce. Surviving are two sons;
Funeral services were held 111 the Thomas H., Davison; and William H.,
Davison Methodist c~ur~h, J anuary 31 • Flint; a daughter, Mrs. W. Ernest
M · Freid 111 charge of. the
.
.
w1'tl1 Dr· · Fr·~nJ·
"
'
·
(Banche) CombeJlack of Qumcy
· f1ve
·
H e brought
•
se1·vtce.
. a very comfortmg
T
grandchildren,
five
great-grandchildren;
1
message to the fam1 ly. . Rev.
· ter, IVrrs. \·V'll'
·
RevSamue
William· a s1s
1 tam R u 1e of Rl1nt;
·
·
d
h
B ottreII off ere d prayel ,
Combellack read the scr iptures, and R ev. several nteces an nep ews. Mrs. Bottrell's grandsons ser ved as pallbearers
p au I T . H m ·t g ave the bened iction. Four
th
.
th
D .
of his ministerial brethren sang at
e and interment was 111
e
av1son
service. Burial was in Davison ceme- Cemc::tery. / 0 - I 7 - ~ ~
D
tery.
li ~1J 1
61950
MICHI~Jtri C~ISTIAN ADVOCATE
Bottrell, Thomas S.