Catholic families of French and Irish origin settled in the Redford area in the mid-1830's while German Catholics were concentrated in Greenfield Township. The St. Mary congregation was not yet large enough to warrant a full-time pastor. Instead the wilderness mission was attended to regularly by visiting priests from nearby parishes. It was not until 1857 that the first resident pastor was assigned to the St. Mary Mission.

     Father Edmond Dumont of Belgium arrived in Detroit in the fall of 1856 and on November 10, 1857, was given charge of the mission. Dumont reached the budding parish in time to witness the near completion of a permanent church structure. By this time, the church had moved from Grand River and Division Roads to a new northeastern site. There the Chaivre family owned a 160 acre plot of land from which a four-acre parcel in the southeast corner was deeded to Bishop Lefevre  "for the erection of A Roman Catholic Church thereon and for other good and benevolent purposes as the said P.P. Lefevre or his lawful successors or assigns may from time to time determine."

     The wooden church, measuring 60 by 36 feet, was located on the southeast corner of Grand River and present-day Mansfield Street. Its formal dedication took place on November 15, 1857. A residence for the priest was nearly finished when it was gutted by fire on January 15, 1859 while the church suffered a similar fate on April 30 of that year. Both incidents were believed to be deliberate acts of maliciousness, a part of the wave of anti-Catholic hysteria that swept many parts of the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. Despite these setbacks, Father Dumont's pastorship marked the beginning of a stabilized existence.

     A new church of brick was constructed and dedicated on July 14, 1860. The resurgence was short-lived however, as a threat far more serious than fire beset the fledgling parish. In December 1861, Father Dumont left the United States for his native Belgium. In the wake of Dumont's absence, the parish drifted like a rudderless ship as the congregation fell away one by one. In December, 1867, Bishop Lefevre wrote to Dumont of the status of St. Mary's saying "there must absolutely be a priest to attend them or else these people will soon lose their religion and their children grow up infidels. But what can I do, not having any one priest available or suitable for that parish?" Lefevre was convinced that only Dumont could "do more good there than any other priest." The bishop attempted to entice the former St. Mary's pastor with the promise of a dwelling, "a fine two-story brick house...which you designed yourself, but larger in dimensions." Lefevre's impassioned pleas were in vain as Dumont never set foot in the United States again.

Cont. - pg. 2