EveryMuseum.com - Wyandot Mission Church / Wyandott Indian Mission

The Wyandot Mission Church was built as a result of the first really successful and continuing Methodist mission among the Indians in the United States and was initiated by a Black Ohioan, John Stewart. This was in 1816, in Upper Sandusky. John Stewart's work resulted in a large following and the establishment of the first permanent mission in 1819.

Stewart, born in 1786 of free Black parents in Powhatan County, Virginia, determined upon a career of spreading the Gospel among the Indians. Beginning in 1816 he worked among the Wyandot Indians in Upper Sandusky, Ohio and in 1819 received a license to preach from the Methodist Church. Tn August, 1819, as a result of Stewart's work, the first official Methodist mission to the Indians was established. Rev. James Finley was appointed to assist Stewart. A farm adjoining the Wyandot reservation was purchased for Stewart and his wife and for the next three years, Stewart and Finley operated a school for Indians, as well as the mission. Stewart died in 1823. The following year the church was erected with government funds due the Indians ($1333.30).

The signing of the Wyandot Peace Treaty in 1842 forced the relocation of the Wyandot Indians and the mission closed. The church and burial ground was placed under the trusteeship of the Methodist church.

The grounds and buildings were well-kept for a time, but were soon allowed to fall into disuse. The roof rotted and the walls began to crumble. In 1888 the General Conference of the Methodist Church appropriated $2,000 for the "restoration" of the mission. The work was completed in 1889 and the church has been cared for ever since. Services are conducted in the church during the summer months. It is the only physical remains of this active and important Indian mission.