Pigeon River Conservative Mennonite Church, lo­cated near Pigeon, Huron County, Michigan, several miles south of Saginaw Bay, a member of the Conserva­tive Mennonite Conference, had its beginning in 1900 when several Conservative Amish Mennonite families from Croghan, New York, moved into this community. M. S. Zehr, one of this group, was ordained to the ministry. With several families who came from Ontario in 1902 they organized a Sunday school in that year under the leadership of Jacob M. Bender, bishop of the Ontario group. Solomon J. Swartzendruber, bishop, had charge of the work in 1904, when a meeting­ house was built. This church was enlarged in 1909 and replaced by a new one in 1957. The member­ship in 1957 was 275, including three mission out­posts conducted by the congregation. Former min­isters were S. J. Swartzendruber, M. S. Zehr, Jacob Yoder, Dan Shetler, Edwin Albrecht, Raymond Byler, and Emanuel Swartzendruber, bishop. The ministers in 1957 were Willard R. Mayer, bishop, and Earl J. Maust, minister.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 179. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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