Edward Dunleavy

During WWI, the little church on German Mill closed.  In 1918, it was virtually empty until Edward Dunleavy, a pastor from Pontiac, helped reform the church.

Church affiliation changed at this time from Methodist Protestant to Methodist Episcopal.  A new parsonage was built on German Mill which was the second house from Franklin road.  Charlie Berger, Otto Berger’s son, brought in a team of horses and dug the basement.  The parsonage was a Reddi-Cut house.

During Dunleavy’s association with the church, the congregation grew.  Rhea Bowden, Dunleavy’s step daughter remembered that the family often received eggs and fresh vegetables as part of her step father’s salary.

James Cox

A few years after his older brother Henry emigrated to America, James left England as well in search of a new life. 

Like many settlers to the new area, James became a farmer.  He worked as a farm laborer for a time in Bloomfield Township.

He met Martha Comstock and they married in 1864.  The couple bought150 acres in Farmington Township from her brother.

Around the 1850’s, the Cox, Bingham, Broughton, Cummings, Forman, Lock and Pickering families were part of the British invasion that made an impact on our village.

The Cox family were members of the Methodist church on German Mill.  Both are buried in the Franklin cemetery with other family members.