Church Bell

History of The Church Bell

The bell was originally installed on the Great Lakes packet the
Mantazuma (1). The Mantazuma was built in Cleveland Ohio in
1848 and displaced 322 tons. Buffalo New York was the
Mantazuma's first home port. The Mantazuma was an early screw
propeller driven steam ship. The ship went down in a storm on
Lake Michigan near South Haven. The exact date of the sinking is
not known. It was probably in 1860. Research by Rev. Dr. Paige
Birdwell revealed the Mantazuma to be in the ownership of the
St. Joseph and Chicago Line in 1860 but no other references to
the ship were found. Wreckage including the pilothouse and bell
washed ashore near Thunder Mountain (2) . Dr. H. M. Marvin, a
physician and Coloma’s first Postmaster, purchased the bell for
twenty dollars from a salvage company and presented it to the
church, date unknown (3). The bell called the people to worship
until 1916 when rotting timbers in the steeple made it a hazard
and it was torn down. It was later replaced with a larger steeple
and bell that still serves the church. The bell nearly did not
survive World War Two. The Congregation had voted to donate
the bell to the scrap metal drive for the war effort. The vote was
later reversed, and we still have the historic bell.

(1)This appears to be the correct spelling of the name of the boat. It is not the same
as the spelling of the Aztec emperor Montezuma. This is the spelling that appears in
the church history prepared in 1953 for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the
founding of the church.

(2)This is the local name given to a large dune located on the West or lake side of Blue
Star Highway about three miles North of Hagar Shore Road. It is said to have been
derived from local Native American legends about the dune that rumbled, or
thundered.

(3)1859 is the date given in history of the church prepared in 1953. This is probably
not correct as the ship was still sailing in 1860.