In celebration of All Saints Day, Elizabeth Palmer highlights the lives of three early women who made an impact in their respective church communities here in Michigan.
ELIZABETH PALMER
Archivist, Michigan Conference
Marilyn Crandell Schleg Archivist, Albion College
I have distinct memories of attending church on All Saints Day. Maybe it was leftover sugar buzz from Halloween candy, but I like to think that, even at a young age, I knew the importance of honoring a well-lived life.
My childhood church had a beautiful tradition of reading the names of every member who had died in the past year. After each name was read, a bell was rung. In recent years, my mother has had the honor of reading each name — a role she takes very seriously.
Some of the names read belonged to my family members or elders I’d known my whole life. Hearing unfamiliar names always sparked curiosity — who were they, what did they look like, what did they enjoy, and how were they involved with the church?
With curiosities like this, it should come as no surprise that I became an archivist. Now that I am wrapping up my role as one of the Michigan Conference’s archivists, it seems only fitting to remember and honor some of our early, lesser-known church leaders for All Saints Day.
While there have been all kinds of leaders in the Michigan Conference, I’m choosing to focus on some of our early women leaders. Historically speaking, finding information about women in any capacity can often be more challenging than finding information about men. Firstly, because women did not always have the same place at the table as men, and secondly, because changes in last name make research increasingly difficult.
While it makes some sense that women aren’t always featured in church history, given that they were excluded from official church leadership for so long, I also find it frustrating — it’s not as if they weren’t there! Their stories just aren’t consistently documented, so they cannot be consistently retold and shared.
Last winter, during an archival inventory, I rediscovered the Michigan Conference Historical Biographies. This collection of 21 binders contains biographies and histories of different leaders and places of Michigan Methodism. Only one of these binders features solely women leaders. On this All Saints Day, I want to take a moment to remember a few of them and say their names.
Ella Mahalia Morrell was educated at Lawrenceville Academy in New York (a school for educating teachers). She came to Michigan, as teachers were paid better at the time in Michigan than in the State of New York. Ella taught at Albion College and in Wexford County schools for a total of 41 years. She was a member and historian of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
She was a faithful member of her local Methodist church and held official positions for her congregation. She had a gift for writing, and this was a way she expressed her faith. Here is a poem that she wrote that was included in the biography:
LEAD THOU ME
Father, I scarce can see the way,
Dark is the night,
Clasp my hand close in Thine, I pray,
Lead me aright.I tremble when the storm comes on
And cling to Thee;
Faltering, weak, I faint and fall,
Oh, hold Thou me.Sometimes the way seems steep and rough
To weary feet;
But then to lean on Thy strong arm
Is doubly sweet.When night comes on I cannot tell
Where dangers be;
I only know that Thou art near
To rescue me.What seems to me my greatest griefs
Rich blessings prove,
Since they do but reveal to me
Thy weight of love.Father, when comes the gladsome day
And storms are past,
I’ll praise Thee most for roughest way,
And strongest blast.
Louisa Sliter was born in Alamo, Michigan, in June 1848. Louisa’s parents were Sheldon and Mary Reynolds; her father had mixed racial ancestry. Her biography doesn’t go into more details; maybe Louisa didn’t even know the details! Her parents were farmers in Alamo.
Louisa and her six siblings attended a rural school near their parents’ farm. Louisa spent her entire life in Alamo. Her mother carefully taught Louisa and her siblings about the Bible and Christianity. When Louisa was 16, she became a charter member of the Methodist Church in the Otsego Circuit.
In 1865, Louisa married George Sliter, a soldier from Delaware County, New York. The couple lived on the family farm in Alamo and had six children.
Louisa was always a very active member of her church. She was passionate about missionary work and served as treasurer of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society for over 30 years. She taught Sunday school and gave as much as she could financially to the church. She was one of the earliest subscribers and readers of the Michigan Christian Advocate.
Louisa died at the age of almost 83 in 1931. Her biography says, “It is hard to evaluate such a life as was that of Louisa Sliter, full of riches it was, and great with good works in the service of her King.”
Mary Rebecca Nebitt Morgan was born in Washington, D.C., in 1844. Her parents were James and Araminta Nebitt. When Mary was six years old, her family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts. However, two years later, they relocated to Windsor, Canada, due to the Fugitive Slave Law. Her father was a free man, but that didn’t really matter. They still made the move. When Mary was 17 and had finished most of her schooling, the family moved to Haiti and lived there for the next eight years.
A few years after arriving in Haiti, Mary married Zachariah Morgan. The couple had a housekeeping business in Haiti and had two children. Eventually, Mary and her family made their way back to Michigan, specifically to the Charlevoix area, and farmed 80 acres of land in Wilson Township. They also had eight more children — 10 in total!
While Mary lived in Canada, she became a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Windsor. When she came to Michigan, she became involved with growing congregations in Northern Michigan. Her biography says, “All through the years Mrs. Morgan has lived a lovely Christian character, well deserving the kind words of praise bestowed upon her by her many friends.”
Mary died in 1951 at the age of 106.
It is incredible to learn about some of the women from early Methodism who clearly made an impact in their respective church communities and among the people around them. I think especially about Louisa and Mary and the changes they both saw in their lifetimes. But it made me wonder: Why these women? Did these women know each other? Were they friends? Who else wasn’t on this list? What information isn’t here?
I will never know why these choices were made — I barely know who compiled these materials in the first place. However, one thing I do know is that we can remember these women on this day, as well as all the people who came before us.
Today, we honor Ella Mahalia Morrell, Louisa Sliter, and Mary Nebitt Morgan.
Last Updated on November 5, 2025