Located in Deerfield Township, Livingston County, Michigan
Church and adjacent cemetery are on the National and Michigan Register of Historic Places.
HISTORY OF PARISH: The parish was founded in 1843 by 13 Irish immigrant farm families (list) and Father Patrick O'Kelly, a horse riding missionary priest from Detroit. These original 13 families were mostly from County Longford in Ireland and walked to Livingston County from New York state, where they had first settled. Good farmland was available in Deerfield and Tyrone townships for about $3 a acre. A frame church was constructed at the northeast corner of Green and Faussett Roads in the middle of a two acre site donated by Joseph Walsh, a non-Catholic. The church was begun in 1846 but not completed until 1862. At that time it was known as St's. Peter and Paul. The cemetery surrounded the original church building and the oldest burial sites are in 1846. The current church building was completed in 1895 under the leadership of Fr. George J. Maurer. The parish was renamed St. Augustine in 1870 and the new church building was given that same name. It was designed and built to the exacting specifications of Harry J. Rill, Architect, Detroit and built of brick and hammered stone for $15,000. It is located west across Green Rd. from the location of the old church and cemetery and has an cemetery to the east of it.. The site of the former church building was incorporated into the old cemetery. A bell was installed in the church bell tower in 1915. The new cemetery, east of the church, primarily contains graves dating from 1910. In 1938 the parish was transferred from the Detroit to the Lansing Diocese. The primary exterior alteration to the church is an outside entrance constructed of matching brick and stone salvaged from a church being demolished in Lansing and from nearby farms. It allowed direct access to the basement social area and provided a entrance vestibule. The original wood pews,with ornamental hymn book holders, remain in place. The buildings interior oak finish, including the pews, wainscoting, choir loft breast work, doors, and trim, were laboriously stripped and refinished with a clear sealer in the 1970's. The sanctuary area has been entirely remodeled including the removal of a wooden communion rail. The original Stations of the Cross with Gothic style wood frames remain in place on the side walls. It appears that all the stained glass windows date from the church's construction. They are leaded sheet cathedral glass. The glass contains late Victorian stylized plant and geometric forms rather than figural representations. The northeast sacristy at the front of the church contains a large dark stained wood vestment cabinet made by the Tiffin Manufacturing Company of Tiffin, Ohio and dates from the original church construction. The church continues in daily use for religious services.
The material above was abstracted from a booklet prepared by Jack and Carol Shepard for the 150th year celebration of St. Augustine's Church, the St. Augustine 1996 Parish Directory, an article in Diocese of Lansing's The Catholic Times of October 31, 1997 and the application for listing on the National Register of Historic Places prepared by David and Jeri McKeon Anderson. Mrs. Anderson is a direct descendent of four of the early Irish families of the parish. This material was very valuable for this purpose and demonstrated considerable and dedicated research.
