3768 Field Street
German Seventh Day Adventist Church, Miles Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church
Trigger warning: this piece includes descriptions of domestic violence.
In 1910, there wasn’t anything at this corner, and the neighborhood hadn’t quite taken off yet. Early on, this area had a lot of German settlers. By 1915, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map showcases that nothing had been built on this parcel yet, but the Michigan State Telephone Company Field Avenue Exchange was across the street. It had been built in 1909 but wasn’t currently in operation, and the structure would be demolished within a decade and a half.
On May 8, 1926 the cornerstone for the church pictured here was placed. Smith, Moss & Mitschke designed the structure, and it was built for the German Seventh Day Adventist Church. An orchestra directed by W. A. Mickle played at the cornerstone services, featuring music like Onward Christian Soldiers and Draw Me Nearer.
I’ve found very little about this parish in the historical record. I believe this may be because the small congregation likely spoke German and was likely not covered in English-speaking newspapers as frequently.
By 1932, the telephone exchange across the street had been demolished, and the Jersey Creamery Company had started using facilities on the site. Neighbors, including members of the German Seventh Day Adventist Church, complained that the noise from the creamery was too much at night and interrupted church services. Judge Joseph A. Moynihan entered an order forbidding the creamery to operate from 11 PM to 6 AM.
In the 1951 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, the German Seventh-Day Adventist Church still occupied the space, and the Jersey Creamery Company was still across the street. The creamery eventually moved to 6431 East Palmer, and the Seventh-Day Adventist Church wouldn’t last much longer, either.
In 1956, Albert Schimke became pastor of the church. By 1957, the congregation had vacated the building.
Reverend Elzie Miles Kaigler was born in Oglethorpe, Georgia, and received degrees from Birmingham Baptist College and Western Baptist Theological Seminary. He pastored several churches in Georgia and served in the armed forces in World War One. He eventually became a pastor in Ohio, later moving to Detroit and continuing his service.
Upon his arrival in Detroit, he became associated with Pilgrim’s Tabernacle Baptist Church, helping the congregation save the lease of their church. In 1938, they named him pastor, and the church was renamed Church of Our Father Baptist Church. Reverend Kaigler was a highly respected member of the community.
In 1954, he dropped a bomb on his congregation, telling them that he was in love with a woman who wasn’t his wife. He wanted to get a divorce and marry his new love, asking for a year’s leave to sort his life out. His request was granted; however, after a few weeks, some church members suggested that it would be wise for him to leave the church, and he did.
He married the woman he was in love with, Mrs. Clara Kaigler, and legally adopted her four children. He and some followers organized services inside Mack Avenue Baptist Church at Mack and Ellery until they had saved enough money to purchase the structure pictured here, renaming it the Miles Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.
By May 1957, the congregation was in full swing. The Michigan Chronicle published, “The entire membership is paying tribute to the pastor, the Reverend E. M. Kaigler, for his fine leadership, sincerity, and his ability to build great churches.” Additionally, the church had an extensive youth program and an annual Women’s Day Service, which Mrs. Kaigler helped organize.
On January 14, 1959, Reverend Elzie Miles Kaigler murdered his wife in their home at 4492 Burns Street.
The couple began arguing earlier that evening when Mrs. Kaigler asked her husband about a conference he was set to attend in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Reverend said that he had fired a shot into the air to warn his wife to back down, eventually got entangled with her, and his .38 revolver went off, striking her in the head as she struggled to take the gun from him while their children slept feet away from the tussle. Kaigler was arrested and released on $5,000 bond, as officials said that he wouldn’t be charged with first-degree murder.
Soon, he was back at Miles Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, pictured here. He didn’t preach, but he asked his church to send flowers to his slain wife’s funeral and sang a solo ‘Stand By Me” before the sermon.
Kaigler did not attend his wife’s funeral but was in the church to listen to it. After it concluded, he returned home, where a reported 200 friends and church members met him and prepared dinner for him. Then, he received a call from his lawyer telling him to come downtown immediately, as new evidence had been uncovered.
In a shocking turn of events, Clara had been recording their conversation. Officials said she was likely trying to use it in a divorce suit against her husband. On the tape, she questioned her husband about certain activities, to which he kept replying, “You have no evidence.” With the discovery of the tape recorder, first-degree murder charges were requested by the prosecution, which was granted, and the reverend was brought back in and held without bond.
The children, Rose, 12, Eric, 11, Marion, 10, Charles, 4, gave their story to the police. The papers said that they heard their stepfather threaten to go get his gun, and one of them recalled hearing their mother shout, “Go ahead — shoot me! Shoot me!” If convicted, Kaigler would serve a mandatory life sentence.
On January 24, 1959, the tape was played for the media. The Michigan Chronicle, which did an excellent job covering the case, reported, “Some parts of the argument were too profane to be carried in a newspaper.” She accused him of infidelity with two women and said that he stole money from his church to buy a new truck. He said that she was running around with another man for years. He was quoted as saying, “I’ll blow your brains out. I don’t have many more years to live, and I don’t mind spending the rest of my life in Jackson.” The couple had been drinking. Though Mrs. Kaigler had been recording the incident, the recorder ran out of tape before the murder.
Again, he was released on a $5,000 bond, which was incredibly rare. According to Arthur Koscinski, chief assistant prosecutor, quoted in the Michigan Chronicle, “The law can allow bond in first-degree murder cases when the presumption of guilt is not too strong, or when the intent to murder is not too clear.”
The children, whom Kaigler had legally adopted, weren’t allowed to stay with their legal father. They told police that they came to the room after they heard gunshots and asked Kaigler why he had shot her, to which he replied, “I shot your mother because she refused to pick up my eyeglasses.”
On Tuesday, June 23, 1959, the tape was played in the courtroom for the jury, which was made up of one man and eleven women, just one of whom was black. The defense tried to keep the recording out of the courtroom, but the prosecution won. According to the Chronicle, “It marked the first time in Michigan court history that a tape recording was used in a case as evidence against a defendant.”
A reporter from the Michigan Chronicle spoke with Kaigler in the courthouse, and he joked, “If I go to Jackson, you and the Chronicle will be most responsible for sending me there.” The reporter noted that the reverend didn’t think he would be convicted.
On Tuesday, June 30, 1959, Elzie Miles Kaigler was convicted by a jury of his peers of first-degree murder. In the weeks after the verdict was brought down, the lone black juror, Mrs. Ann Knox, began receiving threatening phone calls at her home.
Through all this, Miles Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, pictured here, continued hosting services, growing, and even adding to the front of the church in 1971. The congregation’s ability to continue during this tumultuous period speaks volumes to their dedication to the church.
Unfortunately, the church’s founder’s tumultuous time wasn’t over yet. In 1963, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered that he receive a new trial after it was revealed that the tape recording used in the case had been obtained through an illegal search and seizure. On March 15, 1963, he was convicted of manslaughter, which he was sentenced to 7-15 years for. Elzie Miles Kaigler died on December 18, 1969, at Veteran Hospital. His funeral was held at Our Father Baptist Church.
Back at the corner of Field and Sylvester, his church continued on. Starting around 1960, Reverend Lonnie C. Cummings was pastor of the church. In 1963, the Spratlen Singers were hosting their 10th-anniversary activities under the direction of Mrs. Abbye Spratlen there.
Reverend Lonnie Cummings was with the church until at least 1982. In the 1980s, the church hosted annual celebrations for families and friends of the building. At some point, Reverend Freddie Minor became pastor.
Though the congregation doesn’t appear as large as it once was, the church still offers weekly Sunday School, Morning Services, and Bible classes. The name on the sign indicates that David L. Daniels, Sr. is the current pastor.
I ride my bicycle past this structure often and always admire it. Thanks to Miles Fellowship Baptist, this structure is still standing and hopefully will be for generations to come.
