Commission on Archives & History

Conference Cane

The Detroit Conference Cane was implemented in 1904 to recognize one hundred years of Michigan Methodism. Its creation coincided with the founding of the Conference Historical Society, now the Commission on Archives & History.

Detroit Conference Cane The cane is presented to and held by the oldest ordained elder of the Conference who has served in the Conference for at least thirty-five years and lives within the boundaries of the conference. Each recipient holds the cane for the remainder of their life, and upon their death it reverts to the Conference. Each recipient's name is placed on a plate added to the cane.

The body of the cane is made from wood from the church in Adrian where the Detroit Conference was founded. The cane contains wooden inlays from the first Methodist Church building in River Rouge, the desk of Seth Reed, the tree that overlooks the grave of Barbara Heck, wood from the pulpit of Robert Strawbridge, and the building in which Judson Collins converted to Methodism.

	Francis Asbury Blades 7 August 1821 - 24 April 1906 Conference Cane: 1904 Age at death: 85 years, 8 months
	Seth Reed 2 June 1823 - 24 March 1924 Conference Cane: 1905 Age at death: 100 years, 9 months
	Philip J. Wright 17 May 1839 - 15 February 1928 Conference Cane: 1924 Age at death: 88 years, 8 months
	David Casler 3 February 1840 - 17 January 1929 Conference Cane: 1928 Age at death: 88 years, 11 months	[Finding Aid]
	David Buchanan Millar 7 June 1840 - 12 February 1941 Conference Cane: 1929 Age at death: 100 years, 8 months
	James Edward Jacklin 1 January 1847 - 23 November 1943 Conference Cane: 1941 Age at death: 96 years, 10 months	[Finding Aid]
	Samuel Graves 22 March 1852 - 27 February 1948 Conference Cane: 1944 Age at death: 95 years, 11 months
	George Francis Tripp 13 March 1861 - 25 March 1949 Conference Cane: 1948 Age at death: 88 years	[Finding Aid]
	Thomas Madden Mott 11 June 1857 - 9 November 1950 Conference Cane: 1950 Age at death: 93 years, 4 months
	Carl S. Risley 29 December 1870 - 5 May 1953 Conference Cane: 1951 Age at death: 82 years, 4 months
	David Newton Earl 14 July 1855 - 14 July 1953 Conference Cane: 1953 Age at death: 98 years
	Edwin Darius Dimond 12 January 1862 - 14 December 1958 Conference Cane: 1954 Age at death: 96 years, 11 months
	James Thomas Moyle Stephens 3 January 1870 - 31 March 1960 Conference Cane: 1959 Age at death: 90 years, 2 months
	Henry Addis Leeson 17 March 1871 - 25 February 1964 Conference Cane: 1960 Age at death: 92 years, 11 months
	Richard Charles George Williams 5 September 1876 - 16 January 1966 Conference Cane: 1964 Age at death: 89 years, 4 months
	Charles Irwin Bragg 21 February 1877 - 18 February 1967 Conference Cane: 1966 Age at death: 89 years, 11 months	[Finding Aid]
	William A. Gregory 31 January 1878 - 18 July 1971 Conference Cane: 1967 Age at death: 93 years, 5 months
	Frank Marshall Purdy 11 March 1878 - 29 May 1973 Conference Cane: 1971 Age at death: 95 years, 2 months
	Henry I. Voelker 29 January 1881 - 25 April 1975 Conference Cane: 1973 Age at death: 94 years, 2 months
	Russell D. Hopkins 31 December 1884 - 2 January 1984 Conference Cane: 1975 Age at death: 99 years
	Benjamin F. Holme 29 September 1894 - 8 December 1989 Conference Cane: 1984 Age at death: 95 years, 2 months
	Myron Robinson Everett 1 September 1899 - 3 June 1993 Conference Cane: 1990 Age at death: 93 years, 9 months
	George MacDonald Jones 23 June 1907 - 16 July 1998 Conference Cane: 1993 Age at death: 91 years
	Walter Cloyd Briney Saxman 6 July 1907 - 26 February 2002 Conference Cane: 1998 Age at death: 94 years, 7 months
	Ira Leslie Wood 15 March 1909 - 26 June 2003 Conference Cane: 2002 Age at death: 94 years, 3 months
	Alvin Burton 17 August 1905 - 2 August 2005 Conference Cane: 2003 Age at death: 99 years, 11 months
	Konstantin Wipp 15 November 1912 - 3 August 2012 Conference Cane: 2005 Age at death: 99 years, 8 months
	William David "Tex" Rickard 30 July 1921 - 8 November 2013 Conference Cane: 2013 Age at death: 92 years, 3 months
	Donald Otis Crumm 14 December 1925 - 20 September 2014 Conference Cane: 2014 Age at death: 88 years, 9 months
	Arthur Lloyd Spafford Jr. 6 April 1926 Conference Cane: 2014