Scots-Irish pioneer settlers from New York established the Southfield Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southfield Township in 1834, and since 1838 this land has been its home. The congregation worshipped in homes and barns until its first church was built, and the current larger, more permanent building was constructed in 1861 on land donated by John Parks for the church and cemetery. The Reverend James Neill served as first pastor from 1842 until 1851, and the Reverend J.S.T. Milligan led the congregation from 1853 to 1871, a period of significant membership growth. Founding members included early Southfield Township families such as the Stewarts, Parks, Erwins, and Thompsons. David Stewart, nearly 70 years old, went house to house to raise money for seats in the first church and became the first person buried in the cemetery, which is the final resting place of a number of Southfield's early settlers. The Covenanter Church was among the earliest religious organizations to take a firm position against slavery, requiring members in the early 1800s to free enslaved African Americans. Using the Southfield church as an Underground Railroad station, the congregation and Reverend Milligan took active roles as agents, activists, and conductors helping fugitive slaves escape to Canada. Milligan, the son of an influential minister and a member of an ardent abolitionist family, frequently housed fugitive slaves at his farm; one freedom-seeker, J. Sella Martin, stayed there for six weeks, and Milligan called him the smartest man he ever met.