Encyclopedia Of Detroit

Ebenezer Raynale was a Detroit-area medical doctor and senator. Born on October 12, 1804 in Hartland, Vermont, Raynale quickly developed an interest in medicine. After earning his M.D. in 1828, he moved to Franklin, Michigan where he practiced medicine and is credited with giving the village its name. He established the post office at Franklin and was the postmaster for seven years.

Raynale once travelled over 60 miles day and night after becoming lost in a snow storm when he went to treat a poor woman in the countryside. The territory he covered in his practice encompassed West Bloomfield, Bloomfield, Southfield and Farmington townships. While continuing to aid the sick as a doctor in his community, Dr. Raynale was soon inspired to apply his passion for serving his fellow man to local politics. In 1835, he became a delegate to the convention which framed the first Michigan constitution. The same year, he was elected to the first Michigan Senate where he served in Detroit, then the capitol of Michigan.

In 1839, Dr. Raynale moved to Birmingham, Michigan, where he became the first treasurer of Birmingham’s Masonic Lodge No. 44, chartered in January of 1851. Along with his involvement in local politics, Dr. Raynale continued his commitment to medicine, eventually helping to form Michigan’s first medical association. Dr. Ebenezer Raynale passed away on March 24, 1881 and was buried at Birmingham’s Greenwood Cemetery, which he helped to establish.