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Bethel Baptist Church - 211 E. Plane St.- Bethel, Ohio - Tate Township - From the Clermont County Freedom Trail "The Bethel Baptist Church was organized in 1798 as an anti-slavery church. Note*-the current building was built in 1853. Obed Denham, abolitionist and founder of Bethel, donated two lots for the church to build a meeting house and cemetery. Denham placed a deed restriction upon the gift, prohibiting the use by "those who hold slaves or commune at the Lord's table with those who practice slavery." The church became the first emancipating society west of the Alleghenies. The church joined the Baptized Licking Locust Association, an association of anti-slavery Baptists of Kentucky. Members of the church who were active in the Underground Railroad include Robert Vandosal and Gerrard P. Riley.


From "Clermont County Bicentennial 1800-2000" - When Obed Denham platted the town which he named Plainfield for his home in New Jersey, the settlement was commonly called Denham town. In the deed for the village, characteristics of Obed Denham can be plainly seen. He made several donations and among others was giving of two town lots to the Baptist Church - one for a place of wordship, the other for a burial ground. His reason for giving these to the Baptist Church is given as follows in his own language, "They do not hold slaves or commune at the Lord's table with those that do practice such tyranny over their fellow creatures."

The local history of Bethel seems to indicate 1798 as the date of organization of the Regular Baptist Church. It was the first religious body organized in Tate Township. From the church records it seems that Jeremiah Beck Sr. was the leader of the six charter members.

The church membership of Jeremiah Beck has been traced back to Sept. 20, 1783, when he and his wife united in the Great Bethel Church in Uniontown, Penn. It seems natural that this church which he and his young wife first joined would always be held in great reverence, and it seems natural that this new Baptist Church should be named Bethel Baptist Church.

The six charter members of Bethel Baptist Church were Jeremiah Beck Sr., Obed Denham, Kelly Burke, Jeremiah Beck Jr., Mary Denham (wife of Obed), and Charity Beck (daughter of Obed). Six others, including Rev. John Denham and his wife, were added by letter.

The first meetings of the church were evidently held at homes of the members. There was no regular pastor. The firsst moderator mentioned was Moses Hutchings who began preaching in 1805. The first known record of Bethel Baptist Church is dated June 27, 1805, and reads as follows: "The Church of Christ at Bethel" (not a forerunner of the present Bethel Church of Christ) having been for a long time in a disturbed and scattered situation have once more met in order to consult the minds respecting their situation. After prayers to Almighty God for the special direction of His spirit, proceeded to business. Moses Hutchings was the moderator. The first definite place to hold business meetings was the home of Brother Denham (probably Obed Denham).

In May 1806, we find the Bethel Church appointed Brother John Denham to be a messenger to the Emancipating Association, which shows its early alliance with the forces working for the freedom of slaves. In 1816, The Reverend Moses Edwards, then serving as the third moderator, was called to take the "pastoral" care of the church, thus becoming the first known pastor. Though the second moderator, Rev. John Denham, may have acted in that capacity, Rev. John Riley was the second pastor, being called in 1823, "to preach once a month if he can find it convenient." He was followed by Rev. Aaron Sargent from Kentucky, a strong spiritual leader and the father of a family of preachers and Christian workers who were valuable members of the church through a long period of years.

The church membership was steadily increasing and in 1814 preparations were begun for the building of a house of worship.

"March 26, 1814, the question for building a meeting house laid over for further consideration," is the first reference to a building. In 1816 a decision to build was reached.

The church was located on South Union Street and was built something after the style of the old Puritan Church, well supplied with windows. The high pulpit was surrounded by a balustrade and reached by stairs on either side. The woodwork of the pulpist was nicely wrought. The minister took his place after climbing a flight of stairs. The pulpit was lighted by windows behind it. All the interior woodwork was painted white. The white finish was not only attractive, but contributed to the lighting effect at night when tallow candles with tin reflectors were used for illumintaion. The church was considered well lighted. (An interesting not found in the records: October 1, 1836, Voted that Sister Ogden receive $8 for taking care of the church o

THE ASBURY HOUSES OF WORSHIP
The Asbury Church buildings as we know them today – the church sanctuary, Weyand Hall, Wesley Hall and the connecting cloister – are about as far removed from the architectural thoughts of the early church fathers as one can imagine. In the words of our first bishop, Francis Asbury, “Let all our chapels be built plain and decent, but no more expensive than is absolutely unavoidable. Otherwise the necessity of raising money will make rich men necessary to us. But if so, we must be dependent upon them, yes, and governed by them. And then farewell to the Methodist Discipline, if not our doctirine too.” We have survived and prospered together, to the point that today we seem justifiably proud of the church’s beautiful architecture with its stained glass appointments that we claim as our worship home.

Francis Asbury first preached in this area at the home of Peter Bonnett on what is now Central Park Avenue. Peter was an ardent revolutionary and a dedicated leader of the local Methodist Society formed in 1773. Hiding from the British in the hills above White Plains by day, he returned to the Crestwood area at night to help keep the Society alive. After peace came with the removal of the British and Hessians, Bishop Asbury came north again from his refuge in Delaware and led services at the home of Abigail Sherwood on the corner of what is now Scarsdale Road and Pennsylvania Avenue, as well as at the “other Sherwood” house, now an historic site at the juncture of Tuckahoe Road and the Sprain Brook Parkway. After preaching at Widow Abigail Sherwood’s house on September 24, 1797, Bishop Asbury entered in his journal, “Now they are about building a church.”

A wooden chapel was built by Silas Crawford on the site of the present church. It was a well-built frame building, large for its time, with two entrance doors on either side of the front – one for men and one for women. The exact date for construction of the chapel is in doubt. Although it would seem from Asbury’s journal lo have been started in 1797, the one-acre parcel on which it was constructed was deeded by Moses and Tamer Sherwood for a price of S25 lo the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Yonkers on December 25, 1800 The deed was not recorded at the county registry until July 30. 1835. Known locally as the Sherwood Chapel, it served an expanding community of worshipers from Tuckahoe. parts of Eastchester and New Roctwile, as well as northeast Yonkers. At the time the chape! was built, the local area contained a few farms, a school, the Underhill Tavern and a blacksmith shop.

Rev. Francis Asbury (1745-1816)
In 1865, this wooden frame church was sold to Charles Dusenberry to make way for the present marble structure on the same site. Mr. Dusenberry moved it across Underhill Street to its present location, where it served as housing for his farm hands and subsequently his own descendants. In 1921, it was sold to the Davenports, and then to the Langhans Family in 1955.

The present church building, with its simple strong lines, was built on the site of the old chapel with marble from the Tuckahoe quarries at the end of the Civil War. Started in 1866, it was dedicated in January or February of 1867 as the Asbury Centenary Methodist Church, with the word “Centenary” added to the name above the front door to note the 100th anniversary of Methodism in America. Costs of construction were considerable but were diminished by contributed labor and materials. Although the trustees had resolved in 1866 that construction costs should not exceed 58,500, when completed in 1867, the new building was estimated to be worth $20.000.
Interior lighting was by kerosene lamps. Electric lights were installed in 1898 with financial help from the Ladies Aid Society, whose minutes note that “. . We also congratulate ourselves on the improved appearance of the church edifice with its beautiful electric lights which we trust will prove an attraction to those we would like to see in the pews.”

A Lecture Room was added to the back of the new church shortly after its construction at the instigation of a Stephen Barker, who seems to have paid for it from his own pocket. In 1903-04. an L- extension was attached to the rear side wall of the church, where the transept now is. Apparently, this addition was made to accommodate demands for increased Sunday School space. At least $500 of the unknown cost was raised by the Ladies Aid Society through pledges, dues, socials and suppers A final oyster supper planned for March 11, 1904 was transformed at the last minute to a much more prosaic roast chicken and chicken pie supper. A further small addition to this “L” was made in 1908 and referred to in the Ladies Aid Society minutes as “that funny little kitchen behind the old Sunday School room.”

Alterations of an extensive but not well-documented nature were made in 1911-12 to the interior and exterior of the church. The marble belfry over the front door wa

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