Salem Methodist - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

As with many early churches, a circuit rider (a minister who would come, stop at a home, stay there for 3 months or so), lead church services church services, then move on. When the Brush School house was built for area school children, church and Sunday School services were held there but in August 1871, John Death and wife donated ground so a church could finally be built. As today, funds were raised and about a year later, the church was dedicated by Rev. Thomas Birch, a popular circuit rider, who stayed and served the church for a few years but had to resign because of illness.  Trustees were Zachariah Leman; Thomas Birch; William Coffing; Samuel Ward and John W. Death.  Brothers Jesse, Smith, Mock, Weston, Adkins and Padrick were early ministers for the church.  Families did not sit together but the men were on one side with the older boys and women and children on the other side.  Heating was accomplished by two Cannon stoves and everyone would meet, cut, split and haul wood to the church.  As with other churches, new items needed were slowly purchased (organ, bell which by the way was so huge it sat on the front steps for quite a few years, finally the men from the church got it up with Alvin West as overseer.  In 1898, the Ladies Aid Society was formed, later having the name, Women’s Society of Christian Service.  Thus the small church sufficed until a few years after the turn of the century when a group (Charles Coffing; Edward Meade; Sam Ward; John Warrick; Oliver Bantz and Charles Denten) church trustees decided it was time for a newer, bigger one – funds were again raised and on Oct 11, 1914, the church was dedicated complete, raising the old building in order to put a basement underneath for the furnace and community meetings.  B.F. Clinton was minister at this time and there was a hanging debt; thus in 1923, the church folk started serving meals at the County Fair.  The $300,000 was finally paid then other projects were tackled (fix the basement – it leaked but they got it fixed; make more SS rooms down there which they smartly did adding accordion doors, new heating, lighting, new piano and Hammond Organ).  A large dedication Jan 20, 1963 and in May that year the name of the church was changed to Salem Methodist Church.