Alder Chapel Universalist Church (1967)

Jefferson Township, Ohio
(Madison County)

Background mage: The approximate location of the church, the southern edge of Foster Chapel Cemetery 3683 Plain City-Georgesville Rd. (County Hwy 7), West Jefferson, OH

Foster Chapel? Alder Chapel? Two separate churches with an interwoven history that takes a metaphorical crochet hook to pull the strands apart and arrive at a hopefully coherent history of Alder Chapel.

Foster Chapel was the first church organized in Jefferson Township (Madison County, Ohio). Her roots extend to 1808 with the arrival of the Rev. Lewis Foster, a Methodist Episcopal minister. Soon after settling in, Rev. Lewis began to hold services at his home. In 1825, Foster Chapel was built to house the growing congregation.

We need here to take a side trip to what today is known as “Foster Chapel Cemetery.” The cemetery existed before the church, at least back to 1818 and served as a Foster family cemetery, Anthony Foster, perhaps being the first buried there. When the church was razed sometime after 1875 the cemetery was expanded and became known as Foster Chapel Cemetery (1).

The Universalists who had settled in Jefferson Township were served mostly by itinerant Universalist missionaries who wandered throughout Ohio. Information about these early Universalists is scant. However, we do know that in 1837 a dispute rose between the Methodist and Universalist who were both meeting in a West Jefferson school house. The Methodists went on to build their own church in West Jefferson (1838). At some point after this the Universalists began borrowing space for worship from the Foster Chapel Methodists (2), four miles to the north of town.

By 1860 the Universalists were of sufficient number to organize and be “Fellowshipped” by the Winchester Association as the “First Universalist Church of Jefferson Township” (3, 4). The same year they began to build their church just to the south of Foster Chapel on ½ acre of property purchased from Thomas Timmons for $50. The church, dedicated on Saturday, November 29, 1860 was described as a “plain, simple” building measuring 24’ x 40’ feet. The cost to build was $1000, which included the purchase of the bell. The Rev. W. W. Norton preached at the 10 am dedication service.

The Universalists reorganized in 1874 as Alder Chapel presumably to honor Jefferson Township’s first white settler, Joseph Alder (1771 – 1849), was buried at the south edge of Foster Cemetery by the church.

In 1883 the church had 23 members and was served by the Rev. Mr. Crosley of London, Ohio. The History of Madison County notes that from reorganization to the time of Rev. Crosley the church had been served by settled pastors (5). Ohio Universalist Convention records record that by 1921 the church had gone dormant (6).

In 1967 the land owner, a Mr. Domby, reclaimed the land and demolished the church in the name of potential development. How the church was used between her closing and razing still needs to be discovered by this researcher. A likely possibility was her use by another denomination (7).

Another questioned to be researched is, who cast the church bell and where did it end up?

While it took some time to unravel the history of Alder Chapel, the image sometimes labeled “Foster Chapel,” sometimes, “Alder Chapel,” and sometimes both, to a bit more sleuthing to work out which it was.

The dating of the razing was Foster Chapel was noted as sometime “after 1875.” (6) While the image could have been the church, the coloring of the photo made it appear to be a more recent image. Perhaps then the 1967 date often attributed to the image was correct. What settled it, was that when I looked closely at the image, there was an electric box and wire that didn’t date back to the 1880s. This was indeed a picture of Alder Chapel (8).


Notes

1. Miller, Charlie, Series 138.
2. Robinson, Elmo Arnold, p. 140.
3. The History of Madison County, p. 638.
4. The Universalists were certainly organized in some manner prior to being “Fellowshipped” in 1860, as they were able to establish regular meetings. As there is a mention in the Ohio Universalist Convention records of a Universalist gathering know as “West Jefferson,” this could refer to some sort of organized body.
4. ibid.
5. Robinson, ibid.
6. The photo has also been identified as Alder Chapel United Baptist Church. Alder Chapel United Baptist Church’s current location is her second location. The identification dates to the late 50s -early 60s.
7. The original photo, dated "1967," is located at the Plain City Public Library. If the church was not razed until 1967, there are undoubtedly more images out there somewhere.

Bibliography:

1. The History of Madison County Ohio. Illustrated. W.H. Beers Co. (1883). P.638.
2. Miller, Charlie, West Jefferson Days Gone By, Series 28, 138, Hurt/Battelle Memorial Library of West Jefferson (1960 and after). Gleaned from Madison Chronicle, London, OH.
3. Robinson, Elmo Arnold. The Universalist Church in Ohio. The Ohio Universalist Convention. (1923).

Approximate location to south of Foster Chapel Cemetery.

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