A Piece of History

While exploring this weekend, we discovered this monument. It marked the location and establishment of the first church in this county in 1822. Additional research revealed the following information about that congregation which was formed nearly 200 years ago.

In 1822 Charles Beaty, a young missionary from the Board of Domestic Missions gathered together the few Presbyterian families living along Little Raccoon Creek between the mouth of that stream and the present site of Waveland. Prominent in the gathering were James Buchanan and Thomas Gilkerson. After preaching for some weeks Mr. Beaty organized a society known as the Shiloh Presbyterian Church, which in 1824 built a hewed log house near Little Raccoon Creek, about four miles northeast of Rockville. Evidently this was the first church house in Parke County, but its exact location cannot be identified. The elders of this church were Amos P. Balch, William McMillin, Jonathan Garrison, James Buchanan, and Henry Anderson. Several visiting ministers conducted services here prior to 1828, when Reverend Samuel H. McNutt became state supply and so continued until 1832. Present elders include H. B. Butler, John W. Adams, and Frank Fisher .