May 16, 2003 5 min read

On Sunday, May 25, the Upper Middletown United Methodist Church in Menallen Township will celebrate the 219th anniversary of the founding the church. The anniversary service will be held at 11 a.m. in the church sanctuary. Bishop Hae-Jong Kim of the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church is scheduled to be guest speaker. Dinner will be served immediately following the service. Former ministers, members and friends of the church will be present and the public is invited to take part in this commemorative service.

According to a history supplied by the church, “The earliest Methodist meetings held in the village originally called Plumsock occurred in 1784, when Bishop Francis Asbury formed the Redstone Circuit, which included all of Pennsylvania beyond the Allegheny Mountains as well as parts of what is now Ohio and West Virginia.

“The first services were conducted at the Jones family home about a half mile south of the present location on a farm that is adjacent to present Route 51. The meetings were later moved to the Fuller house located at the crossroads of the village.

“About 1800, the congregation erected a chapel constructed of logs on the northeast corner of the crossroads. Itinerant preachers continued to serve the Methodist Episcopal congregation during that period, sometimes only being able to attend to the needs of the pioneer community every two to three weeks.

“Between visits from the Circuit Riders, local elders and deacons attended to the religious needs of the community, conducting worship, visiting the sick and burying the dead. Marriages were entrusted to the local justice of the peace.

“However, the sacraments of baptism and communion were reserved for the arrival of the circuit rider.

“Franklin Ellis, in his ‘History of Fayette County,’ credits Arthur Palmer for starting the first Methodist meetings in the community and a subsequent church building in 1825; however, we know from other documents that the church was well established by this time. The meetings referred to by Ellis were more than likely Bible studies held in the Keller mansion, which was Palmer’s home. There is no doubt, however, that Palmer played an intricate role in the furtherance of Methodism in Plumsock.

“In 1829, the growing congregation began construction of a second church at the site on which the present church stands. ‘It was constructed of stone and was a square, one-room auditorium of German architecture. The pulpit, of basketlike appearance, was located in the northeast corner of the room, midway between floor and ceiling, and was surmounted by a pair of winding stairs. The pews were backless benches.’ A cemetery was begun on the south and east sides of the church and the first burials took place about 1831. The earliest burial that still has a marker was that of Zachariah Johnson, who died in 1833. In 1895, additional land was purchased to expand the cemetery.

“The land on which the church and cemetery sat was a parcel owned by Daniel and Susannah Jordan Whetsel. They had purchased the land from John McClelland about the time the new church was being constructed, and in 1838, sold about eight acres of the parcel to Edward Jones. However, in the deed transferring the property to Jones, the land on which the church stood and the access lane were excluded from the sale to Jones. Unfortunately, no deed was ever recorded transferring the excluded church property to the Methodist Episcopal congregation. Ironically, while five generations of descendants of Daniel and Susannah Whetsel have attended the church, they were both Baptists and later buried in the Old Redstone Baptist Cemetery near Smock.

“The stone church served the congregation for only a brief time. In 1840, the present building was constructed around the stone church. After the present building was finished, the stone church was dismantled piece-by-piece and removed from inside the current sanctuary. The interior was then finished.

“This fact was confirmed when excavation was done for the current fellowship hall.

“The brick for the current building was made and fired on property adjacent to the church.

“When the foundation was dug for the parsonage in 1953, the old brick-making area was unearthed.

“The congregation survived the great schism of 1830 when the Methodist Episcopal Church in America divided into two separate denominations. Rather than become a Methodist Protestant Church, as many churches on the Redstone Circuit did, they remained faithful to the Methodist Episcopal Church. The church continued as part of the Redstone Circuit until about 1870. The church has never been an independent charge, even today it shares its pastors, the Rev. Roger Howard and the Rev. Daniel Brant, with three other churches as part of the Larger Uniontown Parish.

“In 1936, a great storm destroyed much of the 100-year-old structure. It was repaired and a furnace added at a cost of $3,000. In 1953, the congregation constructed the parsonage, which served the pastors until recently. Only one carpenter was hired to supervise the project, with the majority of the work done by volunteers from the congregation. Since that time, other additions and improvements have been made to the old building. It is believed that the church is the fifth oldest church building still in use by the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church.

“Upper Middletown United Methodist Church has provided 25 men to the ministry, some of whom were: John Lewis, Josiah Mansell, Harry Mansell, Asahel C. Brown, W. Donald Whetsel, Bernard Burwell, Wayne Burwell, Clayton Whetsel, Carson McCormick and William Morris.’

In order for the church to plan for the anniversary dinner, reservations must be phoned in to the church by Sunday, May 18.

The number is 724-437-4740.

Reservations may also be sent by e-mail to begin commumc@lcsys.net commumc@lcsys.net end

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