Church

Founding Date: September 23, 1836

Founder: Reverend William Paul Quinn

Original Location: The two-room cabin of Jane and Cornelius Overman on the east side of the 400 block on South Fifth (Pearl) Street.

Current Location: 200 S 6th Street

History: Richmond’s Bethel AME Church is the oldest still-operating Black congregation in the state of Indiana. The church was first organized on September 23, 1836, in the two-room cabin of Jane and Cornelius Overman on the east side of the 400 block on South Fifth (Pearl) Street. The church was organized by Reverend William Paul Quinn, a traveling missionary. The church originally had 16 members. Quinn appointed Cornelious Overman as the leader of the new church, and William Davidson, Nathan Ward, and George Black were made trustees. Another notable founding member, George Black, kept meticulous written records for the congregation for the next 25 years.

In May of 1837, the church was able to establish a permanent place of worship. A Quaker couple sold a lot to the congregation for $25, located at what is now 436-38 South Sixth Street. The members moved a two-story frame building to the lot and began to renovate it into a respectable church with a school on the second floor. Maggie Woodyear, one of Richmond’s first Black teachers, taught many Black children at the church’s school.

The Civil War era was difficult for the church, and they struggled to maintain a large membership. They also suffered great losses during the time, with two members being killed in the war. William H. Clemens died of injuries on June 24, 1864. Another member, John Wesley Winslow, was killed in battle.

In 1869, Bethel AME Church moved to its current location on S. 6th Street, using the structure that German Methodists had erected in 1857. In 1892, this building was razed, and a new church was built in its place.