“During August, 1888, plans were begun for the erection of a church building
and James JENKINS, the Longanecker school teacher, wrote the ‘I do herby
pledge to give such amount as herein indicated for the erection of a
church,’ These subscriptions amounted to $124.25. The names appearing on the
paper were: James JENKINS, R. S. HOBBS, John FERNSEL, Dr. GANTZ, W.L. RADER,
N. T. BUSKIRK, N. E. BAUMONK, Joseph JENKINS, J. H. GRAYSON, Len GLASS, Ora
E. HOPKINS, William MAURBARGER, Wm. TURNER, Thomas SULLIVAN, James K. MOSS,
George W. FATCH, Wm. HELTON, A. M. MOP, J. H. MITCHELL, Wm. SMITH, ROYER
Brothers and Wm. T. BARNETT. Doubtless other pledges were given but they
have been lost with the passing of the years….Mrs. Mary Elizabeth FATCH made
the community a gift of one acre of ground to be used for church purposes,
the edifice was built there, hence the name Fatch Chapel in honor of Mrs.
FATCH….Other highly esteemed citizens who are recalled as being instrumental
in keeping the church together besides those already mentioned were William
HELTON, Mrs. JOHNS, Mile CAMPBELL, Clara and George FATCH, Vincent
LOUDERMILK, William LASALLE, Belle DAVIS, and Ora HOPKINS….In the summer of
1907 Ora HOPKINS promoted a community Singing School under the able
direction of John FISCHER, a music graduate of DePauw. The course consisted
of fifteen lessons at one dollar per member. Some who participated were:
Edity McINTYRE, Herman CAMPBELL, Henry & Marie WALDBIESER, Bulah, Ruth, and
Valora HOPKINS, Mary GILTZ, Ethel LOUDERMILK, Charles & Ernest FISCHER,
Bonnie, Clara, and George FATCH, Oscar, Audry, and Herman LaSALLE, Edna,
Clena, and Leatha MATTHEWS.” The foregoing information was excerpted from
the interesting little Fatch Chapel booklet found in the file cabinet under
“Churches.”
November 27, 1969: “Fatch Chapel Burns”
“Fatch Chapel United Methodist church burned to the ground last night as the
result of a fire of unknown origin. The church burst into flames around
10:30 p.m. according to eyewitnesses to the blaze. The church, one of the
oldest such buildings in the county, apparently caught fire as the result of
an overheated furnace, although the exact cause was has not been determined.
The church, which was remodeled in 1946, has a congregation of some 65
members and is located three and half miles south of Center Point.”
The Fatch Chapel folder also contains several news articles, photographs,
and clippings from the Fatch Chapel column in the August 20, 1935, Clay City
newspaper: “The King’s Heralds met Wednesday afternoon at the home of Wm.
HARDEN. The following officers were elected: Pres. Cleota NICOSON; Vice
Pres. Ruth BRANT; Sec. Geneva HARDEN; Pianist Thelma FRODERMAN. After the
meeting refreshments of ice cream and cake were served to: Virginia
LOWDERMILK, Ruth BRANT, Virginia FISHER, Marjorie SWANK, Cleota and Arola
NICOSON, Geneva and Lois HARDEN, Marvin WALDBEISER, Joy HARDEN, Quentin
CAMPBELL, Galen HARDEN, Hila Mae MAURER, Betty BRAND, Bane and Merlin
CAMPBELL, and the leader, Kathleen CAMPBELL.” Miss Kathleen CAMPBELL wrote
the article.
“During August, 1888, plans were begun for the erection of a church building
and James JENKINS, the Longanecker school teacher, wrote the ‘I do herby
pledge to give such amount as herein indicated for the erection of a
church,’ These subscriptions amounted to $124.25. The names appearing on the
paper were: James JENKINS, R. S. HOBBS, John FERNSEL, Dr. GANTZ, W.L. RADER,
N. T. BUSKIRK, N. E. BAUMONK, Joseph JENKINS, J. H. GRAYSON, Len GLASS, Ora
E. HOPKINS, William MAURBARGER, Wm. TURNER, Thomas SULLIVAN, James K. MOSS,
George W. FATCH, Wm. HELTON, A. M. MOP, J. H. MITCHELL, Wm. SMITH, ROYER
Brothers and Wm. T. BARNETT. Doubtless other pledges were given but they
have been lost with the passing of the years….Mrs. Mary Elizabeth FATCH made
the community a gift of one acre of ground to be used for church purposes,
the edifice was built there, hence the name Fatch Chapel in honor of Mrs.
FATCH….Other highly esteemed citizens who are recalled as being instrumental
in keeping the church together besides those already mentioned were William
HELTON, Mrs. JOHNS, Mile CAMPBELL, Clara and George FATCH, Vincent
LOUDERMILK, William LASALLE, Belle DAVIS, and Ora HOPKINS….In the summer of
1907 Ora HOPKINS promoted a community Singing School under the able
direction of John FISCHER, a music graduate of DePauw. The course consisted
of fifteen lessons at one dollar per member. Some who participated were:
Edity McINTYRE, Herman CAMPBELL, Henry & Marie WALDBIESER, Bulah, Ruth, and
Valora HOPKINS, Mary GILTZ, Ethel LOUDERMILK, Charles & Ernest FISCHER,
Bonnie, Clara, and George FATCH, Oscar, Audry, and Herman LaSALLE, Edna,
Clena, and Leatha MATTHEWS.” The foregoing information was excerpted from
the interesting little Fatch Chapel booklet found in the file cabinet under
“Churches.”