Churches  of  Shelby  County  Indiana

 Norristown  Union


Picture contributed by Peggy Smith




          The following comments are from Kathy Ridlen:
          There was a Norristown Union Church. The Hoosier Genealogist, Vol. 19 - No. 3, Sept. 1979 has a list of subscribers to this church dated Nov. 16, 1857 and the amounts they gave. I have the pages showing the list. I can look up the name you are interested in. This article gives the name of the person who had the original records at the time of the article and also the name of the DAR member who submitted the records, but that was 21 years ago so I don't want to post it on this site.
          I think this is the little white church still in existence next to the Norristown Cemetery. It was used by, or perhaps became, the Norristown Methodist Episcopal Church. The records of the Methodist's begin about 1867 when it was part of the Hope Circuit (Bartholomew Co.) of the M.E. Church. These records have been microfilmed by LDS. I think the originals are at the
Methodist Archives at Depauw Univ. in Greencastle, Ind.
          LDS - FHL #1703957 This is listed under Bartholomew Co. not Shelby Co.
          I copied many pages but not all. They are not numbered. Other churches on the circuit are also listed, so the tape is rather difficult to follow. In addition to the lists of "classes" each year there are marriages and deaths.
          For my gr gr grandfather, John Newton - his reason for removal from
membership - "1870 - died April 19 - in great peace" I like that part - "in great peace"
          If you think your ancestor joined the M.E. church, you should try to view the LDS microfilm.

          Norristown Methodist Episcopal Church. --- This is among the youngest of the Methodist societies of Shelby County.  There had been preaching here occasionally by ministers of this denomination prior to the coming of Rev. William Maupin, of the Hope Circuit, in 1866.  A class was organized with twelve members, John Rench, now deceased, being he first class leader and  S. D. Spellman, first steward. Mr. Spellman and wife, George Newton and wife, Squire Deiwert and wife, and Thomas Andres are the old members who are still living.  It has been a growing church, losing many by death and removals, but at present has a membership of ninety.  The class has no building of its own, but has from the beginning used the old Union Church, which was erected many years ago.
History of Shelby County, Indiana, Chicago: Brant & Fuller, 1887, page 368-369.

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