Robertson Meeting House (Charlestown, Clark County, Ind.) records

Robertson Meeting House (Old Bethel Church) was erected in 1807 on the farm of Nathan Robertson in Clark's Grant, Indiana, three miles north of Charlestown. (Location of the original site is GPS coordinates, N38 29.490 W 085 41.063 - see MC 512, Robertson Meeting House original site, 2013.) The Robertson Meeting House, also known as Old Bethel, was the first Methodist church in Indiana and Moses Ashworth, the first circuit rider in Indiana, was the pastor. In 1837, the church was moved a quarter mile south and later moved to Lexington highway. By 1857, Old Bethel had been abandoned and was being used as a sheepfold.

Around 1903 or 1904, the church was restored and moved back to its original site on the Robertson farm, but was moved again in 1925 when it was rebuilt in Charlestown and put under cover. Finally, Old Bethel Church was restored again in 1953-54 on the grounds of Gobin Memorial Methodist Church on the DePauw University campus in Greencastle. It was dedicated as part of the ceremonies marking DePauw's 118th anniversary. The restoration was sponsored by the Indiana Conference, DePauw University and Charles M. Robertson, Sr., a descendant of Nathan Robertson, as a shrine to Indiana Methodism. In 1998 the South Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church voted $100,000 in funds to move and restore the Robertson Meeting House. The moving of the Meeting House from Greencastle to the Rivervale Campground near Mitchell, Indiana, commenced in October. The re-construction was completed on March 5, 1999.