BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH

The Bethel Baptist Church was organized in 1798, as an anti-slavery church. Obed Denham, abolitionist and founder of Bethel, donated two lots for the church to build a meeting house and cemetery. Denham placed a deed restriction upon the gift, prohibiting the use by “those who hold slaves or commune at the Lord’s table with those who practice slavery.” The church became the first emancipating society west of the Alleghenies and joined the Baptizing Licking Locust Association, an association of anti-slavery Baptists of Kentucky. Members of the church who were active in the Underground Railroad included Robert Vandosal and Gerrard P. Riley.