Rev. Francis Clark and John Durham, two devout adherents of
Methodism, emigrated from Virginia to Kentucky in 1783 and located
at Perryville.
Rev. Francis Clark was known as a local Methodist preacher, as
the church at that time had not been officially established in
America.
The first Methodist revival in America was at Devereux Parish in
Virginia in 1772.
Before 1784 there were no Methodist churches in America. Groups
meeting together to worship were called Societies until the
Christmas Conference in Dec. 24, 1784, when it was decided to
organize into bodies called Churches.
The first Society west of the Allegheny Mountains was supposed
to have been in the home of Mr. John Durham, which was located six
miles west of Danville, Kentucky in Lincoln (now Boyle) County.
Francis Clark was the first preacher there.
After meeting in Durham's humble cabin for several years, the
people erected a log meeting house, which later gave way to a more
pretentious building known as Durham's chapel (c.1803). Later it
was painted white and was known as “White Chapel.” It
is agreed by many historians that the above Society was formed
around 1783.
Both Durham and Clark came here from the state of Virginia
between 1781 and 1783. It is a self-evident fact that there was a
settlement at Perryville before these two religious pioneers came
seeking the “Lost Sheep of Israel” as recorded by the
Rev. William Burke in his history of Methodist progress in the
Pioneer Kentucky.
The Rev. Francis Clark was the first Methodist preacher to brave
the wilderness of Kentucky, and the Perryville Methodist Church
represents the first Methodist congregation founded in
Kentucky.
The cache is a small container that holds only the log. Please
bring your own writing instrument.