Perry Hall and the Methodist
Church: 1784-1850
by David Marks
Historian, Perry Hall Improvement Association
Perry Hall's roots are intertwined with those of the American Methodist Church. Since
1766, our community has been known as "the cradle of Methodism," a place of holy
significance for Methodists throughout the United States. It was here that the Methodist
Church of America was formally organized in 1784, when Christian leaders met at Perry Hall
Mansion to design a new nationwide religion.
![[ Postcard showing the Christmas Conference of 1784 where Methodism was organized. ]](hist_pe_asbury.jpg)
Postcard showing the Christmas Conference of 1784,
where Methodism was organized. Harry Dorsey Gough is
seated in the left hand corner. Prudence Gough, wife
of Harry Dorsey Gough, is dressed in white and seated
in the first row. |
Perry Hall's Methodist history, however, really began in 1766, when a fiery minister
named Robert Strawbridge passed through the village on his way to Towson. Strawbridge was
traveling on the old Indian trail now called Joppa Road, probably on his way to visit his
good friend Charles Ridgely, later a Maryland governor. Strawbridge found a collection of
log cabins and sod houses dotting the dense wilderness between Belair and Philadelphia
Roads. Wood cutters and charcoal burners worked here, supplying fuel for the iron and
gunpowder furnaces east of Baltimore. Strawbridge set out to convert the tiny wilderness
village, holding a camp meeting near present-day Joppa Road and Cowenton Avenues, where
good spring water was available. This was the first religious gathering on record in Perry
Hall, and it is where Camp Chapel United Methodist Church would later be built in 1813.
Before there was an organized Methodist church in America, camp meetings were being
held in Perry Hall and other Maryland communities converted by Strawbridge. Methodists
continued to congregate at the original meeting site at Cowenton Avenue and Joppa Road.
Years later, "Camp Meeting Chapel" by its parishioners. We now know this as
"Camp Chapel," a country church which has served Perry Hall since 1813.
Originally, after Ridgely first donated the land, parishioners tried to raise enough
money to finance the construction themselves. This was a poor community, however, and the
wealthiest citizen of Perry Hall, Harry Dorsey Gough, offered to pay for the building
himself. Gough, Charles Ridgely's brother-in-law, was a convert to Methodism, and he
insisted that his poorer neighbors instead use their money to build a community school.
Thus, the "Camp Meeting Chapel" was born, the product of true Christian labor,
goodwill, and faith.
Harry Dorsey Gough was one of the earliest leaders of the American Methodist movement.
Gough built a small chapel adjacent to his home, Perry Hall Mansion, so that he could hold
services for as many as fifty friends and relatives. A frequent preacher at Perry Hall
Mansion was Francis Asbury, Harry Dorsey Gough, and other leaders gathered in 1784 to
formally organize the American Methodist Church. Asbury, who was ordained the first
American Methodist bishop at this conference, later credited the Perry Hall Mansion
meeting house as the birthplace for the young religion in America.
Although the chapel at Perry Hall Mansion no longer stands, Camp Chapel Church is still
a thriving part of Perry Hall's religious community. A new chapel was built in 1872, and
it was used continuously until 1965, when a large brick sanctuary was constructed adjacent
to the building. In 1983, the chapel was struck by lightning, burning to the ground. When
neighbors approached the fire, they discovered an eerie sight: the flames conspicuously
avoided the painting of Jesus Christ in the sanctuary. The painting was relatively
untouched, and the Bible survived with minor water and fire damage, even as the rest of
the structure burned to the ground.
The chapel was rebuilt, and the steps leading into the building are the original ones
brought from England over 180 years ago. The chapel is used for special Sunday and holiday
services.
Camp Chapel is not alone. Perry Hall Methodist Church was formally organized in 1866.
The original building was on Belair Road at the present-day Folz service station, and the
church cemetery still rests behind the garage. Perry Hall Methodist Church has since
relocated to a beautiful sanctuary near Klausmeier Road. This church gives northern Belair
road its distinctive, residents also attend Asbury United Methodist Church in Cowenton,
which is named after Francis Asbury, a Perry Hall visitor of generations past.
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