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Located off of State Route 31 five miles outside the city limits of Williamstown, WV, Mt. Pleasant United Methodist
Church at Burnt Hill (known by its nickname of Burnt Hill) has served the local church congregation for nearly 200 years.
It is the third church built on the lot upon which it sits, the first two having been burnt to the ground, hence the nickname
of Burnt Hill.
The original church dates back to 1806 when Quakers settled the area, with the coming of the Thomas Douglas family. The Hill Meeting Place, as it was known, was built near the center of the present cemetery as a small log building. It was burnt to the ground, another was built to replace it on the same location. After that building burnt down, a hewn log church was built on the foundation site where the present church now stands. Thomas Douglas gave land for a cemetery near the church and was the first to be interred in 1813. With the passing of the older Quakers the congregation diminished and the church, with the arrival of the Atheys and several other families that were Episcopalian, became an Episcopalian Church. The hewn log structure was torn down and moved across the road but remained unroofed due to Lemuel Athey donated a frame building that stood on what is now the Williamstown Pike. This building remained the Episcopal Church until about 1831 when, after a Methodist circuit rider held a revival in the frame building and the congregation became Methodist. Circuit riders served the church, the first being Francis Asbury (who later became the first bishop of the Methodist Church). Other circuit riders continued serving the church until Rev. Calvin Conner was called to be the first full-time Pastor in 1845. He also served many other churches on his circuit in the nearby area. Toward the end of this time, the red brick building that is still part of the church was started on the hill location. The workers began making bricks by hand near the site of the church but vandals ruined the brick, so the work of brick making was moved to Big Run under the supervision of William Athey. The original part of the brick church was once again damaged by fire sometime in the mid-1860's. The fire started in the flue and spread to the roof during the weekly prayer service. Having no water equipment to fight the fire, the seats, windows, and doors were quickly removed and later placed in the rebuilt church to be used for many years. In 1882 the first organ was installed. It was a Mason and Hamlin built in a case made of beaded oak ceiling. The original pulpit was built on a raised platform , with the front of the pulpit matching the organ case and two newel posts. In the early 1890's the built-in pulpit was removed and a stand purchased. It is still in use today as the pulpit, having been refinished by Ruth Grow in the 1960's. Improvements have continued on the church throughout its years. In 1922, the church was replastered, repapered, refloored, and the choir and pulpit areas rearranged. In 1943, through efforts of Birdie Chichester, a bell was obtained from the Pigeon Roost School and put in the new bell tower. In November of 1960, the last major addition to the church was started. This new addition provided four new Sunday School rooms, two upstairs and two in the basement, and a new vestibule with its completion in June of 1961. Restrooms, new windows, new carpet, new floors, ad many other improvements have been added in the last several years. In 1852, John M. Reed gave additional land to enlarge the cemetery that surrounds the church. Many of the tombstones on the cemetery date back to the 1800's. Some are easily read and some are not. Buried at the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery are soldiers from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea, and the Vietnam conflicts. Among the Revolutionary soldiers buried there are James Athey, Thomas Douglas, Burgess Athey, and John Guard. On October 26, 1975, the grave of John Guard was marked for the National DAR register. A military, or government marker was set for him during a special ceremony. He died December 28, 1824, having served at Morristown, NJ, with the rank of Private and Wagonmaster in the Morris County Militia. The last soldier buried in the cemetery, while in active duty was Daniel Miracle, who died in Vietnam in December, 1966. A Marietta College student organized the first Sunday School, in 1852, and literature was obtained. Today the church still has a very active Sunday School program as well as a very active United Methodist Women group. Bible Study, Sunday School, and Worship are still held on a weekly basis. Many special worship services are conducted during the year. The church also is served by a very active, talented music ministry in the form of organ, piano, and choir praise offering to God. Even though the calendar indicates we near the next millenium, worship follows the traditions and doctrines of our forefathers.
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