Church History

early Little MarshIt is known that the United Methodist Church of Little Marsh was called the Chatham Circuit at the time of it's construction. The Charter of Incorporation was recorded on December 8, 1870 and signed by trustees John Mead, Lockwood Smith, Leonard Clark, Alexander Wass and Sydney Beach. Other signers were Abel Close, Robert Hill and A. H. Roberts.

Land was deeded to the trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Chatham on February 25, 1871, by Erastus Rice and Fidelia A. Rice, his wife, for the purpose of erecting an edifice and church buildings, as long as they are used for church purposes only. The first church was built in 1871, by Floyd Erway with a kitchen and wood shed added in 1899. The parsonage was built in 1882 with a kitchen addition built in 1899. The parsonage was sold in 1963 to Ellery Watkins, as the pastor no longer lived in Little Marsh.

A vote was taken in 1899 on whether to buy pews or chairs with a 25 to 2 vote for the pews. The largest crowd believed to ever attend the church was in the March of 1895 with 500 people attending the funeral of 22-year-old Ada Louise Hawley. Some of the changes in the church include the steeple taken down and the cross erected in 1950. Also, the inside was redecorated with new carpeting, walls, heating, and bathrooms in the late 60's and early 70's.