Forward Township settlers’ work, faith remembered at country church they built
Those who lie in extended repose beside a modest white clapboard church in Forward Township would no doubt be pleased that their collective legacy is being carefully maintained by their descendants.
The North Union Cemetery Association maintains the 1860 white clapboard church and cemetery along Beacon Road because every member of the association has relatives buried there.
“During the mid 1850s, there was a wave of immigrants from Scotland and Ireland,” said Beverly Krill, a longtime association member. “There was a very conservative Protestant group. They called themselves ‘Covenanters.’”
A number of Covenanters moved to the eastern part of Forward Township at that time, Krill explained, and built the North Union Church. The term “Covenanter” eventually became “Reformed Presbyterian,” which was the denomination of the Civil War-era church.
Faithful families with names like Douthett, Crowe, Critchlow and Forsythe, continued to clatter up to the church on horse-drawn carriages or wagons in the later part of the 19th century and early 20th century, and they buried their dead in the adjacent cemetery.
One name of note in the cemetery is David A. Renfrew, who was born in 1817 and died in 1899. The nearby village of Renfrew was named in his honor.
Just after the turn of the century, Krill’s great uncle, James Blair, became the minister at the church. He served in that capacity for 50 years, she said.
When he died in the 1960s, finding a full-time Reformed Presbyterian minister was difficult, and the North Union membership began to decline.
“After he passed, they started to have what they called ‘supply ministers,’” Krill said. “They would occasionally get a Reformed Presbyterian minister to hold services.”
Krill, who lives on the Forward Township land her grandparents bought on their wedding day in 1909, recalls attending services at the church as a child with those grandparents.
She said the church closed in the 1960s or early 1970s. A small congregation rented the church for a few years in the early 2000s, but other than that and its original worshippers, it has not hosted a congregation.
But Krill said the church was never in need of refurbishment due to complete dilapidation because a group of the founders’ descendants always kept the building and cemetery up, to at least minimum standards.
“There was a cemetery association formed in the 1960s to maintain the cemetery and building,” she said. “Around 2005, the group became more active.”
That boost of energy came from the late Rosalyn Kummer, who signed on as the new association president in the mid 2000s.
“She really helped to form the modern cemetery association,” Krill said. “Under her leadership, we expanded.”
Under Kummer, the association received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status so it could raise money for maintenance, started a Mother’s Day Spring Flower Sale fundraiser, and began an event that would likely inspire those ancestors in the cemetery.
“The association every few years tries to have a homecoming day where we send out invitations to known relatives of those in the cemetery,” Krill said. “Rosalyn started that.”
Last year, the building’s original, 163-year-old tin roof was replaced with a new roof, also in tin. Krill said the original chimneys were removed and covered to prevent future leaks and maintain the integrity of the structure.
She feels the church has survived for so long because it was built on a sturdy stone base, which has kept the church upright since the Civil War.
“I have been told it has chestnut beams,” Krill said.
The association is now in the throes of its annual flower sale, which will culminate in colorful seedlings being distributed from noon to 4 p.m. May 11 at the association’s annual Cookies and Conversation at the church.
Krill said that in addition to the flower sale, many descendants, friends and neighbors donate to the association for upkeep at the picturesque church and cemetery.
She hopes enough funds are raised this year to pay for an essential job at the church.
“Our next goal is to paint the exterior,” Krill said. “It is sorely needed.”
Another big concern are the church’s unique windows. While historic, wavy glass was used to replace panes in the arch-top windows, the window expert used for years by the association is now deceased.
“So we’re not sure what we’re going to do about that,” Krill said.
She said the association has rented the church out for weddings over the years, but it is always carefully explained to bridal parties that there is no indoor plumbing in the 120-seat church.
“We have an outhouse,” Krill said with a chuckle. “We explain to them that it’s going to be pretty … historic.”
Regarding the cemetery, which holds about 200 graves, the association still permits burials, which is mainly reserved for family members of those already resting there.
She said the Hartzell family received another of their kin, Daryl, in 2020, when he died at age 70 and was buried in the North Union Church Cemetery. Daryl Hartzell represented the cemetery’s most recent burial.
The association members, their relatives and a handful of volunteers cut the grass and ensure the church yard and cemetery are as neat as a pin year-round.
Krill hopes generations to come will continue to respect the legacy of the North Union Church and Cemetery by maintaining the property as she and her cohorts have done.
“It’s such a classic part of our history and heritage in this area,” she said. “When I look at the names in the cemetery, I still know those names.”
More information and an order form for spring flowers is available by searching North Union Cemetery Association on Facebook.
