I dove headfirst into tracking down East-Central Indiana’s old one-room schoolhouses during the COVID-19 pandemic. One adventure led past the tiny town of Modoc. Nearby, I caught a sad glimpse of a forgotten church. At the time, I had no idea I’d stumbled upon the abandoned Martindale Friends Meeting! It took me over two years to rediscover it, but I finally managed to a couple days before Christmas.
The Society of Friends was founded by English dissenter George Fox in the mid-1600s. The movement quickly gained a following. Known as Quakers, early members made their way to America not long after Fox rose to prominence. After the War of 1812, scads of Quakers migrated from Tennessee and the Carolinas. They settled in large numbers across East-Central Indiana1.
The Martindale Friends Meeting traces its origins to one of Randolph County’s earliest congregations, Cherry Grove. Initially set off from New Garden Meeting near Fountain City, Cherry Grove Meeting was established in 18212. Martindale was set off from Cherry Grove thirty-five years later and took its name from a nearby creek3.
Early members of the Martindale Friends Meeting included the Baldwin, Blanset, Coffin, Edwards, Fisher, Frazier, Hiatt, Hinshaw, Johnson, Kelly, Lamb, Lykins, Miller, Pursley, and Wilson families. The first paid minister was John Hardwick4. The meetinghouse that stands today was built in 1886 for $700 on land owned by the Fishers5. The building was expanded in 1909 and 19306.
It took a hundred years from its inception -and seventy from the year its meetinghouse was built- for Martindale Friends to be officially organized as a monthly meeting. Unfortunately, the congregation was laid down, or abandoned, by the Society of Friends, in 19767. I’m not sure why.
The old chapel appears to have been used as a home for several years8, but the thick stand of conifers that conceals its front entrance suggests that the old Martindale Friends Meetinghouse has been abandoned for years. It sits just north of IN-36 on the road to Carlos, a tiny town I’ll write about soon.
Sources Cited
1 Weiss, W.C. Introduction to the Quaker Records Project. Indiana History. Web. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
2 (See footnote 1).
3 Ratcliff, R. (1970). Our Special Heritage: The Sesquicentennial P publication of Indiana Meeting of Friends 1821-1971. Community Printing Company [New Castle].
4 (See footnote 3).
5 Tucker, E. (1882). Map of Randolph County. A.L. Kingman [Chicago]. Book.
6 Hinshaw, G. (1996). Indiana Friends Heritage 1821-1996 Indiana Yearly Meeting
7 (see footnote 6).
8 Parcel 68-14-25-200-001.000-016 (2024). Office of the Assessor. Randolph County [Winchester]. Web. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
