Bishop Simpson’s Chapel
Madeleine L. Nichols
In 1858, the old Simpson’s Chapel was completed. It stood on a hill about halfway between the present towns of Bellfountain and Alpine. The church was built of hand-planed lumber and was a plain oblong with three windows on each side and a porch in front. It was surrounded by oak trees, many of which are still standing and which served as hitching posts for horses.
The history of the Alpine community may be said to have had its beginning at the time of the erection of two buildings, the Ebenezer school house and Simpson’s Chapel, though it is true that quite a number of settlers had come to the valley before that time. The school house was built of logs and was situated on a promontory about two miles south of the present town of Alpine and on part of the old Gilbert place. It was probably built about 1849 and served both as a school and a “meeting house.”
It was and always has been a Methodist Church and was called Simpson’s Chapel because Bishop Simpson was the presiding officer of the first annual conference, held while the group was still meeting in the old Ebenezer school. In 1903, it was decided that a new church was needed, so one was built at the present site of Alpine and was completed in 1904. At this time the congregation divided, part of its members going to Bellfountain and part to Alpine.
The whole community was once known as the Belknap settlement because of the preponderance of Belknaps among the first settlers who, in pioneer days, had come by wagon train to the valley from Ohio, Missouri, and Iowa. Other early families were the Starrs, Hawleys, Howards, Gilberts, Catons, Woodcocks, Goodmans, and Nichols.
Another interesting part of the early history of the Chapel centered around the campground which, in 1871, was bought from George Humphrey and is known as the Bellfountain Park. People came from miles around, primarily for the spring of clear cold water, held meetings, and visited. The gatherings were religious but also social. People would bring food, put up tents, and stay for a week or more. Sometimes someone would bring part of a beef and hang it on a tree and those present were free to help themselves. The pioneer days are gone but Simpsons Chapel is still used as a house of worship by those who have taken the place of the pioneers.
The Mitchell Wilkins Family Home
Lucia Wilkins Moore
Painting by Lucia Moore.