Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
12-2025
Abstract
Reverend Ashworth, a pioneer circuit rider, was born in 1783 and the first Methodist circuit rider to be appointed to a circuit in Indiana. He was buried at the Prairie Chapel Cemetery, Mt.Vernon, Indiana in 1838. His wife, Eliza, was buried by his side seven years later. Lying against a fence post to what once was the cemetery, their headstones were discovered in 1903 by C.G. Fritsche, a German Methodist Episcopal Church pastor. In 1955, they were deposited to the DePauw University Archives and Special Collections for safekeeping. Today, their headstones are permanently placed at Camp Rivervale next to the oldest surviving building of Indiana Methodism, the Robertson Meeting House.
Recommended Citation
Fiechter, Bethany Indiana Pioneer Circuit Riders Interpretive Marker" poster presented at the Indiana United Methodist Church, Camp Rivervale, Mitchell, Indiana December 2025.
Comments
Funding was made possible by the Indiana United Methodist Church Commission on Archives and History; the Ashworth headstones restoration and placement by Heritage Preservations, LLC; and logistics by the DePauw University Archives and Special Collections and Camp Rivervale.