Extract from Worthington Manor: A Report on its History, Significance, and Preservation by Dr. Joseph N. Tatarewicz, published October 1, 2001. Please refer to the full report to see citations.
Thomas Worthington embraced Methodism very early, around 1770, through his association with Richard Owings, who was the first American-born Methodist preacher. In 1786 Richard’s sister, Marcella, became Thomas Worthington’s second wife. In 1827, Six years after Thomas’ death, Marcella persuaded her son Rezin to donate an acre of land and an initial fund for the establishment of a Chapel of the faith. Constructed 1827-8, Marcella Chapel stood on a wooded hill just off Court Road, near the original Worthington homestead. In that simple 50×30 foot chapel the very first Western County elites of Methodism gathered to celebrate their faith, alongside other neighbors and also slaves, who occupied a separate galley. Faithful traveled from great distances to worship in Marcella Chapel, and frequently stayed the night. Two elaborate crypts were erected to contain Worthington family members, and numerous graves for congregants began to fill in the hill to the South and West, and extend Eastward connecting the chapel and crypts. For thirty years the Chapel thrived, even lending its name to the current Old Court Road, which was then known as Marcella Church Road. The new nearby Mount Olive Church began to draw congregants away in 1858. With the quarrying boom in full swing as nearby Granite swelled in population, around 1870, Rezin’s daughter Marcella helped found another Methodist church, now known as St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church. After the two new Methodist congregations were in operation, Marcella Chapel became the temporary home of an African Methodist Episcopal church.
