Gilette Methodist Church

Front inscription

Gillette Methodist Church dates to the early 19th C., possibly around the time that Rev. James Capers settled on land owned by Dr. Elijah Gillett in early 1813. Capers was born in Charleston in 1788 and became a minister with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1809. He likely stayed on the Gillett’s land for only a brief time, but may have helped to spread the seed of Methodism here.

Reverse inscription

Early meetings were held under a brush arbor. Elijah Gillett, at the urging of his wife Elizabeth Scarbrough Gillett, donated land and lumber to erect a permanent meeting house, which they deeded to the Methodist Church. The Gilletts are buried 3 ½ miles N. of the church. The meeting house was remodeled in 1910, but retains original floors, wainscoting, and pulpit.