By Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
Photos from event and Cain’s Chapel.
Cain’s Chapel and the Elmore County Historical Society are teaming together for a historical cemetery tour Oct. 20 at the historical church cemetery.
The community is invited to come out that Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. to learn about the life of some of Elmore County’s earliest and colorful characters. The characters will be portrayed by church volunteers.
Tickets are available the day of the event at the cemetery. The cost is $5 per person.
The address is 96 Lightwood Road in Deatsville.
When it comes to history, Cain’s Chapel has more than its fair share. Located between Wetumpka and Prattville, the chapel is rich in heritage and history.
According to the church’s website, it is the oldest continuous church congregation in the Alabama River Region. It was founded by Elisha Milton Cain, who moved to our area from South Carolina in 1817. He built a log chapel for his family, friends and workers.
In 1820, Cain move to the area of the current church site in Deatsville and built a brown wood frame building with sliding wooden windows, naming it Cain’s Chapel.
Over time, additional land enlarging the cemetery was donated through a dowry of Mary A. Northrup Shelton, Cain’s granddaughter, by her husband Dr. John M. Shelton around 1848.
It is believed the cemetery was first used for the grave of a baby girl who died suddenly as her family passed through town while spending the night with the Cains.
According to the church’s website, the grave was originally identified by a small house of bricks, which were accidentally removed in the 1950s. The two oldest legible tombstones are Infant Whittemore, 1848, and Mrs. Levina Benson, 1849. More than 783 graves include those of veterans from the War Between the States to the Vietnam War. Ranks include privates to commanders to a Bronze Star recipient.
In 1885 Cain’s Chapel was put on the Deatsville Circuit of the Methodist Church. In 1890 a white-frame church with glass windows and green blinds was built with lumber donated by the Sheltons. The first parsonage (1947-1962) was a wood frame house. It was also used for church services in 1950-1951.
During this time the men of the church took the white frame church apart, using materials saved for the red brick sanctuary. Through the efforts of the men and women, it was finished on a pay-as-you-go basis in 1953. The second parsonage, made of red bricks, was completed in 1963 later becoming a daycare, then office annex with prayer garden.
In 1975 a steeple was mounted atop the sanctuary and a fellowship hall added. A 1988 renovation added colorful, inspiring, memorial, stained-glass windows to the sanctuary and vestibule. In 1993 the Family Life Center was erected to house church offices, classrooms, an auditorium, and kitchen.
The James Moore Memorial Playground was added in 2005. In 2006 the Fellowship Hall was demolished to make way for a new Worship Center completed in September 2007. Both the Chapel and Worship Center are used for regular worship services. Sounds of church bells peal above the chapel and cemetery for miles thanks to the addition of an electronic Millennium Gold Carillon System dedicated Easter, April 20, 2014. T
The church and cemetery were listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on October 25, 2018. A historical marker was erected and dedicated in January 2020 commemorating the church’s 200th anniversary.
