(From the 1938 Centennial Souvenir Book of First Church)
Prior to 1880 we have no information as to the manner in which the Sunday school of our congregation was conducted. From 1880 to 1885 Mr. Wilhelm Holtkamp was the superintendent, and from 1885 to 1890, Mr. F. E. Settlage served in that capacity.
As early as 1880 some three dozen families living on farms from three to six miles north and northeast of New Knoxville found it increasingly difficult to have old Dobbin bring the family to church in the morning, and then, after a hurried noon meal, have him bring the family of children to Sunday school in the afternoon. Sensing the difficulty his neighbors were experiencing, Mr. Geo. H. Clausing invited them to his home on Sunday afternoons for worship and the study of God’s word. The venture became so popular that for lack of room the meetings were moved to the schoolhouse of that district. After a few years these quarters also proved too small.
At the congregational meeting, May 22, 1899, the plight of this community Sunday school was brought to the attention of the church, but the matter was tabled. At the meeting, May 27, 1901, the distressing situation was again presented. This time the motion prevailed that a committee of eight prepare plans for a chapel. This planning committee comprised the following: Ernst Hoelscher, Ernst Korspeter, Geo. Clausing, Wm. Stolte, Heinrich Feil, Heinrich Kaetterheinrich, Wm. Kuck, and Adam Holl.
June 12, 1901, it was decided to purchase a one-half acre building site on the Henry Eversman farm, 3 miles north and ¼ mile east of New Knoxville. The site lay adjoining the yard of the above mentioned schoolhouse. The cost of the site, which was $75.00, was assumed by interested members of the community. The cost of the chapel was to be $1200.00. Mr. Adam Holl drew the plans and Mr. George Hoelscher and Mr. Henry Kuck were the building foremen. The final total disbursements were $1464.25. At the dedication in the summer of 1902, the offering was $1085.05. The deficit was covered by an offering in the church.
Mr. Geo. H. Clausing who had fathered the project was elected the first superintendent of the Chapel Sunday School. On Christmas night, 1904, while directing the joyous program he was stricken with heart failure. During the hymn that preceded the distribution of the Christmas tread he slumped in the arms of Dr. Bachmann sitting at his side, and breathed his last.
During the years that followed, Mr. Wm. Stolte, Sr., Mr. Henry Eversman, Mr. Henry Kuckhermann, and Mr. Wm. Rodeheffer, served as superintendents. Dr. J. Bachmann, during whose pastorate the chapel was erected, carried this Sunday school near his heart and visited the school conscientiously for the first Sunday of each month.
On occasion funeral services were held in the chapel. During the years from 1902 to 1919, the chapel rendered a rich and varied ministry. Four boys who later became ministers, and two girls who became ministers’ wives, received their early training in the Chapel Sunday School.
June 9, 1919, the congregation was informed that the chapel had served its purpose. The advent of the automobile made it possible for everyone to attend Sunday school in New Knoxville, particularly because the Sunday School in New Knoxville was now being held in the morning instead of in the afternoon. The chapel was ordered sold. The consistory donated the chapel bell to Grace Reformed Church, Kohler, Wisconsin, after the Rev. Edwin A. Katterhenry became pastor there in 1925.
This Chapel was located near what is now the address of 07361 Washington Pike, St. Marys. The residence there is a former schoolhouse which was known as the Chapel School, presumably because of its proximity to the location of the former Sunday School chapel of the early 1900’s.