| SUBJECT PROPERTY
According to county records, Charles O. Boynton received a patent for the property in 1897. According to the "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form," Boynton's widow, Mary Ann Boynton sold the property in 1929 to Sarah S. Coffenberry. The Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church sold the property to the Rock Creek Cemetery in 1930.
Sarah S. Coffenberry (1849-1923), born on the Clatsop plains, was the fourth an last child of James Bond and Laura Jewett Bond. Her father, a Baptist minister, was killed before she was born. After the death of her father, Sarah's mother married Ferdinand Ferrell, owner of a sawmill. Sarah grew up in Astoria with them. In 1867, on her 18th birthday, she married Nathan L. Coffenberry. Coffenberry worked in several sawmills. He went to Idaho and worked in the Florence City gold mines for a time. In the 1880s he joined Company E., first regiment of the Oregon volunteers. He was discharged in 1885 without ever seeing action. After his discharge Coffenberry ran an Astoria mill owned by his father-in-law, Ferrell. A fire destroyed the mill, but he built his own mill, the Clatsop Mill. Later the Coffenberrys moved to Hubbard, where Nathan became involved in general construction. It is not currently known how the Coffenberry's were associated with the church. Mrs. Coffenberry may have been one of the trustees. They had two children, Sarah Lillian and George. Lillian married Benjamin Smith and moved into a house across the street from her parents.
The following is extracted from the "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: "Constructed in 1858 by early mid-Willamette Valley pioneers, the Rock Creek Methodist Church building became the starting point for the Butteville (later Rock Creek) circuit. John Killin supervised fellow church laymen in the construction of the building.... In 1854, a group of pioneers who had recently immigrated to Oregon and had settled several miles south of Oregon City, gathered in a log schoolhouse near the spot where the Needy Post Office was established a year later. The Rock Creek Methodist Church developed from this meeting. The Rock Creek Methodist Church, like other Methodist churches in the region, could not afford a full-time pastor (had one been available). Therefore, out of necessity, they joined with other churches and established a circuit. C.O. Hosford served as the first circuit rider. Other stops on the circuit for Reverend Hosford were Butteville, Howell Prairie, Bald Hill, Union School House, Marquam School House, Grassy Point School House, Hubbard, Woodburn, and Glad Tidings. It is doubtful that all of these stops were on the circuit at one and the same time, but they were all constituent parts.
The Rock Creek Methodist Church held services at the local schoolhouse until a wood frame structure was built. A building committee, organized in 1857, developed a building plan and raised the necessary funds. The land for the church and cemetery was donated by the church families. The E.G. Boynton family, early residents of Woodburn now buried in the church cemetery, donated the basic holdings of four and a half acres. John Killin, a layman of the Church, supervised the construction, which was complete in 1858. Samuel Redman Oglesby, another early circuit rider, presided over the first services in the new building. It was not until 1860 that the church had its first resident preacher. However, the Reverend J. Conner's ministry was short-lived. One day, shortly after his arrival, he traveled to Silverton and in the pursuing day's events won a wager and drank the reward, a dram. The elders demanded retribution for this sinful act and Reverend Conner left the Rock Creek Church.
Church activities continued in a less public fashion until 1920 when a regular services were discontinued as a result of financial instability and ebbing attendance. The edifice has since remained unused except for funerals, an occasional wedding, and an annual pioneer day picnic. The Rock Creek Cemetery Association maintains the cemetery and church building through funds given at the pioneer picnics and other occasions. In 1939 the Methodist Conference designated the Rock Creek Methodist Church a historic shrine.
The following is extracted from the "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Clusters of oak trees are interspersed through the cemetery which surrounds the church. The one-story building has a rectangular floor plan, approximately 20 by 24 feet. The gable roof is shingled and has a plain boxed cornice. The exterior walls are covered with drop siding. Fenestration is regular with double-hung sash, with nine lights-over-six. There are three windows on either side. The east and west ends are blind. Brick piers provide the foundation. The vestibule is a later addition. Two features differ from the original section. The rafters are exposed and the two windows are double-hung sash, four-lights-over-four. The vestibule has five-panel double-leaf doors. Repairs and restoration have been accomplished over the years by the Rock Creek Cemetery Association organization which provides a sinking fund for future maintenance.
The Rock Creek Church and Cemetery are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church and cemetery are significant for their association with the religious and architectural history of Clackamas County. The church is significant as a singular example of a Vernacular style church, dating from the Settlement, Statehood and Steampower period (1847-1865), listed on the Clackamas County Cultural Resource Inventory for the Yoder/Marquam South County study area. The church is additionally significant as one of seven churches listed on the inventory from the subject study area. |
