Per a remembrance written by Fred Runkle¹, the first Union Chapel house of worship in South Township was located on the homestead of the Guilliams family and was built in the late 1850s. The earliest plat map (1875) shows the Guilliams family having property in the south half of Section 8. According to Runkle, the building was moved to Section 7, next to the Union Chapel Cemetery, sometime after the Civil War. 

The cemetery was established in May of 1861 on land donated by Thomas Runkle and Meres C. Debord. Early Union Chapel families included the Runkles, Brassfileds, Guilliams, DeBords, and Moores.²

The first mention of the Chapel in the newspapers was in the November 20, 1873 edition of the Weekly Madisonian, announcing a grange meeting to be held there. The second mention was an obituary for Baylis Lake² in 1874. The first Union Chapel burned in 1891 and a new one, shown at the right, was built in 1891 and dedicated in January, 1892.

The following information about the second chapel's dedication comes from an article in The Winterset Madisonian of January 8, 1892: 

"The dedication of Union Chapel took place Sunday, Jan. 3d, 1892. It had been announced and about 10 o’clock the people began to gather. A little after 11 o’clock the services began.

Union Chapel, South Township

Photo courtesy of Madison County Historical Society.

The building committee had secured Rev. Geo. Miller, D. D., of Carlisle, to dedicate the church. He entered the pulpit in his usual commanding way and preached a very appropriate and interesting sermon. He had just lifted the congregation to the right place where he closed.

He then asked for $350 to cover all expenses that were back. The committee had supposed they had made ample provisions for plenty when asking for that sum, but the Dr. did not let up until he had secured $444, and the church was solemnly dedicated to God.

It was expressed by some present that that amount could not be raised, that they evidently didn’t know what a man they had to raise the money. Not one in fifty could have been so successful, but the Dr. being an old hand at the business and an efficient one went way beyond the expectations of any.

The thanks of the community are due to the building committee for the efficient way in which they handled the work put in their hands.

The building has cost, including cash and work, almost $1500, and is a neat little chapel, one that the community may well be proud of."

Although a reference to the specific denomination of the Union Chapel has not been found, the preacher for Baylis Lake's funeral in 1874 was Rev. Butler Bird, for many years a well known pastor of the Church of Christ.

As with many of the rural churches, membership waned as convenient transportation and a dwindling rural population caused many churchgoers to move their membership to churches in town. The exact date of the closure of Union Chapel, South Township is unknown but it was most likely by the 1920s. In 1951, the building was sold to Ralph and Jack Hammans who dismantled and removed it.

At the Old Settlers meeting at St. Charles in August of 1933, Fred C. Runkle, son of Thomas Runkle, presented a paper detailing who the early settlers of the Union Chapel neighborhood were. Although it does not state who actually were members of the congregation, many of those mentioned likely were so. A reprint of the paper can be found in the The Winterset Madisonian, August 31, 1933, page 9.

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