Built by citizens of South Newbury, Ohio, on land donated by Anson Mathews in 1856, Union Chapel was dedicated to free speech by James Abram Garfield, twentieth president of the United States. Other speakers there included Susan B. Anthony, Louisa M. Alcott, Lucy Stone, Theodore Parker, and John B. Gough. On January 12, 1874, the Newbury Women's Suffrage Political Club was organized there with twenty-four charter members. On July 4, 1876, the club planted the Centennial Oak on a spot three-hundred thirty feet north of the site, on the opposite side of the road.
