In 1803, Reverend John Collins and his family settled in Clermont County to farm, and in 1804 donated land for a Methodist church and cemetery. The church became part of a network of area churches nicknamed the "Collins Circuit," which helped provide social cohesion to new settlements and farm families. As a circuit rider in Ohio's early days, Collins traveled among isolated villages to preach, conduct weddings, baptisms, and funerals, and host camp meetings to increase church membership. The initial pioneer Methodist church established by Collins in 1804 was a log structure, but as his efforts spread Methodism throughout southern Ohio and the congregation grew, a larger church was needed. In 1818 the congregation built a new frame church at this site, and that building still survives, with a bell tower added in 1867. Membership in the small country church declined significantly by the mid twentieth century, and the last services were held here in December 1969. In 1978, Bethel Methodist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Reverend John Collins and his wife, Sarah, are buried here with their children, and the maternal grandparents of President Ulysses S. Grant, John and Sarah (Hare) Simpson, who died in 1837 and 1851 respectively, are also buried here, along with veterans of the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War.