Founded in March 1843 when the First Wesleyan Methodist Society of Seneca Falls resolved to build a house of public worship, the chapel was dedicated that October as a well-finished brick church on a good site, built in a neat and plain manner. Wesleyan Methodists were among the first churches in the U.S. to support the abolition of slavery, and when few places allowed antislavery meetings, they opened their doors to abolition and other social reform speakers. After splitting from the Methodist Episcopal Church, they returned to the original principles of the Methodist faith set out by John Wesley. Less than five years after the chapel's dedication, the First Woman's Rights Convention found a venue here. In 1848, women could not vote or hold public office, and their educational and professional opportunities were limited; married women could not make contracts, sue in court, own property, or gain custody of their children. Here, for the first time, women gathered together to voice these grievances in public.