Union Church began on August 12, 1843, as a Freewill Baptist church organized at the home of Harvey Marshall. Its church covenant declared, “We cannot receive slaveholders into the church nor those who believe that slavery is right.” The first church building was completed near here in 1859. In 1914, members changed the church’s denomination and name, and a new church was built here in 1921. The strong anti-slavery stance of Freewill Baptist churches contributed to the end of slavery and freedom for those enslaved. The Underground Railroad was a widespread network of diverse people in the nineteenth century who aided slaves escaping to freedom from the southern U.S.