Mary Morton was one of the daughters born to Susan McClosky and Abner Morton. Their family was just one side of the large Morton family that headed west and settled in this area. Their cousin Nancy Morton Warren and her family came here in 1833 and founded this community, but the Morton clan was quick to follow and contributed greatly not just to Warrenville but also to DuPage County. One of their cousin descendants, Joy Morton, even founded Morton Arboretum not too far from Warrenville.

The Mortons were heavily involved with the Warrenville Methodist Church, which still stands today serving the community as the Warrenville Historical Museum & Art Gallery.

Warrenville Methodist Church built in 1858, still stands today at the Warrenville Museum

In the early days, the Warrenville Methodists were under the jurisdiction of Naperville. They held services in private homes on an irregular basis starting in 1839. When Warrenville got a regularly once a month spot on the Methodist Church circuit the service was held at the homes of Jude and Erastus Gary. The Gary name is also associated with Gary’s Mill in West Chicago and development in Wheaton, but the Garys started their time here in the Midwest in Warrenville and were important to the establishment of our Methodist Church.

By 1857 the Methodists had grown enough in number to rival the Warrenville Baptists, and they finally started to work on building their own church.

When the church was built in 1858 the Methodists were sure to not make the same mistake the Baptists did, and they built a basement under the church. This basement room was very important as it provided space for extra church and community activities. In the early 1850s there were five public schools meeting in rural areas around Warrenville, but by 1856 Warrenville needed a school in town and the new Methodist Church basement made for a perfect location.

In the early days, baptisms for the Methodist Church as well as the Warrenville Baptists, the Big Woods Church, and the Dunkards north of Naperville, used the mill pond for baptisms. It was just up the road from the church and was a perfectly beautiful spot to be welcomed in to the faith. This very area is still used today as the Warrenville Grove Forest Preserve.

The Methodist church was also a place for community organizing. The church was an abolitionist hub for at least a decade prior to the Civil War, and even hosted national prohibition party meetings in the 1880s. Although the church is no longer active here, it is wonderful that its history and impact lives on in the museum.

2025 Cemetery Walk: Mary Morton