In the C. K. Stone atlas of Jefferson county, published at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1864, Browns Corners, town of Alexandria, about four miles north of Plessis, is shown as having several public and business buildings. There was the school at the Corners, and just beyond and a little back from the road, the building owned and used by the Methodist circuit with headquarters in Plessis. There were also a blacksmith shop, a cheese factory and two or three other shops. The cemetery was on the edge of the community, on the road leading to Redwood. Now all of the shops are closed and forgotten, the school house has not housed pupils for many years and nothing but flat rock marks the site of the formed church building.

Older people remember the church but do not seem to know what became of it and when it ceased to exist. The Plessis church history gives no light on the passing of the building, but in Barnes Corners, one of the first settlements in the town of Alexandria, there is a record of the Browns Corners church.

The settlement in the Barnes district was first known as the Barnes Settlement, for it was the spot that Mr. LeRay selected for the first clearing in which settlers could locate. In 1811 Mr. LeRay hired men to start a clearing in this location, but it was not until 1816, the war of 1812 having held up the work, that the land was thrown open, the price being $3 per acre.

When the school house was built at Barnes Settlement, the district was taken from the old No. 6 district of the town, and became known as No. 7. The building was painted red. The school building became the center of the community and the people of the place erected an extra tall liberty pole during Civil war days from which was flown the Stars and Stripes during days when the country was celebrating a victory. In event of a defeat, the flag was flown at half-mast. And it was in this school building that the funeral service for a Civil war soldier was held directly after the close of the war. The soldier was Ezra June.

The school building burned on Sunday morning, Jan. 2, 1867, the fire starting from some live coals that were in the ashes taken from the stove the night before and stored in a box in the woodshed. At that time schools held a session on Saturday forenoons.

The people of the Settlement had long considered the need of building a church and had perfected plans to move the church building from Browns Corners to this section. It was thought that the Browns Corners members could get to Plessis, while the Barnes Settlement people were too far away from any Methodist service to easily reach it by horse and buggy. It was thought best to take the building down carefully and move the materials to Barnes Settlement. Rhodes Babcock, farmer of Barnes Settlement, gave the church people an option on three different lots from his farm, the lots to be had free of all costs.

But the burning of the school building changed the plans somewhat. Some said they needed the church building more than ever, while others contended the cost of erecting two buildings at the same time would be too great. It was settled in a compromise. A new school was to be erected but the new building was always to be open to the Methodist society for services. It was to be a part of the Plessis circuit and served by the minister from Plessis.