Reverend Willis Revels led Bethel AME during the Civil War (1861-1865), where he was very vocal in the call for Emanicipation. In 1864, the church building was burned to the ground by intimidators angered by Bethel AME's pro-equality actions. Ever defiant, Revels continued to demand social justice and was even named an official recruiter for Indiana's Colored Infantry by Govenor Oliver P. Morton.
Image Courtesy of Indiana Historical Society