First United Methodist Church Madisonville can trace its roots almost to the date of the founding of Monroe County which came into being on November 13, 1819. The Holston Conference was established in 1824 at the General Conference. It was in 1826 that the commissioners of Tellico (later renamed Madisonville) sold to those acting as trustees for the Methodists a plot of ground to be used for a meeting house and burial ground. The plot of ground was surveyed and laid out with the rest of the town by Captain Robert Wear. On this plot of ground was built the first meeting house, pastored by Reverend Creed Fulton. This structure was destroyed by a tornado that struck Madisonville in the evening of June 7, 1849.