The Baptists established the oldest extant churches in Hampshire County. After the end of the American Revolutionary War, Baptist preachers continued their attempt to gain a foothold in what is now the Eastern Panhandle region. During the Baptists' early growth in Hampshire County, the best known Baptist ministers were John Monroe (1750–1824) and Benjamin Stone (1743–1842). Monroe preached at the North River, Crooked Run, and Patterson's Creek churches during the early 19th century. According to historians Hu Maxwell and Howard Llewellyn Swisher in "History of Hampshire County, West Virginia" (1897), Monroe was a minister for Primitive Baptists, who were adherent to a strict interpretation of the Calvinist theology of the Ketocton Association. Monroe probably established a Baptist church on the site of the present-day Capon Chapel, where he is buried in the church's cemetery. However, other sources claim that a Baptist congregation began gathering at the Capon Chapel site as early as 1756.