Full text of "Seventh Day Baptists in Europe and America; a series of historical papers written in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the organization of the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference, celebrated at Ashaway, Rhode Island, August 20-25, 1902"

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THIS BOOK IS PLACED JN THIS LIBRARY

ON BEHALF OF THE

SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST GENERAL CONFERENCE

BY THE

AMERICAN SABBATH TRACT SOCIETY
PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY, U. S, A

0(9-'^

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Rev. Joseph Stennett, D. D (2nd). 16Q2-1758.
See lyux^raphical Sketches, p. 1361.

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^^tt^ntlf lag Sapttata in

A SERIES OF HISTORICAL PAPERS WRIT-
TEN IN COMMEMORATION OF THE
ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE
SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST GEN-
ERAL CONFERENCE: CELE-
BRATED AT ASHAWAY.
RHODE ISLAND,
AUGUST 20-25, 1902

Vol. II.

Printed For
THE SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST GENERAL CONFERENCE

by the

American Smbbath Tract Society

Plainfield, New Jersey

1910

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^nctLi*

COPYRIGHTED 1910 by the
American Sabbath Tract Society

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NOTE.

It was the expectation, originally, that this work should
be bound in a single volume, but because it had grown to so
much greater proportions than at first anticipated, the General
Qmference, at its annual session in August, 1909, ordered it
be bound in two volumes.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS.

VOLUME II.

Page.

Note iii

List of Illustrations viii

Corrections xv

The Eastern Association. By Rev. William L. Burdick 587
The Central Association. By Rev. Asa Babcock Pren-
tice 719

The Western Association. By Rev. William L. Burdick 729
The North-Western Association. By Rev. Lewis Alex-
ander Platts 773

The South-Eastern Association. By Corliss Fitz Ran-
dolph 821

The South-Western Association. By Rev. James F.

Shaw 917

The German Seventh Day Baptists. By G)rliss Fitz

Randolph 935

The Rogerenes. By Corliss Fitz Randolph 1261

Lessons of the Past. By Rev. Stephen Burdick 1285

Statistics. By Rev. Jesse E. Hutchins 1305

Catalogue of Publications. By Rev. Edwin Shaw 1327

Biographical Sketches. By Corliss Fitz Randolph 1361

Index 1403

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ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME II.

Rev. Joseph Stennet (2nd) Frontispiece

Rev. William L. Burdick 587

Newport Church, Exterior 590

Newport Church, Interior : Showing Pulpit and Sound-
ing Board 592

Newport Church, Interior : Facing the Pulpit 594

Newport Church, Interior : Facing the Entrance .... 596

Newport Church, Interior : Facing to left of Entrance . . 598

Newport Church, Interior : Facing to Right of Entrance 600

Communion Service of Newport Church .• 602

Rev. William Bliss 608

Old Westerly, Now First Hopkinton, Church 610

Rev. Thomas Hiscox 620

Old Baptismal Pool of First Hopkinton Church .... 628

Ministers' Monument, at Old Hopkinton Graveyard . . 632

Hon. Joseph Potter 636

Church and Parsonage at Berlin, New York 640

Rev. William Satterlee 642

Rev. Sherman S. Griswold 654

Pawcatuck Church : Exterior and Interior 658

Rev. George E. Tomlinson 660

Hon. George H. Utter 662

Piscataway Church 678

Rev. John Davis 684

Old Baptismal Pool between Shiloh and Marlboro, New

Jersey ' 686

Shiloh Church 688

Rev. Walter B. Gillette 690

Church at Plainfield, New Jersey : Exterior and Interior 692

Rev. Lucius Crandall 698

Thomas B. Stillman 702

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Vlll SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

Rev. Asa B. Prentice 719

Old Church on Beaver Creek, Second Brookfield, New

York 720

First Verona Church 722

Church at Adams Centre 724

Rev. Wardner C. Titsworth 729

Rev. Nathan V. Hull 732

First Alfred Church .* 734

Second Alfred Church 736

Friendship Church 738

Rev. Thomas B. Brown 740

First Genesee Church, at Little Genesee 742

Hornellsville Church 746

Rev. Nathan Wardner 773

Milton Church : Interior and Exterior 774

North Loup Church 778

Jackson Centre Church 782

Boulder Church 784

Nortonville Church 786

Riverside Church 794

Dodge Centre Church 796

Farina Church and Parsonage 800

Corliss F. Randolph 821

Jepthah F. Randolph 828

Old Log Church at New Salem, Virginia: Exterior. . . . 834

Old Log Church at New Salem, Virginia : Interior .... 836

Frame Church at Salem 838

Present Church Building at Salem 840

Lost Creek Church 846

Rev. Perie R. Burdick 862

Salemville Church 864

Group of Laymen :

Franklin F. Randolph,

William F. Randolph,

Preston F. Randolph,

Ephraim Bee 870

Rev. Samuel D. Davis 900

Rev. Charles A. Burdick 904

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ILLUSTRATIONS. IX

Rev. James F. Shaw 917

Church at Hammond 920

Church at Gentry * 924

Church and School at Fouke 928

Julius F. Sachse 935

Title page of Rosicrucian Manuscript 941

Seventh Folio of Rosicrucian Manuscript 942

Translation of Seventh Folio of Rosicrucian Manuscript 943

Facsimile of English page of Kelpius' Hymnal 955

Facsimile of a German Page of Kelpius' Hymnal 957

Johannes Kelpius, opposite 958

Penny Pot House and Ljmding, opposite 962

Title Page of Pastorius' Rebuke 965

The Old Monastery on the Wissahickon 967

Conrad Matthai 969

Conrad Beissel 971

Title-page of the English Version of Beissel's Sabbath

Book 985

Title-page of the English Version of Wohlfarth's Nak-
ed Truth 986

Title-page of Beissers Hyinnbook 987

Title-page of Beissefs Manuscript Hymn Book of 1734 999

The Kiss of Peace, opposite 1006

Title-page of the first book printed with German type in

America loi i

A Spiritual Virgin in the Habit of the Order 1015

Hood Worn by the Sisterhood 1016

Within the Saal, opposite 1016

Saal and Sister House at Ephrata, opposite 1018

Sister House and Saal from Southwest 1021

An Old Picture of Ephrata Cloister 102 1

Interior of. Saal, opposite 1022

Pulpit Seat of the Old Brother Saal 1024

Kloster Buildings on Zion Hill about 1750 1025

The Saal and Outbuildings 1026

Fracturschrift Tablet over Preacher's Bench in Saal. . . . 1029
Reduced Facsimile of Title-page of Paradischcs Wund-

er-Spiel 1032

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X ' • SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

Title-page of English Version of BeisseFs Wunderschrift 1033

The Great Hymnal of the Ephrata Community 1034

Entrance to the Old God's Acre of the Kloster 1035

Title-page of the Manuscript Chronicon of the Ephrata

Sisterhood 1039

The Old Brother House, South Front 1042

Ephrata Pilgrims, opposite 1044

Buildings supposed to have been on Zion Hill 1050

An Old Ephrata Printing Press, opposite 1056

Ephrata Hand Press 105S

An Old Kloster Cartoon 1058

Carved Blocks for Printing Calico, made at Ephrata,

opposite 1058

Cartoons Illustrating the Printing and Bookbinding In-
dustries 1060

Turtel Taube 1061

Title-page of the Great Martyr Book 1062

Ephrata Water Mark 1063

Water Mark of the Zionitic Brotherhood prior to 1745. . 1063
Title-page of the second part of the Great Martyr Book 1065
Watermark Adopted by the Community after the Expul-
sion of the Eckerlins 1066

Watermark used in Ephrata Paper-Mill for Commercial

Work 1067

Ornate Title of Manuscript Tune Book, The Turtel

Taube 1068

Title-page of Chronicon Ephratense 1070

Specimen of Ephrata Penwork from Ms. Hymn Book

of 1745 ^o7i

Alphabet used in the Manuscript Tune Books of the

Ephrata Community '. . . . 1074

Specimen of Ornate Fractur Initial **0," First Alphabet 1076

Specimens of Gothic Letters in Christian's A, B, C Book 1077

The Old Ephrata Academy 1078

Ornamental Penwork from Specimen Book Des Christ-
en A, B. C 1079

Title-page of Hocker's Ephrata Primer 1080

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ILLUSTRATIONS. XI

An Ephrata Sabbath School Reward Card 1082

Earliest Ephrata Music — From Hymn Book used at Am-

well, N. J. about 1735 1086

Die Braut ist Erzvachet, Four-part Anthem set on a
single Staff. Music as written for, and used by,

the Secular Congregation 1088

From Ms. Tune and Hymn Book 1089

Wohlauf, Wohlauf, utid Schmuck dich Herrlich, as

Transposed into Modem Notation 1090

Specimen Page from Choral Book 1092

Arranged as a Hymn for a five part Choir. Turtel
Taube, Hymn 13, Part One, p. 60. Zionitsch-

er Rosengarten, p. 27 1094

No. 98, Four Part, p. 402, Turtel Taube 1094

Zionitscher Rosengarten^ p. 102 1094

Gott ein Herrscher Alter Heiden, Seven part motet.

Weyrauchs Hugel 1905-1906

An Anthem Arranged to be Sung Antiphonally, 1097

An Ephrata Motet in Six Parts 1098

Continental Currency Printed at Ephrata iioi

Seal of Sisterhood of Saron 1 106

A "Sampler." By Sister Petronella, opposite 1106

Specimen of Ornamental Pen-work from Sisters' Ms.

Hymnal 1108

From an Ephrata Sampler 1 109

Embroidery Pattern From Ephrata Cloister 11 10

Samuel and Gabriel Eckerlin as Prospectors and Trap-
pers 1 125

Glimpses of Snow Hill Nunnery, opposite 1 138

Main Building of the Snow Hill Institution 1 140

Andreas Fahnestock 1 142

Conrad Weiser, opposite 1 144

Dr. William M. Fahnestock 1 146

Title-page of American Reprint of Bromley's Works. . 1148

Portrait of Rev. Peter Miller 1 152

Latin Letter by Peter Miller to Hon. Edward Shippen. . 11 56

Cabin of Rev. John Peter Miller 1 158

Facsimile of Signature of Rev. Peter Miller 11 59

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xii .si:vi:xTn-DAY baptists:

All Ancient Epiirata Cabin (Peter Miller's), opposite . . 1160
General View of Kloster Grounds at Ephrata.
View from Meadow toward Zion Hill,

View from Zion Hill, opposite 1 162

Facsimile of Letter from Jaebez to the Antietam Com-
munity 1 170

Facsimile of Cocalico (Muddy Creek) Church Register,
Showitig Earliest Parochial Acts of Rev. Peter

Miller 1 173

^lap of the Palatinate, Whence Came Most of the

Early Emigration to Pennsyhrania 1 181

Title-page of Wcyranchs HUgel, Printed at German-
town, by Sauer 1 186

Title-page of the Last Hymn Book Printed by the

Ephrata Community 1189

Title-page of a Book on the Sabbath, by Peter Lehman 1197

Divine Inspiration (From Kloster Mss.) 1200

German Seventh Day Baptist Church at Salemville,

opposite 1200

Title-page of Meredith's Reply to the Sabbatarian Tract

of Beissel and Wohlfarth 1205

Title-page of Testimony Against the Moravians, Pre-
pared by Brother Jaebez at the Request of

Beissel 1200

A Page of Rosicrucian Theosophy 12 13

Astrological Chart. From old Ephrata Mss 1217

Facsimile of Invocation from an Early Ephrata Im-
print 1218

An Ephrata Todtentanz (Chorea Maehabaeorum.)
Emblematical Symbol Showing the Power of

Death Over Man 1221

Ephrata Kloster in the Year 1900, opposite 1222

Facsimile of Eckerlin Broadside 1225

Facsimile Title of Comet Book 1229

Zionitic Pillar Against the Moravians 1234

Monument on Zion Hill, opposite 1238

Prior Onesimus' Anti-Moravian Tractate 1241

Specimen Page from Ephrata Letter Book 1245

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ILLUSTRATIONS. XIU

Rev. John S. King, opposite 1246

Group of German Seventh Day Baptist Ministers:

Rev. Jeremiah Fyock,

Rev. John A. Pentz,

Rev. William K. Bechtel,

Rev. 'William A. Resser,

Rev. Samuel G. Zerfass, opposite 1248

New London, Connecticut, during the Eighteenth

Century, opposite i26r

Old Rogferene Meeting House of the Seven Gables at

Groton 1279

Rev. Stephen Burdick, opposite 1285

Rev. Jesse E. Hutchins 1305

Deacon John Maxson 1327

Rev. Eli S. Bailey 1361

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CORRECTIONS

VOLUME II.

Page 609, second paragraph, last line but one, "Volume IV"

should be "Volume III."
Page 849, third paragraph from the top. For "some ten
from Clarksburg, and about an equal distance from
Lost Creek Station", read "some five miles from
Clarksburg, and about six miles from Lost Creek
Station."
Page 903, line five from the bottom of the page. After
"New York City" insert "At their anual meeting
at Commencement in June, 1908, the Trustees of
Alfred University voted to confer upon him the
degree of Doctor of Divinity." In the next line
after "Berlin, Wisconsin," insert "Rockville,
Rhode Island, four years ;".

Page 1014, second paragraph from bottom. For "Freidsam
Gottrecht," read "Friedsam Gottrecht."

Page 1 105, under heading The Sisterhood, last paragraph.
For "Maria Hocker," read "Maria Eicher," and
omit the last three lines of this paragraph.

Page 1 138, sixth line from bottom. For "store house," read
"stone house."

Pago 1 152, The portrait here shown is that of Rev. Peter
Miller.

Page 1202, under hosiding Fahnestock's Exposition, third line.
For "William H. Fahnestock," read "William M.
Fahnestock."

Page 1256, The Outlook here cited is the Sabbath Outlook,
published at Alfred, New York.

Page 1281, last line but one. For "Nathniel Britton", read
"Nathaniel Britton."

Page 1382, biographical sketch of Christian Theophilus Lucky,
third line. For "he embraced the Sabbath," read
"he associated himself with Sabbath-keeping
Christians."

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.4£.

GENERAL OBSERVATION

The several historical papers contributed to this work are
supposed to end with August, 1902, but inasmuch as several of
them were written subsequent to the date, it sometunes hap-
pens that later history is included. Generally this fact is men-
tioned whenever this has been done, but not always, as, for
example, the List of Living Seventh Day Baptist Ministers
on page 1322, was made in June, 1908, and is supposed to in-
clude all Seventh Day Baptist Ministers living at that time.
There are other similar instances.

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-si of
hBp-

for
ifl-

THE
EASTERN ASSOCIATION

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REV. WILLIAM L. BURDICK, D. D.
See Biograph'cal Sketches, p. 1361.

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THE EASTERN ASSOCIATION.

William L. Burdick.

The Seventh-day Baptist Eastern Association includes
the churches in New England, New Jersey, the eastern part of
New York, eastern part of Pennsylvania, and the south At-
lantic states, or to put it in one phrase, the eastern part of
the United States, the eastern boundary of Steuben County,
N. Y., being the western limit agreed upon when the Associa-
tion was organized. The history of Seventh-day Baptists in
this territory covers a period of two hundred forty years and
for nearly one hundred fifty years all Seventh-day Baptist
churches in America were within what are now the bounds of
the Eastern Association.

It has been the writer's purpose to make this sketch a
complete minual of all Seventh-day Baptist churches that
have been organized in this territory, to trace in brief out-
line the causes which led to their founding and decline (when
they have declined), and to indicate the part they have acted
in the development of our material resources and free insti-
tutions.

One cannot help regretting that this article must be only
a brief outline, and the material which should fill three or four
volumes must be crowded into a few brief paragraphs.

All human efforts are imperfect, and though the writer has
taken great pains to have every statement correct, yet, in all
probability, errors will be discovered, which others in coming

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588 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

years must correct. The statements regarding the part our
people have acted in the development of our free institutions
are especially deficient, because those who might have fur-
nished material have in many cases, after repeated appeals,
failed thus to do. For this reason also there is great lack of
uniformity and proportion in this part of the sketch, the pub-
lic service of the members of some churches being quite fully
given in outline, while that of those of other churches is
scarcely mentioned at all. The omissions in every case
have been because no one would respond to appeals for data.

Several of the earlier churches were organized before the
change from the Julian Calendar, or "old style," to the Greg-
orian, or "new style." This change took place in England
and the colonies September 3, 1752, and by it September 3
became September 14, the new year began January i instead
of March 25, and January became the first month instead of
March as before. The earliest original records of the Piscata-
way and Shiloh churches are not extant, but the records of
the Newport, First Hopkinton and Shrewsbury churches show
beyond a doubt that their records were kept according to the
old style up to September, 1752. This makes a variation of
eleven days in some instances, two months eleven days in oth-
ers, and one year eleven days in still others. The writer,
seeing no reason why dates in Seventh-day Baptist history, if
given at all, should not be correctly given as they are in other
history, will give all dates, unless otherwise indicated, in ac-
cord with the Gregorian Calendar and American history.*
This will make a discrepancy in some instances TDetween the
dates g^ven in this sketch and those given by other Seventh-
day Baptist writers who have utterly ignored the dropping out
of eleven days in September, 1752, and the changing of the
time of beginning the year.

It has often been pointed out that the Seventh-day Baptist
churches in the Eastern Association had three separate and
distinct starting points, one in Rhode Island, another in Pis-
cataway, N. J., and a third near Philadelphia, Pa. A fourth
starting point, Shiloh, N. J., might have been added because

•The Washington family Bible gives February ii, 173^ as the date of
the birth of Gen. Geo. Waslrington, but we, taking into account the change,
give February 22, 1732.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 589

\l \s uncertain whether the interest at Shiloh grew out of any
ol the others or not. In fact, there is not sufficient data
today to justify the statement that Seventh-day interest at
Piscataway, Shiloh, and in the vicinity of Philadelphia had
separate origins one from the others, or that they started en-
tirely independent of the church in Newport and Western
Rhode Island. However it may be, from these points have
sprung not alone all the churches of this Association, but
those oi the entire denomination in America.

Instead of following the chronological order the churches
will be taken up in groups. First will be the churches which
grew out of the Rhode Island movement, including Newport,
First Hopkinton, Shrewsbury, Berlin, Burlington, Waterford,
Petersburg, Second Hopkinton, Rockville, First Westerly,
Pawcatuck, Woodville, South Kingston, Greenmanville, and
Second Westerly; second, those which had their origin near
Philadelphia, including Newton, Pennepeck, French Creek,
Nottingham, Broad River, Tuckaseeking and perhaps others ;
and third those which centered around Piscataway. including,
beside Piscataway, Shiloh, Oyster Pond, Marlboro, Plainfield,
New York, Rosenhyne, and Daytona. The Cumberland *
Church, North Carolina, is not connected with any group as
to origin. There were also three other churches within the
bounds of this Association, — Schenectady, Baltimore, and
Clifford, — but they joined the Central Association and are not
included in this sketch.

CHURCHES WHICH GREW OUT OF THE SABBATH
REFORM MOVEMENT IN RHODE ISLAND.

NEWPORT.

So far as known, the first Seventh-day Baptist in America
was Stephen Mumford. We know very little of his his-
tory till he came from England to Newport, R. I., in 1665.
Some writers say he came in 1664, while others. Backus in
his "Church History," Denison in "Westerly and Its Witnes-
ses" and the Editors of The Missionary Magazine, give the
date 1665. Backus says, "in the beginning of 1665." The

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590 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

discrepancy probably comes from the fact that this was be-
fore the change from old style to new style of reckoning, and
some have followed one style and others the other. He was
a Seventh-day Baptist when he came and began at once to
proclaim the truths of his Master. He demonstrated what
might be done by others. Backus* History states that Mr.
Mumford came to Newport from London. We learn from
Samuel Hubbard's Journal that he was originally from Tewkes-
bury, England, that he and his wife were of the number who
made up the first Seventh-day Baptist church in America, and
that he returned to England and brought back with him
William Gibson, who became the second pastor at Newport.

Through the zealous efforts of Mr. Mumford several mem-
bers of the First Baptist Church of Newport embraced the
Sabbath truth. From all that we know one would conclude
that the converts to the Sabbath were won through personal
work, as there is nothing to indicate that he held any public
meetings. We are indebted to the Journal of Samuel Hub-
bard, a copy of which may be found in the library of Milton
College, Wis., for the following statement: "My wife took
up keeping of the Lord's holy 7th day Sabbath the 10 day
March, 1665 ; I took it up one day April, 1665 J our daughter
Ruth, 25 Oct., 1666; Rachel, Jan. 15 day 1666; Bethiah, Feb.
1666; our son Joseph Clarke, 23 Feb., 1666.*'

These dates are according to the Julian calendar, or old
style. By the Gregorian calendar, or new style, these dates
would read March 21, 1666, April 12, 1665, Nov. 5, 1666,
Jan. 26, 1667, Feb., 1667, and March 6, 1667, respectively.
In a letter Mr. Hubbard says that his wife was the first to
commence keeping the Sabbath. This does not agree with
the dates given above, as "the 10 day March, 1665," would
according to old style be nearly a year after "April i, 1665,"
the new year beginning March 25. Perhaps there has been
some mistake in copying from Mr. Hubbard's Journal. How-
ever this may be, it is quite evident that Tacy Hubbard was
the first to embrace the Sabbath in America, and it is proba-
ble, though we cannot be certain, that it was, (by the mode
of reckoning time since September, 1752), March 21, 1665,
Samuel Hubbard commencing April 12, 1665.

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H "I
oi S -

>-• 5 2

£ >^

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 591

It will be observed that tliese were all members of Mr. Hub-
bard's fainily. Ruth was the wife of Robert Burdick, Rachel
oi Andrew Langworthy and Bethiah of Joseph Clarke. A
very large number of Seventh-day Baptists, as well as many
who are not, can trace their lineage to these families. Three
of the five here mentioned as having embraced the Sabbath
were living in Misquamicut, R. I., or what is now southwest-
ern Rhode Island. These, three were Joseph Clarke and Be-
thiah his wife, and Ruth Hubbard Burdick. Mr. Hubbard
seems to have treasured the day of their accepting the Sabbath
truth the same as their birthdays. About this same time, six
others accepted the same views. Their names were William
Hiscox, Roger Baster, Nicholas Wild and his wife, and John
Salmon and his wife. These together with Stephen Mum-
ford and wife, increased the number in Newport, who were
keeping the Sabbath, to eleven, beside the three who were liv-
ing in Misquamicut.

It is evident that at first they did not intend to withdraw
from the Baptist church of which they were members, and
they did not till they were forced thus to do by the Church
five years later. They were considered as members in good
standing in the First Baptist church in Newport. April, 1668,
the Church sent three of its members to Boston to defend the
Baptists in that city who were being persecuted. Two of the
three were Mr. Hiscox and Mr. Hubbard, notwithstanding
their change of views. This incident shows the relation which
existed between the Church and the Sabbath keepers within
its fold, and also the place these men, who afterward became
pillars in the first Seventh-day Baptist church in America,
held among the Baptists. Though still in covenant relations
with those who observed Sunday, they made their influences
felt for the true Sabbath, as is seen also from the fact, re-
corded in both Greene's and Arnold's histories of Rhode Is-
land, that, in 1667, they petitioned the general assembly to
have market day changed from the Sabbaj:h to Thursday.
The assembly made both days market days.

Matters seem to have run smoothly along in this Way for
two years, but in 1669 things transpired which caused friction
that finally resulted in the withdrawal of those observing the

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592 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Sabbath from the church and the organization of a Seventh-
day Baptist church. The first cause of disturbance was the
fact that four of the eleven, Nicholas Wild and John Salmon
and their wives, deserted the Sabbath. This occurred in Jan-
uary and February of 1669 and was a very sore trial to the
others. Mr. and Mrs. Salmon had been among the first to
accept the Sabbath, having done so in April, 1665, while Mr.
and Mrs. Wild, who had come to the truth eighteen months
later, had been looked upon as among the most steadfast. The
faithful ones looked on this as a flagrant apostasy and with
difficulty could bring themselves to commune with those who
had once known the truth and then forsaken it, though they
had no objections to communing with those who had never
known the truth. July, 1669, Mr. Hubbard writes to the
church in Bell Lane, London, England, as follows:

"Some of us, and such as was none of the least among us, as
brother Wyld, an old disciple and his wife, a knowing woman and
much spake for this holy truth, and brother John Salmon and his wife,
have forsaken this truth and us, and turned back to full communion
with this Church; and not only so, but prate against this holy truth,
and brother Wyld have writ against it, I judge a foolish nonsense
paper (or pamphlet) in a "high esteem of himself and some others.
It is a very hard exercise to us, poor weak ones, to loose for so
suddenly out of 11 of us here. Again, upon these falling off, the
brethren have in public preached, and make it their work so to deal
most every day, to my trouble; I some times indeed object in a weak
measure and bear a testimony against them; and in very deed in my
conscience I cannot safely communicate with such as preach that all
the 10 commands are nailed to the cross arjd done away, but re-
newed again, some of them."

The four resident elders in the Church, Dr. John Clarke,
Mark Luker, Joseph Torey and Obadiah Holmes, as the quo-
tation indicates, now took occasion to preach against the way
those observing the Sabbath did, till the latter, being grieved
over the course pursued, sought occasion at the close of the
sermons to make reply by defending the truth and themselves.
Many in the church were pained on account of the contention
in the church and "Mr. Hiscox desired some to beseech the
elders to forbear such kind of preaching, or else they should
be put upon that work which they were loath to travel in,

(37)

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PULPIT AND SOUNDING BOARD OF THE NEWPORT CHURCH.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 593

viz., to leave the Church, if they could not find quietness with-
in." "Hereupon, for a few weeks, there was a forbearance;
so that they went on in church fellowship and communion
with them at the table of the Lord, though many times some
of the church would say to them, 'that if they were of their
minds as to the Seventh-day Sabbath, they could not have
communed with them that did oppose it ;' to which seeming re-
flection they answered, 'that they were loath to separate if
they could be quiet.' And thus for some years they walked."
After this there was outward quiet for two years or so, but
in the meantime there was correspondence on the question
with the Baptist church in Providence, R. I., and the Seventh-
day Baptists in England. In June, 1671, the peace was again
broken by Eld. Holmes who attacked in a sermon, those who
observed the Sabbath. They had attended the services of the
church, but had not always communed, and had met on the
Sabbath for mutual encouragement and prayer. The day Mr.
Holmes renewed the attack in his sermon, Mr. Hiscox tried to
get him to say whom he meant in his accusations, but he
would not. "The next Fifth-day the Church called in Mr.
Hiscox to give an account why he did not sit down with them
at the table of the Lord." Several church meetings followed
this one in rapid succession and there were long and heated
discussions in which the church called those observing the
Sabbath to account for forsaking the communion and slan-
dering the brethren in saying that they taught that the law was
done away. The Sabbath-observers presented their griev-
ances with the church, which were (i) the harshness of their
preaching, (2) the apostasy of the four who had turned back,
and (3) the fact that the elders really had taught that the law
was abolished. The longer they discussed the matter the more
apparent it became that they could not walk in churcl^ fellow-
ship. Mr. Hubbard, in a letter to his children in Misquami-
cut, one week before they formed themeslves into a Seventh-
day Baptist church, writes of the proceedings as follows:

"This is to inform you upon what sermon Ruth heard Obediah
Holmes preach, B. Hiscox spake publicly, admirably of free grace by
Jesus Christ, not by the works of the law, tho' holy, just and good; no
not baptism and the like, calling sinners to repentance for the

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594 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

breach of the law, and so forth. And then they breaking bread,
we all withdrew. They being troubled, warned in all of the Church
(or delinquents) that stood off to come in 5 days. So it was
aledged because some keeping the 7th day, or sabbath, either they
in an error or we, etc. Then brother Hiscox began, but they would
not let him^very one must answer for himself lest others led by
him. So they named me, but I would not be first. Then my wife
laid down three grounds, then brother Hiscox laid down his grounds,
three also. Then brother Baster said 'brother Hiscox hath spoke my
mind;' so said Rachel. Then brother Tory said, 'brother Hubbard
you may lay down your grounds if you will.' I answered, 'I believe
there is but one God, creator of all things by his word at first, and
then made the 7th day and sanctified it and rested on it and was
refreshed, never altering it, commanded it to be kept holy, etc.;
that Christ our Lord stablished it. Matt. 5 ; the holy apostles stablished
it. did not say it zvas holy, but is holy just and good; and in the
Revelation the dragon made war with the woman's seed, that kept
the commandments of God, etc' Brother Tory said, they required
not my faith. I said it was one ground for my practice (note brother
John C. and brother Tory writ what all said, or some of it). Brother
W^eeden said it's his grounds, therefore should be written all or else
not well and so forth. So I went on saying that the backslidings
of some from what they said they had received of ye Lord, and one
on his bended knees to God gave thanks for the discovery of it
etc., another say if ever God had discovered his grace to her soul,
then he had made this also. They replied fiercely: it was a tumult.
J. Tory stopped them at last. Brother Hiscox, my wife and Rachel
witnessed it. Another ground was Obediah Holmes saying we had
left Christ, gone to Moses and so forth. The Church left off, ap-
pointing next 5 day, which was spent with brother J. Clarke; so
we, or some of us at last attended: and such was the good prov-
idence, that though I and my wife were in town, yet brother Hiscox
being there and no other, they began with him ; so I and my wife
came in and heard the discourse that day; next day again brother
Hiscox alone. So we, seeing how things went to catch us, drew up
our result, appointed brother Hiscox to declare for us all in God's
name and ours, an admonishment for preaching down God's holy 10
commandments, say all done away, and upholding those apostates
and standing by Obediah Holmes preaching an untruth (or we) in
God's name" —

In the record of the First Baptist church of Newport is
to be found a detailed description of what was said on both
sides at these meetings. This account was published entire in
the Set'cntli-day Baptist Memorial, Vol. i., No. i. It is most
interesting and instructive and naturally forms a part of this

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'3(t

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 595

history, but it is too long, as it contains nearly eight thousand
words. The following is the account of the last two meetings,
and being a recapitulation of the entire controversy, gives a
view of both its nature and spirit :

"At the meeting, after it was broken up, there was much dis-
course, and sometimes too hot words on both sides; Mr. H. dis-
coursing with Mr. Wilds, (one of them that laid down the observa-
tion of the Seventh-day,) about his denying of the law; to whom
he replied, *Who denies it?' Upon which Mr. Tory said, 'I do.'
To whicn Mr. Wild said, *What! deny them?'* And he answered,
Tes, and that with open face, and I do affirm that the ten words
were never written in any Gentile's heart.' Then Mr. Hiscox said,
'Seeing you are not agreed in it, I shall leave you to debate the
matter among yourselves.'

"The next meeting was spent in endeavoring to remove Mr.
Hiscox's grounds, and there was much reasoning concerning the
Elders denying the ten words to be any rule to the Gentiles; they
then endeavoring to show, that they were never commanded to keep
any part of the law.

"Then Mr. Tory replied, Tt is a sad thing that we should thus
abuse the Scriptures.'

"To which Mr. Hiscox said, T never met with any that did
understand them otherwise, but yourselves.*

"So by this time there was too much heat of spirit.

"Hereupon Mr. Holmes told the brethren, that he judged they
were beside the work, saying, he thought they should put Bro. Hiscox
on it to prove his seventh-day practice, or else to fall under.

"Upon which Mr. Hiscox said, 'Bro. Holmes, you are not right
there; you shanl slip your neck out of the collar so; for the ground
of our difference is, that you and others deny God's law.'

"To which Mr. Holmes replied, with much concern, 'You are
deluded, and ought to be made sensible of it.'

"Then Mr. Hiscox answered, 'You have said more than this
before now, as that we have denied Christ, and had not conscience
towards God in these matters.'

"Upon which Mr. Holmes said, *I again say, I do judge you have
and still do deny Christ, and that you have not conscience in it,
for if you had, you could not have walked with us till now, but
must have done otherwise, for had I been of your judgment, I must
have stoned you all to death before now.'

"Mr. Hiscox replied, The more wicked you would have been
for your pains, for God requires no such thing of us or you.'

"Mr. Tory said, that he judged that when the church had en-
deavored to convince them, if they remained refractory, then the
church should wait awhile, and after that to declare such to be
none of them.

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59^ SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

"'Whatr said Mr. Hiscox, 'must we be forced to walk by your
legs, and see by your eyes? You may do what you please in that
matter/

*'At that meeting, as well as at most others, they were blamed
for not taking advice of the leading brethren before they stepped
forward. Mr. Clarke often told Mr. Hiscox, that he stole into the
practice. To which those who were in the practice of the seventh
aay said, 'What need is there of us to come to you, since we know
your judgment well enough, and that for a long time; and since the*
matter hath been debated in the church before all, we might wait
long enough before we could have had leave given to us to do that
which yo'u would not do yourselves; and though we do own the
church, and the officers that God hath set there, yet God hath
sometimes made known part of his will to weak ones, that others
might not glory;' and by applying themselves to Mr. Tory, said,
that notwithstanding that he was an Elder, yet he was not perfect
in his own knowledge, but might stand in need of the meanest of
tne church.

"At that meeting, every thing appeared dark, as though there was
no likelihood of accomodation to be one church.

"Hereupon, Mr. Hiscox desired to propose something to the
church, which was, that since there was an apparent difference be-
tween them, and if they could not go on as formerly, he, in behalf
of the rest, desired the church seriously to consider, whether it would
not be iTK>re for the glory of God, and both their comforts, to let them
have their liberty to walk by themselves, as they were persuaded,
and so to maintain as much love as possible, seeing there is no likeli-
hood of their agreeing.

"Many, being weary of the contest, said, 'It is time to set one
against the other.'

"To which Mr. Tory replied, *I will never yield to it as long as
I live,' and Mr. Hohnes backed the expression, *Nor I neither.'

"Upon which Mr. Clarke said, 'What rule have you for this
matter?' Mr. Hiscox answered, 'To do to others as we would they
should do to us; would not you have had the same liberty at Seconk,
and elsewhere, when you differed from other churches that you had
walked with?'

"Upon which it was answered, that Scripture was too short, for
that had relation to outward things.

"Mr. Hiscox : 'There is that word, How can two walk together
except they are agreed? — we differ in matters of great weight, though
you make light of them; there is that saying also. As many grains
of wheat make one bread, so should the saints be one in heart; and
it is plain we ain't so, for §ome can't sit down at the table of the
Lord because of us. Bro. Deuel and Bro. Mann and others say we
have left Christ and gone to Moses, because we plead the morality
of the ten words; others say we undervalue Christ by taking precepts
from Moses.'

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 597

"After this debate, it was by some proposed, that though they
did plead for the law, and the church did esteem it an error, whether
it is such an error as to exclude a brother for?

"Hereupon brother Wild made answer, that 'they should be
tender of conscience, if they walked orderly, according to Christ's
last will and testament after his resurrection.'

"Mr. Hiscox answered, 'Not the commands of Christ before his
death? Ain't they as binding as those after?*

"To which Mr. Tory replied, 'Are they so to you?'

"Mr. Hiscox answered, 'The commands of my Lord are equal
to me, whether before or after his death.'

"Hereupon Mr. Tory replied, 'I am sorry for your ignorance.'

"After many things of this nature, and being weary of the
contest, those five Sabbatarians met together to consider what they
may with safety do, and answer a good conscience; whether to go
on with the church as heretofore, or to declare their dissent from
them, as such as did speak evil of the law; and, that since they had
given them the reason of not sitting down at the table of the Lord
with them, they were the more earnestly called forth in preach-
ing against the observation of the law than before; and, instead of
finding out some middle way to ease things, every affair was drove
to the last extremity, by showing the law to be the first covenant,
and the seventh-day Sabbath to be a sign of the covenant and done
away: and though not in express words, they were often called
delinquents, yet in words implying the same; and that the church had
given the first cause of grief to them. Being unwilling to separate
from them, if they could be easy, after seeking the Lord, they five
concluded to withdraw, since there was no hope of peace in the
church while they remained. Hereupon, they chose Mr. Hiscox to
be their mouth and declare this.

"The next meeting, the four Elders were there, though not so
many others as at some other times. Mr. Clarke having sought the
Lord by prayer, then Mr. Holmes informed the church, that he had
something that day with weight on his heart to declare unto them;
and that is, said he, ist. Bro. Hiscox slandering the leading brethren
in saying they deny the law. 2d. His charging those four persons
as apostates, saying, in his judgment, the church ought to make
brother Hiscox see His evil in charging them so highly, or else,
that the church ought to look at them as such, and declare against
them. 3d. It is reported that Bro. Hiscox did work one first day
till meeting time, and then came and stood up in the church to speak
and pray. 4th. That he hath broke bread on the seventh day of the
week. 5th. That in so doing he hath held communion with such
as were not owned by the church. These five things Mr. Holmes
declared to have been matter of grief to him; and hereupon called
for the help of the church to deal with Mr. Hiscox for them as
great evils, though he never told him of these things in the pre-
scribed order.

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598 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

"Hereupon Mr. Hiscox said, *If you have done, brother Holmes,
I shall give you an answer to these things, for I am glad that I have
now a time to speak to them, for I have heard that you, or some
others, have spoke of such things abroad, though not to me. And
as to the first, that I have slandered the leading brethren in saying
they have denied the law or ten words to be a rule to us Gentiles,
either before or after faith, I have so said, and do so say still, and
if Bro. Holmes, or any other, do deny it, their last sin would be as
bad as the first; having done it publicly and privately, should you
deny it, 'twould only be adding sin to sin. As to the second charge,
for my calling those four persons apostates, we can look on them no
better; for what is apostasy but the denial of that which persons
once professed to be the mind and will of God, in a back way?
Would you not count us such, if we should deny water baptism,
and turn our backs upon it, and plead for the baptism of the Spirit
only, as too many do at this day?'

"To which Mr. Tory replied, that if apostasy meant to deny that
which persons once professed, then that most of his church are
apostates.

"Mr. Hiscox replied, 'Look you to that ; if you have done anything
in the name of the Lord, and have forsook it, then you have need to
repent of it. As to the third thing Bro. Holmes said, it is grossly
false ; for I never in all my life came from my work to speak and pray
in the church but once, and that was many years ago, and that was
upon a more than ordinary occasion, when brother Clarke was sick ;' and
farther said, 'I cannot but wonder at you, Bro. Holmes, of whom
I heard, before I saw your face, that you could as freely weave a yard
of cloth on a first day, before meeting, as at any other time.*

"To which Mr. Holmes replied, *Did you ever see me do it?'

" 'No,' said Mr. Hiscox, *but I have seen you come to meeting
on a first day with your leather apron on, as if you had come from
your work, which made me think it might be true; especially hearing
you oft times say you knew no Sabbath but Christ'

"By the time he had so far proceeded, there was so much disorder
in the meeting, that the other things were not spoke to.

"Upon which Mr. Hiscox desired to offer some scriptures to
prove that it was lawful to set precepts of holiness from the Old
Testament, as that of Peter, *Be ye holy,' because it is written, 'Be ye
holy, for I am holy,' and some other places.

"Hereupon Mr. Clarke said, 'You undervalue the Son to take
precepts from the servant.'

"Mr. Tory then said to the Church, that he thought they had
spent time enough with Mr. Hiscox, etc.

"All these left the Church Dec. 7, 1671."

"Dec. 7, 1671," when the withdrawal from the Baptist
church took place, was old style, making the withdrawal really

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 599

Dec. i8, 167 1. Sixteen days after this, or January 3, 1672,
the first Seventh-day Baptist church in this Association, and
also the first in America, was organized. Mr. Hubbard made
the following record: **We efitered into a church covenant
the 23 day Dec., 1671, [old style], Wm. Hiscox, Stephen
Mumford, Samuel Hubbard, Roger Baster, Sister (Tacy)
Hubbard, Sister Mumford, Sister Rachel Langworthy.''

Wm. Hiscox was chosen pastor. The Church at its or-
ganization and so far as appears throughout its history, had
no articles of faith except the Bible. In 1781, when the First
Hopkinton church passed a certain rule and asked that sister
churches do the same, their reply was **that the best rule for
the government of the Church is the Scripture."

This separation took place more than six years after Mrs.
Hubbard embraced the Sabbath. All this time the Sabbath-
observers had been trying to keep the Sabbath and remain in
a church which observed Sunday. Their attempt was a fail-
ure, and, from the accounts which have come down to us,
it was not their fault. They were forced to withdraw and
form a church of their own. This fact is very plainly set
forth in a letter which Eld. Hiscox and Mr. Hubbard wrote,
in 1680, in behalf of the little church to a church in Boston.
The letter, in part, reads as follows:

"The cause of our separation lieth at their door, and had it not
been that they had proved themselves as bad persecutors of us
with the tongue, and shot as bitter and sharp arrows against us as
every any in the Bay did against them, we had for ought we know,
have been together till this time; and for Obediah Holmes to charge
us now again for his work and others — it is not long since that
yourselves were as bad in their account for having to do with Mr.
Miles, and for singing of psalms, and to public worship with others —
we know not what makes the change. It is not many years since
there was a gjreat endeavor by John Pepidy to bring them and us
together again but to no purpose. Brother Hiscox asked brother
Wecden and brother Philip Smith to tell him truly what they did
think, if we did come together again, whether there was likelihood
of a comfortable being together. And they said for, their parts
they should be glad of it; but did in truth confess they thought it
would be uncomfortable both for them and us; saying that to their
great trouble, there was that old spirit among them still. And yet
we go under reproach by him as the offending party; though our God
knows that separation was very grievous to us, could we have helped

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6oO SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

the same; and we appeal to our God that we desire to be in love
with all the saints of God, and as far as we can to go on
with them, and wherein we can't with all tenderness to wait on the
God of light, to show that to others he hath to us; and our comfort
is that though we are reproached it is for the truth's sake, and for
contending for the royal law of God, that if our Lord may be be-
lieved, shall stand till Heaven and earth pass away."

One is impressed with the freedom from personalities
which characterized the discussion, and subsequent history
indicates that the relations between the new church and the
one from which its members had withdrawn were thereafter
friendly. All this shows the Christian spirit and noble char-
acter of the men and women in both churches. Mr. Benedict,
in his history of Baptists, says this was the sixth Baptist
church in America, and the Baptists for several generations
considered Seventh-day Baptist churches as regular Baptist
churches. Mr. Backus calls it the Third Baptist church of
Newport. It is also on record that the Seventh-day Baptist
church of Newport was asked to send messengers to sit in
council with Baptist churches for the purpose of settling
church troubles in Baptist churches.

The growth of the little church was slow at first, but very
substantial. At this time there were not more than three
thousand persons in the entire colony and there was much
trouble on account of the Indians and the disputes with Con-
necticut and Massachusetts over boundary lines. Mr. Joseph
Clarke, Bethiah Clarke his wife, and Ruth Burdick, all of
whom had kept the Sabbath since 1666 and 1667, and Mrs.
Maxson, wife of John Maxson, who was the first pastor of the
First Hopkinton church, soon entered into covenant relations
with thpse at Newport. The date we do not know, but it was
within nineteen months after the organization of the church,
for in August, 1673, Mr. Hubbard wrote that they had seven
communicants in Newport and four in Westerly. (In 1669,
Misquamicut was called Westerly and included what is now
the towns of Hopkinton, Westerly, Charleston and Richmond).
Though Mr. Hubbard calls them communicants, it appears
from another part of his Journal that the formal action did
not take place till January, 1677.

The work soon spread to New London, Conn., evidently

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 6oi

through the Seventh-day Baptists in Westerly, for February,
1675, Ruth Burdick writes to her father, Samuel Hubbard,
as follows: "Upon the 13th day of this month our brethren
came again from New London to give us a visit and to partake
in the ordinance of breaking of bread." Elder John Cran-
dall, who had been an elder in the Baptist church and who
was one of three to make the first settlement in Misquamicut,
is spoken of as keeping the Sabbath and doing valuable work
for the truth in New London and Westerly. This same year,
in May, Elder Hiscox and Mr. Hubbard went to New Lon-
don. Again, in September, four messengers from New Lon-
don came to Newport for help and Mr. Hiscox and Mr. Hub-
bard were sent back with them. They baptized three and
"added them to the Church." The constables made them
trouble, as they had Elder Crandall when he was there, and
when there on the same mission the next year, the constable
arrested Mr. Hiscox while preaching, and took him before a
magistrate, where there was much discussion and all were
released.

Thus the work was carried on amid much hardship and, "
in Connecticut, with persecution. Notwithstanding these dif-
ficulties, in 1678, Mr. Hubbard reports twenty at Newport,
seven at Westerly and ten at New London. Three years later
there were twenty-nine at Newport, one at Providence, four
in Plymouth Colony, five on Martha's Vineyard, two of whom
were Indians, one at Narragansett, seven in Westerly and four
in New London. Seven in New London, diflfering regarding
some doctrines and practices, had ceased to walk with the
church. As the years passed, the church made converts in
Shannock, Plum Island and other places, and received them into
the church upon profession of faith, baptism, and the laying
on of hands. The extent of the work will be seen by remem-
bering that Westerly is thirty miles across the bay from New-
port, New London fifty, Martha's Vineyard thirty, and Plum
Island seventy-five.

The records for the first twenty years are not extant and
those for seventy years more ver\' meager indeed and the
data regarding the number and names of members very un-
satisfactory. As near as can be ascertained, up to 1692, when

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602 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Volume I of church records begins, more than one hundred
members had belonged to the church. A tentative list is given
in the Seienth-day Baptist Memorial, Volume II., pages 122
and 172.

It was during this time that the church commenced the
General Meeting which lead to the organization of the Gen-
eral Conference more than a century later. The object of this
meeting was to bring the members, so widely, scattered, to-
gether at a communion season. The first one was held in
1684, not 1696. In a letter written Oct. 31, 1683, to Elder
Wm. Gibson, who lived at New London, Mr. Hubbard wrote
"O that we could have a general meeting! but winter is com-
ing upon us.''

Next May in a letter to a friend he writes :

*^his church has appointed a general meeting to be here the
14th. day of May, 1684 (old style), I hope to see all my daughters
and friends together if God permit, or what can come to New
London, of Westerly, of Narraganset, of Providence, of Plymouth
colony, of Martha's Vineyard and at home, that we may humble
our souls at that Royal Throne of grace of Jehovah, and to rejoice
together in his holy way and order,"

After the meeting was over, he wrote about it and said:

"There was 2 persons of New London, one from Boston, 4 from
Westerly, one from Plymouth colony, by reason of the wind more
could not come, yet there was 26 or 27. We spent some time in
prayer, and ended in thanksgiving publicly, in refreshing ourselves
publicly with some friends. And spent our time (six day) in prayers
anv* preaching, and asking questions, and answering of them, one
was of communion, a duty, how far, and with whom? Another
question whether family morn and evening prayer was now a duty.
Question whether public prayer was a duty now? Question about
calling one to be an officer? The Church jointly agreed, brother
Hiscox. Question about the Lord's Supper in the night? The
answers I have not received as 3'et. Spake of sending of messengers
to some that are fallen from us. New London? About contribution?
For the answers I leave at present."

This general meeting commenced May 25, 1684, only
twelve years after the organization of the church and was the
first of which we have any record. The third item in the first
record book is the appointing of a general meeting in Western
Rhode Island, which was to be held the last Sabbath in the

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a
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o I

U .5

cii

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 603

seventh month, September. These meetings were continued
more or less regularly for more than a century in both the
Newport and Hopkinton churches.

In 1708 it was deemed best that the members in the west-
em part of the colony should become a separate church and
after seventy-two had entered that organization, there were
forty-one left in the church at Newport. Though some of
the most wealthy and influential men in the colony belonged
to the church during the sixty years following the separation,
yet nothing appears to give us the membership till 1774, which
was then forty-four, but we may justly suppose it had been
much larger than that. From 1737 to 1754 there was no pas-
tor, and in 1753, in a letter, the church writes, **Our Church
at present is but small and seems to be on the decline." Elder
John Maxson became pastor in 1754 and there were many ad-
ditions during his pastorate, which ended in 1778. Five years
later decline and trouble are manifest, as appears from the
following quotation taken from a letter to the First Hopkin-
ton church:

"Dear brethren, we shall be glad if you will write to us and let
us know in what light you look upon us, whether you own us as
a church of Christ in fellowship with you or not. We know and you
know that there is some that have been trying to make a schism in
the church and to set up a separate meeting here on the Sabbath.
You can't but be sensible of the bad consequence attending such a
thing. There is some we understand that have suggested that, upon
the licath of Elder John Maxson, the church here waf dissolved,
this we think is a pretty extraordinary piece of logic, for we never
thought that the Elder of a church was the head of it, but that Jesus
Christ was the only head of the church, and the Elder if he knows his
place is the servant of the church, and that when an Elder dies or
leaves a society that the members of the church are destitute, have
power to elect another in his place. But we would not do anything
to stir up strife, but those things that may promote love and unity
among us."

In 1803 the church reports forty-eight, but in 1806 there
were additions by baptism till the number was nearly one
hundred. In twenty years following, it had decreased again
to forty-eight. From 1836 to '43 there was not life enough
left to hold business meetings. In 1842, it applied to the
First Hopkinton church to appoint trustees to look after its

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604 SEVEXTH-DAY BAPTISTS.*

property with request that the church should continue to ap-
point trustees till the Newport church should be able to care
for itself. The First Hopkinton church granted the request
by appointing Geo. Irish and E. \V. Babcock.

Efforts were again made to resuscitate the church, and,
after 1843, business and other meetings were held some of
the time till 1872. The church meeting last recorded was
June 5, 1872, on which occasion the church appointed trustees
to look after the church property, evidently with the view of
disposing of it, and appointed Elder Lucius Crandall a dele-
gate to attend "the Bicentennial celebration of the founding
of the Seventh-day Baptist Denomination in America by the
organization of the church in Xewport.''

Thus it completed its two hundred years, full of years
and good works.

The following report, taken from the minutes of the Sev-
enth-day Baptist Eastern Association for 1881, will show how
the financial affairs of the church were closed out:

*To THE Eastern Seventh-day Baptist Association:

Your committee appointed at tne 42nd annual session of the
Association to report upon the condition, prospects, etc., of the New-
port s^hurch, have proceeded in accordance with instructions given
at last session, and would present the inclosed communication from
the Board of Trustees of that Church, as our report.
"Expense incurred, $2.

"Respectfully submitted,

"G. B. Carpenter, Commit fee.
"Ashaway, R. !., May 30, 1881."

''Ashaway, R. /., May 29, 1881.
"Geo. B. Carpenter:

''Dear Brother: — I am directed by the Board of Trustees of the
i\ewport Seventh-day Baptist Church to make a report of the con-
dition of church property and finances. An examination of records
and deeds, shows that the Church not only has a clear title, with
powfer to convey the same, but that the investment in Newport banks
of a Pastoral Fund is such that the church has the power to ap-
propriate it as it may wish. In 1776, a legacy of *five hundred pounds,
old tenor,' was received from the estate of Gov. Richard Ward.
With this and other funds of the Church, the Trustees were directed
to purchase a house and lot of Dea. John Tanner. They were di-
rected to let the same, and *to appropriate the rent toward the sup-
port of the minister of the Church.' In 1808, the rents 'above the

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 605

repairs from the time of Eld. Bliss' death/ were given to the Pastor,
Eld. Henry Burdick. Later, the remains of that property were sold,
the proceeds invested in Newport banks, and the interest used as a
rastoral Fund. Thus it will be seen that the Church, from time
to time, has directed that a portion of its funds be used for a
special object, anv* therefore has in itself power to change the manner
of its use as it may see fit. The general management of the financial
atfairs of the Church has been in the hands of the Board of Trustees
for over a century, and the present Board, considering that it had
full power to act in the matter at a meeting held May 18, 1881, adopted
a resolution appointing a committee to make a sale of Church property,
and make the following appropriation of the net proceeds of such
sale: 'Voted that the net proceeds of the sale of v^nurch property,
with what funds the Church may have on hand after paying all bills,
be appropriated to the Seventh-day Baptist Missionary Society, the
same to be held m trust by them, the interest only to be used, and
that for home missions, with this provision, that in case this Church
shall at some future time be reorganized, or another Seventh-day
Baptist church be organized in Newport, that the interest upon the
fund shall be appropriated to that Church/ The church property con-
sists of church lot on Barney Street, with meeting house thereon,
built under direction of and for the Church, by Henry Collins and
Jonathan Sabin, in 1729. This has been offered to the Newport
Historical Society for $1,000, who if they purchase, will retain it in
its ancient style. Bank stock with accrued dividends, supposed to be
worth $700. Total estimated valuation, $1,700. The Church was
organized in 1771 [1672] with a membership of seven. Its present
membership consists of Mrs. Alger of Newport, aged over 90 years ;
Geo. W. Weeden and wife, of Jamestown; John Congdon, of New-
port; Edmund D. Barker, of Noank, Ct. Total membership, five.
About eight years ago, (William) Maxson Rogers of Portsmouth,
and A. B. Burdick, 2d, of Ashaway, were elected members of the
Board of Trustees. Bro. Rogers has never served in that capacity.
The officers now are: President, John Congdon: Clerk, Edmund D.
Baker; Treasurer, Geo. W. Weeden; Trustees, John Congdon, Geo.
W. Weeden, Edmund D. Baker, and A. B. Burdick, 2d. By order and
in behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Newport Seventh-day Bap-
tist Church,

"A. B. Burdick, 2d, Committee"

The church throughout its course cared for its poor and
in its last recorded meeting directed that the trustees should
use funds at hand for this purpose, true to the spirit and the
principles of the fathers and the Gospel till the last.

Aside from its connection with the churches in the west-
em part of Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut, already

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6o6 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

referred to, it had a group of members at Pomeganset near
Bedford, Mass., with Eld. AmoM Bliss as their shepherd,
and from it many members joined other churches.

The Seventh-day Baptist church of Schenectady, N. Y.,
was formed largely from members of the Newport church.

Different ones might give different reasons for its de-
cline, but two things are evident: (i) The tide of emigra-
tion was away from it because there were better opportuni-
ties westward. (2) The society in Newport was not one
which would seriously consider an unpopular truth.

The history of the church was one of internal peace
and quiet, seldom being rent with dissensions within. Dur-
ing its two hundred years, it sent out very many to be wit-
nesses to the truth elsewhere. The light radiated from it
far and near, but a fashionable summer resort is not a place
where we would naturally expect a church heralding an un-
popular truth to flourish.

The biographies of the men who served the church as
pastors have been published in the Sei'cnth-day Baptist
Memorial and make most interesting, instructive, and in-
spiring reading. They can be only mentioned in this con-
nection.

The first pastor was William Hiscox, who was chosen
at the organization of the church and continued till his
death, May, 1704, a period of over thirty-two years. He
had been the able spokesman of the Sabbath observers in the
long struggle before organization and was the natural one
to whom to turn as pastor. When he was ordained, we do
not know. It has been thought that he was ordained about
the time of the founding of the church, but Backus, in a
note in Mr. Hubbard^s Journal, in 1684, twelve years after
he became pastor, says that he had not yet been ordained,
and in this same Journal, Mr. Hubbard complains because
the church had neglected the setting apart of officers. When
he was ordained, if ever, will always remain a mystery.

William Gibson was the second pastor, his pastorate
extending from 1704 to 1718. He, with his wife and two
children, came from London in 1675, ^^^ probably was or-
dained before he come. He had served the church as an

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 607

associate pastor or elder nearly thirty years, when he be-
came pastor upon the death of Elder Hiscox. His labors
had been largely in New London and Western Rhode Island,
in both of which places he had lived. It was during his
pastorate that the Sabbath-keepers in Western Rhode Island
and New Lx>ndon became a churclt separate from those in
Newport. Twenty-one were added to the Newport church
between the separation and his death.

Joseph Crandall was the third pastor and he served from
1718 to 1737. He was the son of Elder John Crandall, the
first minister in Western Rhode Island. Forty-three were
added during his pastorate. The first three pastors were all
the same age.

From 1737 to 1754, the church was without a pastor,
but enjoyed the labors of Elder Joseph Maxson, and
occasionally received a visit from Elder Thomas Hiscox.
Seventeen were added during this vacancy. Elder John Max-
son became pastor in 1754, and continued till his death in
1778, which was in the midst of the Revolutionary War.
He had former>^ been a deacon in the First Hopkinton church.
It was his to lead the flock during these trying times and he
proved himself a most efficient pastor and preacher. More
than sixty were added during his pastorate and among them
was Gov. Richard W^ard.

The fifth pastor was William Bliss, who served from
1778 to 1808. He was a descendant of Gov. Arnold and is
said to have saved the Baptist church of Newport from ex-
tinction during the time the British were occupying Newport.
Ninety-one were added during his pastorate.

These five served as pastors, after being elected, till
their deaths, and were men of high character and unusual
ability.

There were several other ministers connected with the
church. Ebenezer David, son of Elder Enoch David, was a
young man of bright promise, a graduate of what is now
Brown University. He was called by the church to improve
his gifts in 1773, ordained in 1775, ^^^ died in the army,
near Philadelphia, 1778. Elder Joseph Maxson, of Hopkin-
ton, in connection with Elder Hiscox, preached for the church

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6o8 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

between the pastorates of Elders Joseph Crandall and John
Maxson. Elder Arnold Bliss, son of Elder William Bliss,
was a most efficient minister in the Newport church and lived
at Ponganset, near New Bedford, Mass. Here, by his faith-
fulness, many were led to Christ and some to the Sabbath.
The latter joined at Newport.

After the death of Elder William Bliss, Elder Henry
Burdick acted as paster, though never formally made such
by the church. He was ordained in 1807, and continued an
elder in the church till his death in 1843. ^ short time be-
fore his death, Elder Lucius Crandall commenced mission-
ary labors in Newport and continued some time. The re-
cords neither reveal how long nor whether he was ever for-
mally made pastor.

From the Journal of Mr. Hubbard, one would conclude
that they met, before they organized, in private houses. The
records do not show where they did meet after they became
a church, but it is supposed by some to have been in the old
chapel at Greenes End. However this may be, it is certain
that the church had a church edifice which was ordered sold
when it built a new one in 1729. This new one was built
under the direction of Dea. Jonathan Weed and Henry Col-
lins, who was a very wealthy merchant and patron of art
and literature. At the time it was built it was said to be the
finest in the city. During the Revolution it and "Old Trin-
ity" were the only churches not desecrated by the British,
and it is said that the reason this one escaped was because of
the Tables of the Law hanging above the pulpit. This church
is now owned and cared for by the Newport Historical So-
ciety, which moved it around the corner from where it orig-
inally was, and built a library in connection with it.

Some of the most prominent men in the colony were
members of this church. Owing to the fact that the roll of
the church for many years is not extant, if one was kept at
all, it is difficult to tell in some cases who did belong to the
church.

There is pretty good evidence that Governor Benedict
Arnold, who followed Roger Williams as president or govern-
or of the colony, was a member of this church at the time

(38)

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REV. WILLIAM BLISS.
Sec Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 609

of his death. The historian and genealogist, James N. Ar-
nold, of Providence, R. I., a descendant of Gov. Arnold, says
that the latter was a Seventh-day Baptist when he died. Also,
the Journal, of Samuel Hubbard shows that Gov. Benedict Ar-
nold looked upon Eld. Hiscox as his pastor. In his last sick-
ness he was not willing to have Eld. Hiscox away from him
long enough to attend divine service, sending for him when
he went to the Sabbath service, before the meeting was ended.
Elder Hiscox conducted his funeral which was attended by a
notable concourse of people from all the colony and elsewhere.

Henry Collins, who was one of the most eminent and
wealthy men in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, was a member of the Newport church. He was
a great-grandson of Roger Williams. His education was com-
menced in Arnerica and finished in England, after which he
returned to give his extraordinary powers of mind and heart
to the church, city, and colony. Though a merchant of w^ealth,
he found time to go on missionary journeys, and much time and
money were spent also in fostering art and literature. The
biography of few men is more inspiring and ennobling than
that of Henry Collins. The Seventh-day Baptist Memorial,
Volume IV., contains a sketch of his life to which the reader
is referred.

Thomas Ward, Esq., an eminent lawyer of Newport, was
a member of the Seventh-day Baptist church of Newport. He
died in the autumn of 1689.

Richard Ward, son of Thomas Ward, was a member of
this church and governor of the colony in 1741 and 1742.
He was a half-brother of Henry Collins, having the same
mother, and therefore a great-grandson of Roger Williams.
He was baptized and received into the church by Elder
Thomas Hiscox in 1753.

Col. Job Bennet, a prominent man in the church in the
latter half of the eighteenth century, was also a conspicuous
figure in the colony. In 1763 he was one of a committee of
two to draft the constitution of Brown University and served
as its treasurer from 1767 to 1775.

Deacon John Tanner, a goldsmith of Newport, was a member
of this church and a trustee of Brown University at one time.

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6lo seventh-day baptists i

first hopkinton.
(hopkinton — westerly)

There has been much confusion over the name of this
church on account of the changes which it has undergone.
In the case of this church, as in that of the Newport church
of which it was a part for nearly forty years, there seems to
have been no special thought that it should have an official
name, and there were no by-laws, constitution, charter, or
articles of faith save the Scriptures, which were considered
all these. For nearly fifty years after the separation from the
brethren in Newport, it was referred to as the "Sabbatarian
Church in Westerly'* or "Westerly and Vicinity," the Seventh-
day Baptists in western Rhode Island and eastern Connecti-
cut being numbered among its members. After what was
Westerly at the time of the organiaztion of the church was
divided into four towns and the house of worship was by said
division in Hopkinton, the church was known as the Hopkin-
ton church. In 1819 a charter was secured from the state
legislature in which the name was "The Seventh-day Baptist
Church of Christ at Hopkinton.'' Some years after other
Seventh-day Baptist churches had been organized in Hopkin-
ton, the church appHed to the state legislature to have the
name changed to "The First Seventh-day Baptist Church of
Hopkinton." This was granted in 1880.

When one compares what has been written regarding
Seventh-day Baptists in the western part of Rhode Island with
church and state records, he soon becomes aware that some
of it is, to put it mildly, far astray as to dates, facts and
causes. The writer, while profiting by what has been written
by others, has at the same time taken the utmost pains to
bring events, dates, and causes into harmony with church and
state records and other original documents.

Considering the time covered by its work, its large mem-
bership during so many years, the multitudes it has brought
into the kingdom, the First Seventh-day Baptist church of
Hopkinton, R. I., has had a history second to few if any
churches in the Utiited States. The acceptance of the Sab«
bath by those living in its vicinity was in 1666 and the early

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kL. c;

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H O

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0. £
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I?

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION, 6X1

part of 1667, ^^ly ^ few months after it was first observed in
Xe\v'port and more than five years before the organization of
the Newport church. From that time to this, (1902), two
hundred thirty-six years, the light has beamed steadily forth.

In 1660, a company was formed in Newport for the pur-
chase and settlement of Misquamicut, w^hich was a tract of
land in the southwestern part of Rhode Island and Provi-
dence Plantations, about eleven miles east and west and six-
teen north and south, and now comprises the towns of
Westerly, Hopkinton, Charleston, and Richmond. The pur-
chase was made of "Sosa," an Indian captain of the Narra-
g^nsetts, in 1661. The land was divided into six shares and
each share was valued at seven pounds, or forty-two pounds
for the entire tract of about 176 square miles. Misquamicut
was changed to Westerly in 1669, when the tract was organ-
ized as a town, the fifth in the colony. It appears that in Sep-
tember, 1661, the first settlement under the purchase was
made. Robert Burdick, Tobias Saunders, and Joseph Clarke
were the first to come. Elder John Crandall, who was an
elder in the Baptist church of Newport, John Maxson, and
others soon followed. Our especial interest in the five per-
sons named is that they embraced the Sabbath a little later
and became pillars in the congregation meeting in the vicinity
of what is now the First Hopkinton church.

It appears, though we are not so informed by any of the
original documents, that they came to the knowledge of the
Sabbath through their intercourse with friends in Newport.
Perhaps Stephen Mum ford came to them with zeal, convinc-
ing argument, the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit, as he had
come to those in Newport. At any rate, about the time that
members of the First Baptist church in Newport were turn-
ing to the Sabbath, members of this same church in Misquam-
icut were also becoming Sabbath-keepers. Ruth Burdick,
wife of Robert, was the first to embrace the Sabbath here,
as her mother, Tacy Hubbard, had been in Newport a few
months before. The date of her accepting the truth was No-
vember, 1666. Bethiah Clarke yielded to the truth in Feb-
ruary, 1667, and Joseph Clarke, her husband, March, 1667.
Shortly after this, we do not know when, *'Mrs. Maxson,"

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6l2 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

wife of John Maxson, embraced the Sabbath. In 1673 they
reported four in their vicinity who were keeping the Sabbath.
Some time in these years Elder John Crandall, already men-
tioned, and his wife, who came to the new settlement anfong
the first, espoused the Sabbath cause, and Elder Crandall did
valiant work for the truth here and at New Lx)ndon, Conn.,
till his death, which occurred some time between May. 18,
1675, and Jan. 2^, 1676. Mrs. Crandall was the first Seventh-
day Baptist to die in America. We learn from a letter writ-
ten by Ruth Burdick, March, 1675, that they had been hold-
ing meetings and celebrating the Lord's Supper previous to
the time of her writing. Though this is the first extant re-
cord of meetings, it is probable that such had been held since
about the time Ruth Burdick and Joseph Clarke and wife
accepted the Sabbath. "In 1680*' a meeting-house was built
and in this they and their descendants worshiped one hundred
fifty-five years, when another took its place. There was very
much to contend with. Elder Holmes, who made it so un-
pleasant for the Sabbath-keepers in Newport, while they were
members of the Baptist church in that place, made trouble in
Misquamicut also, preaching the same sermons against those
observing the Sabbath that he did in Newport. There was
much trouble over the boundary lines, Massachusetts and Con-
necticut both claiming the territory where they had settled.
In the first settlement Robert Burdick and Tobias Saunders
had been arrested on charge of trespassing on the domain of
Massachusetts, taken to Boston, put in prison, and fined forty
pounds. "In 1671 [Eld.] John Crandall and others were car-
ried oflf by the authorities and imprisoned in Hartford jail*'
for trespassing on the domain of Connecticut. Mr. Hubbard,
writing in 1680, says that his son-in-law, Joseph Clarke "hath
been in Hartford Jail and is now a prisoner." The cause is
not stated, but without doubt it is the trouble over boundary
lines. Nothwithstanding the wilderness only sparsely settled,
disputes and imprisonments over the ownership of the terri-
tory, Indian wars prolonged, persecution for truth's sake, and
deaths, the luimber of Sabbath-keepers increased, and in 1678
they report seven.

The year following the organization of the church in

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 613

Newport, those observing the Sabbath in western Rhode
Island were considered members with the Sabbath-keepers in
Newport and -the inference is that they had been from the
first, though the formal reception seems to have been a little
later. The Sabbath-observers in both places formed one com-
munion which had no name and no articles of faith save the
Bible. In the first minute in the first record book extant, the
church is referred to as "The Church of Rhode Island and
Westerh'/' **Rhode Island'' referring to the island and not to
the whole colony and "Westerly" to Hopkinton, Westerly,
Qiarleston and Richmond. Sometimes it is spoken of as the
"Church," at other times the "Congregation," but it had no
official name. One part of the congregation had no preemi*
nence over the other. The pastor, Elder William Hiscox, re-
sided in Newport, but the clerk of the church, till about the
time of the separation, was Joseph Clarke, who resided in
Hopkinton or Westerly, as also did Elder John Crandall, and
later Elder William Gibson.

After the Indian wars had subsided, the growth of this
part of the church commenced to be more rapid, fast out-
growing the sections of the congregation in Newport, New
London, and elsewhere, and in 1708, when ^*the separation
of the Church into two Churches" took place, there were sev-
enty-two who became members of the "westward" church
and forty-one with that located at Newport. The relation
that the Sabbath-keepers in western Rhode Island sustained
to the first Seventh-day Baptist church organized in America
is farther seen by the fact that more than three- fourths of
the business meetings were held in western Rhode Island, as
the records show. Furthermore, when the Seventh-day Bap-
tist church of Piscataway, N. J., was organized, the man
whom they chose as pastor came to this part of the congrega-
tion, instead of going to that in Neport, and was ordained in
a meeting-house in which what is now the First Hopkinton
church had then worshiped twenty-five years. This is a very
different picture from the one generally painted by the his-
torians who have dealt with this part of denominational his-
tor}', but it is an impartial statement of how for forty-two
years (1666 to 1708) the Sabbath-keepers in western Rhode

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6l4 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Island held up the banner of Christ with bravery and devotion
in the midst of Indian wars, persecutions, and imprisonments.
It is too precious a legacy to be lost sight of. No better blood
ever flowed in human veins than flowed in the veins of those
who espoused the cause of God's truth in those trying days,
and wiser building was never done than they did in the New-
port and Hopkinton churches more than two hundred years
ago.

As the years passed, there grew up a conviction that the
church should become two churches. This was not because
of any friction, for there is np indication of any. It appears
that their sweet fellowship had caused them to postpone the
separation too long. In accordance with this sense of what
was best, the church at the General Meeting held, 1708, in the
meeting-house where the Ministers' Monument now stands
in First Hopkinton cemetery, passed an act making two
churches. The action reads:

"At a yearly meeting of the Church, at Westerly, the 17 of the
7 month, 1708, it is ordered and appointed by mutual agreement of the
Church that that part of the congregation in and about Westerly
shall be henceforth a distinct congregation by themselves, and also
that part of the Congregation in and about Rhode Island shall be a
distinct Church from that of Westerly, provided that the brethren and
sisters at Newport that were not present at said meeting do concur
thereunto."

The brethren in Newport who were not at this General
Meeting reluctantly gave their consent, but asked that Joseph
Crandall, who evidently had been a deacon before the separa-
tion, should be allowed to administer the ordinance of baptism
in* both churches. To this the brethren in western Rhode Is-
land readily consented and Joseph Crandall, ten years later,
became the third pastor of the Newport church, as already
stated.

The date of this separation has generally been given as
July 17, 1708. In the last decade it has appeared as Septem-
ber 17, 1708. The last date is nearer correct by two months
than the first, but it is an error of eleven days, while the first
is amiss two months and eleven days. This was forty-four
years before the change from "Old Style" to "New Style''

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 615

and the church records show beyond a scintillation of doubt
that the old style was the one according to which dates were
recorded. By the old style the "7 month'* was September and
the "17 day" corresponds with the 28th day by the new style
now used. Thus the separation took place the 28th of Sep-
tember, 1708. It was amid autumnal foliage and breezes, and
not the sweltering days of July.

This year is usually given as that of the founding of the
church. When one glances at the facts — forty-two years of
Sabbath keeping and teaching, thirty-six years of organized
effort for Christ, twenty-eight years of worship in their own
meeting-house which had been the sanctuary where three
years before they had consecrated to his work the first pastor
of the Piscataway church — we say this date is misleading in
that it does not tell all. It is the date of the separation, when
one church became two, not the constituting of either, and
this is the way the brethren and sisters of that day looked up-
on it. It never occurred to them that the record book contain-
ing the past records belonged to one church more than the
other, and the book being in the hands of the clerk at West-
erly was kept there and used to keep the records of the First
Hopkinton church till the book was full. For about twenty
years during the last century the church reported itself to
Conference as being constituted at the same time as the New-
port church. This might have been a little misleading and
these sentences have been written only to emphasize the fact
that "1708" omits the struggles, prayers, hopes, faith, love,
and achievements of one generation of pioneer Seventh-day
Baptists on this historic ground. A period full of the most
thrilling deeds and wise building; one to which these brief
and prosy lines by no means do justice.

The brethren and sisters in western Rhode Island, now
being a church by themselves, completed the separate organi-
zation by choosing and ordaining officers. A pastor was the
first to be selected. Instead of choosing a young and inex-
perienced man, as would be done in the twentieth century, "it
was agreed and desired that our aged brother John Maxson,
Sen., be the person." He was then seventy years of age, ripe
in experience, wisdom, and the Christian graces. His eyes

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6l6 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

had beheld the rise of the church from the first, forty-two
years. He was chosen at the first meeting following the sep-
aration, and was ordained three days later. The record
reads: "The 20th of said Month (Old Style) our beloved
brother John Maxson, Sen., was ordained to the place and of-
fice of an elder to the congregation in and about Westerly,
by fasting and prayer and laying on of hands." It appears
that Joseph Crandall had been deacon in the church for some
years, though there is no minute showing when he or any one
else was appointed to that office. In April, the year follow-
ing, Joseph Clarke, Jr., was ordained deacon, and in 17 12,
he was ordained to the office of elder and John Maxson, Jr.,
was elected to the office of deacon. The office of deacon
meant much in that day, as the deacon was authorized to bap-
tize, and it was understood that he was to become an elder
in due time. From this date forward, more than one hundred
years, there was no time when the church did not have two
elders and sometimes four or five.

With such a company of noble men and women organized
in Christ's name, the future of the church was assured. Its
growth was steady from this on for more than one hundred
years, in fact from the day Ruth Burdick commenced to keep
the Sabbath, in 1666. Four years after the separation, 1712,
the number had increased to one hundred thirty, and in 1718,
to one hundred fifty. We find no list of members after the last
date named for fifty years, or till 1768, when the number was
two hundred seventy-six. Twenty-five years later, 1793, the
number had increased to four hundred thirty-two and in 1808,
one hundred years after the separation from Newport, the
number was seven hundred sixty-four, a little more than ten
times what it was in 1708. The largest membership was in
1 8 16, when the number was nine hundred forty-seven. It has
been suggested that at this time it was one of the largest, if
not the largest, in America, but we have not figures to make
comparisons.

The present (1902) number of communicants is three
hundred fifty-one.

There appears to have been a constant addition by pro-
fession of faith and baptism, with frequent sweeping revivals.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 617

Three hundred ninety-five were added during the pastorate
of Elder Joshua Clarke, (1773- 1793), and one hundred
eighty-six in one year. Two hundred were added in one year
during the pastorate of Elder John Burdick, and one hundred
eighty-six during the pastorate of Elder Abram Coon. In
the twenty-six years from 1812 to 1838, over one thousand en-
tered the fellowship of the church. The number added while
Elder Matthew Stillman was leading pastor was seven hun-
dred fifty-four. There never has been a pastorate without
large increase, often fifty or one hundred. The conversions
have not been big-meeting conversions, where the same persons
were converted over every revival.

For more than a century this church was the only one in
several adjoining towns to live. Other denominations made
efforts to establish churches but failed. This was not because
they were opposed by the Seventh-day Baptists, as the follow-
ing quotation from Arnold's History of Rhode Island will
show :

*'The Rev. N. Price, missionary at Westerly, expresses his aston-
ishment at the kind treatment he received, so unlike that which every-
where else was accorded to those who differed from the prevailing
religious sentiment, he says :

" *The Sectaries here are chiefly Baptists that keep the Saturday
a> a Sabbath, and are more numerous than all the other persuasions
throughout the town put together,' and then proceeds to express
his wonder that those Baptists, 'who I imagine would oppose me,
and all of the same interest with me, should be so far from it, that
they have expressed a gladness of ministers coming to those of
a different persuasion from them; that instead of separating and
keeping at a distance they should many of them come with my own
hearers and be as constant as most of them, and but few that would
not occasionally do it and manifest their liking; that when I sup-
posed that if they did come, it would be to pick and carp, and find
fault, and then go away to make the worst of it, that they should
come after a sermon and thank me for it; that instead of shunning
me and keeping off from an acquaintance with me, they should
invite me to their houses and be sorry if I would pass by without
calling; that their two ministers in the town, who I expected would
be virulent and fierce against me, and stir up their people to stand
to their arms, should not only hear me, thank me, visit me, but
take my part against some of their own persuasion that showed
a narrow spirit towards us, and be the most charitable and catholic
whom I thought to have found the most stiff and prejudiced/"

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6l8 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS'.

This was written about 1722.

The decline in numbers was due in part to emigration,
but chiefly to the organization of other churches from its mem-
bers. Some time previous to 1745 a number of its members,
and among them Elder William Davis, had settled in New
Jersey and formed the Shrewsbury church, which later mi-
grated to West Virginia and became the Salem church.
Churches were organized at Burlington, Conn., and Berlin,
N. Y., from members of this church in 1780. The brethren
in the vicinity of New London had been members of the First
Hopkinton church from its separation from Newport, and had
been under its watchcare and discipline, the pastors minister-
ing to their needs. In 1784, they had become strong enou<2:h
to be formed into a church, and upon their request, were thus
organized into what is the Waterford church. ^Members of
the First Hopkinton church, during the closing years of the
eighteenth century, had settled in Brookfield, N. Y., and in
1797 were set off as a church. The brethren pushing on still
farther \Vest came to DeRuyter, N. Y., and they, with others,
were formed into the DeRuyter church in 18 16. The church
roll shows that a company of twenty-five went from the First
Hopkinton church and formed the First \^erona church in
1820. Another company settled in Little Genesee, N. Y.,
and became a church in 1827.

A little later a new move commences. Seventh-day Bap-
tists in southwestern Rhode Island had clung to the mother
church, no matter how far removed. They could not bear
the thought of doing otherwise, so strong was their love for
the church of their Redeemer. But in 1770 so many members
lived in the northern part of the town (Hopkinton), that they
asked the privilege of building a meeting-house in their midst.
The reason for doing this was that they were ten miles from
the regular place of worship. This request was granted and
the house bqilt near Rockville. It was probably built in 1771,
as the records show that it was erected before the summer
of 1772. After the building of this house of worship, the one
at the regular place of meeting and where they had wor-
shiped for ninety years was called the **Lower Meeting-
house," and the new one the "Upper Aleeting-house." This

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 619

continued for sixty-five years, or till the organization of the
Rockville church. At each church, not alone were religious
services held, but business meetings as well, each section keep-
ing its records and receiving and disciplining members living
in its vicinity. Whatever action was taken at either place
was called the action of the whole church. They could have
been two churches, but the ties of Christian friendship bound
them together so closely that they continued to be one church
for three generations.

These two meeting-houses were ten miles apart and in
1799 meetings commenced to be held regularly on the Sab-
bath at Hopkinton City, about midway between them. From
this time till 1835 the church had three places where its
members met every Sabbath to w^orship. It is evident that
the elders divided the work of preaching and pastoral min-
istration among them, so that each place of worship was
supplied. Only once do we find recorded any action by the
church outlining the appointments of the elders.

In 1835 the brethren at Hopkinton Cily became the Sec-
ond Hopkinton church and those at Rockville were set off
as the Rockville, pr Third Hopkinton church. The brethren
in the vicinity of Dunn's Corners were set off under the name
of the First Westerly, in 1837, while the brethren residing
in the village of Westerly became the Pawcatuck church in
1840, Three years later, 1843, ^ church was also formed from
members of the mother church in South Kingston, R. I.
This made five churches in its immediate vicinity, within eight
years set off from the First Hopkinton church, and still it
had a membership of five hundred and twenty-nine when the
five had been made separate churches. The Greenmanville
church, at Greenmanville, Conn., was set off in 1850, and
the Second Westerly, at Niantic, R. I., in 1858.

Besides these fifteen churches organized largely from
members of the First Hopkinton church, many families from
it have helped to make up other Seventh-day Baptist churches
and several of the fifteen in turn have set off churches from their
members till we can say, without exaggeration, that a large
percentage of Seventh-day Baptists in America can trace their
ancestry back to the First Hopkinton church. The psalm*

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620 SEVKNTII-DAY BAPTISTS I

ist says of Zion that she is the mother of men. This church
has been the mother of churches as well as men.

That the church was greatly blessed in the selection of
ministers is not alone an evidence of the wisdom of its mem-
bers, but also that it was under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. The first pastor was John Maxson, ist. Several
writers have said that he was the first white child born on
the island of Rhode Island, his birth occurring in 1638. He
must have been among the first. The father of John Max-
son was killed by the Indians before John's birth, and his
mother, with others, fled in a boat from Connecticut Jo the
island of Rhode Island, where John was born. He was among
the first to go from Newport to Misquamicut for the purpose
of building homes. When he embraced the Sabbath we do
not know, but it was soon after the organization of the church.
He had shared all the struggles of that part of the church
living in western Rhode Island. Upon the separation into
two churches, he was chosen pastor, as already indicated.
He was seventy-five years of age when chosen and served
a little over twelve years, or till December, 1720.

John Maxson, Jr., son of the first pastor, was the second
leading elder. He had been chosen deacon in 17 12, and or-
dained an elder in 17 16. He was fifty-four years old when he
became leading elder in 1720, and died July, 1747, having
served as pastor nearly twenty-seven years.

Joseph Maxson, also a son of the first pastor, was the
third leading elder. He was chosen to the office of deacon
in 1 7 16, was ordained an evangelist in 1732, and an elder in
1739. He became pastor upon the death of his brother in
1747, and was at this time seventy-five years of age and his
pastorate lasted till his death in 1750.

The fourth pastor was Thomas Hiscox, son of Elder
William Hiscox, first pastor at Newport. He came from New-
port to western Rhode Island about the time of the sepa-
ration from Newport, was chosen deacon in 17 16, and ap-
pointed elder in 17 19. This last appointment he declined,
but in 1732 consented to be ordained an evangelist. He was
ordained at Newport and the people there were so much
pleased with him that he was by vote of the church asked

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/^^.£W^>^*^ *^^^^^ -'"^ - ^ jy ^y^,^^ i^/4.ii^ Uwf^^^

REV. THOMAS HISCOX.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 621

to preach for them when he could, and for the next forty-
five years he seems to have been a favorite in Newport.
In 1743 he was again called to the office of an elder in the
church, but declined. Upon the death of Elder Maxson,
in 1750, he was chosen leading elder. He was at this time
sixty-four years of age and he served as pastor till his death
in 1773. Elder Hiscox served the church also as clerk,
and his town as clerk, justice of the peace, and treasurer,
acting in the latter capacity sixty years.

Joshua Clarke, son of Elder Thomas Clarke, who had
served the church as assistant elder acceptably for a- num-
ber of years, was the fifth pastor. He was chosen deacon
in 1756, and twelve years later was ordained an elder. Upon
the death of Elder Hiscox he became the leading elder and
served as such till his death in 1793. Aside from being an
able and efficient pastor, he was also a trustee of Brown Uni-
versity and a member of the legislature for twelve years.

John Burdick was the sixth pastor. He was chosen dea-
con in April, 1772, and two years later ordained to the office
of elder. Upon the death of Elder Joshua Clarke, he became
pastor,, at the age of sixty-one. He served till his death in
1802. We know so little of the appearance of these men that
I quote the following from the pen of Miss M. L. Potter :

"Rev. John Burdick was rather tall, with fine form, light com-
plexion, blue eyes, and fair hair, worn rather long. Though solemn
and earnest, there was a pleasantness, tenderness, and pathos in
his speech, and a courtesy and amenity of manners that rendered
him peculiarly attractive to all who came under his influence. He
was not only loved and venerated by his own people, and by
them likened to 'the beloved disciple,' but when called to preach
in distant neighborhoods, was gladly received, and crowds flocked
to hear him."

Upon the death of Eld. John Burdick, Abram Coon be-
came pastor. He was ordained an evangelist in 1798, and
served the church as evangelist four years and as pastor
eleven, dying September, 181 3.

The eighth pastor was ^latthew Stillman. He was or-
dained elder June, 1804, and became the leading elder upon
the death of Elder Coon, though he was not elected to that
place by formal action of the church till 18 19. He served

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622 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

the church till his death in 1838. It will be remembered that
the church reached its largest membership during these years
and that there were several precious revivals. At one time
there were four elders in the church beside Eld. Stillman,
and during the most of his ministry there were three places
where Sabbath services were regularly held.

Daniel Coon, son of Eld. Abram Coon, was the ninth
pastor. He was licensed in 18 18, and ordained one year later.
He was pastor in Brookfield, N. Y., for a time, but in 1836
returned to the home church, and after Elder Stillman's death,
served the church as leading elder till 1853. He died in
1858. He was a man with a very powerful voice and "spoke
with ease, fluency, and often vehemence. In prayer he was
fervent and impassioned." In the last year of his pastorate,
he was assisted by Eld. Lucius Crandall as evangelist.

Before we mention the other pastors, it is well that we
pause a moment for reflection. There are some things re-
vealed in these first nine pastorates just named that are
highly interesting and instructive. The first nine pastors
were members of the church when consecrated to the sacred
office and had all grown up in the church, except John
Maxson ist, who, though a mature man when he embraced
the Sabbath, had been connected with the society nearly
forty years before being chosen its first pastor after the
separation from Newport. The pastors who have served since
this group of nine, with one exception, have had no con-
nection with the church previous to their call to the pastor-
ate. The one exception was Elder A. B. Burdick, who grew
up a poor boy in the church and was licensed and ordained
by it. His services being needed more elsewhere, he served
other churches, where great revivals accompanied his labors.
After an absence of about twenty years, during which he
proved himself a brilliant orator and ready speaker on any
question, he returned to become the pastor of the church
of his boyhood and to have his ministry end under a dark
shadow. The first nine not only were the fruit of the church,
its own sons, but with the exception of Eld. Daniel Coon,
when once chosen to the office, they served till death. They
were not allowed to withdraw from the office, no matter how

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 623

old and feeble. This was settled when Eld. John Maxson,
1st, asked to be released and the church responded by ap-
pointing another elder and choosing another deacon who was
authorized to baptize. The first six were first deacons, then
elders, and finally leading elders. The three others, though
never deacons, were first chosen evangelists, then elders and
lastly became leading elders. For some years it was the un-
derstanding that a deacon would become, in due time, an
elder and they were chosen with that thought in view. It
evidently became difficult to get a sufficient number of men
to accept the office under this rule and it was dropped .by
vote of the church and yet, ' for nearly one hundred years
all the pastors had served as deacons before becoming elders.
Under the plan that a pastor served for life, the pastorates
were exceptionally long. The nine served one hundred forty*
five years, an average of sixteen years, to say nothing of the
time they served the church before they became leading
elders. Their ripe age when called to the highest office in the
gift of the church surprises us. John Maxson, ist, was seven-
ty, John ilaxson, 2nd, was fifty-four, Joseph Maxson was
seventy-five, Thomas Hiscox sixty-five, Joshua Clarke fifty-
six, John Burdick sixty-one, Abram Coon thirty-nine, Mat-
thew Stillman thirty-two, and Daniel Coon forty.

It wall be seen from these facts that these men did not
enter the pastorate of the church without preparation, as
has often been represented. They had not had the advantage
of colleges and seminaries, but they had long years of experi-
ence and testing before being entrusted with the pastoral
care of the church. Their preparation was different from that
of the schools, nevertheless it was real preparation of the
highest character. The church, while being very diligent in
endeavoring to lead rnen into the ministry and in giving them
opportunities to develop, was also most cautious as to the
preparation and ability of its elders. They were able men,
monuments to any church. The work they wrought speaks
louder than words.

In the last forty-nine years there have been eight pastors,
whose names and pastorates are as follows : Charles M. Lewis,
1853- 1857; Joshua Clarke, 1858-1864; Alfred B. Burdick,

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624 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

1864-1871; Arthur E. Main, 1871-1880; Wardner C. Tits-
worth, 1881-1883; Ira Lee Cottrell, 1884- 189 1 ; George J.
Crandall, 1891-1899; Clayton A. Burdick, 1899 — •

Besides the pastors eight ministers . have served this
- church in the ministerial office, and some of them long and
faithfully.

Eld. John Crandall, already mentioned several times,
was the first Seventh-day Baptist minister (and probably the
first of any denomination) in western Rhode Island. He
was a son-in-law of the famous Samuel Gorton, and his wife,
Elizabeth Gorton Crandall, was the first in America to die
in the faith of the Sabbath. Elder Crandall was a contempor-
ary with Roger Williams and like him had been persecuted
for his Baptist beliefs and practices, once having been im-
prisoned in a Boston jail along with Dr. John Clarke and
Obadiah Holmes. Elders Crandall and Clarke were fined,
and Elder Holmes was whipped.

He was one of the purchasers of Misquamicut, and also
one of the first settlers therein. His church relations had
been with the First Baptist church at Newport, in which he
had been an elder, till he embraced the Sabbath. The date
of this event is not known, but it probably was not long after
the Sabbath-keepers in Newport organized themselves into
a church. After embracing the Sabbath he did valiant work
for the truth in western Rhode Island and eastern Connecti-
cut. Here he ministered unto the communicants, and bap-
tized and received into the fellowship of the young church
those who oflfered themselves as willing candidates. His
death occurred, as near as we can gather from the Journal
of Samuel Hubbard, about the beginning of the year 1676.
Perhaps his name should head the list of pastors of the First
Hopkinton church.

As already recorded in the sketch of the Newport church.
Eld. William Gibson lived with this part of the congregation
after about 1680, and, as co-laborer with Elder Hiscox, was
really the pastor of the Sabbath-keepers in western Rhode
Island and Connecticut till the separation.

Elder Joseph Clarke was elder in the church with Elder
John Maxson, ist, and w^ould have been pastor, or leading

(39)

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 625

elder, upK>n the death of Eld. Maxson, had he not died before
Elder Maxson. Eld. Qarke was ordained deacon in 1709,
became an elder in the church in 1712, and died 1719. The
church lost a promising leader in his death.

Eld. Thomas Clarke was an assistant elder in the church
with Elder Thomas Hiscox. He was ordained a deacon in
1735, and elder in 1750. In this last capacity he served till his
death, seventeen years later. He too would have been the
pastor had he not died before Eld. Thomas Hiscox.

Eld. Christopher Chester grew up in the church, was
licensed to preach in 1832, ordained to the ministry two years
later, and, excepting intermissions during which he served
other churches, served this church as an assistant elder till
his death.

Elders William Davis, Lucius Crandall, and S. S. Gris-
wold have served the church as ministers of the Gospel,
though never formally recognized as pastors or assistant pas-
tors. For a number of years between 171 1 and 1744, Eld.
Davis was a member of this church, but just how much of
the time we cannot now tell. Though unfortunate in having
much trouble with the church, yet it is evident that during
a part of the time which he was a member he was recognized
as a minister. He has since become famous as the ancestor
of a large number of Seventh-day Baptist ministers. Eld.
Lucius Crandall served the church as an "evangelist" during
the last months of the pastorate of Eld. Daniel Coon, and Eld.
S. S. Griswold acted as supply between the pastorates of
Elders Chas. M. Lewis and Joshua Clarke.

Besides those who were pastors and assistant pastors,
eighteen ministers, at least, have grown up in the church and
served as Seventh-day Baptist pastors and missionaries else-
where. They are as follows:

Eld. Joseph Crandall, thought to have been a son of
Eld. John Crandall, the first minister in ^Misquamicut, was
called from this church to the pastorate of the Newport
church upon the death of Eld. William Gibson.

Eld. John Davis, son of Eld. William Davis, first pastor
of the Shrewsbury church, was baptized into what is now
the First Hopkinton church, in 1713, and was a member for

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626 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

more than thirty years, serving it in various ways. In 1743
he was chosen an elder but declined to serve. He soon moved
to New Jersey and became a member of the Shrewsbury
church. After the death of his father he was chosen pastor
and sent back to the First Hopkinton church to be ordained.
This took place July 23, 1746.

Eld. John Maxson, the fourth pastor at Newport, was
also the fruitage of the First Hopkinton church. He grew
up in the church, and though declining the office of elder
when elected thereto in 1743, yet seven years later he was
ordained deacon with authority to baptize, and in 1754 be-
came pastor of the sister church at Newport, which he served
till death.

Eld. John Davis, who became the first pastor of the
Burlington (Conn.) church, was an elder in this church nine
years previous to the organization of the Burlington church,
in 1780.

Elder William Coon, the first pastor of the Berlin church,
moved from this church to the Berlin church and was or-
dained by his home church upon the request of the church in
Berlin, in 1783.

Eld. Henry Clarke was first deacon in this church and
was ordained an evangelist and authorized to preach and
administer baptism and the sacraments the day Eld. John
Burdick was installed as leading elder, 1793. He became the
pastor of the First Brookfield church and was author of
"Clarke's History of the Seventh-day Baptists," published
in 181 1.

Eld. Asa Coon was ordained evangelist with Eld. Henry
Clarke and like him was deacon at the time of his ordination •
to the ministry. After having served as assistant pastor eight
years in the mother church, he became the second pastor
of the Berlin church.

Eld. Amos Stillman, who was the last pastor of the Bur-
lington (Conn.) church, was reared under the influence of
the First Hopkinton church, but was not ordained till after
he became a member of the Burlington church.

Eld. EH S. Bailey was brought into the fold of Christ
when fifteen years of age by the First Hopkinton church

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 627

and received his religious instruction under its fostering care,
but did not yield himself to the ministry till he removed to
Brookfield.

Eld. William B. Maxson, who was one of the most emi-
nent ministers among Seventh-day Baptists in the first half
of the nineteenth century, Eld. Amos R. Wells, who was
very active in missionary labors, and Eld. Thomas V. Wells,
received their religious training in this church and were or-
dained by it to the ministry. William B. Maxson and Thomas
V. Wells, together with Daniel Coon, were ordained at the
same time and Amos R. Wells a little later.

Elmers John Greene and Henry P. Greene grew up under
the influence of this church, though they did not fully enter
the ministry till after they moved elsewhere. The former was
one of the most successful evangelists among Seventh-day
Baptists, and the latter served as minister in the First Genesee
church for a number of years.

Pres. William C. Kenyon, the first President of Alfred
University, grew up within, and went forth from, this church.

Eld. Henry Clarke, who was pastor of the First and
Second Westerly churches, was a member of the First Hop-
kinton church till the organization of the First Westerly, when
he joined there and'soon became its pastor.

Charles Saunders, who in 1854 was sent as Missionary
to Palestine, was the fruitage of this church, it having been
his home and that of his ancestors.

Eld. Horace Stillman grew up in this church, was licensed
in 1 87 1, and ordained by it a little later.

The work performed by those who have served the
church as deacons is a most interesting chapter in the history
of this church. Their names form a long list of most worthy
and able men who went about baptizing, ministering to the
physical and spiritual needs of the community, and sometimes
preaching and administering the sacraments. The list is too
long to be given in this sketch.

Perhaps there is no more instructive chapter in the
history of this church than that which treats of discfpline.
Its records, like those of most churches, are largely filled
with matters of discipline, and the wisdom and Christian spirit

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628 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

shown are most delightful. The idea was not punishment,
but to encourage, strengthen, and edify, as well as to re-
prove and correct. The written confession of faith which was
required of candidates for membership during its early history
was in line with its policy, and whether a wise or unwise
policy, it made it pretty sure that a candidate understood
the step he was taking. It would be expected that in a
period of two hundred years all kinds of offences would ap-
pear. Licentiousness, drunkenness, Sabbath-breaking, profane
language, duelling, quarrelling, fighting, dancing, card play-
ing, various forms of dishonesty, neglecting to attend Sab-
bath services and church meetings, and a failure to support
the church financially are some of the offences with which the
church dealt. When members had financial difficulties with
one another which they could not settle themselves, they were
expected to take them to the church, not to civil courts, and
the church, after investigation, passed upon the case. , When
judgment was once passed by the church ort a matter of this
kind, all parties concerned were expected to abide by the
decision. If any failed thus to do, they were dealt with.
In one case, in the early history of the church, a brother
of strong character absolutely refused to abide by the judg-
ment of the church and was excommuilicated and in after
years came ba.ck to the church.

In the discipline of the offending members by the church
as an orgniazation, the first thing was the complaint, and it
was the established rule during a part of its history, at least,
not to hear a complaint till Gospel measures had been taken.
The complaint was followed by a citation to appear before the
church to answer the charges. If satisfaction was given, it
was so voted artd dropped. If the supposed offender did
not appear before the church to answer the charges, he was
cited again. If he did not then appear, or if he failed to give
satisfaction, he was given a written admonition which was
generally delivered by the hands of the messenger, or brethren
were appointed to visit him with the purpose of bringing him
back to duty. Wheni the first admonition was not responded
to, a second was given. Some of the admonitions are record- <
ed and are most wholesome reading. If the offender re-

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 629

fused "to hear the Church" in the admonitions, his name was
dropped from the roll. The usual form of the vote was and
still is **That brother A. has gone out from us and is no
more of us;" sometimes, however, it was simply that the
name be dropped or that he be rejected. If the offender
gave evidence of genuine repentance, he was freely forgiven,
but if the offence was a heinous one or there was not good
evidence of sincere repentance, he was placed "under admo-
nition" till such time as the church was satisfied. To be
placed under admonition was to be given a written statement
of the offence and an exhortation to bring forth fruits worthy
of repentance. While under admonUion, one was not ex-
pected to commune. The church was most patient. One
case of discipline appears on the records for thirty years.
The spirit of Christ pervaded it all and many were reclaimed
by the wise, tender, loving, and firm discipline of the church.
It would seem strange today for the churches to "deal" with
members for non-attendance upon the Sabbath services, or
for failure to attend the business meetings of the church,
but such cases were not uncommon in the history of this
church, and those who refusW to hear the church regarding
non-attendance upon the Sabbath services were sometimes cut
off. If a member persistently refused to hear the church
about any matter, his name was dropped. The discipline of
the church included the encouraging of the struggling and
disheartened. This was done not alone by the personal work
of the elders and lay members, but the church also voted
letters of encouragement to cases in trial and discouragement.
The fellowship in the church as shown by the records is some-
thing delightful to contemplate. That they were not all of
one mind always is very evident, but they were bound to
each other by bonds stronger than death. Remarkable har-
mony has prevailed throughout its history; herein lies one
great secret of its phenomenal growth, strength and influence.
The church proper has had only two houses of worship.
The first one was built in 1680, it is said. This was twenty-
eight years before the congregation in western Rhode Island
separated from the congregation in Newport. It was located
on an elevation near the Pawcatuck river, where the M in-

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630 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

isters' Monument in the Hopkinton cemetery now stands.
In this house the church worshiped one hundred fifty-five
years. We have no knowledge regarding the history of its
building, only that it was on land owned by Peter Crandall,
son of Eld. John Crandall.

The committee which reports that the building is no
longer suitable for worship, gives us in their report a partial
description of the house. This description will be found in
Vol. II. of the church records, page 379 /.

In 1835 ^ "c^v house was built on the site of the old
one. Seventeen years later, 1852, this one was moved to
Ashaway, one and one-half miles from the original spot.
In this ^econd house the church still worships. It has, how-
ever, since its removal, been enlarged and remodeled to suit
the needs of the congregation worshiping therein. Both
houses had galleries, which added much to their seating
capacity, and both have had the two Tables of the Law
hung on the wall back of the pulpit.

To these two houses, consecrated to the service of Jeho-
vah God, the devout believer, the tempted and tried, and the
struggling ones of earth have come for two hundred twenty-
two years. Within these walls hundreds, reaching into thou-
sands in number, have given their hearts to Christ, and many
men have been consecrated to the gospel ministry, the first
of whom was Edmond Dunham, the first pastor of the Pis-
cataway (N. J.) church. In the first church the General Con-
ference was organized one hundred years ago, growing out
of a general, or yearly meeting which had been held in this
house pretty regularly since 1692, or before. This house was
one of the first places in America to witness singing in divine
service. This house has been the scene also of many seasons
of fasting and prayer and of thanksgiving. When famine
stared the community in the face, when pestilence and war
were carrying away the loved ones, and when interest in
religion was at a low ebb, then the children of God, at a
time previously appointed, betook themselves to the sanctuary,
and humbly and reverently prostrating themselves before the
Throne of Grace, implored God*s mercy and help. When
calamity was averted and famine, pestilence and war were

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 63 1

passed by, they came within these same walls to give thanks
and praise. Throughout the history of the church seasons
of "fasting and prayer" and "thanksgiving" by the appoint-
ment of the church, governor, or king have frequently been
held.

Beside these two edifices wherein the church proper has
met, it has built and owned another and partly owned still
a third. As already stated, the church built a house of wor-
ship, in 1 77 1, at Rockville, to accommodate the part of the con-
gregation there. Some time near the close of the eighteenth
centur>' it appears to have had a principal hand in building
a church at Hopkinton City, where the members in that section
worshiped.

Down at the river, a little distance from where the first
meeting-house stood, and where the one now in use was built,
was the baptizing place. At this point a house was built by
the church, in 1737, to accommodate the candidates for bap-
tism. This house remained in service till after the new church
was moved away. It was sold in 1855, having done service
one hundred eighteen years. In the flowing waters of the
river by this house, generation after generation of willing
candidates, yielding their hearts to Christ, were buried with
Him in baptism.

On the spot where the first house stood and where the
second was built has been erected what is known as the Min-
isters' Monument. This marks the place where the churches
stood, and also the last resting place of the elders of the
church who died in its service. The monument was dedi-
cated in 1899, and a fuller description of it is to be found in
the Conference minutes of that year. The following quota-
tion found in the Conference minutes for that year, 1899,
gives a description of both the location of the churches and
the ancestral baptizing place, a spot sacred to the entire
denomination by virtue of the fact that the ancestors of
three-fourths of the Seventh-day Baptists now living were
baptized there :

"The Monument has a two-fold significance, as it marks the
spot where the 'meeting-house' stood from 1680 to 1852, as well
as memorializing the pastors who served the Church from 1708 to

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632 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

1852. Are we not then justified in referring to this Dedication as
an event of much historic interest? The ridge of land upon which
the Monument stands is skirted on the south and west by the Paw-
catuck river, which at this point sweeps around a high ledge of
rocks and the corner of the bluff as a pivot, changing its course
from almost due west to a due north direction; but before making
the turn, it is spanned by a bridge, known as the *Meeting-house
Bridge.' With the ledges upon both the north and south banks
of the river, the high bluff upon the west bank around the angle,
the river, glinting in the sunlight between overhanging trees, the
green woods upon the right and left, the quaint old bridge in the
foreground, and the broad plain stretching back to the north, it
would be difficult to find a more picturesque spot, or a more peace-
ful resting place, when we lie down on the bosom of mother earth,
and are covered by her green sod. Upon the bank of the river,
before it turns around the ledge, was the baptizing place for the Church,
which stood about forty rods back on the bluff. Many men and
women can recall baptismal scenes upon this river bank when the
entire congregation stood upon the natural terraces of the rocky
hillside, which overlooked the water like a beautiful amphitheatre.
Every one could see the solemn ordinance as the godly man and
the candidate walked in and out of the water, while the words,
*I baptize thee in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost/ were heard by every onlooker. It is doubtful whether any
place in Rhode Island, if in America, ever witnessed more bap-
tisms than this spot, and surely none was ever more ideal in its
surroundings. If we look for the baptizing place today, we shall
find instead of the clean white sand which covered the bank, mak-
ing it inviting to walk down into the stream, a deep, rich, black
soil and a heavy growth of shrubs or trees."

In the early history of the church the financial question
was not one of importance, as there was but little money used
in connection with its work. The records therefore do not
say very much about the subject. The elders had their farms
and supported themselves largely. One reason why Eld.
Thomas Hiscox declined ordination so long was, as he said,
that he did not have sufficient property so that he could de-
vote his time to the work of an elder. Tradition tells us that
the brethren helped the elders with their work and that the
latter were the recipients of many gifts and favors. The
church clerks have been paid for their services during the
most of the church's history. The elders were paid when sent
on any special mission for the church, one vote being that they
have three shillings per day. After a time, the elders received

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{-'^Ht

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 633

small sums — twenty, forty, or fifty dollars from the "Church
stock." The records show that this gradually increased. The
idlowing vote, passed Nov. 30, 1800, is significant: "Voted,
that a sum be raised for Eld. (John) Burdick of seventy
dollars, which sum to be paid in by the ist January, next,
which sum may be paid in corn at 4 shillings 6 pence bushel,
or cheese at 7 pence, butter at i shilling, or pork at 5 pence
etc." Eld. Lucius Crandall, who served the church as evan-
gelist for about one year, was the first to receive a stated
salary. This was in 1851-1852, and the salary was four
hundred dollars. After this the salaries gradually increased.

For the first one hundred and fifty years, the care of
the poor was given much more attention than any other item
pertaining to finance. Tlu-oughout its entire history, the
church has looked very carefully after the needy members.
Only once does there appear any intention to depart from this
course, and the church looked upon this as* a mistake and
quickly rectified it. Sometimes three or four hundred dol-
lars a year have been spent in this way. Food, clothing,
shelter, nurses, and doctors have been provided when needed.
If it was learned that a member was staying away from church
bcause he did not have clothes suitable to wear to church,
the clothes were furnished.

Though there was not much attention paid to finance
the first fifty years of the separate history of the church, be-
cause there was not much occasion, yet for the last one hun-
dred twenty-five or fifty years the subject has been one of
most careful and earnest study. The church commenced by
appointing committees to devise methods. Their reports were
carefully discussed by the church, and if approved, faithfully
tried. Almost every method of raising money, except the
lottery, has been before the church and many of them tried.
If there was space to give the financial history of the church
for the last one hundred fifty years, it would be a most valu-
able contribution to the important subject of church finance.

At the annual meeting, in 1850, the church voted to raise
$250.00. No sum larger than this for the regular yearly ex-
penses had then ever been voted. Today the sum raised year-
ly is larger by about ten times.

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634 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

The part the members of the First Hopkinton church
have acted in industrial, educational, and state affairs would
be a history by itself alone ; a mere outline would be too long
for this sketch, and we must content ourselves with a glance
at a little of it. For two hundred forty years they have been
in the front rank. They were foremost in Western Rhode
Island when it was an agricultural district. It is recorded
that they were well to do as a rule, their estates were large,
including several hundred acres, sometimes as many as two
thousand acres. When the section of the state in which they
lived turned its attention to manufacturing, they led in that
and have ever since had a prominent part in it, as they have
in banking and other industries.

It will be seen from the list s^iven below that the church
from near its earliest beginning nad one or more of its mem-
bers in the colonial assembly almost every year, and also that
it has had one 6r more of its members in the state legislature
almost every year since the colony became a state. The list
is made up of the names of those who have been members
of the church and have represented Westerly and Hopkinton.
There may have been others from other towns, but this list,
for which the writer is largely indebted to Hon. Geo. B.
Carpenter, Elisha C. Stillman, and Secretary of State Charles
P. Bennett, is not far from complete.

From Westerly: — Tobias Saunders 1669, 1671, 1672, 1680,
1681, 1683, 1690; Eld. John Crandall 1670, 1671 ; Eld. John
Maxson 1670, 1686, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1690. 1693, 1705;
Nicholas Cottrell 1670; Suball Paynter 1670, 1672, 1673, 1674,
1675, 1676, 1677; Joseph Clarke 1678, 1679, 1680, 1690, 1698,
1700, 1702, 1704, 1706, 1708; Robert Burdick 1680, 1685;
William Champlin 1690, 1691, 1692, 1696, 1697, 1698, 1699,
1700, 1702, 1703, 1705, 1707, 1710, 1712; Peter Crandall 1699,
1700, 1701, 1703, 1704; James Babcock 1701, 1706, 1707, 1708,
1709, 1713, 1716; Edward Greenman 1702; Eld. Wm. Gibson
1702; Eld. Joseph Crandall 1709: William Clarke 171 1, 1730;
Daniel Lewis 171 1, 1714; Joseph Maxson 1712; Eld. Thomas
Hiscox 1714, 1718, 1720, 1726, 1727, 1734. 1736, 1739, 1740,
1741 ; Samuel Clarke 1716; George Babcock 1716; John Hill
1721, 1724, 1725, 1726, 1727; Oliver Babcock 1730, 1734*

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 635

1735, 1737. 1738, 1752; Joshua Babcock 1739, 1740, 1747,
1748, 1749, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1773, 1774,
»77S» "m^y ^77^* 1780; Eld. John Maxson, Jr., 1742, 1743,
1744; William Babcock 1744; Nathaniel Lewis 1745; Silas
Greenman 1746, 1749; Benjamin Randall 1754, 1755; Samuel
Ward 1756, 1757, 1758; Nathan Babcock 1760, 1761 ; George
StiUman 1761, 1762, 1765; George Stillman, Jr., 1790. 1791 ;
Edward Bliven 1766, 1781, 1782; David Maxson 1765, 1781.
1783; Stephen Saunders 1766, 1774; Joseph Crandall 1767,
1768; Edward Saunders 1767, 1769; Joseph Clarke 1769;
Phineas Clarke 1771, 1772; Paul Qarke 1779; Thomas W.
Potter i8i6; Daniel Babcock 1821, 1822, 1823; Joseph Potter
1828, 1829, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846, 1850; William Pot-
ter 1837. From Hopkinton: — Eld. Joshua Qarke 1753, 1757,
1758, i759» 1760, 1761, 1762, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1766; Edward
Wells, Jr., 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761. 1767, 1768, 1777; John Max-
son 1762, 1764, 1765, 1766; John Maxson, Jr., 1763; Thomas
Wells, Jr., 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1774, 1775, 1776, i777» ^778;
Zacheas Reynolds 1773; Jesse Maxson 1773, 1774, 1779; Wil-
liam Coon 1780; Samuel Babcock 1781 ; John Brown 1784;
Hezekiah Babcock 1797, 1798, 1801, 1802, 1815; Daniel Bab-
cock 1805, 1806, 1822, 1825, 1826; Alpheus Burdick 1809:
EInathan W. Babcock 1826, 1827, 1830, 1832, 1833, 1842;
Josiah Witter 1830; Joseph D. Kenyon 1836; George Irish
1844, 1845; John M. Barber 1849; Lester Crandall 1855,
1856; Thomas M. Qarke 1859, i860, 1864; Wm. L. Clarke
1865, i866, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875; Oliver Langworthy 1876;
George B. Carpenter 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882; Horace L.
Crandall 1883, 1884; Alexander B. Briggs 1887, 1888; Paul
M. Barber 1890, 1891 ; Frank Hill 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897,
1898; Elisha C. Stillman 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903.

Elder Thomas Hiscox. the able pastor of the church from
1750 to 1773, served the town as treasurer for, sixty years-,
from 1712 to 1772, and upon resigning received the "unani-
mous thanks*' of the freeman.

Eld. Joshua Qark, pastor from 1773 to 1793, was a
trustee of Rhode Island College, now Brown University, 'from
its founding in 1764 till his death in 1793.

Doctor Joshua Babcock was a fellow of Rhode Island
College from 1764 till his death in 1783.

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636 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

Frank Hill has been a member of the State Board of
Education, which has direction of the schools of Rhode Island,
since 1897.

In the industrial world Dea. William Stillman stood out
among others. He was born in 1765, and became a member
of the church in 1785. Aside from being a machinist, clock-
maker, silver-smith, and manufacturer, he was an inventor.
Of his inventions, "Westerly and Its Witnesses" says :

"Dea. William Stillman invented and secured a patent for the
first cloth-shearing machine in the world. A secobd patent was se-
cured for an improved shearer. He also obtained a patent for bank
locks. The veneering • plane was his creation. By trade he was a
clock-maker. He at last engaged in the manufacturing of cotton-
working machinery."

Most eminent among the men of this church was Gov-
ernor Ward. He was the son of Governor Richard Ward,
of Newport, R. I., also a descendant of Roger Williams, and
was born May 27, 1725. His education was the most liberal
and thorough, but his name does not appear in the list of
Harvard's graduates, as has been stated, and we cannot learn
that he ever was a student at Harvard. At the age of twenty
he married Anna Ray. of Block Island, and moved to Westerly,
R. I., where he came to possess a large estate. The Ward
homestead is still pointed out, being situated about four
miles east of where the village of Westerly now stands and
near the First Westerly church, at Dunn's Corners. In
1756 he was elected to the General Assembly and continued
to represent Westerly till 1759. Not alone while he was
ar member of the Assembly, but afterwards and while hold-
ing no office, he exercised a wide influence over its actions
and questions of general public interest. In 1758 he was one
of the two delegates to the Hartford Convention, called
by the Earl of Loudoun to settle the quota of New Eng-
land's troops in the French war. He was appointed Chief
Justice of the colony in 1761, and was elected Governor
in 1762, again in 1765, and a third time in 1766. It was
during his office as governor, in 1765, that the famous Stamp
Act was passed by the English Parliament. Govjernor Ward

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HON. JOSEPH POTTER.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 136K

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 637

was the only governor in the colonies who refused to take
the oath to support the Act, and he stood out against the
oppressive measure with patriotic determination till it was
repealed. Governor Ward did not sign the charter of Rhode
Island Collie (now Brown University) as chief executive
of the colony, as has been stated by several writers, for he
was not governor that year, 1764; but his name stands among
the first of those who petitioned the legislature for the char-
ter, and when it was incorporated, he became a trustee and
during the remainder of his life gave to it much time and
continued its fast friend and patron. In the colony he led
in resisting the encroachments of England upon the colonists
during the decade that preceded the open conflict. Early in
1774 he presented at a town meeting in Westerly a series of
resolutions that set forth the grievances of the Americans
and called for armed resistance. He was elected to the
Continental Congress which convened in Philadelphia, Sep-
tember 5, 1774. Here he met the leading men in the colonies,
some of whom he had been intimate with previously. He
was returned to the Second Congress, which assembled May
10, 1775, and soon became a very prominent figure, serving
as chairman, or otherwise, on some of the most important
committees. Much of the business of Congress was done in
the committee of the whole, and Mr. Ward, on such occasions
was uniformly called to the chair. Under these circumstances
he had much to do in organizing the continental army and
in directing the movements of the colonies in the beginning
of their struggle for independence. He favored George
Washington as commander-in-chief of the American forces,
and was presiding over the committee of the whole when
Washington was appointed to that position. In the midst
of these busy scenes, he was stricken, March 15, 1776, on
the floor of Congress, with smallpox in a malignant form and
died eleven days later. The following quotations give a brief
record of the closing of this great and patriotic life on the
very eve of the Declaration of Independence, an event to
which he had fondly looked and for w^hich he had heroically
labored :

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638 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

"Journals of the Continental Congress. Vol. IV. 1776. Tues-
day, March 26, 1776.

"The Congress being informed that (Mr. Samuel) Ward, one
of the delegates of R. I., yesterday, departed this life,

"Resolved, That this Congress will, in a body, attend the funeral
of Mr. Ward, tomorrow, with a crape round the arm, and that the
Congress continue in mourning for the space of one month.

"Resolved, That Mr. (Stephen) Hopkins, Mr. (Samuel) Adams,
and Mr. (Oliver) Wolcott, be a committee to superintend the funer-
al, and that they be directed to apply to the Rev. Mr. (Samuel)
Stillman and request him to preach a funeral sermon on the oc-
casion.

"That the said committee be directed to invite the assembly
the council of safety of Pennsylvania, and the public bodies in
Phil., to attend the funeral."

"Died, yesterday morning, the Honorable Samuel Ward, Esq.,
late member of the Continental Congress; his remains will be in-
terred this afternoon, in the Baptist Church.

"The procession will begin at 3 o'clock this afternoon, at Mrs.
House's, in Lodge Alley, where the friends of the deceased are
desired to attend. The body will be carried to Arch Street Church,
where a sermon on the occasion, will be delivered by the Rev. Mr.
Stillman. The ladies will be admitted into the galleries at 3 o'clock.
— Pennsylvania Gazette, 27 March, 1776."

"His funeral was attended with the sam'e solemnities as Mr.
Randolph's. Mr. Stillman being the Anabaptist minister here, of
which persuation was the Governor, was desired by Congress to
preach a sermon, which he did with great applause. — John Adams to
his wife, 29 March, 1776."

SHREWSBURY.

The first church to grow out of the tide of emigration
from the First Seventh-day Baptist church of Hopkinton was
the Shrewsbury church, in Monmouth county. New Jersey.
For data the writer is indebted to the records of the First
Hopkinton church, but more especially to Professor Corliss
F. Randolph's "History of Seventh-day Baptists in West Vir-
ginia," and for a fuller treatment of the subject, the reader is
referred to Professor Randolph's History.

The people who founded the Shrewsbury church came
from the Seventh-day Baptist church in western Rhode Is-
land, now called First Hopkinton. The exact date of the or-
ganization is not known. The records of the First Hopkin-

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 639

ton church state that John Davis and Thomas Hiscox were
chosen elders in 1743, but they declined to serve, and in 1745
John Davis is mentioned in the record of the Shrewsbury
church, as one of its constituent members. The date of or-
ganization therefore was between 1743 and 1745 and is com-
monly given as 1745.

Sixteen names appear in the list of constituent members
and in 1774, when the church covenant was adopted, there
were forty-three signers. For the next fifteen years, quite
a large number were added to the church under the labors of
Eld. Jacob Davis, notwithstanding the fact that this was in
the midst of the Revolutionary War and that New Jersey was
one of the principal battle-grounds. Eld. Davis, the pastor,
was a chaplain in the army and many of the members were
engaged in the conflict. In 1789 ten families started on their
journey to what is now West Virginia. It was a case where
nearly an entire church moved in a body from one state to an-
other. In their new home, the church was called the New Sa-
lem church and now is called Salem. Thus the establishment
of Seventh-day Baptists in W^est Mrginia is traceable to the
First Hopkinton church.

The first pastor was Eld. William Davis, who had lately
come from the church in western Rhode Island. He lived
only a few months after the organization of the church. Af-
ter the death of Eld. Davis his son, John Davis, was chosen.
He had had thirty years' experience in church work in Rhode
Island, having served as clerk, and as stated above, had been
called to serve as elder but declined. He was sent to Rhode
Island and was ordained in the house where the Ministers'
Monument now stands, July 23, 1746. His service as pastor
lasted until his death, eight years later. From the death of
Eld. John Davis for a period of twenty years the church had
no pastor. During this time the church was aided some by
the ministration of Seventh-day Baptist ministers in the
colony. In 1774, Jacob Davis, the grandson of the first pas-
tor, was chosen pastor. He served the church while it re-
mained in New Jersey and moved with it to its new home.

A house of worship was built during the Revolutionary
War, and when the church emigrated, this house was sold.

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640 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

It is still in existence and stands at Glendola, a mile and a
quarter from its original site. Previous to the building of
the house of worship, the church met in private houses.

BERLIN.
(little HOOSICK — STEPHENTOWN — PETERSBURG) .

The Seventh-day Baptist church of Berlin, N. Y., was the
third one organized in this group. It too has passed under
different names, changing with the name of the town in which
it is situated. The first name was Little Hoosick, the second
Stephentown, the third, as the town was redivided, Peters-
burg, and the fourth name, taken on in the year 1806, was
Berlin.

The first mention we have of Sabbath-keepers in this
vicinity is found in the records of the First Hopkinton church,
bearing date of August 22, 1770, and was ten years before
the organization of the church. These Sabbath-keepers were
members of the First Hopkinton church and had moved, it
appears, to this section some time previous. At this time the
pastor, Eld. Joshua Clarke, in Hopkinton, was sent "to visit
our distant brethren and sisters at Farmington and at the Ob-
long in the Dutches County." Several times during the next
ten years, the pastors and brethren visit the brethren in their
new home. August 26, 1780, the church passed a vote which
I quote :

"Voted, That Elder John Burdick go and visit our Brethren and
Sisters at Farmington and from thence be accompanied by Elder
Davis and as many of the Brethren as shall see fit to go with him to
Little Hoosick and places adjacent where our Brethren and Sisters
chiefly reside, and acquaint the Brethren and Sisters at both places
that the church is mindful of them respecting their distant situation
from us and the difficulties attending settling matters of uneasiness,
and in behalf of the church he is to inform them at Farmington that
if they are united as a body and choose to be established as a Sister
Church in fellowship with us they have the liberty, and he is to
convene the members at Hoosick as generally as he may with
convenience and inform them that if they are United and established in
the Faith of the Gospel the Church hereby informs them that they
have the Liberty to choose them an Elder and the Church is free
and willing to lend them all necessary assistance in their power for

(40)

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 64 1

their furtherance and Establishment in the Faith of the Gospel. The
Qiurch voted to pay Elder Burdick's expenses he was at on his
journey, etc."

Elder Burdick undertook the mission as directed, and at
the first church meeting after his return, presented a lengthy
written report, which is worthy of a place here, but owing to
its length, I give only the substance. He sets out, accom-
panied by Dea. Elisha Stillman, in the autumn of 1780, and
came first to Farmington, Conn. Here he called the brethren
and sisters together, on the i8th of September, and after set-
ting forth the wish of the church as expressed in the vote just
quoted, he assisted them to organize themselves into a church
by entering into a covenant and choosing a pastor, deacon.
and clerk. The next morning. Eld. Burdick and Deacon
Stillman continued their journey to Little Hoosick, accom-
panied by Eld. John Davis and six other Sabbath-keepers from
Farmington. The day following they came to Stephentown
where a candidate was baptized and passed under hands "and
joined to the Church." Proceeding, they came to Little Hoo-
sick where they held meetings over the Sabbath and on the
First-day of the week, the 24th inst., a meeting was held for
the purpose of considering the organization of a church. On
this occasion, besides the Sabbath-keepers in this section and
those who had come from Farmington, Conn., there were
present Wm. Coon and Joseph Clarke from Rode Island to
assist Elder Burdick and Deacon Stillman in founding a
church. The na,mes of thirty-one persons are given, who,
with three exceptions, appear to have entered into this cove-
nant, and Eld. Burdick's report indicated that there were pres-
ent ten "of our Sabbatarian friends that manifest a liking to
the foregoing proceedings," but did not join.

The growth of the church thus organized was most en-
couraging. During the pastorate of Eld. William Coon, which
covered the first eleven years, one hundred seventy were add-
ed to the church and at the close of this period, it numbered
one hundred eighty. One hundred fifty persons were baptized
by Elder Satterlee in 1805, ^"^ the church reports one hundred
two additions in 181 2, with a total membership of four hun-
dred thirty-seven. The largest number reported was four

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642 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

hundred forty-nine, in 1815. The year following thirty-nine
are dismissed to become the Alfred church and a less number
to make up the church at DeRuyter. Removals and the form-
ing of other churches from members of this church greatly
reduced its numbers as the years have passed by. At the
present time (1902) there are one hundred twenty-nine mem-
bers.

The Berlin church has had the watch-care over several
branch churches which have been organized largely from its
inembers. The first of these branch churches was at DeRuy-
ter, Madison County, N. Y., and became such in 1806. Ten
years later it became an independent church. Another branch
was organized at Sandy Creek, (afterwards called Pickney),
Lewis County, N. Y., in 1809. The Alfred church, from 1813
to 18 1 6, was a branch of the Berlin church, the majority of its
constituent members having formerly been members at Ber-
lin. About this time members of the Berlin church residing
at Greenfield, Saratoga County, I^. Y., ten miles from Sara-
toga Springs, became a branch, which at one time numbered
forty. In 1818 John Bliss, accompanied by a number of the
brethren and sisters of the Berlin church, removed to Fox,
Clearfield County, Pa., and shortly after became a branch of
the home church in Berlin. This branch became an inde-
pendent church in 1827. A brief history of it will be found
in the sketch of the Western Association. The members of
this church in Petersburg, upon their request, were set off as
a separate church in 1829. The Sez'cnth-day Baptist Memo-
rial^ Vol I., page 171, mentions two churches — one at
Reedsborough, Vt., with one hundred members, and the other
"in the Green Mountains" — which embraced the Sabbath dur-
ing Elder Satterlee's pastorate and applied to the pastor of
the Berlin church for pastoral care and oversight.

The church has been most highly blessed in its pastors.
As already stated, the first pastor was William Coon of Hop-
kinton, R. I. His term of service was twenty years. He was
eminently able and faithful. He had lungs like Stentor him-
self, whom Homer describes as having a voice equal to fifty
ordinary men. It is said that some of his sermons were so dis-
tinctly heard as to be followed by those a mile distant. Men

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PEV. WILLIAM SATTERLKK.
See Biographical Sketches, p. I36K

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 643

would Stop their teams in the fields, cease their work and lis-
len to his preaching.

After the death of Eld. William Coon, Jan. i8, 1801, his
nephew, Asa Coon, who had been an elder in the First Hop-
kinton church since 1793, was called to the pastorate. He
entered upon his duties July 3, 1801, and died of fever the
22nd of the following October.

William Satterlee was the third pastor. For an extend-
ed account of his life the reader is referred to his biography
found in the Sei'enih-day Baptist Memorial, the last num-
ber of Volume I., and first of Volume II. The church had
encouraged him "to improve his gifts'' before the death of
Eld. Wm. Coon, but he was not inclined thus to do, though he
did, at the solicitation of the church, sometimes preach. Af-
ter the death of Elder Asa Coon, he was persuaded to enter
into the work of the ministry and was ordained by Eld. Abram
Coon and Eld. Matthew Stillman, of Hopkinton, R. I., Jan.
5, 1805. He served the church till old age made it impossible
for him thus longer to do. Few men, if any, among Seventh-
day Baptists, have rendered greater service to the denomina-
tion than did Eld. Satterlee during his ministry of three score
years.

Eld. Wm. B. Maxson was connected with the church as
assistant pastor two years, 1845 ^^ 1847.

Eld. H. H. Baker was connected with the church as a
licensed minister from 1843 ^^ 1852, being authorized to ad-
minister the ordinance of baptism.

Eld. James L. Scott was connected with the church two
years beginning some time in 1847.

Eld. James H. Cochran served the church as pastor or
assistant pastor three years, 1849 ^^ 1852.

Eld. L. C. Rogers ministered to the church as pastor or
assistant under Eld. Satterlee from 1853 to 1857. During this
time he took a course in Williams College, graduating with
President Garfield in 1857.

Eld. A. W. Coon served the church from 1858 to 1863. It
was during his ministerial labors with the church that Eld.
Satterlee died and since then the following have served as
pastors : Varnum Hull, 1864, a few months ; Solomon Carpen-

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644 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

ter, 1866; James Summerbell, 1869-1875; B. F. Rogers, 1876-
1891; W. C Whitford, 1892-1893; G. H. F. Randolph, 1893-
1895; Geo. Seeley, 1896-1899; Martin Sindall, 1900-1902.

The following ministers have come forth as the fruitage of
this church: David Davis, who was the first pastor of the
DeRuyter church ; John Bliss, who was the first pastor of the
church at Fox, Clearfield Co., Pa. ; Stillman Coon, who served
several of our churches most efficiently; Solomon Carpenter,
who was for many years our missionary in China; and Geo.
P. Kenyon, who for thirty years has served as pastor the
churches in Northern Pennsylvania and Western New York.

The church has had so far as we know, two meeting-
houses. The first was built in 1800, and was blown down
by a tornado twenty-two years later. In 1823 another house
was begun and dedicated two years later.

Dea. John Green was a member of the State Legislature
in 1795- 1796.

BURLINGTON.
(fARMINGTON — BRISTOL)

The third church to be organized from members of the
First Seventh-day Baptist church of Hopkinton was the Bur-
lington church in the northwestern part of Connecticut. There
has been some confusion on the part of writers regarding this
church because it has had, at different times, three different
names. The first name was Farmington; a few years later it
was called Bristol, and lastly, Burlington.

Members of the church in Hopkinton settled in this sec-
tion before the Revolutionary War, but we do not know the
exact date. For some time previous to its organization, the
record of the mother church makes occasional mention of
members in this vicinity, the first one being in 1770. In the
autumn of 1780, Eld. John Burdick and Deacon Elisha Still-
man were sent by the church in Hopkinton to visit the mem-
bers in Farmington, Conn., and from there to visit those in
Rensselaer county. New York. They called together the
brethren and sisters in the vicinity of Farmington, September
i8th. The latter agreed to become a church in sister relation

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 645

with the church in Hopkinton and chose Eld. John Davis as
pastor. Difficulties arose, or past ones were continued, and
from the records it appears that neither the home church nor
the Sabbath-keepers in Farmington consider the latter a sep-
arate church yet. The next year the brethren and sisters sent
to the church in Hopkinton asking that they be "settled" a
church and Eld. Joshua Qarke, Eld. John Burdick and Job
Bennet visited them, but came away without establishing a
church. The reason that they were not considered a church
appears to be that they did not have a pastor. The next year,
1782, Eld. John Davis was consecrated to the office of pastor,
and the mother church wrote them, recognizing them as a
separate church in sister relation.

Eld. John Davis had been an elder in the mother church
since 1771, and served this new church as its pastor till his
death in 1792.

After the death of Eld. John Davis, Dea. Amos Burdick
preached for them till his death in 1803. Eld Amos Stillman
had preached in connection with Dea. Burdick and after his
death took the lead in the church. He was ordained by Elders
Abram Coon and Matthew Stillman of the First Hopkinton
church. His pastorate was brief, as he died with yellow fever
contracted on his trip to Conference in Shiloh, 1807, where he
both presided and preached. After the death of Eld. Stillman
the church had no pastor.

The church started out with seventeen constituent mem-
bers. There was a precious revival before the organization
and several after. What the largest number of members was
we do not know, but the largest from data now extant was
forty-five. After Eld. Amos Stillman 's death, the church
gradually declined. The last report to Conference was made
in 1817. The following quotation from the Minutes of the
General Conference for 1824 shows the causes of its becoming
extinct :

'^Whereas many of the Church at Burlington, Conn., have moved
to Brookfield, and joined the Church at that place, and others are
dead, there not being a sufficient number remaining to transact church
business, it was voted that in future it be dropped out of our minutes."

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646 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

From the records of the First Hopkinton church we
learn that the members of this church suffered some persecu-
tion on account of the faith, but the exact nature of the perse-
cution is not known.

WATERFORD.

The date of the organization of the church is 1784, while
the beginning of the history of Seventh-day Baptists in the
vicinity of Waterford was in 1675, only nine years after the
members of the Baptist church began to keep the Sabbath in
Newport and Misquamicut. Just how the pfeople about New
London had their attention directed to the subject does not
appear in the original documents, but we know that they were
only twenty miles from the Sabbath-keepers in western Rhode
Island and fifty from those in Newport and that the families
were connected by marriage.

The first mention of Sabbath observers here is in a letter
which Ruth Burdick wrote March 6, 1675, from Westerly to
her father, Samuel Hubbard, in Newport. The letter reads:

"I judge it my duty to make use of this opportunity to im-
part to you the dealings and good hand of our God unto us. He
hath been at work, as we believe, in the hearts of some of th« in-
habitants of New London, and bowing their hearts to be obedient
unto the Lord Jesus. Thfe names of them is John Rogers, James
Rogers his brother and the third an Indian whose name is Japheth;
who gave a very satisfactory account of the work of grace wrought
upon his heart. There be four more that stnt to us desiring our
prayers for them, and as for our part, we five are in love, and
with one heart in what is revealed. As for Brother Randall h\s
is highly displeased with brother Maxon about the Sabbath. Brother
Crandall hath the ague and fever still, and has been but littl'e
amongst us this winter. Upon the 13th day of this month our
brethren came again from New London to give us a visit and to
partake in the ordinance of breaking of bnead; with them another
young man who is satisfied as to baptism but judges himself unfit.
They declaring what joys and comforts they have found, and what
they have met with from the sons of men. Mr. Bradstreet. the
minister of the place, being enraged threatened them, warning them
not to speak to any of his church, railing against us all that pro-
fess believers only to be baptized. Threatened brother Crandall.
saying he shall be ordered next court. Mr. Fitch of Norwich also
said he did hope the next court would take a course with brother
Crandall. Many such like words from many others we linear of.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 647

They have earnestly (requested) us to give them a meeting at our
brother John Rogers* house; but I fear brother CrandalKs weak-
ness of body will hinder him, and here is none able to carry on
the work there among them. For my part and I think many more
would be very glad to s«e brother Hiscox here, and one more with
him, and send them word a week before to give the people notice:
they judge there would be many that would be there to hear and
some to be baptized."

It appears from this letter that Elder John Crandall had
already been in New London witnessing for the truth, that he
had baptized and received into fellowship John and James
Rogers and an Indian named Japheth, that he had been threat-
ened by the authorities, that there were others who were in-
terested, that those received into fellowship had been to West-
erly twice, joining with the Sabbath-keepers there in the
celebration of the Lord's Supper, and that it was desired that
some one be sent from Newport to New London to carry on
the work already commenced. The Newport church respond-
ed at once to the request and Mr. Hiscox, Mr. Hubbard and
Joseph Clarke were sent this same month. During this visit,
another member, Jonathan Rogers, was added to the list of
Sabbath-keepers.

In April of this year the threats made while Eld. John
Crandall was there were carried out by putting John Rogers
in jail. From the following letter it appears that not only his
father and mother had forsaken him because he had embraced
the truth, but that his wife had left him for the same reason:

"I received your letter the 26 of March (old style) and was
glad to hear from you and to hear that you are mindful of me
in your prayers which I hope you still are. And I desire you
also to give thanks to God for his great mercy to me, in that he
hath been pleased to support me in my trial which is no small
trial if you seriously consider it. First my wife and children were
taken from me by her father: three weeks after he brought a
warrant to me to appear before the Dp. Governor: my wife only
accuses me with many criminal things, and I was sent to prison;
but although father and mother and my wife are my enemies, yet
God is my friend and is with me in all my troubles, and all my
afflictions are not to be compared to the mercy I enjoy in the
midst of them; tho' I am in doubt sometimes whether it be not
the hardness of my heart that I am no more affected. Pray for me."

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648 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Trouble with the Indians about this time caused many
of the settlers in western Rhode Island to flee to Newport
for protection. Travelling also was unsafe and nothing was
done so far as the records show till the next March.

How long John Rogers was in prison is not stated. He
was in Newport in September, but from a letter written in the
beginning of 1676, it seems that matters were not settled yet
and that there was trouble both from white persecutors and
red savages:

"It is a time of great troubles, the Lord knows what will be
the issue of these things. I hope it may be for the best to those that
may be left. My father is fully convinced both of precepts and
principles. When I went from you I went to Hartford, where I
continued a considerable time and wrought: it pleased God, that
just at the time of the court my child was taken very sick that
she could not go up; there was nothing done. We do not forbear
work on the first day of the week, that it should come to trial the
7th day sabbath may be pleaded for in the audience of the people,
for the common people are afraid to talk with us for fear of being
taintied with heresy. The times are so troublesome that there is no
passing: we should be glad to see you; but the times being so bad
we thought it not safe venturing. My friends have not yet seen
your letter. I by providence came to town and lit of it, and a
vessel being going to the soldiers with provisions had an opportunity
immediately to send again: it is hard with us to meet with an op-
portunity, living out of the town, and we keep all at home as much
as may be: my fath'er's house is a garrison house.*'

In both March and September, 1676, Mr. Hiscox and Mr.
Hubbar^ were sent again to New London, Elder John Cran-
dall having died since the previous season. The September
trip came about in this way : John, James and Jonathan Rog-
ers and the Indian, Japheth, went to Newport to get the
church to send some one back with them to proclaim the truth.
The church sent Eld. Hiscox and Mr. Hubbard, and these
same four men brought them home when ready to return.
While there this time they baptized and received into the
church in Rhode Island father Rogers, whose name was James
and who had been so bitter against the truth eighteen months
before. They also baptized his wife and daughter. The con-
stables again made trouble on account of the baptizing. In a
few days we find James Rogers and his three sons in jail for

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 649

working on the First-day of the week. In a letter they de-
scribe their imprisonment as follows :

**But while we were prisoners we sought to God by prayer
to let us out; and as soon as the court brake up, the jayler came to
the prison and we desired of him to let us ste our mitimus, where-
upon he told us he had none, but he spake a little before to Capt
Allj-n, and he took him up short, and asked him if the warrant were
not sufficient? We then desired him to let us see the warrant. So
he went to the constable and brought the constable to the prison;
and we desired a copy of the warrant, so he pulled a writing where-
by he was ordered to Yet me out of prison the second day before
the general court to be holden at Hartford: for I had been warned
thither by a warrant before; so we asked them whether they had
any other? They said no (this was on the sabbath day) so the
prison door being open we went out, seeing they had neither war-
rant nor mitimus; and so we went about our occasions the next
day which was the ist day of the week. Pray for us."

It is not till December, 1677, that we find another mention
of Xew London. At this time, "brethren Hiscox, Maxson
and Hubbard" were sent. Sarah Rogers, wife of Joseph, was
baptized. Their meetings were broken up three times on the
Sabbath and twice on the same Sabbath were they taken be-
fore the magistrate. In the turmoil John Rogers, an unor-
dained man, baptized his sister.

Twice after this, we find some of this group of Sabbath-
keepers in prison on account of their principles. July, 1678,
Mr. Hubbard writes describing an imprisonment which had
just ended, as follows:

"Our 3 brethren returned from New London and Westerly the
19th June; in brief all were well; our 3 brethren were out of
prison before they came there; they was called in court, thfey was
fined, bro. James for reading so loud in prison as their public meet-
ing was disturbed and not going to it. sth, brother John for not
going to their meeting on the first day, and for beating his leather
for his work for shoes on the first day all sent to prison and locked
in. The court rising, as 'tis reported, the deputy governor said it
appears to me to be for conscience sake, and I'll have no hand
against them, or to that purpose."

August, 1682 John Rogers writes from Xew London
prison: "My father, brother James, and myself [are] in
prison."

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650 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Notwithstanding the persecution, in 1678 ten communi-
cants are reported in New London. These evidently held
meetings some of the time at least, disciplined members, and
had frequent communication with those of like faith in Rhode
Island.

In 1678 or 1679 Eld. William Gibson settled among them
and was a great help in sustaining the cause. A new trouble
however was in store for the little company. Several of them
came to oppose praying in public and the use of medicine, and
to insist that they should accuse themselves to the magistrates
for the violation of the "blue laws." Those who held to these
opinions insisted that their brethren should also, and finally
withdrew from fellowship of the Newport church, leaving
only four in 1681. Those who withdrew were the beginning
of the sect known as Rogerenes.

Such was the beginning of Seventh-day Baptists in the
vicinity of New London, whose spiritual and lineal descend-
ants formed the Waterford church, and such were some of
their persecutions. After this division, their number increased
from time to time and were members of the Newport church
till Newport and Hopkinton became two churches, after which
they belonged to the latter. There has been one unbroken line
of Seventh-day Baptists here from the time Eld. John Cran-
dall visited them, in 1674, or before, till the present time.

Fourteen of the Sabbath-keepers in New London sent a
petition to the church in Hopkinton, June 28, 1784, asking that
they be incorporated a church in covenant relations with the
mother church. This petition was granted and they became
a separate church, November 11, 1784.

Ten names are signed to the agreement "to become a

Church of Qirist in fellowship with the above Church of
Christ at Hopkinton, taking the Scriptures to be the rule of
our faith and practice." The growth of the church was grad-
ual. Up to 1842 the addition in any one year had never been
more than six. In the year above mentioned, there were thir-
teen; in the following year there were eleven. Thirteen was
the number added in 1848, fifteen in 1852, and seventeen in
1858. The following from the pen of the eminent scholar,
Prof. Wm A. Rogers, and written at the centennial of the or-

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 65 1

ganization of the church, gives some idea of what the church
has accomplished:

"The total number of members received into the church since its
organization, is 346. Of this number, 119 have died; 74 have been
rejected, mainly for the non-observance of the Sabbath; and 42 mem-
bers remain, of which 31 are resident, and 11 are non-resident mem-
bers."

The following men have served the church as pastor:

Davis Rogers, 1784- 1804. Jabez Bebee, called to ordination
1794, ordained 1796, and was pastor from 1804 to 1809. Lester
Rogers, called **to the improvement of his public gift," 1811,
ordained 1812, from which time he served as pastor till 1822.
Lester T. Rogers, called upon to improve his gift in public in
1820, ordained and became pastor 1824, and held the office till
1850. Halsey H. Baker was ordained and became pastor of
the church in 1852 and served the church one year. In 1850
Edmond Darrow was appointed to take lead of the meeting
in the absence of visiting brethren; in 1854 he was asked "to
irtiprove his gifts in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ,*'
and in i860 was ordained and became pastor, serving the
church till his death in 1888. J. G. Burdick is reported as
pastor in 1890, and Boothe C. Davis, in 1892. Andrew J. Pot-
ter has been pastor since 1894.

Nathan Rogers, Henry H. Rogers, and Benedict Wes-
cotte served the church as assistant ministers. Elder L. C.
Rogers was the fruitage of this church, it being his home in
youth.

The early meetings were held in private houses. The
places of worship are described by Prof. Wm. A. Rogers as
follows :

"The Church has had three places of worship. The first was
built in 1710, and was situated on the brow of the hill on the east
side of the Neck, and seems to have been owned jointly with the
First-day Baptist Church. The second meeting-house built by the
Church was situated just north of the present one, and on the op-
posite side of the road. It was built in 1816; and it cost $859 more
than the amount previously raised by subscription. The pews were
sold Dec. 24, 1816, to meet this indebtedness. The present house
of worship was built in i860, upon the present location, and upon
land donated by Dea. David Rogers. It cost $1,989."

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652 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS'.

The data pertaining to Sabbath-keepers in the vicinity of
Waterford from 1673 to 1784, the writer has gathered from the
Journal of Samuel Hubbard and the records of the Newport
and Hopkinton churches, but for the history since 1784, he is
indebted to an article in the Seventh-day Baptist Quarterly
by the late Prof. William A. Rogers. Prof. Rogers, who grew
up in this church and remained faithful to his convictions and
his denomination till death, was professor in Alfred Univer*
sity, Harvard University, and Colby College, and was recog-
nized as an eminent scholar in Europe, as well as America.
Several sketches of his life have appeared in the last decade,
to which the reader is referred.

PETERSBURG.

Petersburg is located live miles north of the Berlin, N.
Y., church. The Seventh-day Baptists in Petersburg had
been members of the Berlin church, but living so far away
they thought that the interests of the cause would be advanced
by organizing a church in their midst. On the 4th of August,
1829, they addressed the following letter to the Berlin church :

"Dear Brethren, From a view of our present situation in this
part of the Church and from a sense of our obligation to maintain
the cause of Christ and public worship on the Sabbath — ^We have
thought proper to be set off as a church by ourselves."

. On the 20th of August the Sabbath-keepers in Peters-
burg met to arrange for the formal organization of a church.
They agreed upon articles of faith and whom they would or-
dain deacons, Joseph S. Maxson and Joseph Stillman being
selected. Six days later, August 26, a council of delegates
from the Berlin church, headed by Eld. William Satterlee, met
at Petersburg to formally organize the church. Eld. John
Green was present to assist. Eld. Satterlee, as pastor of the
parent church, preached the sermon and gave the right hand
of fellowship to Luke Maxson, who had been chosen to rep-
resent the church. The name given to the organization was
'The Seventh-Day Baptist Church of Petersburg, N. Y."

The church reports seventy-two members the first year,
and the year following the additions are given as one hundred
six, giving a membership of one hundred seventy-six. This
was a good beginning for a church only thirteen months old.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 653

The number seems never to have risen above that given in
the second report. The minutes were kept from 1829 to 1854.
After the latter date no record was made. There were oc-
casional additions, but on the whole, there was a gradual de-
crease. The decline is assigned to removals principally. Eld.
William Green came from Watson, N. Y., and after preaching
a year, took quite a number with him to Adams Centre, N. Y.,
about 1834, and members of this church helped to establish
other churches farther west.

Eld. Orson Campbell is reported as elder the first year.
The ministers in the mother church at Berlin rendered min-
isterial service in the absence of the pastor. Eld. William
Green referred to above and Eld. Joel Green preached for
the church in 1833. I^ ^835, Bethuel C. Church, who had
joined the church a few years before, was licensed and in-
vited to preach. The name of Bethuel C. Church has since
become a household word among Seventh-day Baptists on
account of his pioneer work as an educator. Azor Estee was
licensed to preach in October, this same year, 1835. The
next year the church asked Conference to ordain him to the
Gospel ministry, which was done, and he served the church
till 1842. Eld. Estee also served the church at different times
during its subsequent history. Eld. Shierman S. Griswold
labored with the church in 1842 and 1843. Jared Kenyon
was licensed by this church first in 1841, and was called to'
preach to the church in 1844. He soon went to the Western
Association, where he, after graduating at Alfred, served as
pastor for thirty years. Eld. Thomas A. Maxson was licensed
by this church in 1844, served it as an elder and was probably
ordained by it, though it does not appear when. James Sum-
merbell was called to ordination by the Petersburg church
in 1849, but it does not appear that he was ordained then.
He served the church as a minister from 1849 ^^ 185 1.

There may be others who served the church in the min-
isterial capacity, or who came into the ministry through its
influence. If so, their names do not appear.

The house of worship was owned jointly with the First-
day people and is still used by the latter.

The writer is indebted to Rev. Judson G. Burdick for

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654 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

help in gathering data regarding this church, and also to
Eld. Jared Kenyon, who was raised in the church.

SECOND HOPKINTON.

This church was the sixth to be formed from the mem-
bership of the First Hopkinton church. Its place of meet-
ing is Hopkinton City. As already stated the latter place
is five miles north of the place where the mother church
proper met for worship when the Second Hopkinton church
was organized. As early as 1799 the brethren in this vicinity
had requested that they might have meetings on the Sabbath
and this was granted. Later they were given the privilege
of celebrating the Lord's Supper. December 26, 1834, the
First Hopkinton church was petitioned by the members liv-
ing in the vicinity of Hopkinton City to set the latter off as a
church. The following record explains itself:

"A number of the members of this Church living near and at
the City, presented a petition to this Meeting to be set off as a
sister Church by a committee. After an investigation of the sub-
ject it is voted that said petition be granted so far as the organiz-
ing of said church, but not to embrace the disposition of the funds
of this Church, and that a Committee be appointed from this Church
to confer on the subject of the funds of this Church and report
at our next Church meeting.
^ "Voted, That Dea. Daniel Lewis, Br. Christopher C. Lewis,
Br. Joseph Potter and Br. Jacob D. Babcock be the said committee.

"Voted, That we appoint a council of the Elders and Deacons
of this Church to examine the articles of faith of those Brethren
and Sisters, and if thought proper to organize them into a Church
in Sister relation with us in full fellowship."

The church was organized January 7, 1835, with forty-
six members. Three years later the number had increased
to **over one hundred members," and in 1844, to one hundred
fifty-four. The present membership (1902) is one hundred
twenty. The church has witnessed many precious revivals.
Hopkinton City is located on what was once the stage route
from Boston to New York City, and about the time of the or-
ganization of this church, was the principal point of trade for
this section of Rhode Island. When the railroad was in-
augurated, the stage coach became useless and the drift of

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REV. SHERMAN SAXTON GRISWOLD.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361,

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 655

business and settlement has been away, thus depleting the
membership.

The pastors have been Amos R. Wells, 1835-1837; John
Green, 1838-unknown ; S. S. Griswold, 1847-1850; Henry
Qarke, 1850-1853; Daniel Coon, unknown-1858; D. Forbes
Beebe, 1859-1864; Sherman S. Griswold, 1865-1882; L. F.
Randolph, 1882 to date.

The last two pastors have served the church since 1865,
or nearly forty years, and the church is still satisfied.

Eld. S. R. Wheeler was acting pastor one year, commen-
cing April, 1864. This was before he was ordained.

For a number of years previous to the organization of
the church, there had been a union meeting-house. It ap*
pears that our people had worshiped in this, and since the
organization it has been moved, enlarged and occupied by
this church.

The following members have served in the State Legisla-
ture; Josiah W. Langworthy, 1843; John S. Champlin, 185 1-
1854; Sands. C. Carr, 1862, 1863.

In addition to the records of the First Seventh-day Bap-
tist church of Hopkinton, the writer is indebted for data re-
garding the • Second Hopkinton church, to Dea. Benjamin
P. LangAvorthy, who wrote the history of this church for the
"History of Washington and Kent Counties, R. I.,** and has
in other ways aided in making these statements correct.

rockville.
(third hopkinton)

The name of this church at first was the Third Seventh-
day Baptist church of Hopkinton, R. I., but was subsequently
changed to the Seventh-day Baptist church of Rockville.

The history of the Rockville church, like that of several
other churches in this group, began many years before it be-
came a separate church. As previously stated, this church is
located ten miles north of the First Hopkinton church,
of whose members it was formed. Seventy-five years before
it became a separate church, the brethren in its vicinity had
petitioned the mother church for the privilege of building

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656 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

a house of worship. This petition was granted and the
brethren had met for divine worship and had. held business
meetings and kept their own records. Whatever measures
they passed were considered the action of the entire chufch,
the same as though passed by the church proper. This con-
tinued from 1770 to 1835, when they petitioned to become
a separate church. The petition closes as follows :

"We therefore request the Church to set us apart and organize
us into a Church of the same principles and of the same faith and
order as the present church, holding the Scriptures contained in
the Old and New Testaments as sufficient rule of faith and prac-
tice, without creeds or articles of faith other than covenanting to
keep the commands and precepts of the gospel as contained therein.*'

The answer of the church was as follows:

"Whereas, a number of the members of this Church in the
upper part of this Town have petitioned this Church to be set off
a separate Church in Sister relation, retaining their meeting house
and their great Bible,

"Voted, that the prair of said petition be granted, that they
give up the Records and retain tlreir meeting house and a lot on
which it, said house stands, likewise their great Bible.

"Voted, That the Ministers and Deacons of this Church be
appointed a committee to assist in organizing said brethren and sis-
ters into a Church in Sister relation with this Church, 'and that they
meet for that purpose at the Upper Meeting-house at eleven o'clock,
th-e six day of the week, before the last Sabbath, in July next"

The formal organization took place July 24, 1835, with
fifty-three members.

Eld. Christopher Chester supplied the church much of
the time during the first ten years, in which time sixty-three
were added. Commencing with 1845, the pastors have been
as follows: A. B. Burdick, 1845-1849; additions, eight>-
four; C. M. Lewis, 1849-1853; additions, seventy; Joel Green,
1853-1854, additions, three; Phineas Crandall, 1854-1857, ad-
ditions, twenty; Stephen Burdick, i857-i86a; additions,
twenty; L. M. Cottrell, 1860-1866, additions, thirty-three;
Charles A. Burdick, 1867-1869, additions, thirty-six; James R.
Irish, 1869-1881, additions, one hundred twelve; U. M. Bab-
cock, 1881-1886, additions, thirty-three; Joshua Clarke, 1886-
1887, additions, twenty-seven; Alexander McLearn, 1888 to
date.

(41)

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 657

Besides the pastors, Elders Lucius Crandall, Stillman
Coon and Horace Stillman have supplied the church be-
tween pastorates.

Six hundred twenty-five have been members since its
organization, and the loss by death and dismissal has been
four hundred fifty, which gives the church at present (1902)
a membership of one hundred seventy-five.

The first house of worship was built in 1771, possibly
1770, while the members were a part of the parent church.
A new building was built in 1846.

The following members of the Rockville church have
served in the Rhode Island Legislature: Harris Lamphear,
1854, 1856; Alanson Crandall, 1871-1873; Benjamin Kenyon,
1874-1875; Jesse B. Crandall, 1880-1882; Josiah P. Palmer,
1883, 1884; Alva A. Crandall, 1887-1889; Albert S. Babcock,
1893- 1903.

In addition to data gathered from the records of the
First Seventh-day Baptist church of Hopkinton, the writer
is indebted for data regarding the Rockville church, to Hon.
A. S. Babcock, who is clerk of the church, and who published
a sketch of the church in the Sabbath Recorder, April 6, 1896.

FIRST WESTERLY.

In 1765 the "Wilcox Church" was organized in the
southeastern part of the town of Westerly, seven or eight
miles from the First Hopkinton church. It was not a Seventh-
day Baptist church, but was made up of a few members from
the Seventh-day Baptist church in Hopkinton and "Sepa-
ratists from the Presbyterian Churches, with a few Baptists
proper." It joined the "New Lights." To accommodate
those who kept the Sabbath, many meetings were held on the
Seventh-day, and during one period of its history, the Sab-
bath-keepers nearly controlled the organization. At one time
it numbered two hundred sixty- four, but declined and be-
came extinct before tlie middle of the nineteenth century.
Some of those who had been members of this church, to-
gether with members of the First Hopkinton church, were
formed into the First Westerly church, in 1837. It is stated
that the religious fire which led to the uniting of the Chris-

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658 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

tians into a church here, came through revival efforts of
Elder Alexander Campbell. Elder N. V. Hull was also lead-
ing an extensive revival movement in southern Rhode Island
this same year. The number who joined at its organization,
or soon after, was fifty-one. In 1842, seventy-two members
are reported, and in the next thirty years, the number fluc-
tuated. There were eighty-four in 1858, and in 1869, after
its numbers had somewhat decreased for a time, we find an
increase of twenty-one, giving a membership of eighty-one.
The present (1902) membership is forty-two.

Those who have served the church in the capacity of
pastor are Henry Clarke, who filled the position from the
organization of the church till 1848 (though not ordained till
1841); Jacob Ayers, who served about four years; Daniel
Coon, who is reported pastor in 1853; Christopher C. Still-
man, who first appears in 1856, and acted as pastor the most,,
or all, the time for thirty years; E. A. Witter; Horace
Stillman; A. E. Main, and N. M. Mills. The house of wor-
ship was erected in 1839.

PAWCATUCK.

At a meeting of the First Hopkinton church, February
28, 1840, a petition was presented, addressed to the church
and the First Westerly church, praying that the members
residing in the vicinity of "Pawcatuck Village," (now Wester-
ly), be organized into a separate church. Not wishing to take
hasty action, the church deferred final decision to a special
church meeting to be held one month later. At this meeting,
"It was voted that we advise the petitioners to act as they deem
most consistent on the subject, assuring them that they will
have our approbation if they should deem it expedient to be or-
ganized into a Church in sister relation with us."

On the i6th day of April, 1840, brethren and sisters
to the number of fifty, assisted by Eld. Daniel Coon and Eld.
Wm. B. Maxson, organized themselves into a church "and
did then and there enter into a solemn covenant to walk in
and maintain the commands of God and the faith of Jesus
Christ, and all the ordinances of the house of God, tak-
ing the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments for

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 659

our only rale of faith and practice, and agreeable thereto,
to maintain a regular Gospel Church discipline." This was
the formal beginning of the church, but its real beginning
goes back to the early days of the First Hopkinton church,
when the ancestors of the constituent members were enrolled
in the First Hopkinton church and lived in the vicinity of
the "Pawcatuck Village in Westerly."

When the church was organized, there were only two
small churches (Episcopal and First Baptist) in the little
village of less than two thousand inhabitants. The growth
of the church from the first has been steady and permanent.
There have been large additions during almost every pas-
torate, the largest being during that of Eld. Alfred B. Bur-
didc, when one hundred seventy-two were added. During
the life of the church, there have been nine hundred forty
admissions and the present (1902) membership is four hun-
dred ten.

The church has had eleven pastors, as follows: Alex-
ander Campbell, six years, ninety additions; Isaac Moore,
two years, fifty-nine additions; Alfred B. Burdick, twelve
years and six months, one hunderd seventy-two additions;
Thomas R. Williams, two years and six months; A. Herbert
Lewis, three years, ninety additions; Nathan Wardner, one
year and six months, thirty-nine additions; Geo. E. Tomlin-
son, eight years, one hundred twenty-eight additions; Lewis
A. Platts, six years, fifty- four additions; Oscar U. Whit-
ford, six years, eighty-six additions; Wm. C. Daland, four
years, seven months, one hundred eight additions; Samuel
H. Davis commenced his services May i, 1896 and has served
till date.

Financially, the church has been strong and has given
for church, denominational, charitable and reform purposes
with a free hand. It gave its first pastor $300.00, and has
increased the pastor's salary as circumstances demanded, giv-
ing the present one $1,500.00.

At first the church held its meetings in the "Union Meet-
ing-house," but in 1848 it built one of its own. In this one
it still worships. It has been enlarged and remodeled as cir-
cumstances demanded, spending $10,000.00 for this purpose

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66o SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

in one year, during the pastorate of Eld. O. U. Whitford.

The members of this church have had a prominent part
in state, educational, industrial and financial affairs. The
clerk of the church, J. Irving Maxson, has kindly furnished
the writer a list of the members who have acted prominent
parts in these lines. Some of them have been the product
of other churches; these it has been thought best not to
include here, and after omitting such, we have the following:
Among the physicians who have been or are prominent, are
Henry W. Stillman, who removed to Wisconsin, recently
deceased; Albert G. Utter, who served in the Civil War;
Henry N. Crandall, Edwin R. Lewis, Sr., Edwin R. Lewis, Jr.,
John Champlin, George S. Browning, Chas. F. Hickox and
Anne Langworthy Waite. Dr. F. T. Rogers is an eye specialist
in Providence, R. L The names of the following teachers are on
the list of members : Henry C. Moore, Ralph N. Maxson and
Edmund P. Barker. Prof. Henry M. Maxson, teacher of lan-
guages and educational lecturer, is the superintendent of pub-
lic schools, Plainfield, N. J. Prof. Alfred A. Titsworth has
been the instructor of mathematics at Rutgers College for
the last seventeen years. Geo. W. Vaughan, division super-
intendent of the N. Y. Central Railroad, and Hobart E.
Ayers, superintendent of the American Locomotive Works
are well known civil engineers. W. Liance Cottrell and
Charles Clarence Maxson, prominent in military circles and
a member of the town council, are among the architects. ,Two
attorneys, Albert P. Saunders and Howard Y. Stillman are
mentioned.

The following have been or are interested in large build-
ing and lumber enterprises : Jonathan Maxson, Charles Max-
son, who represented the town of Westerly in the Rhode Is-
land Legislature, also prominent in local town affairs and held
many positions of responsibility; Jonathan Maxson, Jr., who
was connected with the management of local banks, and
who represented the town of Stonington in the Connecticut
Legislature, was quite prominent in many local town affairs,
anti-slavery and temperance movements; B. Court Bentley,
deceased, who was a member of the town council and its

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REV. GEORGE E. TOMLINSON.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361,

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 66l

president for many years ; and J. I. Maxson, who represented
the town of Westerly in the Assembly two years.

George Greenman, Clarke Greenman and Thomas Green-
man were large ship-builders, as was also William EUery
Maxson, who was connected with a large ship-building in-
dustry at Mystic, Conn., building quite a number of war
vessels at the time of the Civil War. George S. Greenman
conducted a ship-building plant at Westerly, building many
sailing and steam vessels. In later years, he was interested
in local financial institutions.

Chas. P., Edgar H., C. Byron and Arthur M. Cottrell
are inventors of printing presses and conduct a very large busi-
ness. Chas. B. Maxson is an inventor of printing presses and
other machinery. Chas. Potter, inventor of printing presses
and steam engines, removed to Plainfield, N. J., jind established
large printing press works. George H. Babcock, editor, pho-
tographer and inventor of printing presses and steam boilers,
with his partner, Stephen Wilcox, also a Westerly man, estab-
lished the largest boiler manufacturing business in the world.
He also removed to Plainfield, N. J.

Prominent among manufacturers were Albert L. Chester,
manufacturer and financier, late president of the Washington
Trust Company and the Washington National Bank; and
Welcome Stillman, a successful woolen manufacturer.

Walter Price, Representative and Senator in the Rhode
Island Legislature, and former United States Consul to San
Domingo, has also been postmaster for a number of years.

Dea. Ira B. Crandall, merchant, represented the town
of Westerly in the General Assembly, was a member of the
town council.

Among the editors and journalists are Morton Hiscox,
John Hiscox, Wm. W. Hiscox and G. Benjamin Utter.

Jonathan Larkin, Edwin G. Champlin, James W. Still-
man, Nathan H. Langworthy and B. Court Bentley have served
in the state legislature.

George H. Utter, editor and journalist, has, for a num-
ber of years, been very prominent in state, educational and
financial affairs. He was born in Plainfield, N. J., July 24,
1854, and came to Westerly, R. I., in 1861. He here at-

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662 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS;

tended public and private schools, and in 1877 graduated from
Amherst College. He began to play an important part in
state affairs in 1883, when he was colonel on the staff of
Augustus O. Bourne, from that year until 1885. He was a
member of the House of Representatives from 1885 to 1889,
and the last year was Speaker. He was Senator from 1889
to 1891, and Secretary of State from 1891 to 1894.

Mr. Utter is an excellent public speaker, and a large part
of his time has been given to that work. He is a deacon in
the Pawcatuck church and has been the treasurer of the
Seventh-day Baptist Missionary Society for several years.*

WOODVILLE.
(RICHMOND.)

This church, when organized, was called Richmond, and
was so reported till after it withdrew from the Association
on account of some unhappy matters, in 1852. When it was
reinstated into the Association, twelve years later, it was
called Woodville. Richmond is a town east of Hopkinton.
Seventh-day Baptists had their homes in this town, particu-
larly the southern part of it, during the first years of the
eighteenth century, or before, and their history belongs to
the rise of the Seventh-day Baptists in western Rhode Island,
which has been already given in connection with the history
of the First Hopkinton church. They are mentioned before
the Sabbath-keepers in western Rhode Island became a sep-
arate church, it being ordered that certain letters from Piscat-
away, Abel Noble and William Buckingham should be read to
the brethren in Shannock. Shannock was situated in what is
now the town of Richmond. After the First Hopkinton
church was organized its church meetings were sometimes
held in Shannock, and for the next one hundred thirty years
the church records show that there were Sabbath-observers
here who were under the watch care of the church in Hop-
kinton.

The church was organized in 1843, ^^d as stated above,
was called Richmond, after the town in which it was located.

•Note. — Mr. Utter has, since 1902, served one term as Lieutenant Gov-
ernor and two terms as Governor of the State of Rhode Island.

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HON. GEORGE H. UTTER, LL. D.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 663

The organization took place in a schoolhouse^ near Shannock
Mills, which is in the southern part of the town and about
four miles east of Woodville, where the present house of
worship stands. Elder Daniel Coon, of the First Hopkinton
church, gave the right hand of fellowship to Elder Solomon
Carpenter, who was to become pastor of the church. The
young church did not thrive and was always small, being in-
fluenced by the manufacturing interests of Woodville. It
soon had serious trouble on its hands. This grew out of a
matter between Elder John Green and the Second Seventh-
day Baptist church of Hopkinton. In 1847 ^^e Eastern
Association appointed a committee to help in a settlement.
This committee reported the next year that it had discharged
the duties laid upon it and that the trouble was settled. The
matter did not stay settled, and in 185 1 the Association
adopted a report of a council previously appointed, in which
it censured the church and Elder John Green. The church
was not satisfied with this, and the next year, 1852, wrote
to the Association, withdrawing from the Association, where-
upon its name was "erased from the list of Churches com-
posing this Association."

It appears that the interest did not become extinct, and
in 1861 the Association recommended that the church be
supplied by the Rhode Island pastors. This recommendation
was carried out by Elders Alfred B. Burdick and L. M.
Cottrell. In 1863 the church asked to be reinstated, which
request was granted in 1865. This year, under the labors
of Elder C. M. Lewis, there was a revival and thirty-nine
members were reported. This was the largest number of
members ever reported. Its light has now about gone out.

The regular pastors have been Solomon Carpenter,
1843; Jo'^^ Green, 1848-1850 (and perhaps longer); and
Horace Stillman, 1875-1894. The following, and perhaps
others, have labored with the church as evangelists: Charles
M. Lewis, Alfred B. Burdick, L. M. Cottrell, J. W. Morton,
Henry Qarke, S. S. Griswold, Forbes Beebe and Herbert
Babcock. The meeting-house was built in 1847, and is still
standing in Woodville.

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664 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

GREEN HILL.
(south KINGSTON.)

This church was located in the southern part of the town
of South Kingston, R. I., about fifteen miles east of the
First Hopkinton church, and was formed from members
of the last mentioned church, in 1843. Upon the request of
the brethren and sisters in South Kingston, the First Hop-
kinton church appointed a council to meet with the former
to take the question of organizing a church into considera-
tion. The committee appointed was Elder Daniel Coon, Elder
Christopher Chester, Christopher C. Lewis, Lucius Crandall,
Daniel Lewis, Elder John Green, Solomon Carpenter, Sanford
Noyes, Benjamin F. Langworthy, Horatio S. Berry and Ar-
nold Hiscox. At the next church meeting the committee re-
ports that the most of the committee attended and organized
a church. The Sabbath Recorder of March 19, 1843, says
that the Green Hill church was organized March 9, 1843, ^^^
that "the participating' elders were Christopher Chester, of
First Hopkinton, Solomon Carpenter, of Richmond, and
Henry Clarke, of First Westerly."

At first the church was called Green Hill and later South
Kingston.

The first report to Conference (in 1843) shows a mem-
bership of thirteen; in 1849 there were twenty-five members,
and in 1855 the members had increased to fifty-seven. Dur-
ing the fifties Elder Henry Clarke was pastor, being partly,
if not largely, supported by the Eastern Association, and the
church was greatly strengthened and increased. In 1862,
1863 and 1864, there was an arrangement by which the
Rhode Island pastors supplied the church a portion of the
time. Not far from this time the Seventh-day Adventists
came into this vicinity to proselyte, and many members joined
them. This was the death of the church.

In 1853 and 1854 the church built a meeting-house,
which went to the Adventists when the majority of the mem-
bers joined them.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 66$

GREENMANVILLE.

In 1838 three brothers, George, Clarke and Thomas S.
Greenman, members of the First Hopkinton church, settled
in Mystic, Conn., and commenced the ship-building business.
Thirteen years later, 1849, ^^^y built a mill for the manu-
facture of woolen goods. About these industries sprang up
a village called Greenmanville. The most of those working
in the ship-yard were Sabbath-keepers, and being several
miles removed from any Seventh-day Baptist church, it was
deemed wise to organize one. This was done in August,
1850, with about forty members. The constituent members
were mostly from the First Hopkinton church, a few from
the Waterford church, and one from the Newport church.
The largest membership, fifty-six, was reached the first year
and it held pretty well up to this for thirty years. Its present
(1902) number is eighteen.

Though it never enrolled a large number of members,
yet it exercised a wide influence in denominational and other
circles. George Greenman, a member of this church, was
president of the Seventh-day Baptist Missionary Society for
thirty-one years. The leading men of the church took an active
part in the anti-slavery struggle, and the temperance cause
has been supported by these godly men. Clarke Greenman,
Thomas S. Greenman and Benjamin F. Lang worthy served
the town in the state legislature at different times.

Under the different pastorates there were occasional re-
vivals, and the membership was increased by other additions.
Four years after its organization the church entertained the
Eastern Association, at which time Prof. E. P. Larkin was
ordained to the Gospel ministry by request of the church in
New York City.

The decline of the church has been the result of the
decline of the ship-building business and the selling of the
woolen mill to a First-day firm. Removals, dismissals and
desertions have also contributed to the weakening of the
church.

The pastors have been S. S. Griswold, 1850- 1865 ; L. E.
Livermore, 1866-1868; C. A. Burdick, 1869-1870; A. B. Bur-

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666 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

dick, 1871-1874; T. L. Gardiner, 1874-1880; O. D. Sherman,
1880 to date.

In the interval between the pastorates of Elders Gris-
wold and Livermore, O. U. Whitford supplied the church,
and in that between the pastorates of Elders Chas. A. Bur-
dick and A. B. Burdick, Eld. Geo. B. Utter, together with
First-day ministers, supplied.

The church erected a house of worship the first year
of its existence.

For a considerable part of this data the writer is indebted
to Dea. Geo. H. Greenman, of Mystic, Conn.

Note. — Since 1902, the church has practically disbanded,
the house of worship has been sold and the proceeds given
to the denominational societies, and the bell given to Salem
College, Salem, W. Va.

SECOND WESTERLY.

The Second Westerly Seventh-day Baptist church is
the thirteenth church which has grown directly from the
First Hopkinton church and its work. It is located at Niantic,
R. I., three and one-half miles from the mother church in
Hopkinton, and is over the line in Westerly. It is also about
four miles from the First Westerly church, which is located
at what is now called Dunn's Corners, and about three miles
from the Second Hopkinton, at Hopkinton City. The organi-
zation took place in 1858. Seven years after its founding
it reports only seventeen members, and the largest number
of members was fifty-one, in 1886.

The pastors have been^Henry Clarke, Horace Stillman
and E. A. Witter.

The church has owned a meeting-house since 1866. This
house was originally built on the site where the meeting-houses
of the First Hopkinton church stood till 1852, and where the
Ministers' Monument now stands. When the vote in the
First Hopkinton church to move its house of worship from
where the church had worshiped throughout its history to
Ashaway was passed, there was a large majority in its favor,
but a few afterwards seemed grieved and erected another and
smaller house on the same spot. In this house, called the

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 667

"Spunk Meeting-house," a few disaffected ones worshiped
a short time, but in 1866 it was taken down, moved to
Niantic, put up again, and has since been the house of worship
of the Second Westerly church.

II.

CHURCHES WHICH GREW OUT OF THE SABBATH
REFORM MOVEMENT NEAR PHILA-
DELPHIA, PA.

NEWTOWN^ PENNEPEK, NOTTINGHAM AND FRENCH CREEK.

The second group of churches within what is now the
bounds of the Eastern Association, came from a movement
which started near Philadelphia, in the closing years of the
seventeenth century. When the first one of these was or-
ganized, in 1697, there was but one Seventh-day Baptist or-
ganization in America, and that was the one in Rhode Island.
There may have been, during the eighteenth century, a larger
number of Sabbath-keepers in Rhode Island, but the churches
in southeastern Pennsylvania and those which sprang from
them outnumbered those in Rhode Island, if not those in all
the colonies. There were at least four churches of this group
within fifty miles of Philadelphia, and two or more which
had been made up largely from members of these churches in
other colonies. Their influence in the colony at that time was
considerable, in a number of directions.

From "Benedict's History of the Baptists," published
in 1813 and from the article by Mr. Julius Sachse, published
in 1888 and reprinted in the form of an excerpt in the Sab^
bath Recorder, June and July, 1889, we learn that there was
a church at Pennepek, nine miles from Philadelphia, in the
Philadelphia county; another at Newtown (Upper Provi-
dence) fifteen miles from Philadelphia, in Delaware county;
a third at French Creek (Nantmeal), thirty miles from Phila-
delphia, in the northwestern part of Qiester county, and a
fourth one at Nottingham in the southwestern part of Chester
county, near the Maryland line and fifty miles from Philadel-
phia.

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668 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

The causes which resulted in the founding of these
churches are connected with dissensions among the Quakers
in William Penn's colony, growing out of "personal feuds,
local jealousies," and questions of doctrines. This defection
took place in 1691, one decade after the founding of the
colony, and was led by George Keith, "an impetuous Scotch-
man, who left the Kirk of Scotland to become a follower,
as well as a friend and companion of Penn and Fox." Keith
and his followers denied that every man naturally has within
himself the sufficiency for his own salvation, and magnified
the need and power of Christ and gave especial prominence
to the "Commandments of God and the Holy Scriptures."
He soon, as we would expect from his nature, had trouble
with the new band of dissenters, withdrew, and went to
England, after which his followers languished and were scat-
tered. One of these bands of Keithians, however, had more
strength than the others, and from that one grew the first
Seventh-day Baptist church in the colony and the second in
America. This was the one meeting in Thomas Powell's
house, in Upper Providence, Delaware county, and the one
from which the Newtown Seventh-day Baptist churx:h came,
under the influence of Abel Noble.

We do not know so much about Abel Noble as we wish
we did. He came to the colony from England, in 1684. It
is not quite clear whether he was a Sabbath-keeper when he
came or whether he was led to embrace the Sabbath after he
came. It is known that he affiliated with the Quakers when he
came to America, was recognized by them as one of their num-
ber, and married among them in 1692, which would not have
been allowed had he not been recognized as a Quaker. He was
one of the forty-eight who signed the articles setting forth the
reasons for the Keithian Separation. It is possible that he
was a Sabbath-observer when he came to the colony, but so
"liberal" in his beliefs and practices that he joined the Quak-
ers; or he may have come to the Sabbath after his arrival.
However this may be, we are certain that he had been recog-
nized as a Quaker in every respect, had withdrawn with
Keith, had helped to maintain the Keithian society after
Keith deserted it, and was the means of leading the Keithian

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 669

remnant at Upper Providence to the Sabbath and baptism.
This last act is the one that interests us the most and came
about in this way: The Keithians, finding themselves in need
of a closer union, "determined to resign themselves entirely
to guidance of the Scripture and to live a life of primitive
Christian simplicity." Having taken this position they must
as a natural consequence accept the Seventh-day as the Sab-
bath and immersion only as baptism. This Noble pointed out
to them and they readily accepted.

At a protracted meeting which Abel Noble was conduct-
ing at Thomas Powell's house in the summer of 1697, Thomas
Martin, a public man of wide influence among the Friends,
was baptized by Mr. Noble. Martin became a successful ad-
vocate of the doctrines held by the new Sabbath-keeping
band of baptized believers, and in August following, baptized
five others. During September, "ten new converts were added
to the now prosperous organization." The good work con-
tinued and in October, John and Martin Beckingham became
members, William having previously been a preacher in New
Jersey. At the meeting when these brethren pined, the church
which has come down to us as the Newtown Seventh-day
Baptist church was organized. They chose Thomas Martin
as minister, "who, after further religious ceremonies, pro-
ceeded to administer the Lord's Supper, as an old account
states, 'to them for the first time.' "

It would have been natural that they should have elected
Abel Noble pastor, as he was the one who had led them
to the truth, but this service he declined. He labored as a
minister in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and the last we
hear of him, he was in "West Chester county, N. Y., at or
near Yonkers, teaching school." This was 1752.

The church thus organized was in a prosperous condition.
The year following its organization, or 1698, four baptisms
are reported, and some of them, as perhaps others had been
before, were persons in the town of Newtown, which joined
Upper Providence on the north. The year 1699 brought
eight additions by baptism. It was about this time, the latter
part of 1698 or the early part of 1699, that they had an
accession which meant a great deal to them and to Seventh-

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670 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

day Baptists in the two centuries that have since passed into
history. This accession was William Davis, to whom we
have already referred in the sketches of the First Hopkin-
ton and Shrewsbury churches. He came to the colony the
same year that Abel Noble did, and was a public speaker
among the Quakers when he came. He, like Noble, went
out with the Keithians, or Christian Quakers, as they were
sometimes called, in 1691, but before the organization of
this, the first Seventh-day Baptist church in the colony, he
became a Baptist and joined the Pennepek Baptist church.
Having trouble here on account of doctrinal views, he came
to Upper Providence by invitation of Abel Noble, and em-
braced the Sabbath. "In the latter part of 1699, William
Davis, before mentioned, returned to Pennepek, above Phila-
delphia, and there organized a congregation of Seventh-day
Baptists from 'among the former Keithians and others in
the vicinity. This formed the first branch from the Provi-
dence Meeting. Thomas Graves gave to the congr^ation a
lot of ground on which they built a plain log building for
a meeting-house. In the year 1700, William Davis, the min-
ister, baptized six persons in the Pennepek, the record of
which is with the parent society."

This prosperity was not to last many months. The Episco-
palians, led by one of their ministers whose name was Evan
Evans, attacked these new churches with such vigor and per-
sistency that they were nearly destroyed in spite of the
able defense made by Elders Thomas Martin and William
Davis, for the Seventh-day Baptists, and Eld. Thomas Kill-
ingsworth for the Baptists. George Keith, who founded the
Keithian Quakers, but at this time had returned to the Church
of England, and one Clayton, also aided Evans. Some of
the most influential members in the church in Upper Prov-
idence deserted the truth, and the remnant that continued
steadfast changed their place of meeting from the homes
of the Powells in Upper Providence, to the home of David
Thomas in the town of Newtown, five miles farther from
Philadelphia to the west. Thus the name of the first Seventh-
day Baptist church in this group and the second in America,
has come down to us as Newtown, instead of Upper Provi-

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• EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 67 1

dcnce, where it was organized. Beside^heir own ministers,
they were visited by Thomas Rutter from Philadelphia and
William Davis of Pennepck.

The church formed by Eld. William Davis at Pennepek
suffered the s4me attack from the Episcopalians. It was no
sooner established than Evans commenced his attacks, and so
successful was he "that before the year was over, Thomas
Graves, the donor of the land on which the meeting-house
was built, renewed his fealty to the Church of England and
deeded the lot to the Episcopalians, who at once turned the
Sabbatarians out and took possession of this primitive Sanc-
tuary." "The loss of their place of worship was a severe
blow to the prospects of the Sabbatarians at Pennepek. The
meetings were continued at the houses of the various mem-
bers, but they made little progress. Davis remained among
these people until about 1711, when he left them to join the
church in western Rhode Island, now the First Hopkinton,
where he occasionally preached until 17 14. Left without
a leader, and no one rising to supply the vacancy caused by
the departure of Davis, they were soon like a flock of sheep
without a shepherd, and scattered. Some joined the Episco-
palians, others, the Baptists. A few, however, remained
steadfast to their principles, and communed with their brethren
at Newtown."

In this conflict public debates were held bftween the
leading ministers on each side, one of which was between
William Davis and George Keith, in Philadelphia. This
occurred in February, 1702.

The adverse tide finally turned and the church at New-
town was strengthened by both immig^ration and converts
from the community. We have no detailed record of its
history, but we learn that it well maintained itself through
the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth.

In the early years of its history it opened correspondence
with the churches of like faith in New Jersey and Rhode Is-
land. It also instituted a yearly meeting, which met with it
during the century and into the opening of the nineteenth.
The New Jersey churches attended these yearly meetings
sometimes.

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672 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

In 171 3 the Newtown church established what is known
as the "Seventh-day Baptist Burial Ground." This old "God's
Acre" is described as being "by the roadside, between the
Newtown Baptist Church and its parsonage on the thorough-
fare from Newtown to Paoli," "situated about fifteen miles
due west from Philadelphia," and must not be confounded
with the Sparks Burial Ground, in Philadelphia.

Elizabeth Wayne, the mother of General Anthony Wayne,
of Revolutionary fame, was the daughter of David Thomas,
of the Newtown church, and it is said that "Elizabeth Wayne
was a strict Sabbath-keeper."

The third church of this group was Nantmeal, in Chester
county. This church has generally been mentioned by writers
by the name of French Creek, and is supposed to be the same
as Canogocheage, which name is given in some correspondence
with the brethren in Piscataway. Mr. Julius Sachse speaks
of this church and its founding as follows:

"The first quarter of the century had not elapsed before we find
a branch of the Newtown congregation organized at East Nantmeal,
in the northwestern part of Chester County, about thirty miles from
Philadelphia. Conspicuous among the brethren composing this so-
ciety, we find the familiar names of Hiddings (Iddings) and Thomas,
members of the Newtown families of those names. Four years later,
in 1726, this infant community was reinforced by a number of
families from the Great Valley Baptist church, sixteen miles to the
eastward i9 the same county. These were led by Philip Davis,
Lewis Williams, Richard Edwards, Griffy Griffiths and William
James, who broke off from that church on account of their change
of sentiment concerning the Sabbath. This immigration was soon
followed by further accessions, and the society at Nantmeal became
numerically the strongest in the county. Still, the Newtown con-
gregation was always considered the headquarters of the society."

The Nantmeal church is said to have manifested great
activity during. the third quarter oif the eighteenth century.
Morgan Edwards states that this church in 1770 was composed
of eighteen families and twenty-four communicants. They
built a church in 1762, the only one built by this group of
churches. The yearly meetings held at Newtown were held in
the spacious home of David Thomas.

The fourth church in this group was Nottingham in the
southwestern part of Chester county. When it was organized

(42)

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 673

does not appear. The church was near the Maryland line
and some of its members lived in Maryland. "Meeting^ were
held at the different houses, but mainly at that of Abigail
Price and at the Bond homestead. Samuel and Richard Bond
were really the leaders of the Seventh-Day Baptists in this
part of the county. Here the second yearly meeting was held,
called the August Meeting to distinguish it from the May
Meeting, at Newtown." Morgan Edwards says, in 1770,
that this church had "six families of whom eight were bap-
tised."

These four churches had several ministers. Beside Abel
Noble, William Davis, Thomas Martin and Thomas Rutter,
we find the names of William Beckingham, Philip Davis,
Lewis Williams and John Bryman. The most noteworthy
in the middle of that century was Enoch David who was
stationed for some time at Nantmeal, or French Creek. He
was a man of more than ordinary ability, and his son, Ebe-
nezer David, graduated from Brown University in 1772 and
was ordained to the ministry as stated in the sketch of the
Newport church.

When the Sunday law of 1794 was passed it worked a
great hardship to the members of these churches. While the
bill was pending they signed a petition asking that they be
exempt from the penalties of the law, and presented it to the
Legislature. Their neighbors of all denominations also sent
a petition praying that that of the Seventh-day Baptists be
g^ranted, but the bill passed and became a law. Sachse gives
one instance which illustrates the injustice done the Sabbath-
keepers :

"The act complained of was passed and became a law April
22, 1794. It was the cause of much hardship to the *Seventh-Day
people/ A flagrant instance was that of Mr. Bond [presumably
Richard Bond, of Nottingham, another branch from the Newtown
meeting]. He was a leading man and a preacher among the Sab-
batarians, and was drawn as juror at the court of Nisi Prius. He
served faithfully until Friday night when he applied respectfully
to the court to be discharged, stating that it was against the rules
of his society, and against his conscience to serve on that day.
The Chief Justice, whose name has unfortunately not come down
to us, refused the request. In passing on the matter, the Judge

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674 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

is accorded as having . used these words : 'They pretend to have
scruples of conscience, I know them all, — 2l set of hypocrites. We
are obliged to hold court on Saturday, and he shall stay and do
his duty, too/ It is hard at the present day to think that an
expression like this should emanate from the bench— especially as
the juror was a well-known citizen of the county."

The members of these churches, as a class, particularly
those who were Keithians or descended from them, had many
of the Quaker habits of life, speech and belief. Their dress
was plain, their language straightforward and they did not
believe in taking oaths or in carrying on war.

That they stood high as citizens and Christians is seen
from the following quotation from a noted divine, Elhanan
Winchester, of London, who wrote of them in 1788 :

"Such Christians I have never seen as they are, who take the
Scriptures as their only guide, in matters both of faith and practise,
* * * So adverse are they to all sin, and to many things that other
Christians esteem lawful, that they do not only refuse to swear,
go to war, etc., but are so afraid of doing anything contrary to the
commands of Christ, that no temptations would prevail upon them
even to sue any person at law, for either name, character, estate,
or any debt, be it ever so just. They are industrious, sober, tem-
perate, kind, charitable people, envying not the great, nor despising
the mean. They read much, they sing and pray much, they are
constant attendants upon the worship of God; their dwelling houses
are all houses of prayer; they walk in the commandments and ordi-
nances of the Lord blameless ; both in public and private, they bring
up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; no
noise of rudeness, shameless mirth, loud, vain laughter, is heard
within their doors; the law of kindness is within their mouths;
no sourness or moroseness disgraces their religion; and whatsoever
they believe their Saviour commands, they practis^e without enquir-
ing or regarding what others do."

BRO.\D RIVER.

Three churches in other commonwealths sprang from this
group near Philadelphia. The first was Broad River, South
Carolina. There is not much known about this church and I
cannot do better than to quote what Benedict says :

"In 1754, a church of this order of Baptists was begun on Broad
River, in the parish of St. Mark, 'South Carolina, about 180 miles

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 675

from Charleston. The leading members in it were Thomas Owen
and Victor Nelly, from French Creek, Pennsylvania, and John Gregory
and his two sons, Richard and John, from Piscataway, New Jersey.
They were Calvinistic in sentiment, and in 1770, had increased to
eighteen families, whereof twenty-four persons were baptized.* They
had for their preacher one Israel Zeymore while he behaved well;
but he afterwards Became the master of a vessel, and next went into
the army. *He was,' says M. Edwards, *a man of wit and learning,
but as unstable as water.'"

TUCKASEEKING.

The Tuckaseeking Seventh-day Baptist church was locat-
ed in Georgia and was the fruitage of the Broad River church.
Benedict tells us about all we know of them :

*Tn 1759, eight families of the Seventh-day Baptists passed over
from South Carolina, and settled near Tuckaseeking, in Georgia.
They had for their leader Richard Gregory, at Broad River. Another
of their preachers was named Clayton, who was' fined a mark for
saying, *that no man could be a Christian who kept a concubine,
were the keeper a king, and the concubine a countess;' this was con-
strued a reflection on the late king and the countess of Yarmouth.
After residing here about five years, this company retired to Edisto
and left but few proselytes behind them.**

The Seventh-day Baptist church of Lost Creek, W. Va.,
which was established in 1805, was also the product of this
second g^oup of churches, a number of the members of the
Nottingham church being among the constituent members of
the lx)st Creek church.

These churches were, all extinct long ago, yet they live
in their influence and in the churches that have grown out of
them. Their labors and sacrifices, victories and defeats, ser-
vice and love are not lost!

The writer has gathered these facts from many sources;
among others are Prof. J. L. Gamble's Lectures, Benedfct's
History of the Baptists, and Julius Sachse's articles referred
to in this sketch. The articles written by Sachse are of great
value, as he lived on the ground where these churches were
located and wrote with conscientious zeal and after exhaustive
research.

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676 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

III.

CHURCHES WHICH GREW OUT OF THE SABBATH
REFORM MOVEMENT IN NEW JERSEY.

PISCATAWAY.

The b^inning of the Seventh-day Baptist church in Pis-
cataway. New Jersey, does not apcar to be connected with any
Seventh-day Baptist church. Hezekiah Bonham was the cause
of the investigation which led several to embrace the Sabbath.
We do not know that he was a Sabbath-keeper or a church
member even. If he was a Sabbath-keeper, we do not know
how he came to embrace the Sabbath, whether by his own
study of the Bible and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit,
or by the labors of Eld. Abel Noble or some one else. From
the Journal of Samuel Hubbard we learn that the Sabbath-
keepers in Newport and western Rhode Island were in com-
munication with the colonists in these parts and it is more than
possible that Mr. Bonham, as well as Eld. Abel Noble and
Eld. John Davis "of Trenton, N. J.," came to a knowledge of
the Sabbath through the Sabbath-keepers in Rhode Island.
This we know : Hezekiah Bonham was found working on Sun-
day by Edmund Dunham, who was a deacon with license to
preach in the Baptist church of Piscataway, located at what
is now Stelton. Dea. Dunham was on his way to fill a preach-
ing appointment, and finding Bonham at work on the First-
day of the week, rebuked him for desecrating the Sabbath.
The latter challenged Dunham to find a single passage of
Scripture proving that Sunday was to be sancitified as holy
time. Dea. Dunham thought this a presumption, but not re-
calling any such passage, commenced to investigate for him-
self, with the result that he was convinced of his error and
turned to keep the Sabbath. Before deciding thus to do, he
laid his trouble before some of his brethren, but got no help.
On account of this agitation other members of the church
soon embraced the Sabbath and Dea. Dunham commenced to
hold meetings on the Sabbath in his own house. - As in New-
port, R. I., thirty-five years before, the attempt to remain in
the Baptist church made matters worse and they soon became

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 677

very serious. "Minister was arrayed against minister, deacon
against deacon, and brother against brother, until those who
kept the Sabbath thought that, for peace sake, and for con-
science sake, they better withdraw and raise a standard of
their own." This they did to the number of seventeen, in
1705. Dea. Dunham was chosen pastor and sent to Rhode Is-
land for ordination. He went to what is now the First Hop-
kinton church and in the meeting-house where the Ministers'
Monument now stands was ordained by Eld. William Gibson,
October 22, 1705, (New Style and according to the records
of the church in Rhode Island). This was three years before
the Sabbath-keepers who became what is now the First Hop-
kinton church separated from those of like precious faith in
Newport, but they had then worshiped twenty-five years in
the house in which Eld. Dunham was ordained and had been
keeping the Sabbath thirty-nine years.

The members of this church were widely separated as to
location. There are records of church meetings in Trenton,
thirty miles from Piscataway, and Hopewell a few miles north
of Trenton. Under the leadership of Eld. Dunham the church
grew rapidly and in 1722 there were seventy-five members.
During the first century of its history there were many addi-
tions evidently, but a number moved away to join other
churches and to scatter, and the church was in the midst of
the seat of conflict in the Revolutionary War. Eld. Walter
B. Gillette, who was their sixth pastor, speaks of this time
as follows:

"The Revolutionary War, about this time, came upon this people,
with all its terrors. This section of the State was very much exposed.
The British army took possession of Piscataway, and for a long time
this was their place of encampment. The inhabitants were ex-
posed, both in person and property; and in addition to this evil,
they differed among themselves in relation to the justness of the
war; some were patriots, and some were bitter enemies to their
country. All the patriots were either in the regular army, or en-
rolled in the militia, or were liable to be called on at any moment.
The most of the patriots removed their • families to the back settle-
ments, while the tories (so called) fled to the British possessions.
Those families among the mountain wilds were thus deprived of
religious privileges, and of the society of friends, while husbands
and sons were in the field of battle. A few of the members of this

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678 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

church left their friends and joined the British; but most of them
were patriots, and some of them were officers in the army. For a
number of years their house of worship was nearly forsaken, their
meetings were broken up, and the means of grace neglected. Dur-
ing the ravages of the war, their beloved pastor, Jonathan Dunham,
died March 10, 1777, aged 83 years."

Under these circumstances, the church in 1803 reports
only eighty members. During the century just past the church
has witnessed a number of most precious revivals and there
have been many additions, the number of members at times
reaching to about one hundred seventy-five. In 1853 the one
hundred forty-eighth year of the church, the "Seventh-day
Baptist Memorial" states that about seven hundred had been
baptized into the communion of the church.

Several churches have been formed from this church.
The first was what is now Shiloh, New Jersey, organized in

In 1789 the Woodbridgetown church, in Fayette County,
Pa., was organized largely from the members of this church,
among whom was Samuel Fitz Randolph who was the founder
of Salem, W. Va.

In the latter part of the eighteenth century, members of
this church moved to near Meadville, in Crawford County,
Pa., and were organized into a church which they named Shi-
loh. James Dunn was their elder. This was the first church
organized in the bounds of what is now the Western Associa-
tion and about all that is known of this church is given in the
history of that Association. Upon its ruins have successively
grown the Hayfield, Cussewago, and Hickernell churches.

The Seventh-day Baptist church of Plainfield, six miles
distant from Piscataway, was organized from members of this
church in 1838.

Besides the members dismissed to form these churches,
many members have been dismissed to join churches already
organized.

As already indicated the first pastor was Edmund Dun-
ham. He was about forty years of age when he embraced the
Sabbath and had been a deacon twelve years, with license to
preach. This well prepared him for his work. He served till
his death, in 1734. Jonathan Dunham, son of the first pastor.

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c/)

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 679

followed his father as pastor of the church. He was ordained
deacon with license to preach shortly after his father's death
and at the same time was called to serve the church as pastor.
This arrangement continued eleven years when he was form-
ally ordained elder. He continued to serve the church till
1777, a period of forty-three years, and his is said to be the
longest pastorate in the history of the denomination in the
United States. His pastorate took the church into the darkest
period of the colonial struggle for independence.

For ten years after the death of Jonathan Dunham the
church had no pastor but had the occasional ministrations of
Eld. Elisha Gillette, of Oyster Pond, Long Island, and Eld.
Enoch David, a Seventh-day Baptist minister from Phila-
delphia, and James Dunn, who was a licentiate in the church.

Nathan Rogers, from the Waterford church, in Connecti-
cut, was the third pastor. He commenced his labors 1787,
after the death of his predecessor, and served ten years or till
1797, when he moved to Berlin, N. Y.

Henry McLafferty, the fourth pastor, came to Piscata-
way from Squan River, New Jersey, a few years after the
church at the latter place had moved to Salem, W. Va. He
was born in Ireland and came to New Jersey when a boy,
selling his wages for a specified time to pay for his passage.
Upon his arrival, according to a custom then practiced with
"redemptioners,*' he was sold to work the time specified for
his passage. When he became a man, he married a member
of the Shrewsbury church, whose name was Babcock. His
wife taught him his letters and the rudiments of what he af-
terwards acquired. He joined the Shrewsbury church and was
ordained by it to the ministry. In 1795 he was elected pastor
of the Piscataway church jointly with Eld. Nathan Rogers,
and served thu% till two years later, when Eld. Rogers moved
away. He served as pastor till 181 1, when he moved to cen-
tral New York.

The fourth pastor was Gideon Wooden. He was or-
dained deacon in 1808, and when Eld. McLaflFerty moved
away, was chosen pastor and ordained October, 1811. He
served in this capacity till 1830.

John Watson joined the church in 1826. He was a First-

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68o SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

day Baptist minister of ability when he embraced the Sabbath.
He was invited to preach in the absence of Eld. Wooden, or
when he was unable thus to do on account of the infirmities of
age, and was soon placed on equal footing with Eld. Wooden.
This produced trouble and the final dismissal of Eld. Wooden.
Under these circumstances Eld. Watson did not feel at liberty
to act as pastor though he supplied the church till a pastor was
secured.

Following Elders Wooden and Watson the pastors have
been: William B. Maxson, 1832-1839; Walter B. Gillette,
1839-1853; Halsey H. Baker, 1853-1858; Lester C. Rogers,
1858-1868; Lewis A. Platts, 1868-1876; Leander E. Livermore,
1877-1883, 1888-1893, 1900 to date; Earl P. Saunders, 1883-
1884; Judson G. Burdick, 1884-1887; Frank E. Peterson,
1893-1899; Martin Sindall, 1899-1900.

The biographies of Elders Edmund Dunham, Jonathan
Dunham, Henry McLaflFerty, John Watson and William B.
Maxson are to be found in the "Seventh-day Baptist Memo-
rial" and make most interesting and inspiring reading. Three
of the pastors of the church "were the natural children of the
church, having been called and ordained to that sacred office
from its own membership."

The church has furnished from its membership six Sev-
enth-day Baptist ministers, Jonathan Jarman, who was or-
dained an evangelist and soon after (about 1775) went to
Pennsylvania; Elisha Gillette, who was the pastor of the
church at Oyster Pond, Long Island; James Dunn, who to-
gether with several families, went to Crawford County, Pa.,
and organized a church called Shiloh ; David Clawson ; Sher-
man S. Griswold; and Wardner C. Titsworth. A. Judson
Titsworth, who has won a national reputation as preacher
among Cong^regationalists, was also the child of this church.

The first church was built in 1736. Another was built on
the same site in 1802. A third one was built in 1836 two miles
north of the former ones and one mile south of New Market.
This last building was removed to its present location during
the pastorate of Eld. Halsey H. Baker.

The part the members of this church have taken during
the long and eventful period covered by its history, in civil.

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EASTERN ASSOiUATION. 68l

industrial, political and educational matters, is not to be had
and much which pertains to its first one hundred fifty ye^rs
has passed forever beyond the recall of man. As already
stated many of its members were in the struggle for American
Independence, while twenty served in the Federal army dur-
ing the Civil War. The names of two men, David Dunn and
Elias R. Pope, stand out during the last century with especial
prominence. Hon. David Dunn, who died May 1872, in the
sevent>'-eighth year of his age, was well and favorably known,
not alone in the council of the church, but in his county and
state as well. Hon. Elias R. Pope, who died Aug. 10, 1896,
in the sixty-first year of his age, spent the last of his life in
Hainfidd, but always retained his membership in the Piscata-
way church, the church home of his boyhood. At his death
the Plainfield Courier-News said that "He was identified with
every public spirited enterprise in the city." The following
statements will in brief show the place he had filled in the life
of the community: He was president of the First National
Bank, having a few months before his death resigned the vice
presidency of the City National Bank to accept this position ;
he was president of Dime Savings Bank from its foundation,
in 1869, till his death ; he was treasurer of the Plainfield Electric
and Gas Light Company, and Plainfield Water Supply Com-
pany, president of the Board of Trade, county collector in
1872, and member of the state legislature, 1873-1875.

OYSTER POND.

This church was the third church organized by the Pis-
cataway (N. J.) church and was located on the east end of
Long Island. From information gathered through corre-
spondence with town clerks on Long Island, it appears that
the church was located at Oyster Pond, which was at or near
what is now Orient, in the town of Southold, L. I.

The founding of this church was the direct result of the
labors of Eld. Elisha Gillette. Eld. Gillette, who had been a
licensed preacher living at Huntington, Long Island, had come
to Piscataway, N. J., in 1769, and joined the Seventh-day
Baptist church there. He still lived on Long Isand, and upon
the request of the Piscataway church during the yearly meet-

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682 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

ing in 1786, was ordained by Eld. William Bliss, of Newport,
R. I., Eld. John Burdick of Hopkinton, R. I., and Eld. Nathan
Rogers, who the next year became pastor of the Piscataway
church. Five years later, as wilj be seen from the following,
taken from records of the Piscataway church, the church was
organized :

"Piscataway, State of New Jersey, June 19, 1791.

"At a meeting for business, by desire of Elisha Gillette and
Nathan Newburn, who presented a letter from our friends at Oyster
Pond, Long Island, stating that Elisha Gillette has, since fall before
last, resided among them, as a teacher, during which time many
souls have been called in and submitted to the ordinance of baptism,
who also request that they be organized into a regular Seventh-day
Baptist church, that they may be so constituted, and considered
as a sister church with us. The church took the matter into con-
sideration, and complied with the same, and appointed Eld. Nathan
Rogers, and Thomas F. Randolph, and Jacob Martin, deacons, to
attend on said business, at Oyster Pond, on the 17th of August."

The church was constituted, it is stated, at the time set,
and Eld. Gillette took a letter from Piscataway, joined the new
church at Oyster Pond, and become its pastor. The church
made the experiment of receiving into its membership those
who observed Sunday as the Sabbath, but the attempt to unite
those who observed two different days as the Sabbath in the
same churcE proved a failure and the church had a brief ex-
istence. Oyster Pond was much nearer the Sabbath-keeping
churches in Rhode Island and Connecticut than it was Pis-
cataway, and Eld. Elisha Gillette and the Oyster Pond church,
about this time, are mentioned four or five times in various
ways in the records of the First Hopkinton church. It is evi-
dent, however, that the First Hopkinton church never recog-
nized the Oyster Pond church as a church in sister relations.
The cause of this probably was because Oyster Pond received
those who were not Sabbath-keepers into its fold. This is in-
dicated by the recorded fact that when a member of the First
Hopkinton church asked for a letter to join the Oyster Pond
church the granting of the request was postponed that there
might be an investigation as to the doctrinal soundness of the
Oyster Pond church, and after two or three postponements
the matter disappears.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 683

SHILOH.

(cohansey).

The name which this church bore the most of the time till
1829 was Cohansey. The official name given it in the charter
procured, in 1790, was "The First Congregation of Seventh-
Day Baptists residing in Hopewell, in the County of Cumber-
land and State of New Jersey." Since 1829 its name has been
Shiloh.

Though the Shiloh church, when organized, was formed
largely from members of the Piscataway church, yet the plant-
ing of the Seventh-day Baptist standard appears to have been
independent of Piscataway. Those who have traced the his-
tory from the earliest sources say that the people who settled
Shiloh were Baptists who came from Wales, in 1662, to Mas-
sachusetts, and owing to persecution, moved from Massachu-
setts with other Baptists from Scotland, to South Jersey in
1687. The Sabbath truth was brought to them by Eld. Jona-
than Davis, of Trenton, N. J. This Jonathan Davis is not to
be confounded with either of the two men bearing the same
name who were the first pastors of the Shiloh church. His an-
cestors came from Glamorganshire, in Wales, and settled in
Swansea, Mass. Later they moved to Long Island, and about
1695 Jonathan, with other relatives, moved to Trenton, N. J.

How or when Eld. Davis came to the knowledge of the
Sabbath is still a mystery. It has been thought that it was
through Eld. Abel Noble. It may have been, however, that
both he and Eld. Noble were brought to the Sabbath through
the Sabbath-keepers of Rhode Island, for Samuel Hubbard's
Journal reveals the fact that those observing the Sabbath in
Rhode Island were in communication, both by letter and visits,
with the people living on the extreme western part of Long
Island, and New Netherlands, which included what is now
"New Jersey. Eld. Davis seems to have embraced the Sabbath
before he moved to Trenton, which was about 1695.

"From 1695 to 1700, and subsequently'* Eld. Davis visited
his Welsh cousins at Bowentown, Shiloh, and vicinity, and
gained many converts to the Sabbath. Their numbers were
also increased by additions from Pennsylvania and Maryland,

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684 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

and from Trenton, Bonhamton, and Piscataway, N. J. These
Sabbath-keepers appear to have belonged to the Piscataway
church, but had a temporary organization and held meetings
as early as 17 16, or twenty-one years before they became an in-
dependent church.

It is recorded that the church was organized "March 2^^
'^7i7" This was probably "old style" and by the method used
since September, 1752, would be April 7, 1737, but inasmuch
as the original record is not extant we can not be certain.
Pres. Theo. L. Gardiner, who has taken great pains to trace
the origin of Seventh-day Baptist interest in this section, sums
up the sources from which Sabbath-kepers came as follows:

"From all sources of information, then, upon the origin of Sabbath-
keepers in this community, we gather the following:

"First, And mainly, This man's converts from the Cohansey
Baptist Church prior to 1716; notably the Swinneys, Bowens, Bar-
retts, Bacons, Ayarses, Sheppards and Robbinses.

"Second, Two or three families of Davises came from Trenton
in 1732, relatives of Jonathan Davis, one of whom, a nephew ot
his, became the first pastor of the church.

"Third, Several persons from among Abel Noble's converts at
French Creek, Pa.; viz., the Thomases, Griffiths, and *Jane Phillips,*
whose name stands among the eighteen constituent members.

"Fourth, There were also some who came from Piscataway; viz.,
the Dunns, Randolphs, and Bonhams. Thus, from all of these
sources may be traced the elements that combined to make the body
of the Seventh-Day Baptist Church and congregation at Shiloh."

This church was organized one hundred sixty-five years
ago and the articles of faith adopted at that time are of espe-
cial interest. They read thus:

"We, whose names are hereunder written, do join together upon
the articles and agreements following:

"ist. We believe that unto us there is but one God, the Father,
and one Lord, Jesus Christ, who is the Mediator between God and
mankind. We believe the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God. i Cor.
8:6; I Tim. 2:5; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; John 14:26.

"2nd. We believe that all Scripture of the Old and New Testa-
ments given by inspiration, is the word of God, (2 Peter i : 19-21 ;
2 Tim. 3:16; Mark 7:13; i Thess. 2:13; Acts 4:29-31,) and is the
rule of faith and practice.

"3d. We believe that the ten commandments that were written
on the two tables of stone by the finger of God continueth to be the

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REV. JOHN DAVIS.
Sec Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 685

rule of righteousness unto all men. Matt. 5:17-19; Mai. 4:4; James
2:10; James 1:25; Romans 7:25; 3:31; 13:8-10; Eph. 6:2.

"4th. We believe the six principles recorded in Hebrews 6:1,
2, to be the rule of faith and practice.

"5th. We believe that the Lord's Supper ought to be administered,
and received in all Christian churches. Luke 22: 19, 20; i Cor. 11:
23-26.

"6th. We believe that all Christian churches ought to have church
officers in them, as elders and deacons. Titus 1:5; Acts 6 : 3.

"7th. We believe that all persons thus believing ought to be
baptized in water by dipping, plunging, after confession is made by
them of their faith in the above said things. Mark 1:4, 5 ; Acts
2:38; Acts 8:36, 37; Rom. 6:3, 4; Col. 2:12.

"8th. We believe that a company of sincere persons being found
in the faith and practice of the above said things may be said to be
the church of Christ. Acts 2:41, 42.

"9th. We give up ourselves first unto the Lord, and to one
another, to be guided and governed by one another according to the
word of God. 2 Cor. 8:5; Col. 2:19; Psa. 133:1; 84:1, 2, 4, 10."

Many Sabbath-keepers in this part of New Jersey differed
from other Sabbath-keepers regarding the time of beginning
the Sabbath, believing that it should begin and end at mid'
night instead of sunset. This led to considerable discussion
in the church and denomination, after the church became a
member of the General Conference. While the majority
held that the only consistent practice was to begin at sunset,
yet charity was shown in letting every one decide for him-
self, and some continued to begin at midnight.

The growth of the church for the first fifty years was
highly encouraging. It gprew from eighteen to seventy under
the labors of the first pastor, which ended in 1769, and during
the second pastorate, which ended 1785, "ninety-six were add-
ed by baptism and a goodly number came from other people."
But a sad change came and the last fifteen years of the
eighteenth century brought serious internal troubles that threat-
ened to destroy the church, and which were not ended till
after three years of litigation in the Supreme Court of the
state. ~ Let us spread a mantle of pity over these scenes, for
the wonder is that the church survived them and became one
of the strong churches of the state and the denomination. At the
close of this period, 1800, the church in a letter to the First Hop-
kinton church, in Rhode Island, says, "In 1788, there were

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686 SEV'ENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Upwards 6£ one hundred (115) belonging to the church.
Since that time, fifty have died, fourteen withdrew when
trouble began, others stand off at a distance and there re*
mains about fifty now in regular standing." As the new
century opened, brighter days dawned. In the winter of
1803, Eld. Ayars baptized thirty into the fellowship of the
church, and the number of communicants increased by steady
growth and gracious revivals, so that the church reported
three hundred five in 1843. Its present (1902) membership
is three hundred seventy-one.

The growth of the church during the last century has
not been confined to increase in numbers, but there has also
been a marked growth in other ways. The missionary spirit
soon began to manifest itself. The church first joined with
First-day churches in supporting missions, and was ready to
co-operate w^th Seventh-day Baptists as soon as the latter
began mission work. The church, in 1823, sent its pastor.
Eld. John Davis, and Dea. John Bright on a missionary tour
of three and one-half months, into Pennsylvania, West Vir-
ginia, Ohio and Indiana. The ladies also organized, in 1814,
for benevolent work, and have always since been organized.
The interest of the church in missionaty work has been height-
ened by the fact that three of its pastors have entered foreign
fields. The three were Eld. Solomon Carpenter, who left
the church to go as missionary to China, in 1846, Eld. William
M. Jones, who nine years later resigned to go as missionary
to Palestine, and Rev. David H. Davis, who closed his labors
as pastor to go as missionary to China, in 1879.

In 1806 a company went from this church to Ohio, but
those who composed the company were mostly lost to the
Sabbath. The Marlboro church was organized from members
of the Shiloh church in 181 1. Besides these many families
and individuals, members have gone out from the church
to various parts of our country.

When we turn to the pastors of this church, we first
think of Eld. Jonathan Davis, of Trenton, N. J., who labored
in this vicinity during the closing years of the seventeenth
century, and the first thirty of the eighteenth, bringing many
to Christ and the knowledge of the true Sabbath. He was

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^ ii

H
O

o
o

•^ ^

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 687

virtually pastor of this people, though never installed as such
by any church.

Eld. Jonathan Davis, a nephew of the Eld. Jonathan Davfe
mentioned above, was the first pastor and served nearly thirty-
two years, or till his death, in 1769. About sixty were added
to the church by baptism during his pastorate.

The second pastor was a man bearing the same name
as the first, Jonathan Davis, but belonging to another family.
His father was a Baptist pastor in Delaware, where Jonathan
was bom and raised to observe the First-day of the week
as the Sabbath. He was led to the Sabbath by the example
of his wife. After a trip of five hundred miles with his family
to North Carolina to establish a home among Seventh-day
Baptists in that state, he came to Shiloh, bought a farm,
joined the church with his wife, and soon was called to pro-
claim the Gospel mes^iage. He was ordained to the Gospel
ministry in 1768, and the year following, upon the death of
the pastor, became the under-shepherd of the church. In
this capacity he served till his death in 1785. During the
seventeen years of his pastorate ninety-six were added by
baptism, besides those who came to the church from other
peoples.

The biographies of these three men bearing the name
Eld. Jonathan Davis, and Eld. John Davis, the fourth pastor,
are to be found in the "Seventh-Day Baptist Memorial."

Nathan Ayars was the third pastor. Though at first
he was ordained an evangelist and not formally elected pastor,
yet he seems to'have served as such during the most perilous
times of the church's history. He lived six miles distant, in
Salem county, but proved himself a most patient and wise
leader during that stormy period. After the clouds had scat-
tered he was permitted to lead a goodly number into the
baptismal waters and it is said that seventy were added during
his pastorate, which formally closed in 1802. He remained
administrator of the ordinances for some time after he de-
clined' to be pastor.

John Davis, son of Eld. Jonathan Davis, the second
pastor, was the fourth pastor. He was ordained and began
his pastorate in 1807. Seventy were received by him into

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688 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

the church the following winter and during his pastorate,
which lasted thirty-four years, he had the pleasure of bap-
tizing more than three hundred persons into the fellowship
of the church. One hundred were added in a single year.

When Eld. John Davis closed his pastorate, in 1841,
one hundred four years had passed since the organization of
the church, and in that time the church had had four pastors,
but there had been five years when the church had no one
whom it recognized as pastor. In the sixty-five years since
Eld. Tohn Davis's pastorate the church has had eleven pastors.
The first four served till death or till old age stood in the
way of furthur discharge of the duties of the office. Up to
this time the church had sought its pastors from among- its
own members; after this, it looked elsewhere.

The following have served the church since the pastorate
of Eld. John Davis: Azor Estee, 1841-1844; Solomon Car-
penter, 1844-1846; Samuel Davison, 1846-1849; Giles M.
Langworthy, 1849; W. M. Jones, 1850-1853; Walter B. Gil-
lette, 1853-1873; A. Herbert Lewis, 1873-1876; David H,
Davis, 1876-1879; Theo. L. Gardiner, 1879-1890; Ira L. Cot-
trell, 1890-1899; Edward B. Saunders, 1899 to date.

Elders Jonathan Jarman and Moses Winchester preached
for the church at times during the troublesome years closing
the eighteenth century, and Bro. Joseph Ayars preached as
a licentiate between the pastorates of Elders Nathan Ayars
and John Davis. Eld. Thomas Gates Jones, a First-day min-
ister, supplied the pulpit on the Sabbath for about two and
one-half years after Eld. Nathan Ayars resigned. His labors
were blessed to the binding together and building up of
the church. Eld. David Clawson preached in connection with
Eld. John Davis, the last year of the latter's pastorate. Eld.
S. S. Griswold supplied the church for a time in 1844, and
Eld. Enoch Barnes, a convert to the Sabbath from the Meth-
odists, supplied the church during the summer of 1850.

Eld. Jacob Ayars, who became the first pastor of the
Marlboro church, was the product of the Shiloh church.
He had previously been licensed by it, and upon the organiza-
tion of the new church was ordained its pastor.

Eld. Geo. R. Wheeler, of Salem, New Jersey, and father
(43)

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X
m

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 689

of Eld. S. R. Wheeler, embraced the Sabbath and became
a member of the Shiloh chnrch during the pastorate of Eld.
Davison. He was ordained to the Gospel ministry by this
church in 1846, and later became pastor of the Marlboro
church.

William West, who went with several members of the
Shiloh church to Ohio in 1806, one Jacob Ayars, who went
to QifFord, Pa., Joel C. West, who became an efficient pastor
of other Seventh-day Baptist churches, Geo. E. Tomlinson,
an eloquent and able minister among us a generation ago,
O. U. Whitford, whose name is a household word among
Seventh-day Baptists today, and L. R. Swinney, who is also
well known to this generation, were called to the ministry
by this church and licensed by it.

The first mention we find looking toward a paid ministry,
is in 1802, when Eld. Thomas Gates Jones contracted to
supply the church. He was to have $200.00 for this service.
Five years later, when Eld. John Davis became pastor, he
was to have $80.00, beside the assistance the members might
give him on his farm.

The church has had three houses of worship. The first
was built in 1738, on land given for that purpose by Caleb
Ayars. In 1771 a brick church was built. It was arranged
so that a gallery could be put in when needed, and this was
done fifty-two years later, 1823. The present house was
dedicated in 185 1. This was not undertaken, however, until
the church had held a special service, previously appointed,
to ask God's blessing and guidance. Like the former one,
it is made of brick, is 42 by 64 feet, and cost $5,000.00. The
dedication services were held in connection with the Yearly
Meeting, and lasted four days. A revival followed this effort
on the part of the church. The church also owns a chapel,
which is used in connection with its work.

The church has taken a leading part in matters pertain-
ing to education, temperance and the state. Its work for
education will be found in another chapter.

Jonathan Ayars, deacon and ruling elder in the Shiloh
church, was elected by Cumberland county to the colonial

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690 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

assembly in 1775, and Belford M. Bonham was elected to
the state legislature in 1845.

The members of the church have served in the wars in
which the United States have been engaged. James Tomlin-
son was first lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. In the
War of 1812, Enos Randolph served as captain. Besides
furnishing its quota of privates in the Civil War, the church
furnished two corporals, three captains, four lieutenants, four
sergeants and one surgeon. The corporals were John D.
Ayars and Franklin W. Buzly. The captains were John
Evans, George Hummell and Leumel Heritage. The lieu-
tenants were Burnell Burdsell, John B. Hoffman, Alfred L.
Randolph, and John G. Swinney, M. D. The sergeants were
William S. Ayars, Isaac Kain, Azer E. Swinney and Charles

D. Sheppard. The surgeon was Dr. F. B. Gillette.

For data regarding this church the writer is indebted
to those who have written in the past and to the Rev. D.
Burdett Coon. Especial mention should be made of a sketch
of the church from the pen of Pres. Theo. L. Gardiner, which
appeared in eleven successive numbers of the Sabbath Re-
corder, commencing Nov. 13, 1890, and a briefer sketch by

E. B. Swinney to be found in the Sabbath Recorder, Sept. 7,
1876.

marlboro.

(salem).

The name given this church at its organization was the
"Second Seventh-day Baptist Church in the Western Division
of the State of New Jersey." It appears in the conference
minutes the first year of its history as the "Salem County
Church," and the next year and till 1844 as the "Salem
Church." Since the above given date it has been called b>'
its present name, Marlboro. It met to worship when organ-
ized in Salem county, about six miles from Shiloh, which is
in Cumberland county, and took the name Salem from the
county in which it was located. "About 1837 the meeting-
house was moved about two miles nearer Shiloh" and to with-
in a few feet of the line which divides Cumberland and Salem
counties.

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REV. WALTER BLOOMFIELD GILLETTE, D. D.
Sec Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 69I

In January 1811, the members of the Shiloh church liv-
ing in Salem county concluded that because they were so far
from Shiloh, it would be better for them to become a separate
church. The request to be set off as a separate church was
granted, and the organization took place March 25, 1811. At
this time twenty-six members were dismissed from the church
at Shiloh to form the new church. A joint communion service
between the two churches was soon established and has since
been maintained with most desirable results.

The year following its organization the church reports
thirty-four members, and ten years later sixty-eight. The
largest number of members reported was one hundred thirty-
five in 1 85 1. The present (1902) membership is eighty-eight.
The additions have come through its labors and not through
accessions from other churches. There have been many pre-
cious revivals during its history. When one remembers that
this is a country church and that the tide is away from the
country to the towns and cities he must acknowledge that
more than human strength has maintained the cause here.
The writer is indebted to Elder Samuel R. Wheeler for the
following list of pastors: Jacob Ayars, 1811-1838; David
Clawson, 1838-1857; Phineas S. Crandall, 1857-1858; George
R. Wheeler, 1858-1862; Walter B. Gillette, 1863-1867, (pas-
tor of Shiloh at same time) ; Joseph M. Morton, 1867-1873 ;
Lewis F. Randolph, 1873-1876; O. D. Williams, 1882-1884;
J. C. Bowen, 1887-1895; G. H. F. Randolph, 1895-1899; L.
D. Burdick, 1899-1902.

"A meeting-house was built and opened for service Feb-
ruary 26, 1813. The cemetery on that original site is still
held by the Church. About 1837 the meeting-house was
moved two miles nearer Shiloh. * * * * in 1854 the house now
occupied by the Church was built."

PLAINFIELD.

The Seventh-day Baptist church of Christ, at Plainfield,
N. J., was formed from members of the Piscataway church,
living in the vicinity of Plainfield, six miles from the mother
church. Being without the privileges of worship on the Sab-
bath, they commenced, not by organizing a church, but by
planning to build a house of worship. A subscription was

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692 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Started and the consent of the Piscataway church was ob-
tained during the last months of 1836. The house was erected
during the following year. Their church h(5me being ready,
they now, to the number of fifty-seven, presented themselves
to a council called in Plainfield to consider the proposition to
organize a church. The house of worship was dedicated Feb-
ruary 8, 1838, and on February 9th the church was organized.

The growth of the church has been steady and its influ-
ence in the denomination and community in which it is located
great. At its semi-centennial, in 1888, its membership had in-
creased from fifty-seven to one hundred eighty-three and the
whole number enrolled had been four hundred fifty-five, two
hundred eighteen joining by baptism and two hundred thirty-
seven by letter. During the first fifty years the church ex-
perienced eleven special revival seasons. Ninety-nine were
added during the pastorate of Eld. James Bailey. Its present
(1902) membership is two hundred twenty-nine.

The Seventh-day Baptist church in New York City was
organized in 1845, ^om Sabbath-keepers the majority of
whom were members of the Plainfield church, and the Sev-
enth-day Baptist church of Daytona, Florida, was constituted
almost entirely from members dismissed from the church in
Plainfield.

The church has had a list of eminent men as pastors, and
supplies when it had no pastor. The pastors have been:
Lucius Crandall, 1840-1841, 1846-1850; Samuel Davison,
1844-1846; James H. Cochran, 1852-1853; James Bailey,
1853-1864; A. R. Cornwall, 1866-1867; Thomas R. Williams,
,1867-1871 ; Darwin E. Maxson, 1871-1879; A. Herbert Lewis,
1880-1896; Arthur E. Main, 1887-1901 ; Geo. B. Shaw, 1902 — .

The following ministers have acted as temporary sup-
plies: Isaac Moore, J. W. Morton, Giles M. Langworthy,
David Clawson, Walter B. Gillette, Solomon Carpenter, Geo.
B. Utter, James L. Scott, O. U. Whitford, and M. B. Kelly.

James Summerbell was licensed to preach by this church
in 1848, and Elston M. Dunn in 1855.

As stated above, the first house of worship costing about
$5,000.00 was built previous to the organization of the church
and dedicated the day before. This house, becoming inade-

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SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST CHURCH AT PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

Interior and Exterior.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 693

quate to meet the demands of the increasing congregation,
was sold, together with the lot on which it stood, to the New
Jersey Central Railroad Company in 1864, and in the follow-
ing months a new one was erected, costing $31,000.00. In 1894
the third and present house was dedicated, having cost $65,-
000.00.

The writer is indebted to the "Semi-Centennial History
of the Seventh-day Baptist Church of Christ at Plainfield,
N. J., 1838-1888," for much of the data regarding this church.
For the following statement of the part the members of the
church have acted in matters other than those pertaining di-
rectly to the church and denomination, he is indebted, how-
ever, to Dea. J. D. Spicer, of Plainfield.

The Plainfield Seventh-day Baptist church has always
stood in the front rank in the city, in all that goes to make for
good citizenship. Regarding the educational interests, Dr.
Charles H. Stillman was widely known as the "Father of the
Public School System of the State, "and was for many years
the superintendent of schools in the city ; also president of the
board of education until his death in 188 1. George H. Babcock
was president of the board several years, and Rudolph M. Tits-
worth, a prominent member. Henry M. Maxson, Ph. D., the
present superintendent, was called to the responsible position
in 1892.

For many years George H. Babcock was president, and
Wm. M. Stillman has been secretary of the Public Library
Association, and in his will Mr. Babcock gave to it a bequest
of ten thousand dollars in cash and twelve thousand in real
estate.

The city common council has been represented at various
times by Clark Rogers, Charles Potter, and J. D. Spicer.

In the political field, although not counted as politicians,
J. Frank Hubbard and Joseph A. Hubbard have held impor-
tant offices more consecutive years than any other men in the
county.

Of prominent manufacturers in the line of machinery
and woodworking may be mentioned Thomas B. Stillman,
Paul Stillman, Charles Potter, J. Frank Hubbard, Joseph A.

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694 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Hubbard, J. Denison Spicer, Joseph M. Titsworth, Wm. H.
Rogers, David E. Titsworth, and Clarence W. Spicer.

Among the physicians there have been Charles H. Still-
man, C. H. Stillman, Jr., Albert Utter, Thomas H. Tomlin-
son, Martha Rose Stillman, and Marcus L. Clawson. Frank
S. Wells and O. B. Whitford have taken rank as dentist sur-
geons.

Among the lawyers we find the names of Wm. M. Still-
man and Asa F. Randolph on the roll of the church.

As financiers, bank directors, and directors of public utili-
ties may be mentioned the names of Charles Potter, R. M.
Titsworth, J. F. Hubbard, Wm. M. Stillman, Joseph A. Hub-
bard, J. M. Titsworth, D. E. Titsworth, and Wm. C. Hubbard.

As civil engineers and surveyors are the names of Isaac S.
Dunn, David D. Rogers, Frank J. Hubbard, and F. Adelbert
Dunham.

Dr. and Mrs. Albert Utter, Edward B. Titsworth, Jessie
M. Utter, and Arthur L. Titsworth have served as practical
musicians and teachers of music. Dr. and Mrs. Utter stood
at the head of musical interests in Plainfield for many years.
^Ir. Titsworth has been the organist for the Trinity Reformed
church the last twenty-five years.

In Y. M. C. A., W. C T. U., and public charity work the
church has always been largely represented by such as Mrs.
T. H. Tomlinson, J. Frank Hubbard, George H. Babcock,
J. D. Spicer, Frank S. Wells, Lewis F. Rogers, Orra S.
Rogers, Arthur J. Spicer, D. E. Titsworth, and Dr. and Mrs.
Henry M, Maxson.

In addition to the data furnished by Dea. Spicer, special
and extensive attention might be given, if space permitted, to
the work wrought in the field of invention, manufacture, and
education by two members mentioned above, namely, Charles
Potter and George H. Babcock. Mr. Potter's special field
was the invention and manufacturing of printing presses. In
this he was eminently successful, the Potter presses having
gained a wide reputation for both speed and strength. Besides
giving most liberally to Sabbath reform, missions, and all
our schools, he fully endowed in Alfred University, the Charles
Potter Chair of History and Political Science. Mr. Potter

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 695

died at his home in Plainfield Sabbath morning, Dec. ^, 1899,
in the seventy-fifth year of his age. For more extended
sketches of this eminently successful and noble man the reader
is referred to the numbers of the Sabbath Recorder which
came out the weeks following his death. /

Mr. Babcock was eight years younger than Mr. Potter
with whom he was more or less associated in denominational
and other enterprises. When only nineteen years of age he
commenced to publish in Westerly, R. I., the Literary Echo,
the first paper published regularly in Washington county.
This paper was subsequently merged into the Xarragansett
Weekly, and finally, into the present Westerly Daily Sun, He
was the inventor and patentee of the poly-chromatic printing
press. This was only the beginning, and in the thirty-eight
years following, his useful inventions averaged about two per
year. It is thought that his greatest and most useful inven-
tion was the "safety steam boiler." Prof. R. H. Thurston,
director of the School of Mechanical Engineering and Me-
chanical Arts, Cornell University, speaks of this part of Mr.
Babcock *s life as follows:

"He was a great inventor and, at every step in the development
of the great industries with which he was connected, his genius re-
vealed itself in a thousand ways; perfecting large schemes and im-
proving the most insignificant details. He was a learned man, pro-
fessionally; and few members of the profession have ever presented
to the learned and professional societies with which he was con-
nected, papers of equal value, completeness, or thoroughness. He
was p&tient in investigation; accurate and exacting in method and in
detail; conscientious in seeking the results of the researches of the
recognized authorities; and, when once his work was completed, it
left nothing to be said further. It was done once and for all.

"Mr. Babcock was interested in all great works, whether of
public or private importance. He was active in church and in busi-
ness, in the cause of education, and in every philanthropy. As one of
the non-resident lecturers in the Sibley College courses in Mechanical
Engineering at Cornell University, he came to the university when
possible, annually, to 'talk to the boys/ as he said, on subjects of
professional interest and importance. His lectures were always very
carefully planned, well executed as compositions, and admirable as
• summaries of the division of engineering which he desired to il-
lustrate. His manner was impressive, his language well chosen, and
that sympathetic quality which enables the speaker to seize upon and
hold his audience was present in a remarkable degree. He always

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696 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

entertained, instructed and pleased. He was always welcome, by stu-
dents of every class and by their professors as well. He always
refused compensation for either time or services; desiring that it
should be taken as his contribution to a good cause.

"The character and genius of Mr. Babcock were fully recognized
and appreciated by the profession of which he was so prominent and
successful a member, and he was an ex-president of the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, the highest position which can be
held by a member of the profession, the highest in the gift of his
professional colleagues. His. inaugural address was one of the best
papers ever read before that society by presidents or members. The
year 1886-7, that of his administration, was one of the most fruitful
in the history of that great society. He has been a member of its
council ever since; and his sound judgment, and great interest in the
welfare of the association have been of the greatest service.

"Perhaps the greatest work performed, however, by Mr. Babcock,
aided by his able partners and assistants, has been the promotion of
the business in which they have been so long engaged ; the introduction
of the so-called 'safety steam boiler,* a form of boiler which reduces
the risks of explosion, so serious and so awful in the case of the older
and still common type, to an insignificant quantity. This has been
for them a business success; but it has been for the world an entc*-
prise of almost as great significance as the invention of a new rem-
edy for a fatal disease; such as would make a physician famous for
all time. The dangers of use of steam have been, by him and his
colleagues, more than by all the rest of the world together, rendered
infinitesimal. For a generation, they have been devoting time, thought,
genius of inventions, skill in design and construction, to this great
problem. They have succeeded, and the whole world has reaped the
benefit. It is exceptionally fortunate that it may also be said that
the world has made to them more than its usual approximation to
fair compensation. But a hundred times more would be none too
much for such a service.

"One could write a volume on the life and work and public ser-
vices of such a man; but that were, at the moment, of little satis-
X action."

Extensive establishments for the purpose of manufactur-
ing these famous boilers were built in Glasgow, Scotland, and
Elizabeth, N. J. Marked financial success attended his under-
takings, but his philanthropy was equally as great as his busi-
ness success and he gave munificent sums to church, school,
city, and reform, which cannot even be mentioned here. No
youth can read the sketches of his life which came out in the
daily papers at the time of his death, December 16, 1893, in
the Sabbath Recorder during the four months following his

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 697

death, and in the ** Illustrated American Biography of Repre-
saitative Americans," without being inspired to his noblest
endeavors. '

NEW YORK CITY.

The First Seventh-day Baptist church of New York City
was, when organized, primarily the fruitage of the Seventh-
day Baptist churches of Waterford, Conn., and Schenectady,
N. Y., the latter long since extinct. The opening sentence in
its book of records is significant: "In the providence of God
a number of the followers of Christ, professing a regard for
the Sabbath of divine appointment, have for many years re-
sided in New York and vicinity ; having removed chiefly from
Waterford," Ct., and Schenectady, N. Y."

Meetings on the Sabbath had been held at the home of
Maxson Rogers for several years prior, to the year 1834.
"Subsequent to 1834 the Sabbath-keeping Christians of New
York and vicinity met for public worship alternately at the
houses of widow Betsy Rogers and Thomas B. Stillman."
More than a decade passed in this way, but they came to feel
the need of a church organization in their midst and called a
council to take into consideration the question of organizing
a church. The council met at the home of Thomas B. Still-
man, 551 Fourth Street, November 9, 1845. The following
persons were present as delegates: Berlin, N. Y., Elder Wil-
liam B. Maxson; Pawcatuck, R. I., Elder Alexander Camp-
bell, William D. Wells and Sandford P. Stillman ; Plainfield,
N. J., Elder Samuel Davison, Deacon Randolph Dunham,
Deacon Abram D. Titsworth, John D. Titsworth, William
Dunn, and Rudolph Titsworth ; Piscataway, N. J., Elder Wal-
ter B. Gillette, Deacon Lewis Titsworth, Deacon Rudolph
Dunn, David Dunn, Isaac P. Dumi, Pinkham Mosher, Edward
Titsworth, Jonathan S. Dunham and Augustus M. Dunham;
Waterford, Conn., Oliver Rogers, David Rogers, and Peleg
S. Berry ; Preston, N. Y., Nicholas Rogers ; Shiloh, N. J., Sol-
oman Carpenter.

"The council after some deliberation unanimously agreed
to recognize them as a sister Church.'' After the formal or-
ganization they chose Eld. Thomas B. Brown pastor and

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698 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Thomas B. Stillman deacon. The church was incorpora|^
under the laws of the state, August, 1846.

The constituent members were : Thomas B. Brown, Mar-
garet A. Brown, Edwin G. Champlin, Maria M. Greenough,
Jane M. Moore, Isabella Pickens, Wm. M. Rogers, Eliza L.
Rogers, Betsy Rogers, Hannah Rogers, Benedict W. Rogers,
Ann M. Rogers, Thomas B. Stillman, Susanna Stillman,
Charles Allersheimer, Franklin W. Stillman, Lucy E. Still-
man (Spencer), Alfred Stillman, Paul Stilhnan, Eliza H. Still-
man, Caroline Tucker, George B. Utter, Catherine C. Utter.

The name given to this church at its organization was the
**Seventh-day Baptist Church of Christ in the City of New
York." Later it was decided that the name should be the
"Sabbath-keeping Church of the City of New York." This
was not satisfactory and it was decided that the official name
should be the "First Sabbatarian Church in New York." In
1892 the name was again, changed to the "First Seventh-day
Baptist Church of New York."

Only a few months passed before death began to make
inroads into the new and hopeful organization, and during the
first eight years several of the most promising members were
called to the church triumphant. Others were added from
time to time "both by letter and baptism, baptism being ad-
ministered sometimes in the East River at the foot of twelfth,
thirty-first, and thirty-second streets, sometimes in the bap-
tistry of a Church in Stanton Street and later, in 1859, in Har-
lem River." The growth of the church is well set forth in
the following statement made at the fiftieth anniversary of its
organization :

"From its organization to the present time the '^hurch
has had upon its roll of membership one hundred and forty-one
names; of these, thirty-four have been dismissed by letter to sister
churches, forty-two have been called to join the ransomed above,
and twenty-seven have been at different times excluded from mem-
bership, after much prayer and exhortation; the cause in most
cases being that the parties no longer kept the Sabbath holy. Aside
from these, in the history of the church only two cases of discipline
are recorded. There were two years, 1858 and 1867, in which there
were eleven members admitted during the year; this being the
highest number admitted during any year. In 1859 the mem-
bership reached its highest point, sixty-three. At present the mem-

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REV. LUCIUS CRANDALL.
Sec Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 699

bership of the church is nominally thirty-eight, but sixteen of that
number are non- Resident, some of them not having met with the
church for years; of the twenty-two remaining, several live so re-
mote that it is seldom they meet with the members for Sabbath
services."

^Since the above was written the membership has increased
to fifty-eight, forty-five resident and thirteen non-resident.
Though the membership of the church has never been large,
yet its influence, particularly in denominational matters, has
been marked from the first. It has had a prominent part in
developing denominational work, especially the publishing in-
terests, and the service it has rendered to the cause of educa-
tion and missions is not far behind. At present (1902) it is the
headquarters of the Sabbath School Board of the Seventh-
day Baptist General Conference.

The following is a list of pastors, preachers and supplies :
Rev. Thomas B. Brown, pastor, November 1845 — ^January
1854; Rev. Lucius Crandall, preacher, October 1855 — Decem-
ber 1856; Rev. Wm. B. Maxson, pastor, January 1857 — Octo-
ber 1863 ; Rev. Lucius Crandall, preacher, October 1863 — De-
cember 1866; Rev. A. H. Lewis, pastor, January 1867 — June
1868; Rev. L. R. Swinney and Rev. A. H. Lewis, supplies,
September — December 1868; Rev. Lucius Crandall, preacher,
December 1868 — ^June 1876 ; Wardner C. Titsworth, preacher,
September 1876 — May 1877; Rev. Christopher Rhoads, sup-
ply, October 1877 — October 1878; O. D. Sherman, preacher,
October 1878 — ^June 1879; O. D. Williams, preacher, October
1879— May 1882; Rev. L L. Cottrell, preacher, October 1882
— ^June 1883; Rev. D. E. Maxson, preacher, October 1883 —
May 1884; Wm. C. Daland, supply, May and June 1884;
E. P. Saunders, preacher, October 1884— May 1885 ; Wm. C.
Daland, preacher. May 1885 — May 1886; Samuel Greiss, sup-
ply, December 1886 — May 1887; R^v. J. G. Burdick, pastor,
October 1887 — 1897; Geo. B. Shaw, 1897 — 1902.

The church has called four men to ordination to the
Christian ministry, i. e., N. A. Horjesky, a convert to the
Sabbath, who was ordained by a council called by the church
in 1849; Ethan P. Larkin, who was ordained at the Eastern
Association, held with the Greenmanville church, 1854 ; O. D.
Williams, who was also ordained at the Eastern Association,

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700 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

held with the Second Hopkinton church, in 1882;
and William C. Daland, who was ordained in 1885 by a coun-
cil called by the Plainfield church upon request of this church.

In 1846 the church bought a house of worship of the
Baptists. This building stood on Eleventh Street between
Bowery and Third Avenue and was on leased ground. The
church worshiped here till 1862, when the entire building
was rented for other purposes. The second lease expired in
1885, whereupon the owners took possession of the land and
the building was torn down. The church since 1862 has
rented places for worship.

When we turn to the part the members of this church
have acted in matters other than those pertaining to the church
and denomination, we see that some of them have risen to
prominence in the metropolis of America. It has had a large
proportion of teachers in its fold, among whom special men-
tion may be made of Miss Phebe A. Stillman, a lady of rare
scholarly attainments, who, after more than a quarter of a
century of service to the city as teacher, has retired on one-
half pay. Prof. Frank L. Greene has also served the city in
the capacity of an educator for nearly twenty-five years, fill-
ing important positions in its public school system.

Prof. Stephen Babcock, one of the leading men in the
church during the last fifty years, has distinguished himself
by his achievements for the blind. He was born at Potter
Hill, R. I., Dec. 22, 1832. From an injury received when six-
teen years of age, Mr. Babcock's eyesight became impaired and
gradually diminished until at the age of nineteen years he be-
came totally blind. In 1853 he entered, as a pupil, the New
York School for the Blind, in New York City. In 1855 he
began to teach the same school, and two years afterward, in
1857, he was promoted to the position of principal teacher, a
position he held until his retirement from teaching, having
rounded out a full half century in his professional career in
an institution which had grown, in the meantime, to such pro-
portions as to require the services of a corps of twenty teach-
ers. He directed the construction of the first set of raised,
dissected geographical maps for the use of the blind. These
he subsequently improved and perfected, furnishing a com-

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 70I

plete set for his own school and other sets for institutions for
the blind in Europe and America. These maps are still the
recognized standard of their class and are used in all schools
for the blind. Mr. Babcock spent thirty years in compiling
the genealogy of his family, which was published under the
title of "Babcock Genealogy," New York, 1903. In 1902, Al-
fred University conferred upon him the, honorary degree of

A. M., in recognition of his scholastic attainments, and of
his signal service to the cause of education for the blind.

Dr. Phebe Jane (Babcock) Waite, M. D., another mem-
ber of this church who rose to a life of eminent public service
in the city, was born at Potter Hill, Rhode Island, September
30, 1838, and on October 27, 1863, was married to William

B. Waite, of New York City. She was educated in the public
schools of her town, and at Alfred University from which she
received the degree of A. B. in i860, and A. M. in 1869. For
a time she was a country school teacher, and subsequently
taught for four years in the School for the Blind, in New
York City. In 1871 she was graduated from the New York
Medical College and Hospital for Women, with the degree of
M. D., and after two years of post-graduate study she was
awarded the diploma of the New York Ophthalmic Hospital
College. After having served one year (1875) ^s lecturer to
the chair of obstetrics in the College for Women, she was,
in 1880, appointed professor of the chair, which position she
held for eighteen years, eight years of the time being presi-
dent of the faculty and dean of the college. She also served
as a member of the hospital staff for many years, and was for
eight years its chairman. She was a member of the New
York state, and the New York county, medical societies;
the American Institute of Homoeopathy; the American Ob-
stetrical Society; the consulting staff of the Memorial Hos-
pital, of Brooklyn, New York; and an examiner in lunacy.
Dr. Waite was likewise president of the Society for Promoting
the Welfare of the Insane, president of a local Woman's
Christian Temperance Union, vice president of the New York
Legislative League, manager of the New York Baptist Home
for the Aged, and president of the New York County Wo-
man's Christian Temperance Union. Upon her retirement

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702 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

from college and hospital duties in 1898, she devoted a part
of her time to literary and club Work, becoming an active
spirit in the two sororities, "Phalo*' and "Sorosis."

The member of this church who was most iatimately con-
nected with the affairs of the city, state, and nation was
Thomas Bliss Stillman. He was born in Westerly, R. I.,
August '30, 1806. In early life he became convinced that it
was his duty to become a minister of the gospel, and to devote
his life to the salvation of souls. In pursuance of this deter-
mination he entered Union College, where he soon exhibited
such marked mechanical genius that the president of the col-
lege, Eliphalet Nott, succeeded in convincing the young stu-
dent that if he should devote himself to scientific mechanical
pursuits, he could easily render a greater service to his church,
the world and his Saviour, than by entering the ministry as
already planned. Accordingly Dr. Nott's advice was heeded
and the results justify his prediction. After completing a
course in mechanical engineering at Union, Mr. Stillman es-
tablished a manufacturing plant known as the Novelty Iron
Works, of which he was the principal owner, in New York
City. This was the largest establishment of its kind in the
United States, employing several hundred men. Here were
built some of the largest steamships afloat at the time of his
death. During the Civil War he was Federal inspector of
steam vessels and of the construction of revenue cutters, for
the southern district of New York. He was president of the
Metropolitan Savings Bank, president of the Board of Police,
and trustee of the New York Hospital, all of the city of New
York. In 1857 he was appointed chairman of the New York
State Commission to examine the public school system with
a view to its improvement. When the citizens of New York City
met in the old Broadway Tabernacle to express their in-
dignant disapproval of the assault on Charles Sumner by Pres-
ton Brooks in the United States Senate, Mr. Stillman was
called to preside, and was one of the speakers. -Mr. Still-
man was devoted to the interests of the church of which he
was a member — the New York City church — as well as of
the denomination at large. It was largely due to his energetic

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THOMAS BLISS STILLMAN.
See Biograf>h-cal Sketches, p. 1361.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 703

activity during his life, and to his beneficence, that !he First
Seventh-day Baptist church of New York City was so firmly
established, and still preserved as an active body. When the
Sabbath Tract Society of the city of New York was organized
in June 1842, Thomas B. Stillman became its first president.
This society collected one of the most valuable libraries ex-
tant upon the Sabbath. This library is now loaned to Al-
fred University, of which he was a trustee and benefactor,
giving $5,000.00 to establish it and much more to maintain it
in later years. Mr. Stillman was a man of fine literary ability
and accomplishment, and was widely and favorably known by
men of kindred tastes. He was about undertaking the prepa-
ration of a memoir of his uncle, Rev. William B. Maxson,
when death suddenly terminated his earthly career.

Probably few Seventh-day Baptists, particularly those
not ministers or teachers, were so widely or so favorably
known as Thomas B. Stillman. He died January I, 1866.

For the data regarding Prof. Babcock, Dr. Waite, and Mr.
Stillman, the writer is indebted to Prof. C. F. Randolph, of
Newark, N. J., and Prof. Thomas B. Stillman, of Hoboken,
N.J-

ROSENHAYN.

Rosenhayn is in Cumberland County, N. J., some twenty
miles east of Shiloh. The organization of the Rosenhayn Sev-
enth-day Baptist church grew out of an effort led by Eld. J.
W. Morton to establish a Seventh-day Baptist community in
the vicinity of Rosenhayn and Vineland, N. J. The church
was organized in 1870, with ten members, the most of whom
at the time of the organization were members of the Shiloh
and Marlboro churches. The second year the church reported
thirteen members. "The land in the vicinity was in a wild
state, but has yielded well to a determined and intelligent ef-
fort to redeem it. If more time and capital could have been
enlisted in behalf of the enterprise, it would, undoubtedly,
have proved a success." Under the circumstances the effort
to establish a Seventh-day Baptist colony was a failure, and
the church had a remarkably brief history.

William M. Jones was pastor from 1870 to 1872.

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704 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

DAYTONA.

The Seventh-day Baptist church of Daytona, Florida,
was organized in 1884, by Rev. A. E. Main, with a member'
ship of nine. It was an attempt to establish a Seventh-day
Baptist colony in the "Sunny South." The church was made up
mostly of members from the Seventh-day Baptist churches in
the North; Plainfield, N. J., contributing the most of them.
Their numbers increased to seventeen in 1886, and there were
fifteen in 1890, but the interest waned because people from the
North did not make their homes there, and the statistics of the
church do not appear after 1892. There are Seventh-day
Baptists however living in Daytona at the present time. Eld.
U. M. Babcock was pastor in 1886 and 1887.

CUMBERLAND.

The Cumberland Seventh-day Baptist church is in Cum-
berland county, ten miles from Fayetteyille and five from
Manchester, North Carolina. The church was organized Nov.
14, 1887, with six members, by Rev. A. E. Main, correspond-
ing secretary of the Missionary Society at that time. The or-
ganization took place in the house of George N. Newton. Eld.
R. Newton was chosen pastor. The constituent members of
the church came to the Sabbath through the Outlook, a Sab-
bath reform quarterly published by the American Sabbath
Tract Society and edited by Rev. A. H. Lewis and C. D. Pot-
ter. They were Missionary Baptists before embracing the
Sabbath. In 1892 there were eleven members, and in 1893
their numbers had increased to nineteen. The present (1902)
membership is seventeen.

Though Eld. R. Newton was chosen pastor at the organ-
ization of the church, yet Eld. D. N. Newton has been the pas-
tor the most of the time. Eld. J. H. Biggs is pastor at present.

IV.

THE CHURCHES ORGANIZED INTO THE EASTERN
ASSOCIATION.

When the Seventh-day Baptist General Conference was
organized, in 1802, it did not embrace much more territory
(44)

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 705

than is now covered by the Eastern Association, as there were
then 9nly two churches outside of what is now the bounds of
the Eastern Association, these being the First Brookfield
church, in Madison County, N. Y., and the Salem church in
West Virginia. Under these circumstances there was no par-
ticular need of such organizations as our present associations.
In a third of a century this had all changed ; churches had been
founded farther west, andjt seemed desirable that the groups
located in a given section be organized for mutual help. This
arrangement originated with the General Conference and was
proposed in 1834, but the proposition was laid on the table.
In 1835 the General Conference, convening with the First
Hopkinton church, passed the following resolution:

"That a committee of six be appointed to draft a plan for
the new arrangement of conference and prepare a complete system,
for the consideration of conference and that brethren O. Campbell,
A. Campbell, Joel Greene, Amos R. Wells, N. V. Hull, Ebenezer
Davis be said committee."

The committee reported at this session as follows:

"The committee to whom was referred the resolution recom-
mending to all the Seventh-day Baptist churches composing this con-
nection, to form themselves into several associations; beg leave to
report: That upon mature reflection we deem it expedient that the
Seventh-Day Baptist churches in the United States, form them-
selves into three associations, which may properly be denominated
the Eastern, Middle & Western Associations who shall hold sessions
in each year, a little prior to the sitting of the General Conference,
and we would suggest the appointment of twelve delegates, to sit
in the conference, from each of the several associations. And that
the churches in Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut, form
the Eastern; and the churches east of Allegany county, N. Y., and
west of the Hudson river, form the Midddle; leaving to the choice
of the churches of Berlin, Petersburg, and Schenectady, to attach
themselves either to the Eastern or the Middle, as they wish; and
that all 'the churches including Allegany on westward and south,
form the Western.

"Alexander Campbell, Sec. of Comm."

In accordance with this resolution the Eastern Associa-
tion was organized at a meeting held with the Piscataway
church, May 8, 1836. The delegates who met "to confer
pn the* propriety of forming an association agreeable to

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706 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

the recommendation of the General Conference" were
Eld. Wm. B. Maxson, A. D. Titsworth, Randolph Dunham,
J. R. Dunham, Francis Drake, Isaac Titsworth, P. Mosher,
David Dunn, and John D. Titsworth from Piscataway, N. J. ;
Eld. John Davis, and Caleb Sheppard from Shiloh, N. J.;
Eld. Matthew Stillman, and Dea. Wm. Stilhnan from First
Hopkinton, R. I. ; and Geo. H. Perry from Second Hopkinton,
R. I. Eld. Matthew Stillman was chosen moderator and Joseph
Maxson clerk, and the members present who were not dele-
gates were invited to take part in the deliberations. After
due deliberation and one adjournment, it was decided that it
was expedient to organize an association, and a constiution
was "adopted for the consideration of the churches." The
churches were asked to express their approval or disapproval
as soon as convenient and report to the moderator, who was
to report the result to the General Conference at its next ses-
sion. It was farther "Resolved, That should the plan of form-
ing Associations go into effect, the first meeting of this As-
sociation shall be held at Piscataway, N. J., on the fifth day of
the week before the last Sabbath in May, 1837, at 10 o'clock,
A. M."

It having been decided that Associations should be or-
ganized, the Eastern met for its first annual session with the
Piscataway church. May 25, 1837, according to adjournment.
Only four churches — Piscataway, Shiloh, Waterford and Sec-
ond Hopkinton — reported to the new organization at its first
annual meeting. The other churches, not yet being convinced
that it was a wise move, wished more time to consider the sub-
ject. Shiloh did not report to the Association after 1837 till
1846, when it was admitted to membership; Third Hopkinton
(Rockville) became a member in 1845, ^^^ Berlin was admit-
ted in 1850. The Salem and Lost Creek churches were mem-
bers of this Association a part of the time before 1872, when
the Association in their midst became permanently organized.

CONSTITUTIONS.

The following constitution which was adopted at its first
annual meeting, shows the purpose, spirit and work of the or-
ganization :

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 707

"Article I. This Association shall consist of such Christian
churches as are now in fellowship with the Seventh-day Baptist
General Conference, and such as shall, within the bounds of this
Association, become connected therewith, (or as shall have agreed
to the general outline of gospel doctrine and duty contained in the
public Expose acknowledged by the Seventh-day Baptist General
Conference) ; and shall be known by the name of the Eastern Seventh-
day Baptist Association, and under this name shall all its business
be transacted.

"Art. II. This Association shall hold an annual meetii^g at
such time, and at such place, within the bounds of the Association,
as shall be agreed upon at the preceding meeting; and shall be
composed of delegates from the several churches of which it is com-
posed, to be appointed by the churches respectively.

"Art. III. Section i. Each annual meeting of the Associa-
tion, shall open with an introductory discourse, and with such re-
ligious exercises as are properly connected therewith; and shall
be organized by the choice of a Moderator, and one or more Secre-
taries, and a Treasurer.

"Section 2. The Moderator shall preserve order during the de-
liberations of the Association; and if on any question there should
be a tie, it shall be his duty to give the casting vote.

"Section 3. The Secretary shall keep a record of the proceed-
ings of the Association at its annual meetings, and shall record all
the votes, etc., in a book which shall be provided for this purpose,
at the expense of the Association, and shall be carefully preserved,
and presented by him to the Association at its subsequent meeting,
which, together with all the papers of value belonging to the Secretary's
department, shall be committed to his successor.

"Art. IV. All motions or resolutions shall be distinctly made
in writing, or otherwise, and if seconded, shall be put by the Mod-
erator, and decided by a majority of votes present; and in any case
where there may be a division each church represented in the Asso-
ciation shall be entitled to but one vote, which shall be decided
by a majority of its delegates.

"Art. V. This Association shall annually choose a Corre-
sponding Secretary, whose duty it shall be to correspond with our
sister Associations, and communicate to them all necessary informa-
tion in regard to its prosperity and circumstances, and whatever may
be calculated to promote Christian union and our mutual prosperity;
and also with the General Conference at its Session.

"Art. VI. This Association shall not interfere with the inter-
concerns of the churches of which it is composed, in such manner
as to infringe upon their independence as Christian churches, but
shall in all cases when its assistance shall be required, act as a
council for advice.

"Art. VII. It shall be the duty of the churches composing this

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708 • SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Association, to correspond with it annually, by letter, and if
practicable, Tjy messengers, stating their circumstances so far as
they may deem it proper to communicate them, and proposing such
measures as they may deem useful in improving and promoting their
mutual prosperity.

"Art. VIII. This Association shall adopt no measures, and
'pass no resolves, that shall interdict or infringe upon the connection
of the churches with the General Conference, and nothing in these
articles shall be construed as in the least affecting the connection
of the churches with that body. But it shall be the duty of the
Association to correspond with the General Conference, at each of
its sessions by letter or messengers, or both, as it may be 'leenied
most advisable, and shall harmonize with it in its efforts in the
Redeemer's cause. It shall also be the duty of the Association to
propose and promote such benevolent institutions as shall be, in its
opinion, important in the work of moral and religious improvement
in the churches, and in the world; and those societies that have been,
or may be formed within the Association, for benevolent objects,
shall harmonize and correspond with the general , societies of a similar
character, that may be patronized by the General Conference.

"Art. IX. It shall be the privilege of each church composing
this Association, who may desire to send a member to the General
Conference, to nominate such member to this Association, as a dele-
gate to that body.

"Art. X. The pecuniary expenses of this Association, accru-
ing from the performance of services by its directions, shall be
mutually borne by the churches in the Asociation, according to their
efficient members, which each church shall report to the Association
to their discretion.

"Art. XI. No alteration to this Constitution shall be made,
unless propounded at a previous annual meeting, and concurred in
by a majority of votes present."

An amendment to Art. VIII. was adopted in 1843, but
it was not recorded. Amendments were proposed in 1844, but
the committee to whom the subject was referred contented
itself with defining more fully the purpose of the organization
and making some recommendations which were adopted. Two
years later, 1847, ^ "^^ constitution was adopted, which, after
defining the object of the Association and duties of
its oflficers, gave the Association the power to carry
on "missionary and tract" work and "to promote the
cause of ministerial and general education and other
objects of benevolence;" provided for an "Executive com-
mittee, consisting of the officers of the Association and at least

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 709

one member from each church ;" and declared that "this Asso-
ciation shall exercise no ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the
churches of which it is Composed, but shall recognize each one
as having a gospel right to manage its own concerns in all
matters of discipline, without being amenable to any other
body." For its fifteenth article the constitution has the fol-
lowing significant statement of faith :

"All churches, composed of those who have been regu-
larly baptized on a profession of their faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ as the Son of God and only Savior of men,
that acknowledge his death on the cross as the only sacrifice
for sins and the only ground for acceptance with God, that receive
the moral law as summed up in the ten commandments as their
rule of life, and that confine the ordinance of the Lord's Supper to
those of like faith, shall be considered as holding a faith and
practice not inconsistent with the objects of this Association. And
any such church may be received into fellowship at any Annual
Meeting by a vote of three-fourths of the members present."

New. constitutions were adopted in 1868, 1879, ^ind 1892.
The changes each time, aside from the omissions, were slight
and the constitution as last adopted and given below contains
only seven articles instead of the sixteen adopted in 1837:

Article i. This Association shall be known by the name of
"The Eastern Seventh-day Baptist Association," and shall be com-
posed of churches, which, in faith and practice, harmonize with
its object

Art. 2. The object of this Association shall be to promote the
piety, order, and increase of the churches belonging to it, and the
cause of our Lord Jesus Christ, generally, in the world.

Art. 3, The Association shall hold its meetings annually at such
time and place as shall have been determined at a previous meeting,
and the exercises shall consist, chiefly, of social religious meetings
and of papers and discourses upon subjects previously assigned, re-
lating to Qiristian life, work, and doctrine.

Art. 4. Each church shall be represented by one or more dele-
gates appointed for the purpose; provided, however, that in a vote
by churches (if at any time such a vote shall be requested) no
church shall be entitled to more than one vote, which shall be de-
termined by a majority of the delegates present from said church.

Art. 5. The officers of this Association shall be a President, a
Vice-President, a Recording Secretary, an Assistant Recording Sec-
retary, an Engrossing Clerk, a Treasurer, and a Corresponding Sec-
retary, who shall be elected annually, enter upon their respective
duties at the close of the meeting at which they are appointed, and

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710 •SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

continue in office until their successors are chosen. The officers
shall constitute an Executive Committee, whose duty shall be, (a) To
make, through the Corresponding Secretary, an Annual Report on
the State of Religion based on the letters trom the churches and all
other sources of information that may be within their reach; (b) To
carefully arrange an order of exercise for the Annual Meetings,
that, with the divine blessing, will be most likely to advance the
cause and kingdom of God; (c) To prepare, through the Assistant
Recording Secretary, the reports and proceedings of each Annual
Meeting; (d) To promptly send to the Sabbath Recorder, through
the same officer, a suitable account of the proceedings of each session.

Art. 6. It shall be the privilege of each church composing this
body to correspond with it annually by letter, stating its circumstances,
as far as it may think proper, and suggesting such business for the
Association as it may desire, not inconsistent with the object of the
organization.

Art. 8. This Constitution may be altered or amended at any
annual meeting of the Association by a two-thirds vote of the mem-
bers present.

RELATION TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE.

As to the relation of the Association to the General Con-
ference, it appears from the action of Conference looking to-
ward the organization of the several Associations and from
article VIII. of the constitution adopted by the Association
in 1837, that the plan originally was that the several Asso-
ciations should be parts of the General Conference and repre-
sented in it. Delegates to Conference were appointed for
some years, but partly perhaps because some of the churches
did not join the Association at first and partly because the
plan of representation both by delegates from the churches
and from the Association was cumbersome, the original
scheme was never fuTly carried out. At the annual session in
1842, "The mind of the delegates being taken, it was ascer-
tained that only the Plainfield Church desired representation
(in the conference) through the Association." In 1843 the
Association voted that the delegates to Conference should be
appointed by the churches (as some had always done) and
we soon hear nothing more about delegates from the Associa-
tion to the General Conference. There is now no organic re-
lation between them and the General Conference.

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 7II

RELATION TO SISTER ASSOCIATIONS,

The relation of the Association to sister Associations was
not settled by the first constitution, but it appears that it was
the thought from the first that they should be the means of
creating friendly relation between the different sections of the
denomination, for at the first annual session Eld. Walter B.
Gillette was present from the Western Association and Elders
Wm. B. Maxson and John Davis were appointed delegates
to the Central and Western. The minutes for these earlier
years are not very full, or always explicit, and it is uncertain
to what extent the interchange of delegates and letters was
kept up, but we know that it was sometimes, and sometimes it
was not, till 1848, when the Association passed the following
resolution: "Resolved, That this Association will renew and
continue the friendly correspondence with our sister Associa-
tions, either by messengers or minutes and correspondence by
the Corresponding Secretary."

Since this date the interchange of delegates seems to
have been kept up, though the question has often been before
the Association as to whether it is a wise plan, and the Second
Hopkinton church, by its request, was released for a time
from the payment of the appropriation to defray the expense
of delegates.

RELATION TO THE CHURCHES.

The relation of the Association to the churches is seen
from the constitutions already given. It has always been the
churches united for work, religious intercourse, and mutual
instruction and advice. The Association from the first has in-
sisted that the churches were absolutely independent as to
the management of their own affairs. Upon motion of Eld.
Lucius Crandall it was voted by the Association in 185 1, that
according to a "just construction of the constitution," minis-
ters are amenable to the Association. Though passed, the
Association did not seem to think that this was "a just con-
struction," for before the session closed an amendment to
the constitution was proposed making both churches and min-
isters amenable to the Association. This was referred to the
churches and lost the next year. Again in 1867 a resolution

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712 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS'.

was passed calling for an ecclesiastical council whose de-
cision should be ultimate in all questions relating to faith
and practice either of ministers or churches and calling for
the appointment of a committee to present it to sister associa-
tions. Said committee was appointed and the matter was pre-
sented to the Central, Western and Northwestern Associations
and summarily rejected. The following year, 1868, a resolu-
tion was presented declaring "That in every church, Scrip-
turally and fully organized, government and discipline should
be administered, not by the entire membership assembled en
masse, but by a board, etc." This resolution was "postponed
until the next session of the Association," but was not taken
from the table for two years, when it was "indefinitely post-
poned."

WORK.

The missionary spirit manifested itself at the first annual
session as is seen by the following resolution : "Resolved that
the cause of domestic missions claims the prayerful and lib-
eral patronage of all the members of our churches, believing
that those that sow liberally shall reap abundantly."

Almost every annual session passed resolutions calling
upon the people to support our denominational missions, till
the committee on resolutions was abolished in 1892.

In 1843 the Association sent Eld. Geo. B. Utter to Eng-
land and Scotland to labor with the Seventh-day Baptist
churches there and gather data. This mission he undertook
July 18, 1843, ^^d spent about five months with gratifying re-
sults. The expense of this mission was $250.46, which was
borne by the churches, assisted by the Jewish Missionary So-
ciety, and the New York Sabbath Tract Society, the latter
having the books on denominational matters which he pur-
chased. The year following a "committee on missions" was
appointed, but what it accomplished does not appear in the
minutes. In 1847 the Executive committee employed Eld.
Henry Clarke to labor one-half his time with the churches at
Green Hill and Richmond, R. I. Three hundred ten dollars
were expended by the Association the following year for
missionary purposes. About three hundred dollars were raised
during the year 1848-1849 to support Eld. Henry Clarke while

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EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 713

laboring with the needy fields in Rhode Island, and Eld. S. S.
Griswold while lecturing on the Sabbath question in Maine.
Such missionary work as the above was carried on till 1856
when the Association voted to cease missionary operations as
an Association, leaving such work to the Seventh-day Baptist
Missionary Society. In 1859 the Association again took up
missionary work within its own territory, carrying it on about
as before and helping about the same needy fields, but^in 1865
it passed a resolution favoring the placing of this work in the
hands of the Seventh-day Baptist Missionary Society. The
Association during this last period undertook a special mis-
sion in New York City. Vincent A. Horjesky, a converted
Catholic, was employed six months in New York City for
which the Association paid him two hundred eighty-five dol-
lars. Up to this point the Association had given its moral
support to the missionary enterprises outside the Association,
especially those in foreign lands, and the churches had con-
tributed to the same as they have done since.

Another form of missionary work was undertaken by the
Association in 1844. It was "the annual appointment of an
Associational Messenger who shall visit all our churches in
the Association and immediate vicinity; to preach and confer
with thera upon the state of religion and missionary and other
benevolent objects and report to the Association at its next
anniversary the result of its observations and labors; and
that each church be requested to contribute on the occasion
sufH<%nt to pay his expenses." For five or six years this
was done with most gratifying results.

Throughout its history the Association has taken a deep
interest in denominational schools and in having an educated
ministry. A resolution was passed at the first annual session
touching these subjects declaring "That we approve of the ef-
forts now making to improve the literary condition of the
youth of our connection, and therefore recommend to the
churches of this Association their liberal encouragement of
the literary institution in DeRuyter, N. Y., and as an impor-
tant means of elevating the character, and advancing the in-
terests of the denomination, that every church encourage and
patronize education societies, for the purpose of aiding our

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714 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

brethren who are destined to the ministry, in obtaining a com-
petent education."

Similar resolutions have frequently been passed regarding
our educational interests. The Association as an organized
body never supported a school of any description, but three
academies were founded and supported within its bounds by
the members of the churches belonging to it, and no small
part of the endowments and support of our colleges now ex-
tant have come from these same churches. As early as 1849
the subject of helping young men preparing for the ministry
was taken up by the Association and sums amounting to two
or three hundred dollars in a single year were often raised for
this purpose by the Association till 1874, when the matter was
"left in the hands of the committee of the General Confer-
ence." The plan to raise a bi-centennial fund to "be placed
in the hands of a chartered Board of Trustees," was started in
the Association at its annual session held with the First Hop-
kinton church, May 1872. The plan was presented to sister
Associations by this one, with the understanding that if they
concurred, the Seventh-day Baptist Education Society was to
be asked to solicit subscriptions for this purpose before the
next conference. The other associations concurred, the Edu-
cation Society put agents into the field, and the Conference ar-
ranged for the chartering of the Board of Trustees of the
Seventh-day Baptist Memorial Fund, popularly known as the
"Memorial Board."

The Association has had no publications of its own, but
has from the first given moral support to denominational pub-
lications.

The Association took strong grounds against slavery in
the days of the agitation of that question and did much to
create a public sentiment which helped finally in settling that
problem. In the minutes of the Association for 1866 will be
found a "Roll of Honor," giving the names of the members of
the churches who entered the Union Army to help keep down
the rebellion. Though lists from only one-half the churches
of the Association appear, yet it indicates, to one who turns to
it, the loyalty of Seventh-day Baptists in the nation's hour of
peril.

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'^•^

EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 715

Temperance has also been advanced by the Association
throughout its history in that it has constantly agitated the
subject.

The Association did much to encourage Bible school work
from the first. Resolutions were adopted which tended to stir
greater interest in that work. G)mmittees were appointed
that devised ways and means of promoting Bible study, and
in 1868 an organization within the Association was estab-
lished, called the Eastern Seventh-day Baptist School Conven-
tion. It held conventions and in other ways advanced the ef-
ficiency of the Bible schools, reporting each year to the As-
sociation. This convention was disbanded in 1873, and the
following year the wotk was referred to the General Confer-
ence.

During the first forty years of its history the Association
often acted as an ordination council to examine and conse-
crate men to the- Gospel ministry. It did not assume this as
one of its prerogatives, but when asked by the church to thus^
do it acted for the church. A large number of ministers were
ordained in this way.

Commencing about 1850 and continuing for about twen-
ty-five years the Association planned that one, or two or
more valuable papers should be presented at each annual ses-
sion. This was well carried out and is one of the marked fea-
tures of the Association. It gave to the public the best
thought of the ripest scholars on the most vital questions of
the kingdom of God. Many of these papers were requested
for publication in the ScAbath Recorder.

Since 1878 the minutes of the Association have been en-
grossed in a book provided for that purpose, in fact the As-
sociation began thus to do at a very early day, for in 1840
it was "Voted that Bro. Joseph Potter (Secretary) procure
a book and record in the same all the doings of this Associa-
tion from the commencement to the present time." This
evidently was not done ; at any rate, the plan was not followed
till 1878, when the matter was again taken up. In 1880, "J.
D. Titsworth was appointed a committee to procure printed
records of the first forty-two sessions of this Association and
have them bound for preservation." Dea. Titsworth, after

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».S

yi6 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

much labor, reported in 1883 that he had secured all the
minutes except those for 1839, and that he had had them
bound. The Association voted that they be kept by the Re-
cording Secretary. This copy is now in the care of the Amer-
ican Sabbath Tract Society, Plainfield, N. J. Hon. George
H. Utter of Westerly, R. I., has a bound volume of the min-
utes from 1837 to 1880, minus the minutes for 1838 and 1839.
These two are probably the only sets containing the early
minutes now extant.

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THE
CENTRAL ASSOCIATION.

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REV. ASA BABCOCK PRENTICE.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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THE CENTRAL ASSOCIATION.

Rev. A. B. Prentice.

This Association was organized in 1835, but the earliest
obtainable records of the Association commence with the twen-
tieth session, held with the DeRuyter church, June 6 to 9, 1855.
Very little of the history of the Association previous to that
time can be learned. It is evident from the constitution and
from other circumstances, that the cause of missions was
prominent in all the plans and work of the organization
during those early years. A system of itinerant preaching
was proposed in 1837, and to some extent carried out. Bet-
ter facilities for the education of their young people also re-
ceived much attention. DeRuyter Institute was opened in
1837, two years after the organization of the Association.
The funds for the building and equipment of the Institute
were raised mainly by the indefatigable labors of Rev. Alex-
ander Campbell. He made a very general canvass of the
denomination, interesting the people so that they gave liber-
ally, considering the times. In many places visited, he tarried
to hold revival meetings, which were attended with most
marked results in the conversion of souls and in additions to
the churches.

At the twentieth session, where our records commence,
there were recognized the following churches: First Brook-
field, DeRuyter, Scott, First Verona, Adams, Second Brook-

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720 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

field, Third Brookfield (afterward West Edmeston), Second
Varona, Lincklaen, Hounsfield, Truxton (afterward Cuyler),
Preston, Watson, Otselic, Newport, Richland, Pinckney,
Diana (the last three not reporting). The aggregate mem-
bership of the churches reporting was 1,429. The following
ordained ministers were on record: William B. Maxson,
James R. Irish, Amos W. Coon, John P. Hunting, James
Summerbell, William G. Quibell, Joshua Clarke, Lebbeus M.
Cottrell, Eli S. Bailey, Enoch Barnes, Elias Burdick, Elihu
Robinson. Also the following licentiates were reported:
Henry L. Jones, James C. Rogers, Thomas Dye, David P.
Curtis, Amos R. Cornwall. The introductory sermon was by
Rev. James Summerbell, from Acts 9:31. Rev. James R.
Irish was moderator; Dea. Jason B. Wells was recording
secretary, and J. Bennett Clarke assistant recording secretary.

Home missions, which were carried on from the time
of the organization of the Association, under the direction of
an Executive Board, were turned over to the care and manage-
ment of the Board of the general Missionary Society some
time previous to 1870.

In 1872 a Sabbath School Board was appointed "to take
special oversight of the Sabbath School work in which our
churches are engaged/' This Board held, as opportunity
offered, Sabbath School institutes for several years, with a
good deal of interest and profit to the churches.

For three or four years a committee of the Association
raised and distributed funds for the aid of young men who
were studying for the ministry. At the session in 1874 it
was voted to discontinue this committee and ask the churches
to contribute for this purpose through the committee of the
General Conference appointed to receive such funds.

At the session at DeRuyter, held in 1865, a plan was
started for the reorganization of DeRuyter Institute, with a
view of making it an associational school. Herman Hull
was appointed financial agent, and $3,600 was pledged prompt-
ly at that meeting for the enterprise. At the meeting at Scott,
the next year, the agent reported $10,000 subscribed for the
endowment of the school, and submitted a plan by which it
could be controlled by the Association. A charter was re-
(45)

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CENTRAL ASSOCIATION. 72I

ported as secured, at the session in 1867, at West Edmeston,
by which DeRuyter Institute became the property of the
Seventh-day Baptist Central Association. The net value of
the property was given as $9,162.62. The agent reported the
next year to the Association convened at Adams Centre, that
the fall and winter terms, under the principalship of Rev.
Stephen Burdick, were considered quite a success, and the
spring term, then in operation under the supervision of Rev.
L. E. Livermore, was giving excellent satisfaction to the
friends of the school. But the agent reported that local op-
position had arisen at DeRuyter against the school, that en-
dangered its ultimate success. This unhappy condition was
the occasion of much discussion and diversity of views during
this and subsequent sessions. The final outcome was the
abandonment of the school by the Association. The property
became the possession of the district, and a school of high
g^ade has since been maintained as a union free school. A
school of academic grade was maintained for some years at
Brookfield, our people being among its principal supporters.
The graded public schools which have superseded academies
have been largely promoted and supported by our people in
localities where are our churches. Such schools are main-
tained at DeRuyter, Leonardsville, Brookfield and at Adams
Centre.

The Protestant Sentinel, the lineal ancestor of the Sab-
bath Recorder, was first published at Homer, N. Y., by John
Maxson, in 1830. Four years later he moved the paper to
Schenectady, and in 1836 to DeRuyter. By an arrangement
of the Central Association the paper in the latter year received
the labors of Alex. Campbell and Joel Greene. W. D. Cochran
was also for a short time its editor. In 1840 the Seventh-
day Baptist Register was started at DeRuyter. It was edited
by an association of ministers among whom were Joel Greene
and Alex. Campbell. James Bailey shortly after became sole
editor.

The Board of the American Sabbath Tract Society, in
1878, proposed to hold tent meetings for the preaching of the
whole gospel, including Sabbath truth. Dr. C. D. Potter,
of Adams Centre, having offered to furnish a tent for that

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722 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

purpose. The Central Association that year at its session
in Verona, enthusiastically commended the enterprise and-
there was pledged at that time $664.51 for its support. West
Winfield was also selected as the place for commencing the
meetings. Services were opened in the tent early in July
following with Rev. Charles M. Lewis and Rev. John L.
Huffman as preachers, and Rev. Judson G. Burdick as con-
ductor of the singing, and continued till near the time of the
anniversaries.

The Association has always taken a positive stand by
resolutions against the sale and use of intoxicating drinks
and against the use of tobacco. During the anti-slavery
struggle it always was on the side of human rights. And
when this struggle culminated in civil war, 145 are on record
as having gone from the different societies into the army in
defense of their country. Soon after the close of the war,
the names of these were gathered and spread upon the min-
utes of the Association as a Roll of Honor. They were from
the different localities as follows:

First Brookfield: Members of church, 12; members of
society, 12.

DeRuyter: Church, 10; society, 8.

Scott : Church, 1 1 ; society, 8.

Hounsfield : 3.

Adams: Church, 13; society, 6.

Second Brookfield: 6.

West Edmeston: Church, i ; society, 12.

Cuyler : Church, i ; society, 2.

Watson: Church, 7; society, 11.

Lincklaen : Church, 4 ; society, 9.

Otselic: Church, 2; society, 2.

Second Verona: 5.

Total, 145.

This roll is manifestly incomplete, for men are known to
have been in the army from societies not mentioned here.

The churches of this Association have given to the denom-
ination and the world many persons of prominence. Some
of these, who were bom within the bounds of the Association,
have had their spheres of activity mainly elsewhere. Rev. A.

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<
y.

<
y

H
CO

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CENTRAL ASSOCIATION.

723

H. Lewis was born in Scott, Rev. A. E. Main and Rev. H. E.
Babcock in Adams Centre, and Rev. Geo. J. Crandall in
Brookfield, Geo. H. Babcock, Charles Potter, Jr., J. Frank
Hubbard, J. A. Hubbard, Ira J. Ordway, Mrs. Lucy Clark
Carpenter and Rev. David H. Davis went out from the
Central Association to their wide fields of usefulness.

It is greatly regretted that the data are not at hand
for a fuller history of this most important Association.

LIST OF CHURCHES, CENTRAL ASSOCIATION.

Name. When Constituted.

First Brookfield, 1757

DeRuyter 1816

Scott 1820

First Verona 1820

Adams 1822

Second Brookfield 1823

Third Brookfieldt 1823

Truxtont .1824

Otselic 1830

Lincklaen 1831

\ Preston 1834

Name. When Constituted.

Second Verona 1837

Newport! 1838

Hounsfieldi 1841

Watson 1841

Richland! 1845

Diana! 1846

Pinckneyi 1848

Clifford! 1859

Norwich 1879

Ithaca! 1883

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST MINISTERS WHO HAVE SERVED
IN THE CENTRAL ASSOCIATION.

Jacob Ayers*
Hiram W. Babcock*
Uri M. Babcock*
James E. N. Backus*
Eli S. Bailey*
James Bailey*
Halsey H. Baker
J. A. Baldwin*
Enoch Barnes*
Russel G. Burdick*
Libeus M. Burdick*
Elias Burdick*
Stephen Burdick
Qajrton A. Burdick

tAftenrard West Edmeston.
^Afterward Cuylcr.
lExtinct.
'Deceased.

John L. Huffman*
Madison Harry
James R. Irish*
William M. Jones*
Henry L. Jones*
John L. Kenyon*
Giles M. Langworthy*
Charles M. Lewis*
Alvin A. Lewis*
Henry B. Lewis*
Leander E. Livermore
William Lawton
Geo. W. Lewis
William B. Maxson*

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724

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Frank O Burdick
Leon D. Burdick
Alexander Campbell*
Orson Campbell*
Christopher Chester*
Henry Clarke*
J. Bennett Clarke
Herman D. Clarke
Daniel Coon*
Amos W. Coon
Samuel B. Crandall*
Ephraim Curtis*
Lebbeus M. Cottrell
David P. Curtis
William C. Daland
Darius K. Davis
David H. Davis
John T. Davis*
Arnold C. Davis
Thomas Fisher*
John Greene*
William Greene*
Joel Greene*
B. F. Homes*
John P. Hunting

•Deceased.

Orpheus S. Mills

E. Pool*

A. B. Prentice

J. A. Platts

S. S. Powell

William G. Quibell*

Davis Rogers*

Lester C. Rogers*

Benj. F. Rogers

Elihu Robinson*

Perie F. Randolph

Halsey Stillman*

James Summerbell*

Williams Somes*

Lucius R. Swinney

James Leander Scott*

Martin Sindall

Job Tyler*

Julius M. Todd*

Geo. E. Tomlinson*

T. J. Van Horn

Benedict Westcote*

Orville D. Williams*

J. J. White

William Calvin Whitford

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CHURCH AT ADAMS CENTRE, NEW YORK.

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CENTRAL ASSOCIATION.

725

vrc lv» So ^* *» »*? ^ *n^ ivqO et O i- fi »*> * "wO »»vgO c* C

1. n PI ^ifr w^ Kgo Oi o *- rt Fo ^^r ko^

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THE
WESTERN ASSOCIATION.

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REV. WARDNER CARPENTER TITSWORTH.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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THE WESTERN ASSOCIATION

William L. Burdick

Introductory Note. — In preparing this historical sketch I am
indebted to the minutes and semi-centennial papers of the Western
Association, reports of Missionary Societies, minutes of the General
Conference, Missionary Magazine, Protestant Sentinel, Sabbath Re-
r order. Seventh-day Baptist Memorial, Seventh-day Baptist Quar-
terly, "Bailey's History of Conference," "Jubilee Papers," histories
of Allegany county and church records where available. To Dr.
J. L. Gamble and Chas. H. Greene of Alfred and to persons in
various churches who have kindly gathered data for me, I also ac-
knowledge the receipt of valuable help.

The Seventh-day Baptist churches in the present bounds
of the Western Association, have been geographically sep-
arated into five sections, in three of which, groups of churches
have grown up. These are : First, the churches in Crawford
county, Pa.; second, those in Allegany county, N. Y., and
Potter county, Pa., together with churches just over the lines
in Steuben, Cattaraugus, and McKean counties; third, the
churches in Erie, Genesee and Niagara counties; fourth, the
Fox church in Clearfield county, Pa., and fifth, the Persia
church in the northwestern part of Cattaraugus county. The
churches not only fall into these five sections geographically,
but Seventh-day Baptist interests had, in each section, a sep-
arate origin.

The Association has at times included churches which
are not now within its bounds. When it was organized, in
1836, it embraced all west of the eastern boundary of Steuben
county, N. Y., north to Lake Ontario and south to the At-

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730 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

lantic. By this division the territory included that now oc-
cupied by the Southeastern and Northwestern Associations,
these Associations not yet having been organized. Three
churches now within the Hmits of the Southeastern, i. e., Lost
Creek, North Fork of Hugh's River, and Salem, were re-
ceived into membership, and in the Conference minutes the
older churches in the Northwest were placed in the list of the
Western Association, though they never were admitted or
applied for membership.

The churches in Ohio for a time were members of this
Association, but now belong to the Northwestern. In this
sketch are included only the churches and territory now with-
in the bounds of the Western Association. The churches at
present number seventeen and about twenty church organiza-
tions have become extinct, some having died before the Asso-
ciation was organized, and their very names are almost or
quite forgotten.

The origin and spread of the Seventh-day Baptist cause
in the Association have been primarily the result of immigra-
tion of Seventh-day Baptists from the East. There have been
many converts to the Sabbath where Sabbath-keepers have
settled, but not more than four or five churches have been or-
ganized as the result of a large number of Sabbath converts.
It is our first task to trace the origin and spread of our work
in the bounds of the Association, and afterwards to take up
the work of the churches organized into an Association.

CHURCHES IN CRAWFORD CO., PA.

SHILOH CHURCH.

The first point occupied by our people in this Association
was near Meadville, Crawford county, Pa., and the church
they organized here was called Shiloh. It was formed by
members from the Piscataway church in New Jersey, in the last
years of the eighteenth century or the first of the nineteenth.
James Dunn was their elder. The constituent members, as
given by Chas. Henry Greene, were *'j2Lmes Dunn, Philip
Dunn, Owen David, and probably Jonathan David and David
Davis with their families." The church evidently never be-

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 73 1

came a large one, for Eld. Amos Wells, in his report as
missionar>% in 1820, speaks of visiting "a small society of Qur
order near Meadville, that at present are in a rather low
state." After a struggle of about twenty-five or thirty years
It became extinct.

After the Shiloh church went dowti, the Sabbath-keepers
organized themselves, in 1829, into the

HAYFIELD CHURCH

which was located in Hayfield township, northwest of Mead-
ville. From the report of the obituary committee, given in '
the Associational minutes of 1870, we learn that when the
Shiloh (Pa.) church went down, Morris Cole, who had been
a member of that church, applied to the Missionary Society
for aid. Eld. John Green was sent and in three months the
Hayfield church was organized with Morris Cole as pastor.
The Hayfield church flourished for a number of years, and a
house of worship was built. Some of the members moved
away, some died and a number of those that were left went
to the Adventists. Regarding this I quote from the pen of
the veteran missionary, Dr. H. P. Burdick. He says :

"In all my travels, I have never been in any place where the
thought of the loss of our entire interest made me more sad than
when in the French Creek • Valley. With no pastor or missionary
help, our people went to Adventism. Their anticipations were not
realized and they largely went to infidelity."

The church became extinct about 1862.

CUSSEWAGO CHURCH

was the third church organized in this section. Its organiza-
tion took place in 1853. It was the result of the labor of
Eld. A. A. F. Randolph, in the bounds of the Hayfield church,
as will be seen from the following quotation taken from the
report of the Associational Executive Board, about this time :

"Your Committee have responded pecuniarily to some extent to
a call from Bro. A. A. F. Randolph, of Hayfield, for labor done with-
in the bounds of that church, yet at so great a distance as to
deprive them in a great measure of the privileges and benefits of

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^12 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Church organization. Bro. Randolph reports that during a pro-
tracted effort there, some twenty -five gave good evidence of being
converted to God. Backsliders were reclaimed, the faithful Chris-
tian made to rejoice, and some few embraced the Sabbath. In keep-
ing with the wishes of the people there, and the apparent necessity
of the case, a church was organized in that place."

The church was assisted in the support of a pastor for
a few years. After a time men could not be found to labor
on the field regularly. It was neglected and became so re-
duced that the organization was abandoned, being dropped
from the minutes after 1882.

HICKERNELL CHURCH

has risen out of the ruins of Cussewago, Ha>'field and Shiloh.
A few Sabbath-keepers remained in this section after the
dissolution of Cussewago, and now, after twenty ' years, a
new church has arisen from the ruins of Shiloh, Hayfield and
Cussewago. Students and other evangelists labored here in
the vacations of 1901 and 1902, with good results. W. L.
Davis, a student from Alfred University, continued the labor
during the present vacation (1902), and organized a church
of eighteen members* July 10. The first church in the bounds
of the Association was organized in Crawford county, Pa.,
and now, after a century, the same county furnishes the last
on the list.

CHURCHES IN ALLEGANY AND POTTER COUN-
TIES AND THEIR VICINITY.

In this section have grown up more than half the churches
of the Western Association. Within a day's drive of Alfred
churches have been formed at twenty-one places, and for
twenty years these churches, nestled together, have been the
only living ones in the Association.

FIRST ALFRED CHURCH.

This was the pioneer church of this group. Seventh-day
Baptists from Berlin and Brookfield made the first settlement

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REV. NATHAN VARS HULL, D. D.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 733

in the present town of Alfred, about 1807. Others came and
five years later there were a number of families of our faith
in the vicinity. After having met several times upon the
Sabbath for worship, they were called together by Stephen
Coon, Sr., July 4, 1812, to organize themselves into a reli-
gious association for the maintenance of religious services
on the Sabbath and for mutual watch-care and admonition.
They adopted articles of faith and a covenant. The church
records state that "about twenty-four" thus banded themselves
together. They were Stephen Coon, Sr., Clark Crandall,
George Lanphear, Wm. Saunders, Stephen Coon, Jr., Luke
Maxson, Wm. Davis, and their wives, and Rebekah Stillman,
from the Berlin church, Berlin, N. Y., Nathan and Edward
Green and their wives, Maxson Green and James Fisk, from
the Brookfield church, and Britty Wells, Sally Coon and
Nancy Teater, whose church relationship does not appear.
The next spring seven more from Berlin joined the organ-
ization. The brethren and sisters were desirous of being set
off as a separate church, and Oct. 3, 1813, Eld. Wm. Sat-
terlee, pastor of the Berlin church, met with them to consult
together regarding it. By his advice such action was post-
poned, and they were organized into a branch of the Berlin
church, those not previously members of the Berlin church
uniting with it and with the branch.

The branch was set off as an independent church Oct.
20, 1816, with a membership of about sixty. Elders Henry
Qark, of Brookfield, and Wm. Satterlee, of Berlin, assisting.
At this same time, George Stillman and Daniel Babcock were
chosen and ordained deacons and authorized to baptize.

The membership increased rapidly, and in thirty-one
years following its organization, two other Seventh-day Bap-
tist churches were formed within three miles of this church,
from its membership, the Second Alfred, Hartsville and Scio.

From the church records it appears that the membership
of the First Alfred church in its early days extended over
a very large territory, including persons living in the Genesee
valley, where Stannards, Wellsville, Scio and Angelica are
now located. To the members in these remote sections the

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734 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

church gave diligent watch-care, disciplining them whenever
occasion required.

Though the church had no pastor for nearly twenty-
five years, yet it was blessed with a number of la}*men who
acceptably and efficiently served it as leaders and preachers
of the Word, both at home and in the surrounding counties.
Independent of other churches, it sent its best workers to
Independeqce, Troupsburg, Cawanesqua, Angelica, Scio, Pem-
broke and other places. The men who did the most of this
work were Dea. Daniel Babcock and Richard Hull, both being
called out by the church in 1817. Eld. Amos Satterlee, who
was the first ordained minister in the Association, and who be-
came a member of the church in 182 1, also went forth occa-
sionally to the needy sections, preaching the Gospel. There
is the following interesting item on the church records for
May 6, 182 1:

"Voted, That Elder Satterlee, Dea. Babcock and Bro. Richard
Hull have half a bushel of wheat per day for their serivces at Troops-
burg, and No. i, [Independence]. . Eld. Satterlee allowed for ten
days, Richard Hull two days, Dea. Babcock two days at Troopsburg,
3I/2 days on buisness concerning the ministers lot and four bushels
of wheat toward going to Pembroke."

Out of the numerous centers of interest cultivated by
these members two were developed into independent churches,
now known as Wellsville and Scio.

SECOND ALFRED CHURCH.

This church was set oflf from the First Alfred in 183 1,
by the dismissal of over fifty members for this purpose. The
church was then located in East Valley, one mile south of
Alfred Station, but was moved to its present location some
twenty years later. Like the mother church it has had a
steady growth and today is one of the largest in the de-
nomination.

HARTSVILLE CHURCH.

In the summer of 1847 twenty-seven members of the
First Alfred church were dismissed that they might form a

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FIRST ALFRED CHURCH, AT ALFRED. NEW YORK.

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 735

new church, the Hartsville. A few others united with them
at the organization. The forming of a church here resulted
from a Sabbath school which Eld. H. P. BurdicK, then but
a boy, organized with twenty-four children as members, al-
most every one of whom he afterwards baptized.

ANGELICA.

Angelica was one of the points occupied by the members
of the Alfred church in the early days, and was of consider-
able interest on account of the number of members residing
there. In the library of Alfred University are to be found
the records of a Seventh-day Baptist society in Angelica,
Allegany county, N. Y. These records bear this title: "Sev-
enth-day Baptist Society, in Angelica, Philipsburg Settlement,
July the 28, 1816." No other name is given to the organiza-
tion. At this time they adopted a covenant, which sets forth
the object of the Society as follows: "Do bind ourselves as
in a bundle of love, and to watch over our own ways and each
other for good." Five persons, Jesse Rogers, Theodaty
Bliven, Frances Davis, Hannah Rogers, and Esther Bliven,
signed the covenant then, and seventeen others during the four
years covered by the records. The records do not show posi-
tively that this was ever an independent church or a branch
of any other church, even, though cases of discipline were
uniformally referred finally to the Alfred church.

Repeatedly do the records of the Alfred church tell us
that the church sent its missionaries to Angelica, and on one
occasion. May 6, 182 1, it voted "That we have meetings at the
village of Angelica once in two weeks and that one of the
speakers attend there on the Sabbath and preach at Genesee
River the First-day following." Eld. John Green, in 1825,
in reporting to the Missionary Board, writes of Angelica as
a branch of the Alfred church.

From the above data it appears that the Sabbath-keep-
ers in Angelica belonged to the Alfred church and that the
society formed there was considered a branch of the Alfred
church, though the records of neither organization so state.
This society soon died and the oldest people now living re-
member nothing of it.

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736 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

scio (willing) church.

A church was organized May i6, 1834, at the house of
Dea. Jess€ Rowley, in what is now the village of Wellsvilte.
Dea. Rowley had come to this section from Tioga Co., Pa.
He is represented as being a religious man and greatly stirred
the people scattered through this section by holding meetings.
On the date above mentioned the Sabbath-keepers scattered in
this vicinity met with a council from the First and Second Al-
fred and Friendship churches and organized a church with
sixteen members. Elders Daniel Babcock and Walter B. Gil-
lette were members of the council. The pioneers who consti-
tuted this church were Jesse, Nathan, Charles and Mary Row-
ley, Amos L. Maxson, William Davis, Joseph and Elizabeth
Flint, Justus Seeley, Jonathan and Achsah Fisk, Stephen Tan-
ner, Joseph Flint, Jr., John D. Green, Sally Straite, and Lydia
Amadown. Charles Rowley became a leading spirit in the
church and was afterwards the deacon and then its pastor.
Why the church was called Scio can only be surmised, for Wells-
ville was then given as its postoffice. In 1858 it appears in
the minutes as Willing, but why, we do not know, unless it
was at the time holding its meeting^s up the river in the town-
ship of Willing. In i860 one of its members asked the Asso-
ciation to drop it from the Association. A committee of fiv^
were appointed of which D. E. Maxson was chairman, to in-
vestigate. This the committee did and reported to the Asso-
ciation at its next session, in 1862. The report was that nine
of the members had gone to the Adventists and were hostile
to the church, and that the eight remaining members were
very much discouraged and had let the church run down. The
committee recommended that the remaining members "apply
to other churches of our order for admission, each as it may
best suit his convenience." A number of its members may
have joined with the church at Scio, but that it ever consoli-
dated with that church is not correct.

stannard's corners church.

After the Scio church went down another was organized
December 1875, called the Stannard's Corners church, which
(46)

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SECOND ALFRED CHURCH, AT ALFRED STATION, NEW YORK.

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 737

included several of its members. Eld. L. M. Cottrell was chosen
pastor. The place for meeting was St^nnard's Comers. It
does not appear in the minutes after 1880.

The last attempt at church organization in this vicinity
was the

WELLSVILLE CHURCH.

This was organized September 9, 1885, ^ind includes some
of the members of the Stannard's Comers church and other
Sabbjith-keepers who had homes in Wellsville. It still meets
in Wellsville and Eld. Stephen Burdick is its pastor.

AMITY (now SCIO) CHURCH.

The Amity church was organized May 15, 1834, the
day before the organization of the church at Wellsville,
by the same council. Its organization took place at a
schoolhouse two miles north of Scio and near there its first
church was erected. There were twenty-three constituent
members, whose names were James Weed, John Maxson, Jesse
B. Cartwright, Theodata Bliven, Jesse Rogers, Davis Still-
man, Daniel B. Stillman, Philarman Green, Wm. Millard,
Eathan Rogers, Susan Weed, John C. Cartwright, Theodata
Bliven Jr., Silas C. Bliven, Buel Oviatt, Judith Leister, Han-
nah Refers, Nancy Stillman, Hannah Burdick, Rachael Cart-
right, Ruth Maxson, Sarah Stillman and Lydia Green. After
the church located at Wellsville changed its name from Scio
to Willing, the Amity church petitioned the Association that
its name be changed to Scio, which request was granted.

INDEPENDENCE CHURCH.

The first religious meeting held in the town of Inde-
pendence was held by a Seventh-day Baptist, Deacon (after-
ward an elder) Daniel Babcock, near where Whitesville now
stands, in 1820. From this time on Independence was fre-
quently visited by missionaries from Alfred, and those sent
out by the Missionary Board of Conference. Under these
labors there were converts to the Sabbath ; John P. Livermore,
who was the first clerk of the Western Association, and his
wife embraced the Sabbath about this time.

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738 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Seventh-day Baptists from Alfred and Brookfield moved
into the community." In September, 1823, the brethren pe-
titioned the Alfred church for a council to organize them
into a church. This council met March 21, 1824, and organ-
ized a church, Amos Satterlee, Daniel Babcock and Richard
Hull assisting. Stephen Clark, the only one in the vicinity
whose memory goes back to that time, gives the following
names as members of that church : John P. Livermore, Edmund
Liverrnore (father of Rev. L. E.), Nathan Stillman, Isaiah
Green, Wm. Hamilton, John Tanner, Hazard P. Clarke, Na-
than Merrit, Ichabod Babcock and Jonathan Davis and their
wives. This list is somewhat imperfect, probably, but indi-
cates who were the pioneer Seventh-day Baptists in this sec-
tion. For a few years a brief mention is made of the church,
and then it drops out entirely. It evidently became extinct
and all records are destroyed.

In 1833 the Sabbath-keepers in Independence asked to
be organized as a branch of the First Alfred church. Eighteen
members, probably the relics of the former church, came for-
ward and joined the First Alfred church, and were organized ^
as a branch. The year following there was an extensive re-
vival conducted by Elders Stillman Coon and Walter B. Gil-
lette. A distillery was turned into a place for holding meet-
ings, and Aug. 8, 1834 the branch became an independent
church with about forty members. The church soon chose
Eld. Stillman Coon as its pastor, and has. since maintained
its existence, occupying a large rural district where churches
of other denominations have risen and gone down.

TROUPSBURG CHURCH.

Troupsburg, Steuben county, N. Y., though now for-
gotten, is often mentioned in connection with missionary
operations in these early days. Sabbath-keepers from Brook-
field scattered themselves in this section, and even down onto
the Cowanesqua, in Tioga county, Pa. They were often
visited by our missionaries and in 1824 the Alfred church,
at their request, sent a council to assist them in organizing a
church. Because this council did not report, and the church
was never a member of Conference, it has been thought that

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 739

there never was a church organized in this section, but in
the Missionary Board's report for 1825, I glean this state-
ment: "Their [Elders Babcock, Hull and Satterlee] labors
were attended with success and many destitute families were
privileged with the ministration of the Word of life. They
have founded two churches, one in Troupsburg and one in
Independence, and many souls through their labors were
hopefully brought to the knowledge of the truth/' Charles
Card was a leading spirit in this church, and for many years
was a licensed preacher. The 'church was located three or
four miles below where Troupsburg now stands. It never was
a strong church and after a time its members joined the
Independence church, probably as a branch church at first.
For a number of years during Eld. Jared Kenyon's pastorate
at Independence, he, with the workers at Independence, visited
and held meetings in the section where the Troupsburg church
once was, but now the last Sabbath-keeper has disappeared.

FRIENDSHIP CHURCH.

The Friendship church, located at Nile, wa4 the second
church within the bounds of the Association t5) live. Its
establishment was brought about largely through the efforts
of Abram C. Crandall, who had beep actively connected with
the Alfred church. He moved here in 1822 and influenced
a number of Sabbath-keepers from Alfred and New Jersey
to join him. These pioneers soon commenced to hold meet-
ings on the Sabbath, from house to house, and were occa-
sionally visited by Elders John and Joel Green.

The Missionary Magazine in April, 1825, says:

— "A church consisting of about twenty members was organized in
Friendship, Allegany county, N. Y., Sept. 15, 1824, by a council Jrom the
First and Second Brookfield, DeRuyter and Alfred churches. On the
following day baptism was administered and some additions were made
to their number."

The thirteen who founded the church were: Abraham,
Cary and Mehetabel Crandall; Samuel and Mary Yapp; Na-
than, Truman, Jerry and Mary Wigden; Edith Ayers; Mica
and Anna F. Randolph; Elizabeth Noble, and Henry P.
Green. This church has played an important part in the
Association and denomination.

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740 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

FIRST GENESEE ( CUBA-GEN ESE|:) CHURCH.

Following the pioneer Seventh-day Baptists as they pushed
forward, we next find them making homes an^ foimding
churches in the valleys leading to the Allegany. What is
now Little Genesee was the first point west of the "divide"
where they established themselves. Though there was a sprink-
ling from elsewhere, yet they came principally from the Hop-
kinton church, R. I. In 1824 Ezekiel Crandall and Joseph
Wells, both from Rhode Island, came and selected a tract
of one thousand acres on which to settle a Seventh-day Bap-
tist colony. Two families from Berlin, N. Y., had already
settled here. Messrs. Crandall and Wells brought their fam-
ilies the next year, and in the two years immediately follow-
ing, a number of families from Rhode Island came and set-
tled on the tract of land which had been selected, or elsewhere
in the vicinity. They formed themselves into a church July
9, 1827, Elders Wm. B. Maxson and John Green assisting.
The church was first called Cuba. In 1832 it appears as
Genesee, aid since 1835 ^s First Genesee. The constituent
members were John, Benj., Joel and Phoebe Maxson, Ezekiel
and Susan Crandall, Henry P., Amos, Esther and Lucy Green,
Joseph and Lydia Wells* and Nancy Kenyon. Starting in a
wilderness, with twelve members, these sterling pioneers have
made the church one of the largest and strongest in the Asso-
ciation.

Before the first decade had passed, two other churches
were formed, principally from the membership of the First
Genesee church. These were the Second Genesee and the
Third Genesee.

SECOND GENESEE CHURCH.

This church included Seventh-day Baptists living along
the Oswayo Creek, in the town of Genesee, Allegany Co., and
Portville, Cattaraugus Co. The constituent members were
mostly members from the First Genesee church, and were set
oflf as a separate church in 1834. The increase was never
very rapid, the membership never rising much above three
. score. Internal difficulties overtook them and became so, hope-
lessly grievous that they voted, in 1861, to disband, after the

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REV. THOMAS B. BROWN.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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■ WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 74I

clerk had written letters recommending the remaining mem-
bers to fellowship in other churches. A committee from the
Association, consisting of Leman Andrus and Thomas B.
Brown, visited the church, concurred in its action relating
to dissolution, and in 1862 reported to the Association recom-
mending that the name be erased from the minutes of this
Association. This same year another church of thirty-one mem-
bers was organized on the same ground under the name of
Portville. The church has since maintained a struggling ex-
istence.

THIEU> GENESEE CHURCH (WEST GENESEE).

This church was organized in 1835. It is located in the
northeast part of the town and has had a history somewhat
similar to that of Second Genesee. In 1843, owing to trouble,
it disorganized, and then reorganized under the same name.
Since 1876 it has appeared in the minutes as West Genesee.
It has passed through fiery trials, and is now practically dead,
though a number of its members still live in that vicinity.

RICHBURG CHURCH (bOLIVAR-WIRT).

It is remembered by the older people, that, though there
were a few Sabbath-keepers from other churches, yet the
larger portion of constitituent members of this church were
converts to the Sabbath, and that Eld. John Green, who was
a most successful evangelist, held meetings here before the
church was organized, and that through his labors it was
built up. Friendship and First Genesee assisted in the or-
ganization, which took place Dec. 30, 1827, with the following
constituent members: Ephraim, Clark, L. D. and Chloe
Rogers ; Elijah, Ransom and Abigal Fuller; Zina and Prudence
Gilbert; Nathan and Lucinda Bliven; Calvin, Martha, Achsa
and Roxy Messenger; P. L. and Polly Evans, and Lucinda
Wheelock. The church was first called Bolivar. In 1844
it appeared as Wirt, and since 1853 as Richburg. It grew to
be a strong church, at one time numbering over 170 members,
but during the oil boom of 188 1 and '82, sixteen families sold
out and moved awav and it has since been on the decline.

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742 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

HEBRON CHURCH.

Pressing on, our people of this section next set up the
Seventh-day Baptist banner in the pine forests of Potter coun-
ty, Pa. The first and principal point here was Hebron.
Clark Crandall, who twenty years before had been one of
the leaders in the settlement of Alfred, went, in 1829, to
Hebron and took up a tract of land on what has since been
known as Crandall Hill. In the spring of 183 1 settlers
from Alfred and vicinity came, and very soon after they
commenced to hold prayer and conference meetings on the
Sabbath, and sometimes in the evening. These were re-
mepibered as most precious seasons, the people returning to
their homes after meeting with their torches, guided by blazed
trees, singing till the woods rang with their praises. The
community was occasionally visited by Elders Stillman Coon
and Daniel Babcock. A church was organized Feb. 10, 1833,
with the following members: Geo. Stillman, Jesse M. Green-
man, Ezekiel Main, Nathan Main, Elias Wells, Stephen Coon,
David M. Stillman, Sylvia Coon, Sally Main, Betsy Green-
man, Fanny Reynolds, Bridget Stillman, Angenet Coon, Betsy
Hull, Roxy Hull, Evanina Wells and Sally Coon. Eld. Still-
man Coon and Dea. Daniel Pierce assisted in the organiza-
tion. The church has never grown to be a large one — never
many over one hundred — but its leading members were of
a sterling make and the church, though weaker now than
twenty years ago, has maintained meetings and Sabbath
school from the first without a break. The larger part of
the time it has been without a pastor or ministerial aid of any
kind. About fifteen years ago it built a church at a cost of
over two thousand dollars, without aid from the rest of the
denomination, and dedicated it, free from debt and free from
begging. It has been the center of Seventh-day Baptist opera-
tions in this part of Pennsylvania.

ULYSSES CHURCH.

This church, located in Potter county, eighteen miles
east from the First Hebron church, was formed of converts
to the Sabbath. In the autumn of 1844 M. L. Dean, a deacon

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•o

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 743

of the Baptist church at Ulysses, began to be exercised re-
garding the Sabbath and Sunday. As a result of his unrest
on the subject, Eld. Rowse Babcock, pastor of the First
Hebron church, was invited to visit Ulysses, which he did,
holding meetings and preaching upon the subject of the Sab-
bath. The truth fell on good ground. In the early winter
Eld. Babcock held a series of meetings with crowded house
night after night, for several weeks. These revival meetings
resulted in the organization of the Ulysses church, with about
sixteen members, all of whom were converts to the Sabbath.
The church was under the care of Eld. Rowse Babcock while
he remained at Hebron; later, T. E. Babcok, pastor of the
Independence church, is reported as its pastor. After this
it seems to have been largely neglected, and never reported
over thirty-five members. Strife arose among the members,
the Adventists drew off some and others moved away, and in
consequence the church fell to pieces. Eight who held fast
to the faith joined the Hebron church.

HONEOYE BRANCH.

This branch had as a nucleus a few families living on
the Honeoye, who were Sabbath-keepers. Eld. Stephen Bur-
dick, pastor of the Portville church, held meetings among them
in 1870. He was followed by O. U. Whitford, and later by
J. L. Huffman and A. H. Lewis, and as a result of their
labors a Jew embraced the Sabbath, and a church was organ-
ized, September of this same year (1870), as a branch of
the Richburg church. It was formed with eleven members.

Thirty-three names were on the church roll when it
joined with Bells Run to form the Shingle House church.

BELLS RUN CHURCH.

This place located in McKean Co., Pa., some ten miles
from Little Genesee, is reported in 1848 as a field needing
missionary labor; but I find no mention of labor here till
1873, when J. L. Huffman reported "holding meetings at
Bells Run, where a few Sabbath-keepers reside.'* From this
time on meetings were held by missionaries sent onto the
Pennsylvania field. A number of hearers embraced the Sab-

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744 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

bath, and in 1876 a church was organized with fifteen mem-
bers, Elders Walter B. Gillette and James Summerbell assist-
ing in the organization.

SHINGLE HOUSE CHURCH.

The Bells Run church and the Honeoye Branch were
consolidated into a church called Shingle House, under the
labors of Eld. H. P. Burdick in 1883. The consolidation
gave the church a membership of over forty, but its members
were greatly scattered, some living at Milport, five miles away,
others at Bells Run, seven miles in another direction, and still
others up the Honeoye Creek, six miles in still another di-
rection. The church is now greatly reduced by deaths, re-
movals and dissensions.

HEBRON CENTER CHURCH.

The church at Hebron Center, located four miles east
of the First Hebron church, was organized from members
of the First Hebron church, Sabbath-keepers who had moved
into that vicinity from Allegany Co., N. Y., and a few con-
verts to the Sabbath. The evangelistic labors of students
from Alfred, together with that of the ministers from the
First Hebron church and others, created the interest which
culminated in the organization of a church in 1871. The
church has had a hard struggle, going for weeks without any
religious services, yet its faithful few have maintained the
organization with occasional seasons of refreshing from the
Lord, and today, with its new stone church ready to be dedi-
cated, has brighter prospects than ever before.

OSWAYO CHURCH.

Oswayo was early visited by our people, it being on the
route from Alfred to Hebron, but no interest sufficient to war-
rant church organization grew up until 1871. During parts
of 1867 and '68, Eld. S. R. Wheeler, pastor at Hebron,
preached at Oswayo regularly. He lectured on temperance
and near the close of his labors, by request he lectured on
the Sabbath. These services created a considerable interest.
In 187 1 the Executive Board of the Association sent J. L.

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 745

Huffman, T. L. Gardiner and W. D. Williams, students at
Alfred, to Oswayo. As a result of their labors that vacation,
a number were converted and a church was organized con-
sisting of fourteen members. Others were soon added. There
were a number of converts to the Sabbath and some who
joined were members of other churches of our order. T. L.
Gardiner came from Alfred once in two weeks for about a
year ; but the church was then left without regular ministerial
aid. An unusually large portion of the members were young
girls, who married and left the Sabbath; still others left the
Sabbath and some moved away. As a result the church be-
came extinct and was dropped from the minutes in 1883.
There is now one "lone Sabbath-keeper" left in Oswayo.

ALLEGHANY RIVER CHURCH.

This same vacation (1871) the students who conducted
the meetings in Oswayo held meetings at Roulette and else-
where on the Alleghany river. In August, assisted by H. E.
Babcock, pastor at Hebron, they organized a church at Liberty,
McKean G)., Pa., of eight members, which was soon increased
to twelve. These members were scattered over a large terri-
tory extending along the Alleghany river and elsewhere for
miles. LeRoy Lyman, a man well known throughout Potter
and McKean counties, was prominent in this move. The
church never was a member of the Association or Conference
and soon died.

SCIO BRANCH.

A branch of the Scio church was Ihe result of the evange-
listic work of J. L. Huffman. June, 1870, on Knight's Creek,
where AUentown (N. Y.) now stands, "he announced to the
families that he would open a series of meetings on a certain
evening in the schoolhouse. No person but himself attended ;
and though alone, he sang, read the Scriptures, prayed, pro-
nounced a sermon and ended the services by giving out a
notice that he would preach in the house on the following
evening. When that time arrived he had in the seats before
him an audience of only two individuals, ^ho bravely dis-
regarded the prejudice of the community, and listened to a

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746 SEVENTH-PAY BAPTISTS:

powerful discourse, which was spoken so loudly that it could
be heard by a considerable number of men and women that
had gathered, out of curiosity, at a distance from the building.
Soon the whole surrounding country was thoroughly aroused,
and the people from the hills and valleys about came in
crowds, some getting into the room and the rest standing out-
side by the door and windows, evening after evening, as long
as the awakening continued. It was judged that about two
hundred professed religion."

Following these meetings the Executive Board of the
Association sent T. L. Gardiner, then a student at Alfred, to
preach on the Sabbath of each week. As a result a church
was organized in 1871 with a membership of eighteen. It
was always a small organization. Some moved away and it
was dropped from the minutes in 1883.

ANDOVER CHURCH.

As we hav^ already pointed out, the beginning of our
work in most places in this Association resulted from the
immigration of Seventh-day Baptists. For a number of
years the tide has been turning. Seventh-day Baptists, like
other people, have been deserting the rural churches and re-
tiring to towns. The Andover and Hornellsville churches
have started as a result of this movement.

In 1870 there were twelve Sabbath-keepers residing in
the village of Andover, representing the Independence, Little
Genesee and Second Alfred churches. During the autumn of
this year Dr. A. H. Lewis labored on Sabbath reform in the
village. The following winter L. R. Swinney, pastor of
Second Alfred church, called J. L. Huffman, T. L. Gardiner,
W. D. Williams and D. H. Davis, theological students at
Alfred, to hold meetings in his charge in East and Lamphaer
Valleys. These meetings were the means of many conversions.
A goodly number of the converts, together with the Sabbath-
keepers in Andover, were organized into the Seventh-day
Baptist church of Andover, with a membership of forty-three,
October, 187 1. Dr. W. W. Crandall was a leading spirit
in this move. It soon after its organization provided itself
with a house of worship.

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HORNELLSVILLE CHURCH, AT HORNELL. NEW YORK.

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 747

HORNELLSVILLE CHURCH.

Dea. O. G. Stillman, of the Richburg church, upon moving
to Homellsville in 1876, learned that there were a number of
Seventh-day Baptists in the city who scarcely knew of each
other's residence there. He visited them and secured a prom-
ise from them to meet upon the Sabbath for worship, pro-
vided a minister could be obtained. Dr. T. R. Williams, of
Alfred Theological Seminary, willingly consented to preach
for them. The meetings were first held at the home of Dea.
Stillman; afterwards, when the congregation had increased,
in the lecture room of the Baptist church. In the spring
of 1877 the Sabbath-keepers, assisted by Revs. N. V. Hull,
A. H. Lewis, Jared Kenyon, H. P. Burdick, T. R. Williams,
L. R. Swinney and U. M. Babcock, organized themselves into
a church. Fifteen members joined at the organization and
three the next day. Dr. Williams was chosen pastor. As
early as 1882 the members began to raise money for a church.
Through a score of years this fund grew till a lot was bought
in 1896 and a church dedicated September 3, 1902. The
church numbers only forty-one resident members and the
building of this church, with modern equipments, was a
heroic and self-sacrificing effort.

ELMIRA CHURCH.

A few Sabbath-keepers in 1883 were gathered by Rev.
L. C. Rogers into a church in Elmira. The church never re-
ported over six members, and being broken up, was dropped
from the minutes in 1885.

CHURCHES IN ERIE, GENESEE AND NIAGARA
COUNTIES.

CLARENCE CHURCH (tEMBROKE-DARIEN).

While Seventh-day Baptists were establishing our cause
in the vicinity of Allegany and Potter counties, a similar
work was going on in Erie, Genesee and Niagara counties.
At an early date the Sabbath-keepers from Rhode Island,
Brookfield and Verona, N. Y., settled in the western part of

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748 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Genesee and the eastern part of Erie counties. For a few
years they were visited by Eld. Daniel Babcock, Richard
Hull and Amos Satterlee. Elds. Babcock, Hull and Joel
Green met with them June, 1828, and organized them into
a church with the following members: Luke Greenman,
Jesse Greenman, Joshua Burdick, Asa Greenman, Thomas
Williams, Jr., Edward Saunderg, Jr., John L. Burdick, Sybbel
Greenman, Catherine Williams and Gideon Williams. The
organization took place at Greenman Settlement, in Erie
county, a few miles from the present site of Alden. Some of
the church services were held over the line in Genesee county.
The church appears in the Conference minutes as Darien,
in 1833. The center of interest soon changed to Qarence,
in Erie county, and in 1836 the name Clarence was adopted.
This name stood until the organization became extinct. After
1842 the members living in the vicinity of Darien not only
held separate religious services," but separate business meet-
ings as well, all under the name of the Clarence church. This
they continued to do until they were formed into a separate
church in 185 1. From 1833 to 1846 Eld. N. V. Hull was
pastor. During this time the church was greatly built up,
its membership extending into three counties and number-
ing as high as one hundred ninety-nine resident members.
It was here that Eld. James H. Cochran came under the
influence of Eld. N. V. Hull and was led to embrace the
Sabbath. After Eld. Hull left, the church rapidly declined,
being left the most of the time without a pastor. It was so
reduced that its very existence was threatened as early as
1850, but under the missionary pastorate of Eld A. A. Lewis
it revived for a time, and is not reported extinct until 1873.

DARIEN AND COWELSVILLE CHURCH.

As already stated, the territory embraced by the Clarence
church during its early history was very extensive, and those
in the southern part of the parish had held separate religious
services and business meetings. To accommodate them, a
church was organized, called the Darien and Cowelsville
church. The places of meeting seem to have been Cowels-
ville, in the northwest comer of Wyoming county, and Alden

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 749

in Genesee county. It is said that near Alden is a piece of
road, three miles in length, called ** Seventh-day Baptist
Street/' though there has not a Sabbath-keeper lived in it
for years. When the church was organized, in 1851, every
farm for the whole distance was owned by Seventh-day
Baptists. The church 'went down under the same influence
as Qarence, from which it was taken, and was dropped from
the minutes at the same time.

PENDLETON CHURCH.

This church was located in Niagara county, a few miles
north of Qarence, and was organized in 1844. It was one
of the few churches in the Association made up of converts
to the Sabbath. Sixteen of its eighteen constituent members
were Sabbath converts. Eld N. V. Hull was then on the field.
Eld. Leman Andrus, then pastor of a Baptist church in a
near-by town, embraced the Sabbath just prior to the forming
of the church, assisted in its organization, became its pastor
and continued such for eight years. This organization shared
the fate of its sister churches in this group and was dropped
at the same time.

CLARENCE AND PENDLETON CHURCH.

This was organize'd in 1875 with a view to gathering
up the remnants of the former churches, but its life was of
short duration, and a number of its members became mem-
bers of the First Alfred church.

WILSON CHURCH.

Within a very short distance of Lake Ontario, in Wilson
township, Niagara county, a church of about twenty members
was established in 1855, with postoffice at East Wilson. It
reported only once to the Association, and this with a smaller
membership than given when it asked for membership. The
following taken from the Associational minutes of 1862 will
give the fate of this church.

"In case of the Wilson Church an unhappy division among the
members, not connected with any doctrinal view, has brought about

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7SO SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

such a perfect indifference to ^ spiritual things that they no longer
attempt to maintain the order of a Christian Church and have de-
clared their intention to abandon the organization. There is no hope
of its resuscitation."

If we were to visit the places in these counties where our
churches once existed we would find Sabbath-keepers in some
of them, but they are widely scattered and badly discouraged.
The reasons for the decline of our cause here are not hard to
find. Death and removals have played no small part, Adven-
tism is said to have worked havoc in some instances, dissen*
sion destroyed the Wilson church, but the most powerful fac-
tor has been a lack of ministerial care — small churches left
pastorless to die.

FOX CHURCH.

The Fox church, in Fox township, Clearfield county. Pa.,
stands by itself geographically and its history stands by itself
so completely that most Seventh-day Baptists now living never
heard of it. Our interests at this point started by several mem-
bers of the Berlin church moving into this section of Penn-
sylvania. In September, 1818, John Bliss, who had previously-
been licensed to preach, was ordained deacon and authorized
to administer baptism, by the Berlin church. "This action,"
it is recorded, "was taken in view of the fact that he, with
several others, was about to move into Pennsylvania and there
to be organized into a Church." These brethren moved to
Fox township, Pa., and were soon set off as a branch of the
Berlin church. In 1822 the branch requested Conference
"to ordain brother John Bliss to the work of the ministry."
This, according to the minutes. Conference did. The branch
in 1826 requested Conference to send council to organize them
as an independent church. By appointment of Conference
Elders Wm. B. Maxson and Richard Hull visited them the
next year and set them off as a separate church. For two
years the church reports to Conference, and the name appears
in the list of churches five years longer, when it is dropped
from the minutes.

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 75 1

PERSIA (pERRYSBURG) CHURCH.

The Persia church, in the northwestern part of Cattarau-
gus Co., like the Fox church, geographically stands alone and
its origin has no connection with any of the other churches of
the Association. The first Seventh-day Baptist to settle in
this section, if not the first in Cattaraugus county, was Silas
Burdick, grandfather of the writer. He moved from Brook-
field into what is now Dayton in 1828. Hosea Whitford,
Hosea Brown, Oliver C. Babcock and others from Brookfield
followed, some settling in the town of Persia two miles dis-
tant. These pioneers soon commenced to hold religious ser-
vices on the Sabbath and had a most precious season without
any ministerial aid. There were several conversions to Christ
and the Sabbath, some of which were remarkable. After some
had embraced the Sabbath others were very bitter against it.
Five of these at one conference meeting arose and announced
that they were convinced that the Seventh-day was the Sab-
bath and that they intended to keep it. No one of the five
knew anything about any one of the others being agitated
over the question or his decision. This was a great day for the
little company of Sabbath-keepers. Soon after, in 1832, Eld-
ers Walter B. Gillette and Joel Green came and organized a
church of eight members, with a number of others awaiting
baptism. This was the first visit ever made to the place by .a
Seventh-day Baptist minister. The constituent members were
Hosea Whitford, Elizabeth Whitford, Stephen Whitfofd, Cor-
nelia Whitford, Hosea Brown, Hannah Brown, Silas Burdick,
Emma Babcock, and Martha Thorngate. The following per-
sons were waiting the organization of the church that they
might be baptized into it : Geo. Thorngate, Oliver C. Babcock,
Welcome A. Gardiner, and Elizabeth Burdick. They built a
log church in which they worshiped many years. Here it was
served by Eld. N. V. Hull, W. B. Gillette, Thomas E. Bab-
cock, Vamum Hull, Roy Green and L. M. Cottrell. Elds. N.
V. Hull and W. B. Gillette for several years in the early his-
tory of the church came alternately once in two months and
stayed two weeks at a time. At one time its membership num-
bered ninety. The church licensed several of its members.

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752 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Eld. Oscar C. Babcock was among this number. Russell G.
Burdick embraced the Sabbath under the influence of the Per-
sia church and afterwards served several Seventh-day Bap-
tist churches. He was the father of Rev. Geo. W. and Clay-
ton C. Burdick and grandfather of Rev. Geo. B. Shaw, Prof.
Edwin Shaw, and Rev. Willard D. Burdick. Allen Prentice,
father of Eld. A. B. Prentice, came to the Sabbath here. In
Persia is located the "Burdick Farm" of 243 acres, which
was given the Memorial Board for denominational purposes
by D. C. Burdick, who was connected with the church during
its whole history.

The church became extinct after a career of about twenty
years, being dropped from the minutes in 1858. One who was
a member through the most of its history says that the cause
of its decline and death was the removal of its members to
the West, that he as Clerk at one time was instructed to write
letters of recommendation for twenty members. Thus d)ring
it helped to build up other churches. It is today wielding an
influence for good equalled by only few churches of its length
of days and size. No other church of any denomination has
taken its place and the community where it once flourished is
churchless.

ORGANIZATION OF THE ASSOCIATION.

Previous to 1835 the subject of organizing Seventh-day
Baptist churches into associations had been before the Gen-
eral Conference, but no definite step had been taken. At the
session of Conference held in Hopkinton, R. I., September,
1835, a committee which had been appointed to draft a plan
for a new organization of Conference reported recommend-
ing the organization of three associations, "to be denominated
the Eastern, Middle and Western Associations," that the as-
sociations hold sessions each year a little prior to the sitting
of Conference and that each association send twelve delegates
to sit in the Conference. This report was 'adopted.

It was one of the now extinct churches which, pursuant
to this recommendation, led in the organization of the Western
Association. This church was Hayfield, in Crawford Co., Pa.
(47)

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 753

Upon Its request several of the churches appointed delegates
to meet at Hayfield, Pa., to consider the recommendation of
Conference. The meeting was held at the house of Lewis A.
Dunham, Feb. 5,* 1836. There were present, as delegates:

First Alfred church: Eld. Daniel Babcock and Nathan
Green.

Friendship church: Eld. Walter B. Gillette and Dea. A.
A. F. Randolph.

Darien church: Eld. N. V. Hull.

Hayfield church : Eld. Job Tyler and Dea. Lewis A. Dun-
ham.

Amity church, (now Scio) : James Weed.

Second Genesee church: Dr. Enoch Maxson.

The delegates organized by electing Daniel Babcock mod-
erator and W. B. Gillette clerk. After a consultation of con-
siderable length, it was unanimously resolved to organize an
association. During an adjournment a committee, composed
of Job Tyler, N. V. Hull and W. B. Gillette, drafted a consti-
tution which together with the expose of faith approved by
Conference in 1833, was adopted when the convention r-e-
simied its work. Several resolutions regarding church and
Sabbath school work were passed, after which they adjourned
to meet with the Friendship church the following September.

The Constitution then adopted reads thus:

'This Association shall be called the Western Seventh Day Bap-
tist Association. The Constitution shall be as follows:

"Art. I. This Association may consist of such Churches as are
now in the fellowship with the General Conference, and situated be-
tween the east line of Steuben county, extending north to Lake
Ontario, ^south to the Atlantic, and all the Churches west, that are
now in fellowship with the General Conference, and such other
Churches as may from time to time hereafter be received by this
Association.

"Art. 2. The doctrines acknowledged, believed, and taught by
this Association, are those maintained by the General Conference,
exhibited and held forth in the expose, published in September^
eighteen hundred and thirty-three.

*Tlie date of this meeting as recorded in the Secretary's book is Jan.
5, 1836; but the records of the First Alfred Church show that the delegates
were fiat appointed from that church till Tan. 25, 1836, and that the meeting
at Hayfield was set for "first fifth Feb. Next." The account of this meet-
ing given in the Protestant Sentinel and signed by both moderator and clerk
fl;ives Fcl>. 5, 1836, as the date.

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754 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

^^.^"Art. 3. The business of this Association shall be conducted by
delegates empowered to act in behalf of the several Churches to which
they belong or represent: thereby sustaining a congregational course
of discipline.

"Art. 4. This Constitution shall be subject to alteration or amend-
ment by a vote of at least two-thirds of the Churches, represented
at any annual meeting. The proposal for such amendment shall be
presented in writing to the Association during its session, at least
one year previous to its taking effect

"Art. 5. Thtf officers of this Association, shall consist of a modera-
tor, one or more Secretaries, Recording Secretary and Correspond-
ing Secretary and Treasurer. Said officers to be elected at the
annual meeting of the Association.

"Art. 6. This Association shall not interfere with the internal
concerns of the Churches of which it is composed, so as to infringe
on their independence; but shall act as an advisory council when
necessary. In case any Church shall depart from the faith, or
become corrupt in practice; this Association may inquire into said
defect, and labor with them, and if they cannot be reclaimed, they
may be dropped from this Association.

"Art. 7. All Elders not examined and ordained by the Presby-
tery of the General Conference or this Association, shall be ex-
amined by a committee appointed by this Association, before they are
admitted as members thereof.

"Art. 8. This Association shall, at its annual meetings, appoint
a number of delegates, (the number to be agreed on annually, at
least an equal number of which shall be laymen), to represent this
Association, and present its proceedings to the General Conference,
at its annual meetings.

"Art. 9. The Churches belonging to this Association, shall make
annual returns of their officers; the number added, dismissed, re-
jected, deceased, and total, being a complete statistical account.

"Art. 10. It shall be the duty of the Association, to publish a
complete statistical account of their proceedings at its annual con-
ventions.

"Art. II. It shall be the duty of the Moderator, to give the cast-
ing vote in all cases where there is a tie."

When the Association according to adjournment met
with the Friendship church another article was added requir-
the Association to "publish a statistical account of its pro-
ceedings at its annual convention." Other Associations hav-
ing been organized within the territory first assigfned it and
other changes having taken place, in 1849 ^^ amended its
constitution to meet the changed conditions. Twice since,
in 1855 and 1882, the constitution has been revised through-

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 755

out. Since the last named date it has remained as now printed
in connection with the minutes.

The ordinary parliamentary rules were adopted by the
Association in 1837. Rules of Order outlining both the gen-
eral and daily order of business were adopted in 1849, ^"d
though slightly changed twice or three times, the last time
being in 1891, remain about as first adopted.

This Associational organization has been of incalculable
advantage to our cause. It has brought the churches together
in sympathy and was for many years the vehicle through
which they united in mission work and the support of pastors
with the small churches.

WORK OF THE WESTERN ASSOCIATION.

It is difficult, even impossible, to justly and accurately
summarize the position Seventh-day Baptists have occupied in
the bounds of the Western Association and the work they
have accomplished. To do this it would be necessary to give
not only a detailed history of their work as organized into an
Association, but also the full history of each church and
of many hundred of individual lives. They have stood first
and foremost in all reform movements and in education. They
haAre been aggressive in missionary work, particularly in their
early history, and have played no small part in civil affairs.
It is our task now to briefly outline their work in these di-
rections .

MISSIONS.

As already stated, the First Alfred church, imbued with
the missionary spirit, commenced early to send out, like An-
tioch, its best workers to those destitute of the Gospel and
this work was one of the factors which led to the founding of
several churches in this section. This has been outlined in the
recounting of the spread of our course in the Association, and
therefore all that is needed now is to narrate the missionary
enterprises carried on by the churches organized into an As-
sociation. Twenty-five years have now passed since the As-
sociation turned all missionary work over to the general Mis-

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7S6 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

sionary Society and it is almost forgotten that the Association
was once a missionary organization. This however was for
about thirty-five years its great work.

At the third annual session of the Association it passed
a resolution calling the attention of the general Missionary
Society to the condition of the destitute churches in its midst
and asking the Society to appropriate funds for the support of
missionaries among these churches. At the annual session in
1843 the Association took up the work of missions in earnest
by appointing an executive board to conduct missionary enter-
prises and collect funds for the same. The following year the
Association adopted a constitution for this board, calling it
the Seventh-day Baptist Missionary Society of the Western
Association. Prior to this there had been organized in the
bd^unds of the Association a society called the Quarterly
Meeting Missionary Society. In 1846 the Association dis-
solved this Society together with the one whose organization
had been perfected in 1843 ^^d '44. It then voted to "recog-
nize itself as a Missionary Society'' and "elect annually an
Executive Board whose duty it shall be, with the advice of
the Association, when it may obtained, to designate fields of
labor and appoint missionaries for that purpose." Under this
arrangement the Association carried on missions on the home
field and raised funds for the foreign field until 1877, when all
was passed over to the Seventh-day Baptist Missionary So-
ciety.

To get an adequate idea of the associational missionary
enterprises we need to read the reports of the Executive
Board and missionaries employed. In lieu of this I give an
epitomized statement:

1844. During this the first year the funds raised were
appropriated for the support of L. D. Ayers on the West Gene-
see field.

1845. S. S. Griswold was employed, but the place and
time are not stated.

1846. Rowse Babcock remunerated for work at Ulysses
and J. H, Cochran appointed to labor indefinitely in Scio and
vicinity.

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 757

1847. The Board raised $52.22 and employed T. E. Bab-
cock.

1848. Raised $65.38 for foreign missions and $56.11 for
the home work, with four missionaries on home field.

1849. One hundred thirty-four days spent in missionary
labor by Leman Andrus, James Bailey, H. P. Burdick and
Rowse Babcock, with $78.00 raised for associational missions,
$62.49 for western and $224.72 for foreign.

1850. H. P. Burdick had labored seven months and eight
days in Ulysses, Hebron, Sweden, Coudersport, Oswayo, Per-
sia, Clarence and Pendleton; 36 conversions, 39 backsliders
reclaimed, 10 baptized, 8 converts to the Sabbath. James
Bailey had labored twenty-two days in Clarence. Raised for
all missionary purposes, $242.19.

185 1. H. P. Burdick labored seven months and twenty-
two days ; 36 conversions, 35 backsliders reclaimed, 9 baptized
and 10 embraced the Sabbath; $122.02 raised for foreign
missions; $132.08 associational missions and $27.36 for Tract
Society.

1852.* $100.20 raised for foreign missions; $60.66 for
Tract Society, and $123.85 for associational missions. Hiram
W. Babcock located with the Hebron and Ulysses churches,
and Rowse Babcock in the vicinity of Clarence and Darien.
Bequests for missions received from the estate of Nathan
Green.

1853. Three missionary pastors supplying six churches,
namely, H. W. Babcock in Potter county, Rowse Babcock in
Erie coiinty and L. M. Cottrell in Persia. Conversions and
converts to the Sabbath reported; $142.57 raised for fojrign
missions ; $155.17 for associational and $4.50 for Tract Society.

1854. Situation as to missionary pastors same as last
year, with $330.26 raised for associational missions, $46.49
for foreign and $37.95 for Tract Society.

1855. An extensive revival reported which had occurred
two years previous at Cussewago, Pa., under the labor of
A. A. F. Randolph; 25 converted, backsliders reclaimed and
the Cussewago church organized. Missionary pastor support-
ed on the same fields as last year, with the exception of Persia,

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7S8 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

which church has received the labor of Leman Andrus and
H. P. Green. Amount raised during year $122.02.

1856. $86.52 raised for associational missions, $40.95
for foreign and $4.69 for Tract Society.

1857-58. Nothing done for want of laborers.

1859. Ministers have been secured to labor a few months
in Hayfield, Hebron and Clarence and vicinity; $97.00 ap-
propriated to the work. ^

1860-2. A. A. Lewis missionary in Clarence and vici-
nity. Hebron supplied a part of time by pastors; %2yT.\y
appropriated to the work.

1863-69. Pastors made occasional visits to the small
churches. J. R. Irish was sustained at Cussewago about four
years, and S. R. Wheeler between one and two at Hebron.
About $850.00 raised. These were "seven years" of dearth
of laborers. Churches dying and yet the Board unable to
find men to supply them.

1870. O. U. Whitford employed several months laboring
at Persia, Hebron, Cussewago, Hayfield and Clarence. About
$300.00 raised for associational missions.

187 1. O. U. Whitford employed a part of the year at
Cussewago. W. D. Williams spent a few weeks at Clarence.
J. L. Huflfman, under the direction of the Associational Board,
held a great revival at the Head of the Plank, as. a result of
which a branch of the Scio church was organized. T. L.
Gardiner spent vacation at Hebron and supplied the Scio
branch during school year. Branch of Richburg church or-
ganized on the Honeoye, where missionaries had labored this
and the previous year. H. E. Babcock located as pastor at He-
bron; $513.30 appropriated to associational missions.

1872. Gardiner, Huffman and Williams, students at Al-
fred, hold meetings in Potter and McKean counties, and as a
result, two churches are organized; one at Oswayo and one
on the Alleghany river. H. E. Babcock, missionary pastor
on the field, with headquarters at Hebron. Scio helped to the
amount of $150.00, to maintain J. L. Huffman. About $560.00
raised to support this work. Assisted Cussewago to support
H. B. Lewis and Joel Green.

1873. J* L. Huffman holding revival meetings at Main

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 759

Settlement and Bells Run. H. E. Babcock spent a part of
the year at Hebron. D. H. Davis and Horace Stillman labor
in northern Pennsylvania. W. B. Gillette secured as general
missionary in the Association. About $400.00 appropriated for
the work.

1874. W. B. Gillette finishes his year as general mission^
ary. O. D. Sherman and D. H. Davis labor during summer
vacation in Pennsylvania. J. L. Huffman employed to labor
in the Association the coming year, salary $700.00. Over
$600.00 appropriated for the work.

1875. J- L. Huffman employed as general missionary
eight months, and B. F. Rogers, six, with good results. Ho-
neoye supplied by G. J. Crandall a part of the time; $415.08
appropriated to the work.

1876. James Summerbell employed six months as gen^
eral missionary on Pennsylvania field with very gratifying
results. H. P. Burdick has labored gratuitously at Cusse-
wago; $545.47 raised for the work.

1877. Eld. Summerbell holds revival meetings with the
Scio and Honeoye branches, at which he reports 150 con-
versions. H. P. Burdick has given six months' labor to the
Association ; $239.28 raised for the work. Associational mis-
sions turned over to Seventh-day Baptist Missionary Board.

Summary : The Executive Board of the Association em-
ployed during these years over thirty different missionaries
with terms of service ranging from a few weeks to over
four years ; six churches, or branch churches, were organized
as a result ; the small churches helped in the support of pastors ;
the Gospel preached throughout the bounds of the entire Asso-
ciation, and about seven thousand dollars reported raised to
carry on this work. This does not include that raised by the
Executive Board of the Association for foreign missions,
which for several years equalled that for home work; or the
funds paid direct to the denominational Boards by churches
and individuals.

There was also for a few years a Jewish Missionary
Society in the Association, but I find no definite record of its
operations.

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760 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

EDUCATION.

Though the Association as such has never had a school
of its own founding or adoption, yet it was the Seventh-day
Baptists in the Association, particularly in one of its churches
(First Alfred), who founded and for twenty years maintained
the institution which, in 1856, was selected by the denomina-
tion as its school of higher learning. It is the task of another
to write the history of this institution, yet its influence in
northern Pennsylvania and Western New York, before as
well as after it became a denominational school, was immense,
and must not be overlooked in considering the work and po-
sition of Seventh-day Baptists in this part of their vineyard.
The intellectual status and educational standing has been
elevated. in a measure not thought of by the casual observer.
With truth it has been said that "Allegany county and all
southwestern New York owe more for the high standing in
intellectual and moral reform to William C. Kenyon and his
co-workers than to all other influences combined." The dis-
trict and other public schools have been supplied with first
class teachers. Four times have Seventh-day Baptists been
elected to serve as school commissioners in Allegany county.
William C. Kenyon filled the office for a few months, but
resigned on account of pressure of school duties at Alfred.
Henry L. Jones and A. B. Cottrell served one term each, and
O. M. Burdick two terms. President Kenyon's Grammer was
quite universally used in the schools for a number of years,
and Prof. H. C. Coon's Civil Government is accredited high
merit. President Allen, in his day, was the most eminent
scholar in western New York. Unsought, and to his sur-
prise, the Regents of the State of New York, in 1873, ^o^"
f erred on him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. His in-
fluence in the educational system is indicated in this incident,
recorded in "Life and Sermons of Allen," page 60: "At one
of the yearly meetings for the Regents and educators of the
state, the teachers were thanking him [Dr. Walworth, head
of the Regents] for some changes that had been made in the
examination papers. Pointing to Mr. Allen's seat, he replied,
'Your thanks are due entirely to him and not to me.' "

The Association has from time to time adopted measures

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 761

to promote and encourage educational interests within the
bounds of the Association and elsewhere. There are a number
of instances on record when it raised money for various edu-
cational purposes. It formed, at one time, an Education
Society, but there are no data to give an accurate estimate
of the amount raised by either the Association, churches
or individuals. One heroic effort which cannot be passed by
was that of the Alfred people, just before the commencement
of 1887, when they subscribed nearly forty thousand dollars
to meet the indebtedness of Alfred Universit>'.

TEMPERANCE.

Here, too, it is impossible to give anything like a com-
prehensive statement of the work and influence of the people
of the Association. From the first the churches took a decided
stand against the use of intoxicating liquors, as a beverage,
as the records show, disciplining those who were addicted to
such practices. When the Association was organized, it passed
strong resolutions favoring temperance, which have been re-
peated in various forms from session to session. The largest
temperance vote has been in the towns where Seventh-day
Baptist influence has been the greatest. Seventh-day Baptist
women have been prominent in county Woman's Christian
Temperance Unions, among whom may be mentioned Mrs.
Mary L. Willard, of Belmont, for many years President of
the Allegany county union; Miss Mary E. Bowler, of Little
Genesee; Miss Adean Witter, of Nile; Mrs. G. W. Fries, of
Friendship; Mrs. E. S. Bliss, Mrs. A. B. Kenyon, and Mrs.
P. A. Burdick, of Alfred. Most, if not all, the pastors have,
from time to time, lectured and preached on the subject of
temperance, and several of them have been eminent in this
line of work. Elder N. V. Hull, with his persuasive eloquence,
and Dr. D. E. Maxson, with Elijah's fire, were in frequent de-
mand as temperance lecturers. Dr. H. P. Burdick, radical
and yet consistent, beginning in his youth and continuing until
the present, has, it is thought, delivered as many temperance
lectures as any man in the state, with an influence which eter-
nity alone can measure. Dr. A. H. Lewis, during his residence
in the Association, led for a time, the temperance reform force

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762 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

of Allegany county. At one time he headed the county ticket as
candidate for member of Assembly, and will be long remember-
ed throughout the county for his temperance work/ The la-
mented P. A. Burdick, once a victim of strong drink, became a
temperance lecturer of national reputation, and secured two
million signatures to the pledge. Many others have, during the
history of our people in the Western Association, done valiant
work for temperance. Among them mention ought to be made
of Mr. G. H. Lyon and son Paul, of Bradford, Pa. Converts
to the Sabbath and always lone Sabbath-keepers, civil en-
gineers of ability, they have been among the foremost of that
strong and unusually large and influential company in
McKean county, Pa., who have waged war against the saloon.
Aggressive to a fault even, they have spent much time and
many hundred dollars in this fight.

CIVIL AND MILITARY AFFAIRS.

Christians make the best citizens. Seventh-day Baptist
Christianity, requiring self-sacrifice for principle's sake, is par-
ticularly adapted to the producing of good citizens, and such
it has done in the churches of the Western Association.

Not many great, not many wise have been called to high
office, yet it ought to go on record, to be handed down to
Seventh-day Baptists of the coming centuries, that our fathers,
who composed these churches in the first century of their
existence, were, in their day, the bone and sinew of the
civil fabric and were respected as such.

The following persons have held official positions in the
counties mentioned: Clark Crandall, of Alfred, was one of
the earliest members of the state legislature from Steuben
and Allegany counties. D. E. Maxson, D. D., then of Alfred,
and W. W. Crandall, M. D., of Andover, served one term each
as assemblyman from Allegany, and A. B. Cottrell, of Rich-
burg, two terms. In Potter county. Pa., Dea. W. H. Hydorn,
of the First Hebron church, was county treasurer, one term,
and S. P. Reynolds sheriff, one term. Wm. R. Greenman,
of the East Hebron church, was county commissioner, one
term, and E. M. Eaton, M. D., of Ulysses, a non-resident

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 763

member of the Independence church, served one term in the
Pennsylvania Legislature.

Only one church (Shiloh, near Meadville, Penn.) was
formed prior to the War of 1812. It is recorded that a large
number from this church participated in this conflict against
the British, but no definite data are available. The settlement
at Alfred was well commenced at this time, and it is recorded
of them that a number went to the front, some never to return.
Clark Crandall, who was afterward a member of the state
legislature, served in this war as captain and rose to die
rank of brigadier-general.

As early as 1843 the Association passed strong resolu-
tions against slavery. In the agitation that followed for the
next twenty years, our people took a prominent part, both
privately and publicly, and when the Civil War finally came,
they were among the first to enlist. Alfred University, as
well as every church, was alive with patriotism. There were
collected in the churches at home, hundreds of dollars' worth
of provisions and other necessaries for hospitals and battle-
field, and sent to the authorities to be there used.

In the minutes of the Association for 1866, is given, by
churches, the names of Sabbath-keeping soldiers who sers'^ed
in the Union army^ The list includes those from eleven
churches, and I have secured that of another (First Alfred),
making twelve of the seventeen churches in the Association
at that time. The list, of itself, is full of pathetic interest,
but cannot be given here. At the breaking out of the war these
twelve churches reported 1,092 resident members, while 283
Sabbath-keeping soldiers were sent by them into the conflict
for human liberty and the preservation of the Union. These
were not all church members, but are reported as Sabbath-
keepers in the communities of the several churches. From
these figures it will be seen that the Western Association
made as an offering to the Federal Government an enormous
percentage of its membership.

PASTORS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

At the semi-centennial of the Western Association, Eld.
Chas. A. Burdick read a biographical sketch of nearly every

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764 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

deceased pastor of the association. This was a most valuable
paper and was published in a pamphlet with the other semi-
centennial papers. Space forbids an attempt of this kind in
this sketch, but below is given a list of the pastors of the As-
sociation, the churches each has served and the date of pastor-
ate. The dates, being taken largely from the annual reports,
will not be accurate to months, but will indicate who have led
our forces:

\ James Dunn — Shiloh, Crawford Co., Pa.

John Bliss— Fox, Clearfield Co., Pa.

Daniel Babcock, Richard Hull, Amos Satterlee — Alfred. Were
never elected pastors but for -many years performed many of the
duties of a pastor.

John Green — Friendship, 1826-31.

W. B. Gillette—Friendship, 1832-39, 1874-81; Portville and West
Genesee, 1873-74.

N. V. Hull— Clarence, 1833-46; First Alfred, 1846-81.

J. R. Irish — Alfred, 1839-45; Second Alfred, 1857-58; Cussewago
and Hayfield, 1864-69.

Henry P. Green— First Genesee, 1835-48; Third Genesee, 1848-58.

Ray Green — Second Alfred, 1832-43; Scio (afterwards Willing),
1843-46 ; Persia, 1846. .

Stillman Coon — Independence, 1835-40.

Job Tyler — Hayfield, some time before 1836-41.

David Clawson — Third Genesee, 1837.

Zuriel Campbell— Friendship, 1837-44; Richburg, 1845; Third
Genesee, 1858-59.

James L. Scott — Richburg, 1841-44; First Genesee, 1846-47.

T. B. Brown— Hayfield, 1840-45; First Genesee, 1854-77.

Thos. E. Babcock— Persia, 1844-45; Richburg, 1846-47; Independ-
ence, 1847-55; Ulysses, 1850-51.

James H. Cochran— Second Alfred, 1840-45; 1847-48; Clarence,
1846.

Rowse Babcock — Hebron and Ulysses, 1845-46; Amity and Scio,
1848-51 ; Clarence and Darien and Cowelsville, 1852-53.

L. D. Ayers — Third Genesee, 1844-47.

A. A. F. Randolph— Friendship, 1843; Hayfield, 1846-51; Cusse-
wago, 1855-59.

S. S. Griswold— First Genesee, 1843-45; Independence, 1845-48.

Leman Andrus— Pendleton, 1844-52; Richburg, 1853-67; Friend-
ship, 1864-65.

Hiram Cornwall— Hartsville, 1847-49; Second Genesee, 1855.

James Bailey — First Genesee, 1848-53.

P. S. Crandall— Second Genesee, 1853.

Hiram W. Babcock— Hebron and Ulysses, 1852-55.

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 765

Joel C. West— Friendship, 1858-62; West Genesee, 1862-63.

J. Kenyon— Second Alfred, 1851-55; Independence, 1855-80; Scio,
1880; Andover, 1881-82.

H. P. Burdick— Hartsville, 1852-60, 1876; Portville and Shingle
House, 1883-84.

L. M. Cottrell— Persia, 1853; Hebron Center and Oswayo, 1874-
75; Stannard's Corners, 1876.

Chas. Rowley— Amity (now Scio), 1854-77.

Nathan Wardner— -Second Alfred, 1859-66.

A. A. Lewis — Qarence, Pendleton and Darien and Cowelsville,
186Q-61.

Chas. A. Burdick— Second Genesee, 1860-61 ; Portville, Bells Run,
First Hebron and Hebron Centre, i88o-ft; Friendship, 1882-86.

Wm. C. Kenyon— Hartsville, 1861-65.

Geo. J. Crandall— Third Genfesee, 1865-68; Richburg, 1868-75.

L. A. Platts— Friendship, 1867-68; Hornellsville, 1887-89; Andover,
1892-96.

S. R. Wheeler— First Hebron, 1867-68.

J. Allen— Hartsville, 1868-69.

B. F. Rogers— Second Alfred, 1869; Friendship, 1872-73.
L. R. Swinney— Second Alfred, 1870-77.

Stephen Burdick — Third Genesee and Portville, 1870; Andover,
1897 to date; Scio, 1898- 1900; Wellsville, 1899 to date.

D. K, Davis— Hartsville, 1870-74. ^

H. B. Lewis — Cussewago, 1871 ; Friendship, 1889-90.

H. E. Babcock — Hebron and Hebron Centre, 1871.

T. R. Williams— Andover, 1873-80; Hornellsville, 1878-80; First
Alfred, 1883-92.

J. L. Huffman — Third Genesee and Portville, 1873-74.

James Summerbell — Richburg and Bells Run, 1876-82; Second
Alfred, 1880-89.

U. M. Babcock— Hartsville, 1887, 1897; Scio, and Stannard*s
Comers, 1878.

W. H. Ernst— West Genesee and Portville, 1878-79.

A. H. Lewis— Second Alfred, 1878-79.

M. S. Wardner— First Genesee, 1880-81.

D. E. Maxson— Second Alfred, 1880-82; Hartsville, 1885-90.

.1. L. Cottrell— Hartsville, 1880; Independence, 1881-83; Hartsville
and Hornellsville, 1899 to date.

G. P. Kenyon — West Genesee, 1880-82; First Hebron and Hebron
Centre, 1883-84; 1897-99; iQOi to date; Shingle House, 1885-96; Port-
ville, 1891-96.

C. M. Lewis— First Alfred, 1882.

W. C. Titsworth— First Alfred, 1883-88.

J. E. N. Backus— Richburg, 1883-84; Independence, 1885-86.

E. A. Witter— Andover, 1884-86; West Genesee and Portville,
1886-87.

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766 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Geo. W. Burdick— First Genesee, 1883-93.

A. A. Place — Scio, 1883-94.

Perie F. Randolph— Hornellsville, 1885.

B. E, Fisk—Richburg, 1885-92.

E. H. Socwell— Andover, 1886-88.

L. C. Rogers— Elmira, 1886; Friendship, 1877-88; Second Alfred,
1890-94.

L. E. Livermore— Wellsville, 1886-88.

H. D. Clarke — Independence, 1887-92.

Joshua Clarke— Andover and Wellsville, 1889-93.

J. T. Davis — Hornellsville and Hartsville, 1890-93.

M. B. Kelly— Friendship, 1892-95; Hartsville, 1896; Hornellsville,
1896-98; Second Alfred, 18^7-98.

B. C. Davis — First Alfred, 1893-95.

M. G. Stillman — Richburg, 1892-95.

S. S. Powell— First Genesee, 1894-98.

Geo. B. Shaw — Hartsville and Hornellsville, 1894-95; Friendship,
1896-97.

Henry L. Jones— Wellsville, 1894-96; Scio, 1895.

Madison Harry — Independence, 1894-95.

A. P. Ashurst — Second Alfred, 1895-96.

A. Lawrence — First Hebron and Hebron Centre, 1895; Rich-
burg, 1896.

J. L. Gamble — First Alfred, 1896-99.

Wm. L. Burdick — Independence, 1896 to date.

W. D. Burdick— Friendship, 1897 to date.

O. S. Mills— Richburg, 1897-99.

J. G. Mahoney — Portville and Shingle House, 1898-99; Portville
and Richburg, 1900-1901.

D. B. Coon — First Genesee, 1899 to date.

F E. Peterson— Second Alfred, 1899 to date.

L. C. Randolph— First Alfred, 1900 to date.

Henry N. Jordan — Scio, 1901 to date.

MINISTERS WHOM THE CHURCHES OF THE WESTERN

ASSOCIATION HAVE GIVEN TO THE

DENOMINATION.

First Alfred — Daniel Babcock, Richard Hull, Spencer Sweet, Jloy
Green, Nathan V. Hull, Varnum Hull, O. P. Hull, Hamilton Hull,
Jonathan Allen, P. S. Crandall Nathan Wardner, O. D. Sherman,
J. G. Burdick, E. P. Saunders.

Second Alfred — Stephen Burdick, A. A. Lewis.

Friendship— Walter B. Gillette, A. A. F. Randolph, James L.
Scott, T. L. Gardiner.

Independence — L. E. Livermore.

First Genesee — H. P. Greene.

Richburg— Rowse Babcock,- 1. L. Cottrell, G. M. CottrelL

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WESTERN ASSOCIATION.

767

Clarence— James H. Cochran, T. R. Williams.
Persia— Russell G. Burdick, Oscar Babcock, Geo. C. Babcock,
Thos. E. Babcock, Chas. P. Rood.
Scio— A. A. Place.
First Hebron — William L. Burdick.
Willing (formerly called Scio) — Charles Rowley.
Portville — S. L. Maxson.
Third Genesee — A. G. Crofoot.
Pendleton — ^Leman Andrus.
Hartsville — H. P. Burdick, Hiram Cornwell.
Wellsville — Henry L. Jones.

FOREIGN MISSIONARIES WHO HAVE BEEN SELECTED
FROM THE WESTERN ASSOCIATION.

First Alfred — Nathan Wardner, Susie M. Burdick.
Independence — Olive (Forbes) Wardner, Lucy (Green) Randolph.
Friendship — Sarah (Gardiner) Davis.

Digitized by VjOOQIC

768

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

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Digitized by VjOOQIC

WESTERN ASSOCIATION.

769

TABLE SHOWING MODERATORS AND SECRETARIES OF THE WEST-

ERN ASSOCIATION AND THE CHURCH WITH WHICH

EACH ANNUAL SESSION HAS BEEN HELD.

YEAR. I

MODERATOR.

1836

Friendship

First Alfred

Qarence

Stillman Coon

T. P. Livermore
W. B. Gillette

1837

N. V. Hull

1838

Stillman Coon

T. H. Cochran

1839

First Genesee

N. V. Hull

J. R. Irish

1840

Persia

Daniel Babcock

Edwin Stillman

I84I

FirstAlfred

Hayficld

N. V. Hull

Edwin Stillman

A. A. F. Randolph ....

T. B. Brown

1843

First Alfred

J. H. Cochran

W. P. Langworthy

X844

First Genesee t . . . .

Second Alfred

N. V. Hull

Nathan Maxson

iiti

N. V. Hull

C. D. Langworthy

Clarence

Leman Andrus

E. A. Green

\t!^

Independence

Richtrarg

First Alfred

N. V. Hull

Leman Andrus

E. A. Green
T. E. Babcock

1849

N. V. Hull

E. A. Green

X850

Friendship

Second Alfred

Tames Bailey

A. C. Burdick

J85X

'. B. Cottrell

E. A. Green

185 J

First Alfred

T Allen

A. C. Burdick

1853

Independence

Tames Bailey

D. E. Maxson

E. A. Green

1854

First Alfred

E. R. Clarke

185s

Richburg

T. Allen

N. V. Hull

E. A. Green «

1856

Second Alfred

E. A. Green

1857

First Genesee

J, R. Irish

D. E. Maxson

E. A. Green

1858

Cussewa^o

E. A. Green

1P.59

Friendship

E. A. Green

D. E. Maxson

i860

Hartsvfllc

D. E. Maxsim

D. R. Stillman

1861

Third Genesee

D. R. Stillnian

E. R. Qarke

1862

Independence

E. R. Oarke

E. A. Green

1863

First Alfred

Nathan Wardner

E. R. Clarke

1864

Richburg

E. R. Clarke

E. A. Green

X865

Second Alfred

D. R. Stillman

A. C. Burdick

1866

First Genesee

D. R. Stillman

A. C. Burdick

1867

Cussewago

N. V. Hull

A. C. Burdick

1868

Friendship

D. R. Stillman

L. A. Platts

X869

Independence

E. R. Qarke

Mark Sheppard

1870

Hartsville

B. F. Langworthy

Mark Sheppard

1871

First Alfred

Third Genesee

T. Allen

L. R. Swinney
D. R. Stillman

1872

L. R. Swinney

1873

Richbnrg

D. K. Davis

T. L. Gardiner

1874

Second Alfred

G. T. Crandall

B. F. Rogers

J. L. Huffman

1875

First Genesee

0. D. Sherman

1876

Friendship

0. D. Sherman

M. S. Wardner

1877

Independence

0. D. Sherman

U. M. Babcock

1878

First Alfred

A. H. Lewi'

T. M. Moshcr
M. S. Wardner

1«79

Richbtirg

Hartsrille

T. R. Williams

1880

M. S. Wardner

I. L. Cottrell

x88i

Scio

Chas. A. Burdick

I. L. Cottrell

1882

Second Alfred

First Genesee

I. L. Cottrell

B. E. Fisk

1883

D. E. Maxson

S. L. Maxson

1884

First Alfred

Chas. A. Burdick

L. E. Livermore

J885

Friendship . . . .«

H. C. Coon

J. E. N. Backus
J. E. N. Backus

1886

Independence

Richburg

L. E. Livermore

X887

E. R. Crandall

fc. W. Lewis

1888

First Genesee

D. R. Stillman

G. W. Lewis

X889

Friendship

Daniel Whitford

G. W. Lewis

1890

Independence

H. L. Tones

D. R. Stillman

J. A. Platts
Wm. L. Burdick

1891

Second Alfred

1892

Genesee

Wm. L. Burdick

H. D. Carke

1893

Friendship

L. C. Rogers

L. A. Platts

1895

L. C. Rogers

M. B. Kelly »
G. B. Shaw

First Alfred .;:;;;:.*....

S. S. Powell

I89S

First Genesee

Wm. L. Burdick

E. B. Davis

\n^

Second Alfred

H. P. Burdick

J. B. Whitford

Friendship

U. M. Babcork

W. C. Whitford

1899

Independence

Chas. Stillman

L. C. Livermore

1900

First Genesee

L L. Cottrell

Chas. Stillman

1901
1902 1

Second Alfred

0. M. Burdick

Bertha E. Langworthy

Friendship

L. C. Randolph

H. N. Jordan

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THE NORTHWESTERN
ASSOCIATION

Digitized by VjOOQIC

RKV. NATHAN WARDNER, D. D.
Sec Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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THE NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION.

Rev. Lewis A. Platts, D. D.

At the soth anniversary of the Northwestern Associa-
tion held in Albion, Wis., in June, 1896, the late President
William C. Whitford presented an able paper, giving a history
of the body for the first half century of its existence. The
present writer has made large use of that paper, which was
published as part of the minutes of that year. In fact, he
has used a considerable part of it as it was then published,
changing some paragraphs to adapt them to present condi-
tions, omitting others, adding an introduction and bringing
the history down to the session of 1902.

The first Sabbath-keepers in the northwest were emi-
grants from Allegany county. New York, who settled on Du
Lac Prairie, in the town of Milton, in 1838. They were prin-
cipally the members of two families, that of Mr. Joseph Good-
rich, and that of Mr. Henry B. Crandall. A few young peo-
ple accompanied one or the other of these families, or came
a few months later. Among Jhese may be mentioned John
W. Stillman and Mr. James Pierce. These pioneers as-
sembled for worship in the house of Mr. Joseph Goodrich on
the first Sabbath after their arrival. From that day to the
present, such appointments have been regularly maintained.
On the 1 2th of November, 1840, these Sabbath-keepers were

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774 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

organized into a Seventh-day Baptist church, the first church
of that faith west of Lake Michigan. It had fifty-two charter
members, several of whom are still living, and two of whom
have continued their membership unchanged until the present
time.

In January, 1843, thirty Sabbath-keepers "living on the
west side of Rock river," most of them members of the
church of Milton, were organized into a church which was
for a time known as 'The Church in Dane County," and after-
ward as Albion. In December, 1845, seven members of the
Milton church living on Bigfoot Prairie, in Walworth county,
were organized into the church of Walworth.

About a year later a company of nine members of the
Milton church were given letters to unite with the Wal-
worth* church, greatly strengtliening and encouraging that
body. Thus at the end of five years after the organization
of the church at Milton, there were three Seventh-day
churches in southern Wisconsin.

At a regular meeting held September 6, 1846, the church
of Milton extended an invitation to the churches of Albion and
Walworth to join with it in the formation of an Association,
so that "the brethren from these different churches and
settlements" might more effectively "worship God and unite
their views and energies in his glorious cause." The in-
itiative in this movement was taken by the Milton church
with the feeling that, as the mother church in the "far west,"
the responsibility of unifying and strengthening these pioneer
interests naturally devolved upon her.

In 1835 the General Conference had recommended that
"all the Seventh-day Baptist churches then existing in the
United States form themselves into three Associations." This
was subsequently done, and the three bodies thus formed
were designated, respectively, the Eastern, the Central, and
the Western Associations; names by which they are still
known. When the Wisconsin churches were formed, they were
considered too far distant from western New York to be
united with the Western Association. The only way, there-
fore, in which these churches could enjoy the privileges and
benefits of associated life and work, and carry out their part

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SRVENTH DAY BAPTIST CHURCH AT MILTON. WISCONSIN.
hm»rior siiul Kxtorlor.

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 775

of the recommendation of the General Conference, was to
form an Association by themselves.

A preliminary meeting in the interest of the proposed or-
ganization was held at the home of Elder Stillman Coon,
situated at the place now known as Milton Junction. This
meeting decided to call the Association for its first session
with the Milton church, "on the Fifth-day of the week, be-
fore the second Sabbath in July, 1847, at 10* o'clock A. M.,
and to introduce the exercises with a discourse." It prepared
a written constitution to be submitted to the Association for
adoption at this regular session. The object of the organiza-
tion, as stated, was "to promote, in general, an interest in
the religion of the Bible, and in particular, the observance of
the Seventh-day Sabbath, both within our borders and in the
world'' at large. Articles of this Constitution provided for
annual meetings of the Association; statistical returns from
the churches; the usual officers of such a body, with their
duties clearly defined; the opportunity, when desired by any
member, for a question under consideration to be decided
by the churches represented, each church to be entitled to one
vote; and for revision or amendment at any regular meeting.
This constitution was laid before the three churches prior to
the regular session of the Association, and their approval or
disapproval of it was solicited. They promptly accepted it
at their business meetings, as follows: Albion, February 21;
Milton, May 2 ; and Walworth, June 18 — all in 1847.

ASSOCIATION ORGANIZED.

According to the decision of the preliminary meeting, the
first regular session of the Association was held in the old
academy building at Milton, opening July 8, 1847. The
discourses on Sabbath-day were presented in a beautiful grove
at Rock River, a quarter of a mile east of the house of wor-
ship now belonging to the church at that place. Follow-
ing these sermons was a season of exhortation. The organi-
zation was perfected by choosing Adin Burdick, of Albion, as
moderator, and Abel D. Bond, of Milton, and Wm. ]M. Clarke,
of Walworth, as derks; and the acceptance of the constitu-
tion already described and slightly amended, and by the adop-

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jyfy SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

tion of a series of by-laws prepared at the session. This
body was denominated "The Wisconsin Seventh-day Baptist
Association." Eight delegates were present from Milton,
six from Albion, and three from Walworth. Of these seven-
teen brethren not one now survives. Among these were
Eld. Stillman Coon, Eld. Daniel Babcock, Eld. Zuriel Camp-
bell, and Dea. Wm. P. Stillman, and as messengers from the
Western Association, Eld. Thos. E. Babcock and Prof. Amos
W. Coon. Eld. Julius M. Todd, then of Milton, was elected
the recording secretary for the ensuing year; Eld. Zuriel
Campbell, the pastor of the Milton church, the corresponding
secretary ; Duty J. Green, of Albion, the treasurer ; and Wm.
H. Redfield, of Walworth, the writer of the corresponding
letter to the sister Associations. The reports from the
churches showed that Milton had ninety-seven members, Albion
seventy-nine, and Walworth fifteen* — total, one hundred and
ninety-one. The five ministers present delivered at least six
very able sermons, three of them in succession on Sabbath-day,
after lo o'clock, A. M., with only an hour's intermission
between the last two; and two of them on First-day, also in
succession. It is said that the people heard gladly these dis-
courses, though somewhat lengthy, as was the style in those
days.

Much time was given to resolutions. It is interesting
to note the subjects thus introduced at the beginning of this
organization. They related to the interests of the Seventh-
day Baptists, which have been prominently before them until
the present time. The only exception was the question of
American slavery, in reference to which it was declared
that "it is the duty of every lover of God and of humanity
to use all reasonable efforts for its immediate abolition." A
most earnest support was accorded our denominational
paper, the Sabbath Recorder; the work of our Tract Society
in publishing and circulating Sabbath literature was com-
mended ; the high and decided ground in the cause of educa-
tion taken by our people was justified by the demands of the
"political, scientific, and religious" affairs of the country ; the
action of our general Missionary Society in sending two
"brethren and their wives" to China to preach Christ to the

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. . 'J^^

heathen, was warmly approved; and our churches were re-
minded of their duty to sustain this mission by liberal con*
tributions, and to encourage it by their sympathies and their
united prayers, especially in the concert held on the first Sab-
bath of each month for that purpose; and the need of "the
cultivation of vital piety in our hearts" in order to teach and
enforce in an effective way "the principles of which the
gospel is the great embodiment/' was strongly emphasized.

CHANGES IN THE CONSTITUTION AND THE RULES OF ORDER.

In 1849 the constitution was amended by substituting
Northwestern in the place of Wisconsin, in the name of the
Association. This was done with the expectation of receiv-
ing into membership the churches of our people organized
afterwards in other states and territories in the West. In
the following year the time of holding the annual sessions
was changed from the first week in July to near th^ beginning
of October; and this arrangement lasted until 1857, when the
Association adjourned to meet on the Fifth-day of the week
before the last Sabbath in June following. This order was
generally maintained until 1893. ^^ ^^^ previous year this
body resolved to ask the other Associations to hold their
sessions each a week earlier in May and June than then
held, so that the sessions of the Western and Northwestern
Associations might not come in collision, in point of time,
with the Commencement Exercises of Alfred University and
Milton College. This request was acceded to, and our ses-
sions since have begun on Fifth-day before the third Sabbath
in June.

By 1852 there was stricken out of the constitution the
statement that it was one of the objects of the Association
"to promote, in particular, the observance of the Seventh-day
Sabbath within our borders and in the world;" and there
was retained, in substance, that relating to the advancement
of "the religion of the Bible," modifying it by saying, "as
far as practicable." This comprehended, it was thought, all
then necessary to be stated. The following provisions were
added:. The churches w^re required to report annually the
statistics of their Sabbath schools and Bible classes ; no amend-

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778 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

ment to the constitution could be acjopted, except by a two-
thirds majority of the delegates present in a regular session ;
and the "one vote" to which each church was entitled, when
a question before the body was to be decided by the churches
represented, should be determined by a majority of the dele-
gates of the churches present, respectively.

The constitution thus changed remained as such until
1877, when an almost total revision of it took place. It was
somewhat longer and more explicit, and was drafted by Elder
James Bailey, the chairman of the special committee appointed
in that year for this purpose. The name became "The Sev-
enth-day Baptist Northwestern Association," which "shall be
composed of churches now composing it, and such other
churches, holding the faith of the denomination, as may
be admitted by a vote of the Association." Instead of the
general purpose assigned to this body, as stated in the former
constitution, the following article was inserted: "This Asso-
ciation may take such action as it may deem conducive to
the interest of the churches entrusted to it as associated
churches of Jesus Christ, by such means or agencies as they
may select." Each church is entitled to be represented in
any annual session of this body by "one delegate as a church,
and one additional delegate for each twenty-five members,
to be appointed by the church, either from its own member-
ship or the membership of any (other) church of the Asso^
ciation." At the session of the Association held in Wal-
worth in 1901, this provision was changed so as to read "two
delegates as a church," and "two additional delegates for each
twenty-five members," etc., thus doubling the number of dele-
gates to which each church is entitled. The officers shall
be a moderator, a clerk and his assistant, a corresponding
secretary, an engrossing clerk, and a treasurer, besides certain
executive committees. Among the duties assigned to the
moderator in the old constitution, that of having "a casting
vote in case of a tie," was very properly omitted in the
new one; for the reason that he is a member of the Asso-
ciation and therefore has a right to vote on all questions con-
sidered in its sessions. "In all contested cases, each, church
shall be entitled to as many votes as it is entitled to dele-

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w
z

D
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U
D
U

Digitized by VjOOQIC

NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 779

gates." Formerly matters of this sort could be decided
by the churches having delegates present at the sessions,
each church being entitled to only one vote. This aristocratic
feature, unbecoming a body composed of delegates chosen
mainly according to the membership of the churches, was
stricken out. What had hitherto existed as facts, were in-
cluded as new provisions; viz., "This Association shall be
an advisory body only," and not interfere "with the indepen-
dence of the churches composing it," and no church shall
be excluded except "for a radical departure from the faith
of the denomination."

By ai\ amenc^ent to the constitution in 1885, the modera-
tor and the clerks were ordered to "be elected each yfear for
the ensuing year," thus changing the practice which had ex-
isted from the beginning, of selecting these with the other
officers and standing committees, at the opening of each ses-
sion. In this same year the provision was added whicTi au-
thorized the Association to drop from its list any church^ as
being extinct, after it had been supplied for three successive
years with blanks on which to report, and it had failed to do
so in that time. In the constitution of 1877 it was pro-
vided that executive comnlittees could be appointed, such
"as may be deemed advisable for carrying on the work de-
sired by the Association." This work had previously been
done by such executive boards as the missionary, tract, and
Sabbath school. In 1880 a special committee was formed to
devise and report, at the opening of each session, a full
program of the daily exercises of the Association, at that
session. This practice was followed until 1889, when this
committee, as well as all the old executive committees, was
discontinued by the adoption of an amendment to the con-
stitution, which rejected the appointment of these, and sub-
stituted in their place the regular officers of the Association,
who, it was stated, "shall constitute the Executive Committee,
whose duty shall be to prepare programs of the annual ses-
sions, and to transact such business in behalf of the Associa-
tion as •may require action during the interim of the annual
sessions." Still the Sabbath school executive board was con-
tinued as independent of the last named executive committee.

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780 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Almost from the first, dissatisfaction with the by-laws,
or rules of order, was expressed. They were regarded as
not complete and explicit enough to guide in the transaction
of the business of the Association. In 1851 a committee,
appointed at the previous session, reported a partial revision
of these rules, which was accepted. But in 1855 a total new
series was put into operation, being very similar to that
adopted by the older Associations. It embraced full directions
for the opening and further organization of each session ; for
the daily order of business; for defining the duties of th$
moderator and the decorum of all members of the Association ;
and for the transaction of certain forms of business. With
several changes in the number and names of the standing
committees — those on obituaries, and on the nomination of
essayists, delegates to sister Associations, preacher of in-
troductory sermon, being added in 1865 — these rules of
order remained in force up to 1891, when some important
alterations occurred in the procedure of beginning and fully
organizing an annual session, and ip the list of the standing
committees. There was added the report of the Executive
Committee, and omitted the nomination and election of the
moderator and the clerks of the Association in session, and
the miscellaneous communications. The committee on nom-
inations was required to name, in addition to the essay-
ists, preachers, and delegates, the officers of the Associa-
tion, the Sabbath School Board, and subsequently the Mfs-
sionary Advisory Committee, and the custodian of the tract
depository, for the ensuing year, who have since been elected
by the adoption of the report of this committee; and there
was dropped the Committee on Arrangements for Preaching,
because its duties had been assigned to the new Executive
Committee; and that on education was inadvertently omitted
for three years, beginning in 1892. The remaining portions
of the former scheme of rules were retained without any modi-
fication, except the omission of this one: "No person shall
speak without having asked and obtained leave of the mode-
rator f and the insertion of another, that a member can absent
himself from the business of the Association, when per-

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 781

mitted to do so on a motion. This would doubtless occur
when the cons^t of the moderator could not be obtained.

ADMITTING CHURCHES AND DROPPING SOME FROM THE LIST.

The Association, composed in the beginning as has al-
ready been shown, of the churches at Milton, Albion, and
Walworth, admitted six other churches into its membership
by 1856, within the first ten years of its existence. Four
of these, Christiana, later Utica (now extinct), Berlin, Da-
kota, and Rock River, are in Wisconsin ; and two, Farmington
and Southampton, are in Illinois. The smallest number of
members in one of these was eleven; the largest, seventy-
four ; and the total, two hundred and five. The Farmington
church disbanded in 1856, and was dropped by the Associa-
tion; but it was reorganized in 1872, and again .included
in the list. It now numbers only three members, and holds
no services. In the next decade, ending in 1866, ten churches
were received:, viz., Coloma and Edgerton, in Wisconsin;
Farina, in Illinois; Welton and Carlton, in Iowa; Pardee
(now Nortonville), in Kansas; and Wasioja (now Dodge
Center), Trenton, Carlston, and Transit (now New Auburn),
in Minnesota. Two of these churches had each a member-
ship of twelve, the lowest; one, seventy-eight, the highest;
and the total was two hundred and seventy-nine. Coloma
was dropped in 1863, as having disbanded; but it was re-
organized with five members in 1885, and restored to the list
two years afterwards. Edgerton was omitted, because ex-
tinct.

In the third decade, ending in 1876, sixteen churcheis were
admitted : Lima, Union, Adams and Marquette, in Wisconsin ;
Villa Ridge, Pleasant Hill, Stone Fort, Enon, Harri^burg and
Raleigh, in southern Illinois; Ebenezer, in Tennesee; Brook-
field, in Missouri; Dow Creek, in Kansas; Long Branch and
North Loup, in Nebraska ; and Alden in Minnesota. Three of
these churches had each only six members ; three each, eight ;
two, respectively forty-three and fifty-seven. Lima disbanded
and was dropped. Alden was united in 1876 with the Carl-
ston church, and was omitted in the record. Marquette was
omitted in 1878, as having ceased to report itself; but it

nigitized by VjOOQIC

782 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

was revived with nine members in 1890, and reappeared in the
list in that year.

In the fourth decade,, ending in 1886, eighteen churches
were admitted: Cartwright (since changed to Auburn), Mil-
ton Junction and Wood Lake, in Wisconsin; Chicago in
Illinois ; Jackson Center in Ohio ; Shepardsville in Kentucky ;
Mount Hecla in Texas ; De Witt and Texarkana in Arkansas ;
Delaware and Providence in Missouri; Marion in Kansas;
Orleans, Harvard and Walnut Creek, in Nebraska ; Big Sioux
in South Dakota; and Alden and Isanti in Minnesota. The
lowest membership in three churches was respectively five
and seven; the highest in two, one hundred and twenty-four
and one hundred and sixty-five; and the total was fouf hun-
dred and eighty-four. Alden was reconstituted in 1884 with
nine members, and was again added that year to the list.
The following churches were dropped as being extinct: Da-
kota, Carlston, Brookfield, Union, Dow Creek, Pleasant Hill,
Adams, Ebenezer, and Mt. Hecla — ^nine in all. The Albion
church withdrew in 1877 from the Association, and was not
again represented in its sessions by letter or delegate until
1880. The report of the special committee appointed to con-
sider the action of this church and to request it to recon-
sider its decision in the case, shows that it regarded the
expenses and labor of maintaining the Association as bur-
densome and unnecessary, and that the General Conference
was sufficiently able to care for all the interests centering
in the churches.

In the last full decade, ending with the session of 1896,
thirteen churches were received: Grantsburg in Wisconsin;
Bethel in Illinois; Louisville in Kentucky; Rose Hill and
Bulcher in Texas ; Grand Junction in Iowa ; Friend in Kansas ;
Farnam in Nebraska ; Pleasant Grove in South Dakota ; Boul-
der and Calhan in Colorado; Taney in Idaho; and Talent in
Oregon. The smallest membership in one of these churches
was three ; the largest, twenty-seven ; and the total, one hun-
dred and fifty-four. The six churches in Texas, Arkansas,
and Missouri were dismissed, to form with others the South-
western Association; and ten were dropped as extinct or
not reporting for at least three years ; viz., Enon, Harrisburg,

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 783

Raleigh, Orleans, Harvard, Walnut Creek, Alden, Wood Lake,
Taney and Friend.

In the period between 1896 and 1902, One church, that
at Holgate, Ohio, has been received, with nine members.
It has, however, been dropped from the list as it has failed
to make the required reports. It is known that on account of
some removals and some defections to the Adventists, the
organization is no longer maintained. * In June, 1901, the
church at Utica, Wis., was formally disbanded, most of
the members uniting with the churches of Albion, Milton
Junction and Milton, where they now reside.

To the three churches that formed the nucleus of the
Association, have been added sixty-four, and there have been
dropped permanently from its list thirty of these. Its present
number of churches, including the original three, is thirty-
seven.

Th^ whole number, sixty-seven, were established in six-
teen western states; and the remainder extant, in eleven of
these. Twenty-four churches are located in Wisconsin, Illi-
nois, Iowa, and Minnesota, somewhat near each other. In
five states, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and Idaho,
where the Association once had churches, at present it has
none; in five states, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas
and Nebraska, where it now has churches, it has lost nineteen ;
and in five states, Kentucky, Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado
and Oregon, it. retains all ever added to its list.

In accounting for this decrease of slightly over two-
fifths of its churches, three principal causes should be con-
sidered: First, dissensions in a few of them; second, the
smallness of the membership in a majority of them from the
beginning; and third, the neglect of the stronger churches
to continue efficient missionary work in most of them.

SOME OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

It seems that the organization of the Association was
due largely to the efforts of Elder Stillman Coon. He had a
voice in the drawing and adoption of the first constitution
and by-laws; he opened its first regular session with prayer,
intrcKjuced leading motions for the transaction of business,

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784 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

and preached one of the Sabbath morning discourses. In
the first eighteen sessions he served five times as moderator.
He had filled the same position in the first regular meeting
of the Western Association in 1836. In one instance this
body chose as this officer a person who was not a member of
any of its churches; viz., Elder Lucius Crandall, a delegate
from the Eastern Association. Elder Vamum Hull was cor-
responding secretary several times in the first ten years. Elder
Thomas E. Babcock was, in the second decade and in quick
succession, moderator, corresponding secretary, preacher of
the introductory sermon, and delegate to sister Associations.
Elder Darwin E. Maxson was usually elected to one or the
other of the first two of these positions. Latterly, Elder
Nathan Wardner and Elder Simeon H. Babcock have filled
the first oftener than any other person. Elder Elston M.
Dunn served in all positions except that of the engrossing
clerk. Deacon Lester T. Rogers has held all of the offices
except the preacher of the introductory sermon and delegate
to other Associations; and since i860 he has been most of the
time the engrossing clerk, and performed its duties in a most
acceptable manner. The records of the proceedings of this
organization almost from the beginning have been procured
by him and written out in an exceedingly neat, accurate and
permanent form. Prior to 1877 Elder James C. Rogers
was treasurer for several years ; and since the following year,
Dea. Wm. B. West has efficiently acted as such the greater
share of the time. For a number of years past the selecting
of moderator has been made from the younger men of the
Association, and to some extent from the laymen. The ap-
pointment of the delegate to the sister Associations, as well
as of the preachers of the introductory sermons, has been
quite evenly distributed, usually among the pastors of our
churches.

CHURCHES WITH WHICH ANNUAL SESSIONS HAVE BEEN HELD.

The first twelve sessions of the Association were held with
five churches in Wisconsin; the thirteenth, with the South-
ampton in Illinois ; the fifteenth, with the Welton in Iowa ; the
twenty-fifth, with the Farina in Illinois; the thirtieth, with
the Dodge Center in Minnesota; the thirty-fourth with the

(49)

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 785

Jackson Center in Ohio; the thirty-seventh, with the Norton-
ville in Kansas; the fortieth, with the Carlton in Iowa; the
forty-fifth, with the North Loup in Nebraska; and the fifty-
first, with the New Auburn in Minnesota. Of the fifty-six ses-
sions, two have been held in Nebraska, one in Kansas, two in
Ohio, four in Minnesota, five in Iowa, nine in Illinois, and
thirty-three in Wisconsin. Of the thirty-three sessions held in
Wisconsin, Berlin and Milton Junction have each entertained
the Association once. Rock River twice, Utica four times, Wal-
worth eight, Albion seven, and Milton ten.

DISTRIBUTION AND MEMBERSHIP OF THE CHURCHES.

Within twenty-five years after the formation of this body,
churches had been added to it in southern and central Wis-
consin, in northern central and southern Illinois, in north-
em central Missouri, in eastern Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska,
and in southeastern Minnesota. They were thus grouped to-
gether in nine sections of the country, some of them hundreds
of miles apart, and several of them in a single section not
nearer than thirty to sixty miles of each other. In the last
thirty-one years all of the churches have been located in
a region stretching from Ohio and Kentucky to Colorado,
Oregon, and including an area, not even embracing Oregon
and Idaho, over twice the size of a territory that could be
formed from the square miles within the limits of the five
other Associations. In that time the number of churches
has ranged from one-half to two-thirds as many as those be-
longing to the other Associations; and the number of com-
municants has been about one-half. At the first, as has been
seen, the membership of our churches was one hundred and
ninety-one; at the end of twenty-five years it was two thou-
sand one hundred and forty-three; at the end of fifty years,
it was two thousand seven hundred and two; and at the
present time, it is two thousand seven hundred and one.
Much the larger increase occurred, therefore, in the earlier
history of the Association; and this was due chiefly to the
more numerous arrivals from the eastern churches into the
sections of the Northwest above mentioned.

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786 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS OF OUR CHURCHES.

It was natural that these churches, in the process of or-
ganization and growth in pioneer settlements, and also widely
separated in most cases from each other, should not be
satisfied with a single general session of their own in a year,
and one which could be attended by only a very small por-
tion of its members. So, all through the history of the
Association, movements haVe been inaugurated and main-
tained in holding stated quarterly, semi-annual, and annual
meetings of churches located somewhat near each other, in
sections within the bounds of the Association. In its very
first session, it recommended "that quarterly meetings for
religious worship" be sustained by the churches thus united
together, and that the first "be holden with the church at
Albion, commencing on the evening before the second Sab-
bath in October next, and then adjourned to such time and
place as a majority of the brethren present shall think best."
In the following year, 1848, the Association, in its annual
session, ordered that these "Quarterly Meetings be recognized
as meetings of this Association, and that they shall be com-
petent to dispose of the reports of the Executive Committees"
in charge of its missionary and tract operations. It further
ordered these committees to "report quarterly" to these meet-
ings. It seems that this arrangement was not satisfactory to
these committees, as they appear to have preferred to make
only yearly reports at the regular sessions of the Association ;
and so these quarterly gatherings were discontinued within
three years.

Near the beginning of December, 1856, Rev. W. C.
Whitford, then pastor of the Milton church, having learned
of the failure just described, and believing that a similar eflFort
could be sustained, and having in view the advancement of
the spiritual interests and the strengthening of the fellow-
ship of the churches in southern Wisconsin, asked the mem-
bers of the Milton church to invite, in an informal way, the
Utica, Albion, and Rock River churches to hold with it the
first of a series of quarterly meetings for preaching by their
pastors, and for prayer and religious conference by all their
^members in attendance. He soon visited Elders Zuriel Camp-

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 787

bell and Russell G. Burdick, then supplying the Utica church,
Elder Thomas E. Babcock, pastor of the Albion church, and
Elder Varnum Hull, pastor of the Rock River church, and
arranged with them to assist in forming the organization.
Accordingly, such a meeting was held at Milton about the
middle of the succeeding February, and the services were
conducted on Sabbath and First-days. The Milton church
was in the midst of an interesting revival work, which was well
promoted by the brethren and sisters of the other churches
present. Thence this body adjourned to convene with the
Albion church, beginning its exercises on Sixth-day evening
before the third Sabbath in May following; thence with the
Rock River, and subsequently with the Utica churches. Be-
fore the close of 1857, the Walworth church, with Elder O.
Perry Hull as pastor, joined this movement. The Edgerton
church, on being constituted in 1859, did the same; and such
was the case with the Milton Junction church in 1878. The
Chicago church was received into membership in i8gi. The
Edgerton church became extinct six years after its formation.
All these churches, except Chicago, have each in turn been
favored with sessions of this quarterly meeting, thus ex-
isting now forty-five years. In all this time these gather-
ings have been the means of greatly quickening the religious
life of all who have immediately felt their influence. They
have also lessened misunderstandings in communities at ri-
valry in attempts to induce settlers to find homes in their
midst, and to gain control of the general interests of the
Association. They have furnished occasions, in several in-
stances, for starting or increasing the revival spirit in their
churches. This was notably the case at Milton in 1857, as
already stated, and at Albion, Rock River, and Walworth
in the following twelve months, when to these four churches,
two hundred and seventy-two members were added. Usually,
at these meetings, the executive board in charge of the mis-
sionary work in the earlier years of the Association, assembled
and transacted its business. Collections of money to aid the
work were taken up. Later, with them, the Sabbath school
institutes, conducted by another board of the Association, were
sometimes held.

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788 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Also in 1857, quarterly meetings, with four months be-
tween them, were established in central Wisconsin. The
first session was held with the Berlin church, opening Sixth-
day evening, January 9th, of that year, and continuing through
the following two days. The pastor of the church, Elder
Julius M. Todd, wrote, "The meeting has been a great bene-
fit to us as a people." The second session convened with
the Coloma society, on Burr Oak Prairie, and was well at-
tended by the brethren and sisters from other localities.
The church here was then constituted. Its missionary pastor.
Rev. Hiram W. Babcock, reported that the interest felt by the
congregation was so deep, it **was exhibited in a flow of
tears." The third session, adjourned to the Dakota church,
lasted three days. Elder George C. Babcock, then its preach-
er, said, **The Lord, we humbly trust, was with us to sanctify
and bless." As a result of "the sermons, prayers, and ex-
hortations" at that time, thirteen were soon baptized, and
others were expected to follow their example. This church
was strengthened by the addition of twenty-four members.
These quarterly meetings were maintained until 1862. Dur-
ing the five years in which they were held, such evidence
of the divine approval attended their exercises as the follow-
ing: "The house of worship could not contain all who as-
sembled. The preaching seemed to be in demonstration of
the Spirit, and resulted in good to the household of faith,
and awakening of the careless to a sense of their danger."
On Feb. 7, 1873, the Berlin and Dakota churches revived
the quarterly meeting, principally through the efforts of Elder
Henry B, Lewis, then their missionary pastor. This organi-
zation, alternating its sessions between these churches, was
continued somewhat irregularly at least five years. It was
aided, at times, by the preaching of Elders James Bailey,
Varnum Hull, and Nathan Wardner, from the southern Wis-
consin churches.

In 1863 the Coloma church disbanded; and in 1881, the
Dakota church had ceased to exist; and in 1884, the Berlin
church reported only nine members, and was on the verge of
extinction. By 1887, another missionary pastor was sent into
central Wisconsin, to revive the exceedingly feeble interests

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 789

among our people there. On Oct. 24th of this year, the third
quarterly meeting, composed then of the Berlin, Coloma,
and Marquette churches, was established in connection with
the first named church. By this time the Coloma church had
been reconstituted, and the Marquette church had been formed
twelve years before, but had taken little part in the work
of the Association or at this meeting. Its next session was
held with the Coloma, and the third with the Marquette
church. On the last occasion, June 3, 1888, it was then
changed to a semi-annual meeting. Ever since then, these
churches have sustained this body and made it a source of re-
newed hope and spiritual improvement.

In 1866 the Association invited the churches within its
bounds, not able to represent themselves separately by dele-
gates, to send such through their quarterly meetings. In
the following year the four churches in the Southwest, lo-
cated in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska, and the four
churches in the Northwest, located in Minnesota, were recom-
mended by the Association to form themselves into organiza-
tions auxiliary to the Association. This was the reason urged :
The effort "will bring our scattered churches more into con-
nection with each other and with this Association." There
resulted very soon the establishment of the yearly meeting
of the former churches and the semi-annual meetings of the
latter. In 1868, Elder Joel C. West, of the Trenton church,
was received as a delegate from the last named meeting.
In the following year, letters, instead of delegates, were sent
by both of these bodies. The Association in 1870, in response
to a communication from Elder Samuel R. Wheeler, pastor
of the Nortonville church, authorized Elder Nathan Ward-
ner to represent it at the next yearly meeting in the South-
west. By the next year, the annual meeting of the six
churches in southern Illinois was organized, and Elder James
Bailey, who had labored so self-sacrificingly amOng them,
was appointed by the Association to appear in its behalf at
this meeting ; Elder Varnum Hull was a delegate at the same
time to the southwestern meeting, and Elder J. E. N. Backus
to the northwestern. Subsequently, for at least seven years,
this interchange of correspondence and delegates between

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790 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS*.

these three meetings and the Association was maintained most
of the time. In 1879, the Association urged its churches to
be represented in all yearly meetings held within its limits.
All these organizations have continued their operations to the
present time, though they ceased some years since to hold,
by letter or delegate, any immediate connection with this
body. Generally they have furnished opportunities for Sab-
bath School Institutes and the Young People's Hours to be
conducted with their sessions.

It should be noticed that, with the gatherings of the
quarterly meeting of the southern Wisconsin churches, has
been held the Wisconsin ministerial conference, which was
organized at Albion, April 18, 1866, with Elder Joshua
Clarke as chairman, and Elder A. B.. Prentice as secretary.
A constitution, prepared by Elder James Bailey, was adopted,
stating that the conference should be "composed of Seventh-
day Baptist ministers in good standing, and of other per-
sons who contemplated entering the ministry;" and that its
object should be **the improvement of its members by the
discussion of religious doctrines in the form of essays, ex-
egeses, and sermons, and by the examination of any question
of practical interest to ministers in their work.'' Doctrinal
subjects were to be treated in public, but criticisms on the
style and manner of the delivery in the exercise should be
presented only in private sessions of the members. The
pastor of the church where this conference was held, acted
as chairman. At the first session an introductory sermon was
preached by Elder Stillman Coon, and the subject, "The Best
Method of Presenting Tntth,'' was suggested for discussion.
The next two sessions were held quarterly at Rock River and
Milton in 1866. In them sermons were delivered by Elder
Darwin E. Maxson on the theme, "Is Permanency in the
Pastoral Relation Best Calculated for Growth and Prosperity
of a Church;" by Elder Joshua Clark on "Reciprocal Re-
lation of Pastor and People;" and by Elder Vamum Hull
on "The Distinction between the Moral and the Ceremonial
Law." Subjects for essays were assigned Elder Hamilton
Hull on "The Best System for the Management of the
Finances of a Church ;" Elder Hiram W. Babcock on "What

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 79 1

Ccmstitutes the Initiatory Ceremony of Church Membership ;"
and Pres. Wm. C. Whitford on "The Philisophy of the
Final Punishment of the Wicked." This organization was dis-
continued after three or four sessions.

Another was formed Nov. 25, 1877, at Rock River.
It did not commit the mistake of the first in assembling
apart, in time and place, from the quarterly meeting of
these churches; and it took a permanency in the work by
adopting a more practical constitution and by-laws, and by
choosing and retaining generally for years its principal offi-
cers. Not only ministers, but laymen, and even women, be-
came members; and all participated in presenting essays,
exegeses, addresses, and criticisms. But these members were
expected to be connected with churches composing the south-
em Wisconsin quarterly meeting. All the exercises should
be public. But not until Aug. 31, 1879, at Milton, was this
body fully organized. The sessions of this conference have
usually been well attended, not only by its members, but by
other brethren and sisters of the churches with which they
have been held. The subjects presented and discussed have
been numerous, too greatly so to be given even under leading
heads; and they have helped to define and fik the religious
views, and to suggest the practical religious duties of many
persons. The latter sessions have been devoted to single
topics, one to Missions, another to Education, etc.

RELATION TO THE OTHER ASSOCIATIONS.

Before this Association was organized, the Western, held
at Independence, Allegany county. New York, June 23, 1847,
having learned through Elder Daniel Babcock, who was pres-
ent from Milton, Wisconsin, that such a body was proposed
to be formed in the following month, sent delegates, whose
names have already been mentioned, to meet with the repre-
sentatives of our three churches, and to take part in their
deliberations. A letter was also forwarded, which, with the
delegates, was gladly received. In 1850 the Central Asso-
ciation in New York state chose Elder Varnum Hull as its
delegate to the Northwestern. It was but natural that these
Associations, the Western and the Central, should have a live-

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792 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

ly interest in the work of the churches which then composed this
body; the members of these churches had emigrated chiefly
from localities within their bounds, as at Alfred and Brook-
field, and in the vicinity of those towns. In 1852 Elder
Lucius Crandall represented the Eastern .Association, and he
made a deep and lasting impression upon our people and some
others who came into his presence. His sermon on the "re-
lation between the teachings of nature and the revelations
of the gospel of Christ, delivered in a grove near Albion,
were most instructive and convincing.

This Association at its first session reciprocated the friend-
ly action of the Western Association so far as to adopt a
corresponding letter to be presented at the next session of the
latter, as well as at those of the Eastern and Central; but
it did not send a delegate to participate in their proceedings
until 1854, when Elder Amos W. Coon, then preaching for
the Albion church, filled satisfactorily this position and made
his report in the following year. This body has continued to
be represented by letter ever since in the other Associations.
In the succeeding eight years it sent only three delegates,
and from 1863 it has missed only once in supplying each year,
usually one, and sometimes two such messengers at the ses-
sions of these sister bodies.

It would be interesting, if space permitted, to note, par-
ticularly from the beginning, this interchange of correspond-
ence and delegation. The effect upon the churches of our
Association has been salutary and permanent in promoting
their spiritual interests. Some of them have protested, at
times, against the expenditure of the money required in send-
ing these delegates to bodies meeting at places so distant in
the East and South ; but careful and serious consideration, on
their part, as to the influence of this arrangement upon the
brethren appointed, and as to its reflex advantages upon the
churches themselves, has repeatedly silenced all such com-
plaints. It is not difficult to account for the noticeable fact,
that twenty ministers, coming to us as delegates from the older
Associations, were subsequently called and settled as pastors
of our churches. Other prominent clergymen who were never,
either as members or pastors, connected with any churches

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 793

of this body, have been welcomed as delegates from the other
Associations, and have contributed great interest to its ses-
sions. It is noticed that there have been a number of breth-
ren whom this Association has contributed to good pastorates
in the South and East, and who have not since returned to
serve further in our own churches, but have represented here
the other Associations. As a rule, all of these delegates ap-
pearing in our sessions have been made members of the
Committee on Resolutions, and have thus introduced before
this body for consideration, very many vital questions of a
religious nature and of denominational interest.

RELATION TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE AND THE
DENOMINATIONAL SOCIETIES.

The Association, in its third session at Walworth in 1849,
applied by letter for admission as a member of the General
Conference, held that year in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. It
was received and placed on the same footing as the other
Associations. It made also an attempt to be represented then
by Elder Daniel Babcock as a delegate. A similar effort was
put forth in 185 1, to send Elder Stillman Coon the following
year to the anniversaries of our benevolent societies, which
convened at Plainfield, New Jersey. Neither of these brethren
went. But in 1854 Elder Amos W. Coon was presented,
in its behalf, at their sessions held at Little Genesee, New
York. In the following year Elder O. Perry Hull was ap-
pointed to the session of the Conference called at Leonards-
ville, New York, but he did not attend. As to representation
in that body, the Association formally approved, in 1870, of
the position it had taken in the previous fifteen years, that its
churches, and not the Association, should assume all the re-
sponsibility.

It promptly condemned, in 1869, a new constitution of
the Conference, proposed the year before, and submitted to
the churches for their rejection or ratification. It accepted
the action of the Conference, which ordered in 1874 its own
complete reorganization on the basis of another constitu-
tion then formed. It had given its approval of the new expose

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794 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS*.

of faith adopted in 1880 by that body for the churches of
the denomination. In 1872, in connection with the other
Associations, it requested the Conference to authorize the
execution of a plan, already matured, for raising that year
at least one hundred thousand dollars as a memorial fund
of the Seventh-day Baptists, for their existence in this country
during two centuries; and recommended that the avails of
this fund should be used to help principally our institutions
of learning, and incidentally in other benevolent opera-
tions, according to the wishes of the contributors. It
has always assented to the decisions and recommendations of
the Conference in all respects, and carefully discussed the
subjects presented by that body for consideration. It appoint-
ed, in 1884, a committee to urge upon **the coming Confer-
ence" the feasibility of establishing headquarters in the New
Orleans Exposition, opened late that year, for the dissemi-
nation of our views as Sabbath-keepers among the people of
the South and Southwest. This action doubtless suggested
the successful efforts of our Tract Society and the Conference
in the distribution of a large amount of our publications at
the World's Fair in Chicago, and at the Southern Exposition
in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Association has always maintained the closest rela-
tionship to all our benevolent operations. In its first session,
it resolved to approve and support earnestly the Sabbath Re-
corder as the denominational organ, the work of the Tract
Society in publishing and circulating Sabbath literature, the
action of the Missionary Society in sending the four brothers
and sisters to China to preach Christ to the heathen, the ap-
pointment of the monthly concert of prayer for the success
of this mission, and the movement of our people in various
places in taking "high and decided ground in the cause of
education." The project of establishing missionary opera-
tions in Palestine on a new and untried scheme, was sanc-
tioned by the Association in a subsequent session, and it voted
to change the regulations of its Executive Board so that it
could correspond and co-operate with the denominational Mis-
sionary Society in carrying on its enterprises in both the
foreign and home fields. It has frequently welcomed the

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 795

agents of the Missionary and Tract Boards, and accorded them
a prominent hearing in its sessions. As early as 1853, Elder
Wm. M. Jones and wife, who had been separated from a mis-
sion on the island of Hayti because of their conversion to the
Sabbath, and who had been selected by our people to labor
in Palestine, were most cordially received as representing the
former board. The same was the case in 1856 with Mrs.
Olive B. Wardner, and in the following year with Elder
Nathan Wardner, and in 1891 with Elder David H. Davis,
and in 1896 with Miss Susie M. Burdick, and in 1901 with
Dr. Rosa Palmborg, all returned missionaries from Shanghai,
China. From 1855 to 1870, Elder George B. Utter, the editor
of our principal paper, visited the Association four times, ex-
plaining the condition of our tract and publishing operations,
and soliciting sympathy and aid for these causes. Subse-
quently Elders Arthur E. Main and Oscar U. Whitford, the
corresponding secretaries of the general Missionary Society,
have had charge of the missionary hour at diflFerent sessions,
and thus aroused a stronger desire in our churches to be con-
nected more fully with the work of that Society. After this
Association had struggled heroically for twenty-eight years to
help the feeble Sabbath-keeping communities in the West, and
borne this burden most successfully by itself for a time and
afterwards in union with the general Missionary Board, it
finally was led to surrender this charge entirely into the hands
of the latter. For nine years past it has chosen a missionary
advisory committee to consult with this Board in regard to
the needs of evangelistic work within its bounds, and espe-
cially in regard to the support of its small churches. Late in
the seventies and early in the eighties it most earnestly re-
quested' this Board, once to resume, and repeatedly to increase
effective operations in strengthening the destitute churches
formerly under its care, and to give especial attention to the
scattered Sabbath-keeping families and the new societies be-
ing formed in the Northwest. Since that time it has rejoiced
to find its claims upon this Board more fully heeded and ex-
ecuted.

Since Elder Utter ceased to attend our sessions the sub-
ject of supporting our denominational publications has been

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796 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

ably presented, at various times, by such agents of the Tract
Board as Elder J. Bennett Clarke, then its corresponding sec-
retary, Elder Lewis A. Platts, then the editor of the Sabbath
Recorder, Elder Leander E. Livermore, then its Secretary,
later the editor of the Sabbath Recorder, and Elder A'. Her-
bert Lewis, senior editor of The Evangel and Sabbath Out-'
look, at the head of our Sabbath Reform movement, and now
editor of the Sabbath Recorder and the Sabbath of Christ.
When this Board had abandoned, in 1871 and 1877, all its
operations in the Northwest, the Association called upon it
to reoccupy the ground, and to prosecute thereon most vigor-
ous work. In 1880 this body chose a committee to super-
intend for three or four years, in connection with this Board,
meetings in a tent for the presentation of Sabbath truth in
several northwestern states. About the same time it asked
that a depository of works on the Sabbath, and other publica-
tions, be kept at some easily accessible place within its terri-
tory. In 1880' it suggested to this Board the utility of having
prepared and published "awakening and religious tracts" for
distribution among unrenewed persons outside of our Sab-
bath-keeping families. Beginning in 1865, Elder James Bailey,
sometimes working for the Missionary Society, sometimes for
the Tract Society, and sometimes on his own responsibility,
performed a magnificent service for over twenty years, in
the formation of churches and in the spread of the Sabbath
doctrine at many points in central Wisconsin, southern Illi-
nois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and
South Dakota. In his indefatigable and discreet efforts, this
body gave him cheering and grateful recognition. By 1886
it heartily accepted the movement, originating within its
bounds, to form an associational woman's committee, to
operate finally with an executive board appointed by the Gen-
eral Conference in soliciting funds and in arousing a deeper
interest for the missionary and tract work. It has, again
and again, commended to its churches the decided action taken
by the Conference, and particularly of our Education So-
ciety, in founding and sustaining the principal schools of
our people, now three colleges and the theological seminary
of Alfred Universitv.

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CHURCH AT DODGE CENTRK MINNESOTA.

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 797

SABBATH SCHOOL AND BIBLE CLASS INSTRUCTION.

It was expected that the Association would early feel a
deep interest in this work. The first church within its bounds
ori^nated from a society of twenty-two Sabbath-keepers,
formed at Milton, Wisconsin, March 9, 1839, a year and eight
months before the church at that place was organized. The
principal feature of this society was a Bible Class, of which
the whole company, young and old, were active members, and
which met weekly on the Sabbath during this formative per-
iod. The churches at Albion and Walworth had, before the
Association was established, committed themselves to the same
instruction. The Milton church, on February 2, 1842, then
the only Seventh-day Baptist church in the Northwest, voted
that it highly approves of the support of the Bible Class,
and that it recommends its members to endeavor to have
their children attend to the study of the Scriptures.

The Association at its session of 1849 appointed, on the
motion of Elder Julius M. Todd, a committee, of which he was
made a member, with Elder Stillman Coon and Thomas
Coon, "to mature a plan of Sabbath-school operation and to
present the same to the several churches and societies in this
Association." In the following year, when the Berlin church
was admitted with Elder Todd as its pastor, it reported that
it was conducting "a very interesting Sabbath-school, in which
we hope to be instrumental in planting in the youthful mind
that knowledge which will eventually lead the sinner to
Christ." It is not surprising that this new church wrote, at
the same time, "We would, with gratitude, acknowledge a
precious work of grace in our little society during the past
winter." In the next five years, the Association urged its
churches to sustain sufficient Sabbath schools as "a means of
grace to the young;" and it requested its churches, when not
favored with preaching, to meet in Bible classes on the Sab-
bath. It received returns, which showed such instruction to
be maintained in all its churches, and which gave, in compli-
ance with an amendment to its constitution, the statistics of
their Sabbath schools in respect to the names of the superin-
tendents and the number of the scholars. Shortly afterwards

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798 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

It declared that "the Sabbath-school is an institution to which
our Churches must look hopefully for future accessions"
to their membership; that they are "under most sacred obli-
gations to sustain" such schools, and "to encourage them in
every possible manner;" and that, in all its general meetings,
"no pains should be spared" to strengthen "the schools of the
Churches with which such meetings are held."

In 1863, in view of "the increasing interest" manifested
in the Association in respect to this instruction, it recom-
mended the employment of a Sabbath school missionary
agent, for the purpose of visiting all its churches, in order
to aid in improving their schools of this kind, to establish
such where none existed, and "to organize and consolidate"
this general work throughout its limits. In that year, in con-
nection with the report of the addition of two hundred and
eighty members to the churches, it was stated that "over
five hundred children are being instructed in their Sabbath-
schools." A resolution was passed in 1865, asserting, in a
most emphatic manner, "That our future denominational suc-
cess must depend greatly upon the early conversion of our
children," and that "this end can most certainly be gained
through the instrumentality of the Sabbath-school." Some of
the ablest delegates from our churches and the other Asso-
ciations advocated this resolution. A committee was then
appointed to report on the best method of conducting such
a school. Its chairman, Elder Varnum Hull, wrote to the
Association, the following year, suggesting that "suitable
persons" should be sent "to visit the several Churches, in order
to awaken a deeper interest in their Sabbath-schools." This
suggestion was approved by the Association, which voted that
"we hail with joy the growing interest in these schools, indi-
cated by the letters from the Churches."

In 1867 a Sabbath school convention was held immedi-
ately after the adjournment of this Association, and the North-
western Sabbath school Association was formed, even to the
adoption of a constitution, the election of officers, the send-
ing out of three ministers to visit schools in our churches,
and the selection of a program for the exercises at its annual
meeting in connection with the next session of this Asso-

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 799

ciation. Elder Solomon Carpenter was the president; Elder
Darwin E. Maxson, the corresponding secretary; and Dea-
con Lester T. Rogers, the recording secretary. In the suc-
ceeding two years, our churches reported their Sabbath
school statistics to this new body. It adopted most vigorous
resolutions, which called the attention of the General Con-
ference to the demand for a denominational literature of a
grade fitted to our Sabbath schools, recommending that those
practise systematic contributions for benevolent purposes, de-
plored, the neglect of training boys to sing acceptably in the
schools, and favored the introduction of "such practical meas-
ures into our schools as will most effectively guard and pro-
tect the young from the influence and formation of the habits
of using intoxicating drinks and tobacco."

This Sabbath school Association resigned, in 1869, its
work into the hands of the general Association of the churches,
and requested it "to appoint annually an Executive Sabbath-
school Board, which shall have the Supervision of the interest
of the Sabbath-schools within its bounds, and which shall re-
port annually to the Association." Such a Board was selected,
consisting of eleven members, a majority of whom resided in
Milton. It began at once to discharge vigorously the duties as-
signed it, by settling first upon "the general principles that
should govern the organization and management of Sabtjath-
schools." It drafted a constitution embodying) these principles,
which was submitted by the Association to the several schools
for their adoption. It prepared a circular to be sent to these
schools, setting forth its views of the best riiethods of conduct-
ing them. It printed a blank report to be supplied all the
schools, indicating the exact items on which it desired their
statistics to be returned to the Association.

This Executive Board has, since 1869, been chosen an-
nually, and has consisted of different members, varying in
number, so as to be located sometimes in Minnesota, but usu-
ally in Southern Wisconsin. Under its direction the work
of teaching the children, youths and adults in our Sabbath-
schools, has made wonderful advancement. It became, for
twenty years, the chief interest fostered by the Association.
Its aims were to increase the attendance upon these schools,

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800 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

to induce all the churches to hold them through the entire
year, and to furnish means for imparting in them a fuller
and clearer knowledge of the Bible. These results were
reached, in the main part, by organizing Sabbath-school con-
ventions and institutes in connection with sessions of the Asso-
ciations, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual meetings, as well
as with the churches apart from these occasions. Up to 1887,
this plan met with marked success ; and in some years, five to
seven such gatherings were held in various parts of the North-
west, and were conducted by members of the Board and others
skilled in giving instruction in Sabbath-schools. During the
past three or four years Elder H. D. Clarke visited several
of the churches and schools in the interests of the Sabbath-
school work. In 1 88 1 George H. Babcock, of Plainfield, New
Jersey, had charge of the associational institute. The de-
nominational Sabbath-school Board has assisted in this work
two or three times. Often a full scheme of the details under
each subject to be considered, has been issued. The General
Conference has been requested to provide a complete course of
lessons on the Sabbath doctrine for our schools. A pledge was
early given to help in supporting a suitable paper, like the
Sabbath Visitor, published by our people for the children.
For several years past, the general interest of the Association
in sustaining what is called "the nursery of the Churches,"
has greatly decreased, and is now confined almost entirely to
publishing the annual statistics of the schools, and to holding a
Sabbath school hour at some of its sessions. The feeling
is growing that this work should be transferred wholly to the
care of the Sabbath school board chosen by the General Con-
ference.

ASSOCIATIONAL TRACT WORK.

In the use of well-written and popular tracts on the
Sabbath, this body has taken great interest from the^ start.
It declared at its first session, that "future generations will
call him blessed," who "interests himself in multiplying and
circulating the publications of the American Sabbath Tract
Society." At its second session a committee was appointed
to devise an eflFective plan for "tract operations" in southern
(50)

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1—4

<
o

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NORfHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 8oi

Wisconsin. Eld. Julius M. Todd was the active menibq* of this
committee ; and in compliance with their report, a Tract Board
was formed with three directors and a general agent. Next
year another Board was selected, and also a committee to solicit
funds for the purchase of the desired tracts for gratuitous
distribution. It should be observed in passing, that on this
committee was Dr. Henry Clarke, of Walworth, who was
associated, from 1821 to 1825, with Elders Wm. B. Maxson
and Eli S. Bailey, in editing and publishing the first periodical
of our people. The appointment of some one in each church
to assist in raising these funds was recommended. Elder Still-
man Coon was chosen the general agent of this Board, and con-
tinued in that position for several years. The suggestion was
adopted that **a sort of depot" should be established "within
the bounds of the Association," to keep on hand a **supply
of tracts,'* and to facilitate their circulation. In First-day
neighborhoods, not far distant from our earliest churches,
considerable inquiry in respect to **the nature and p^petuity
of God*s holy Sabbath*' was awakened at this time by lec-
tures and our publications, and some converts secured. Sub-
sequently until 1880, the Association repeatedly commended
to the members of its churches all the papers, pamphlets, and
books issued by the denomination; and in this way, it ma-
terially increased the subscriptions for these within its bounds.
It has practiced, almost from the beginning, taking up col-
lections of money at its sessions, and advised its churches to
do the same on stated Sabbaths, to aid the general tract
cause.

From 1880 to 1885 inclusive, the Association chose yearly
an Auxiliary Tract Board, the president of which, during this
time, was Elder Nathan Wardner; and the treasurer, Elder
Simeon H. Babcock. The recording and corresponding
secretary, for the last four years, was Deacon Lester T.
Rogers. A majority of the Board resided in southern Wis-
consin, and their operations were connected with those of
the general Tract Board. The name given the first year to this
organization was Tent Board, because it proposed to call the at-
tention of people to the claims of God's law, in a tent moved
from place to place within the Association. Funds to carry

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8o2 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

on this enterprise were obtained from our larger churches
by canvassing them. During the summer of 1881, Dr. Morton
S. Wardner and Elder John T. Davis were employed to speak
in the tent, and to distribute tracts on the subject of the Sab-
bath. They labored at Albert Lea and Alden, Minnesota,
and at Traer and Garwin, Iowa, and aroused in them favorable
interest in the cause. Numerous tracts were given away at
other points in these two states. In the fall of that year
an attempt was made to locate the tent in some village in
southern Illinois, but Elder Davis, who was then in charge
of it, was taken very ill ; and Elder F. F. Johnson, his asso-
ciate, did not feet himself competent to continue the effort.
In the following summer, the tent was placed in the hands of
Elder Samuel R. Wheeler, who was serving the general Mis-
sionary Board, and Elder L. D. Seager, then of Jackson
Center, Ohio, who was engaged in the Auxiliary Tract Board.
Kansas was selected as the field of labor, and the tent was
erected at Marion, Florence, and Emporia in that state.
Doubtless, as a result of their work, the church at Marion
was organized in 1883. It was decided in the third year to
prosecute further this movement under Elder Wheeler, but the
Missionary Board came to the conclusion, that he could better
advance their interests and the cause of Sabbath reform
**by working independent of a tent." All efforts to secure
other laborers failed, and this enterprise was suspended for
that year, and finally abandoned ; and the tent was returned, in
the fall, to its owner. Dr. C. D. Potter, of Adams Center,
New York, who had generously supplied it for the use of the
Association. This Auxiliary Board was continued for the
next two years, but it accomplished nothing beyond securing
a small depository of our denominational tracts with Dea-
con Lester T. Rogers, at Milton Junction, Wisconsin. In
the session of 1896, held at Albion, Wisconsin, this Associa-
tion asked the Tract Society to formally establish a. depository
to be under the control and management of the Association.
In the following year this was done, and the depository was
located in the office of Deacon Wm. B. West at Milton
Junction, Wisconsin, where it still remains. Deacon West hav-

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 803

ing been elected custodian from year to year, as already ex-
plained in this paper.

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE ASSOCIATION.

In 1844 an academy was started at Milton, chiefly
through the generous and public-spirited efforts of the Hon.
Joseph Goodrich. The principal engaged was Bethuel C.
Church, who opened at Alfred, New York, just eight years
before, a select school, the beginning of the university at that
place^. The academy was, at once, well attended by young
men and women from various parts of the surrounding coun-
try, and the instruction given in it was of a superior char-
acter. At different times in the next six years. Professors
Jonathan Allen and Amos W. Coon were, among others, at
its head. In 1849 ^^ academic school, doing excellent work,
was established at Farmington, 111., by Professor James
Hill, who conducted it in a commodious brick building erected
by himself. It enrolled in each of some terms about a hundred
students ; and, at the end of three years, it passed permanently
imder the control of the First-day people of that place. The
Association adopted, in 1850, the reference to these two in-
stitutions found in the following comprehensive resolution,
fit to adorn the action of any religious body :

''Next to the cultivation of the principles of piety in our hearts
and in our churches, we should cherish a deep interest in the subject
of education; so that we, as a denomination, may not only exhibit
to the world a consistent and enlightened piety, but may exert that
moral and social influence in our communities and in our country,
which shall command the respect of our neighbors, and secure us from
religious, social and political degradation; and we commend to the
churches of this Association the schools at Milton, Wisconsin, and
Farmington, Illinois, as worthy of their patronage."

In 1852 these academies were again mentioned as those
in which the Association has "an immediate interest," as
"prosperous," and as highly deserving "the patronage of the
public." It reported in 1854, that it was "gratified to see the
prevailing desire on the part of the young to avail them-
selves of the benefits of an advanced education, which (de-
sire) manifests itself in the attendance of a goodly number
at Milton."

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804 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

In this last year, an academy was begun at Albion,
under the*authority of the Association, which first took action
upon the subject two years previous, at a session held at that
place. It then resolved that "an immediate, decided, and
unanimous effort should be made for the erection of a suitable
building at some eligible point in this State hereafter to be
determined upon;" and for that purpose, it appointed "a
Board of Education, so selected as to secure the most extensive
interest and influence possible, who shall proceed immediately
to raise funds, determine the plan of building, and transact
all other business necessary for the accomplishment of such
an object/* Adin Burdick, Elder Varnum Hull, and A. P.
Stillman were the committee to nominate this Board, con-
sisting of ten members, who belonged to the five Wisconsin
churches. The plan was to locate the school at that place
which should contribute the most funds to the erection of
the building. The only communities that could be expected
to compete for the location were Albion and Milton. Into
this rivalry, the brethren in Milton, who had, after founding
the acadany in their midst, sustained it during the previous
years with great energy and sacrifice of means, refused to en-
ter; and their two members of the Board declined to act.
The action taken by the Association in 1852 and in 1854,
while the plan for starting Albion Academy was being ma-
tured, shows that the reasonableness of this course was recog-
nized and the course itself was approved. At its session of
1855, its Committee on Education, with Elder Varnum
Hull for the chairman, stated in their report, which was adopt-
ed by the Association: *Tt is a cause of rejoicing, that we have
already two Academies in successful operation ; and that with
the present year, measures have been taken, both at Milton
and Albion, to enlarge the accommodations for the students."
From that time onward to the present, the Milton school
has been repeatedly mentioned by the Association with strong
approval of its management and with an affectionate interest
in those having it in charge and imparting its instruction.

From 185 1 to 1858, the academy was under the prin-
cipalship of Prof. A. C. Spicer who, with his wife, did vigor-
ous and noble work. In 1854 Prof. Albert Whitford en-

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 805

tered the school as a teacher, and with some brief absence,
has continued to render most efficient service until the pres-
ent time. The late Rev. Wm. C. Whitford became principal
of the Academy in 1858 and when the college was organized
vlnder a charter granted by the state legislature of Wis-
consin in 1867, he was chosen president and filled the office
with marked ability and devotion until his death, which occur-
red a few weeks before the Commencement of 190^. Mrs.
Chloe Curtis Whitford, wife of Prof. Albert Whitford, and
Mrs. Ruth Hemphill Whitford, wife of the president, each
taught for a period of twenty-five years or more; and Miss
Mary F. Bailey, Mrs. Jane C. Bond Morton, Mrs. Miranda
Fenner Isham, and W. Frank Place have been prominent
members of the faculty in past years. Its present faculty is
Rev. W. C. Daland, president ; Prof. Albert Whitford, Prof.
W. D. Thomas, Prof. J. M. Stillman, Prof. E. B. Shaw,
Prof. Ludwig Kumlein, Rev. L. A. Platts, Prof. Alfred E.
Whitford, Mrs. L. A. Platts, and Mrs. Anna Whitford Cran-
dall. The institution has furnished to the Association and to
the denomination at large some of our ablest workers, and
to Wisconsin and other states some of their most honored
citizens.

Albion Academy began its work in 1854, under the gen-
eral management of the Association, as already described.
The late Rev. Thomas R. Williams, D. D., was principal and
his wife was preceptress for seven years. The attendance of
students increased^ the faculties were enlarged and other
teachers were added. Professor A. R. Cornwall succeeded
to the principalship, in which he remained for about eighteen
years. With him were associated a number of our own people
among whom may be mentioned Professor Charles H. Thomp-
son, Mrs. Eliza Potter Crandall, Mrs. Clarissa Livermore,
and Rev. A. B. Prentice. After Professor Cornwall, the
work of the academy was suspended for five or six years;
but in 1885 it was reopened with Rev. S. L. Maxson as
principal. After him came Professors Charles A. Clarke, D.
E. Willard, and H. R. Edwards, until 1894, when the prop-
erty and the entire control of the institution passed into the
hands of First-day people. The grounds and buildings were

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8o6 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

bought in 1901 by the Scandinavian Lutheran Synod of south-
em Wisconsin, and are being fitted up and equipped as a col-
lege under the management and control of that body. In
the forty years of its previous history, it proved of inestim-
able advantage to the young people in its vicinity ; and it sup-
plied, to some of our churches and to the general public,
a goodly number of graduates and other prominent students,
who would have been also an honor to any other institution
of like grade in our land.

Other academies within the Association have received
also its fostering care. In 1857 the people of West Hallock,
Illinois, expended $1,000 towards the erection of a building,
in which such a school was held under different principals
for a few years. At the same time, Big Foot Academy, at
Walworth, Wisconsin, was started with an excellent corps
of teachers. It has beejn under the instruction of such
Seventh-day Baptists as Professors Daniel B. Maxson, Henry
C. Coon, Albert R. Crandall, W. Frank Place, and Revs.

W. C. Titsworth and L. E. Livermore. Some of its students

•

are now accomplishing very superior work in our churches
and among other people in this country. Its operations were
often commended by the Association. In 1881 it was or-
ganized as a public high school under the laws of Wisconsin,
and has, therefore, been taken out of the possession of its
original managers. An academic building, with family ac-
commodations, was put up in 1869, at Alden, Minnesota, by
Deacon Henry Ernst; and in it a select school was kept for
three or four years by his son. Rev. Wm. H. Ernst, and his
daughter, now Mrs. Melinda Ernst Booth.

The Association has, at different times, uttered no uncer-
tain voice on several educational subjects of general interest.
It very early demanded that the young men seeking to enter
"the gospel ministry," should acquire a careful and broad lit-
erary culture. It has declared that "our work as Sabbath re-
formers calls for the best intellectual culture and the highest
attainments in all knowledge affecting Christ's Kingdom,"
and that our schools are "of vital importance to our success"
as a people, and should therefore be patronized by them in
preference to other institutions. It has admonished parents

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 807

to consider seriously the duty that they "owe to their children,
to the churches, and to themselves, to. urge our young people
to seek the culture and training" offered in the colleges of our
own people. It has acknowledged itself under Christian ob-
ligation to counsel strongly and affectionately the young men
and women in our homes to obtain a liberal education of the
most thorough character, in order to be more useful in the
positions that will fall to them among ourselves and other
people.

ASSOCIATIONAL MISSIONARY OPERATIONS.

The Rock County Seventh-day Baptist Foreign Mission-
ary Society was formed Feb. ^2,^ 1846, in the academy at Mil-
ton, by a few people of the place ancW vicinity, for the purpose
of aiding our general "Missionary Association in establishing
and sustaining foreign missions." This occurred nearly a
year and a half before the Northwestern Association of
churches was organized. This society adopted a constitution
of nine articles ; and selected Abel Bond as president, Abel D.
Bond, secretary. Deacon Wm. P. Stillman, treasurer, and C.
A. Osgood, Lewis G. Baldwin, Elder Julius M. Todd, and
Jeremiah Davis, solicitors. The denomination was just then
engaged in selecting and equipping our first foreign mission-
aries; and designating China as the field of their operations.
For this object, funds were contributed and very cordial ap-
proval expressed.

The delegates from the churches attending the second
session of our Association united together July 7, 1848, in
forming another Missionary Society, to operate largely, if not
entirely, in this western region. Elder Stillman Coon was
made the president, and Wm. H. Redfield the secretary with
six other officers, of which Elder Todd was the only one be-
longing to the older society. At the next session of this body
a third missionary organization took the place of the latter
society, and chose Dr. Henry Clarke its president, and B.
Franklin Bond its secretary. It continued its existence only
two years. Its second president was Elder Zuriel Campbell.
He with seven other officers and forty brethren and sisters
from the different churches constituted its membership. They

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8o8 SEVEXTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

adopted a wider scope for their operations, taking in "the most
destitute portions of our own beloved country, and also among
the heathen."

This last society, holding a session at Utica, Wisconsin,
in connection with the Association, Oct. 2, 185 1, voted to
transfer all business into the hands of the latter body, which
it requested to "do the missionary labor" in the Northwest.
This sacred trust was accordingly accepted, and an Executive
Missionary Board of five members was appointed to have the
immediate charge of all the interests involved in the transfer.
This Board, chosen annually, and with varying number of
members, was continued the next twenty- four years, and add-
ed, mainly by its foresight and efficient exertions, at least
thirteen churches to the Association. Among these are not
included the ten or twelve that Elder James Bailey, while be-
longing to some of our churches in this state, was the means
of organizing and bringing into this body by his missionary
and Sabbath reform work.

While the Association has always been firmly committed
to the progress of the missionary work within its bounds, it
has not been indiflferent to the foreign interests of our people.
It pledged itself in 1850 to assist in providing means for the
erection of mission buildings in Shanghai. It once seriously
entertained the purpose of supporting by itself a missionary
in China; and it has urged its churches to select some young
persons of promise and undoubted piety, to aid them in pre-
paring for the foreign field. Its contributions to this work of
the denomination have, more recently, been enlarged and made
more satisfactory. But no cause has so deeply moved the sym-
pathy of the Association and so enlisted its most earnest en-
deavors, as its own missionary labor, conducted, as we have
seen, through twenty-eight years of its early history. It voted,
in 1856, this to be "the leading interest under its immediate
control." Even in the seven years before its formation, our
first churches encouraged their ministers to perform such work
in destitute communities near them and also somewhat remote.
The annual reports of the Executive Board to the Association,
usually containing very interesting extracts from the letters of
its missionaries, were most attentively heard and discussed,

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. SoQ

and published, in full, in its minutes. Considerable sums of
money were secured some years from the churches to support
its laborers. Near the close of the tenth year of its organiza-
tion, when it had resolved to prosecute more vigorously its
work, it was greatly cheered by receiving from the general
Missionary Board a proposition to co-operate with it in carry-
ing on missions in the West.

At first, itinerant missionaries were employed. Elders
Stillman Coon and O. Perry Hull labored in southern and
central Wisconsin; and Elder Amos W. Coon also, among
"isolated Sabbath-keeping families" and "feeble Sabbath settle-
ments." Elder Julius M. Todd, the earliest missionary pastor
helped by our Executive Board, was so successful in his efforts
at Berlin, Wisconsin, and in several localities in that vicinity,
that the Association resolved, after mature reflection, to dis-
pense almost wholly with peripatetic preachers, and to engage
ministers settled in promising societies, and able also to speak
in neighboring places. Occasionally afterwards, the chainnan
or the secretary of its Executive Board would be sent out for
a few weeks on tours of observation among our weaker
churches. But under the guidance of its new policy, the As-
sociation through its Board subsequently developed, most of
the time in connection with the general Missionary Society,
its operations on six fields within its bounds.

First, the central Wisconsin field. In it the churches or-
ganized and afterwards helped, were Berlin, Dakota, and
Coloma. Besides Elder Todd, the following ministers, either
for several months or years, supplied these churches, generally
as pastors: George C. Babcock, Hiram W. Babcock, Russell
G. Burdick, Charles A. Burdick, Varnum Hull, Lyman C.
Jacobs, Charles M. Lewis, James C. Rogers, and Henry B.
Lewis. Dakota has since disbanded, and the other churches
have been greatly weakened by emigration of their members
farther West.

Second, the Iowa field. In 1857 Elder Lewis A. Davis
was settled as the missionary pastor of the Welton church, and
he remained there in the service of the Executive Board for
two years, when his church became self-supporting. He was
succeeded by Elder Chas. A. Burdick, who was engaged also

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8lO SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

on an associational mission in visiting scattered families of
our own people of the state. In this work he organized the
Carlton Garwin church. Other brethren assisted on the field,
such as Elders Thos. E. Babcock, Vamum Hull, Charles M.
Lewis, and Hiram P. Burdick.

Third, the Minnesota field. Elder Phineas S. Crandall
began laboring here in October, 1858, and in a year he had or-
ganized the Dodge Center and Trenton churches. He was
followed, up to 1875 in the former church, by such pastors as
Elders O. Perry Hull, Joel C. West, Henry B. Lewis, and
Zuriel Campbell; and in the latter, by Elders West and Am-
brose C. Spicer. In the vicinity of Alden, Elder O. Perry
Hull, as a missionary pastor, formed the Carlston church ; and
after five years of efficient work, his place was occupied by
Elder David P. Curtis, for the same length of time. In 1864
Elder Benjamin F. Rogers constituted the New Auburn
church, and preached faithfully also in other localities of that
state for two years. He was succeeded by Elder Hiram W.
Babcock, who remained in charge nearly ten years.

Fourth, the Kansas field. Only two churches in this
state need to be noticed, the Nortonville and the Dow Creek.
In the former, was employed Elder A. A. F. Randolph for five
years after he had succeeded in establishing it ; following him
came Elder Samuel R. Wheeler, whose long service here and in
adjacent regions has been highly appreciated. With the latter
church. Elders Thos. E. Babcock and Hamilton Hull were con-
nected for a brief time. In 1873 Elder Hiram P. Burdick per-
formed very acceptable work in the two churches for two
months, under the direction of our Executive Board.

Fifth, the Nebraska field. The Long Branch church en-
joyed the evangelistic labors of Elders Thos. E. Babcock and
Chas. M. Lewis, each for about a month, the former in 1863
and the latter in 1873, they reported to the Association. When
the North Loup church was organized, in the year last men-
tioned. Elder Oscar Babcock was assisted as its pastor.

Sixth, the Missouri field. After Elder James Bailey had
gathered a few families into the Brookfield church of this state
in 1867, Eld. George C. Babcock was called to its pastorate
which he faithfully held until it became extinct in 1883.

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 8ll

In addition to the above labors, it should be noticed that
thorough revivals were effected in some churches in southern
Wisconsin and northern central Illinois, by the preaching of
Elders Chas. M. Lewis and Hiram P. Burdick, sent out by
our Board.

The Association resolved June 25, 1875, ^^ surrender all
its own missionary operations, which had been its special
crowning interest for so many years, into the hands of the
general Missionary Society of our people. The movement ta
accomplish this end had been in progress among some mem-
bers of our churches for the ten previous years, and had been
signally defeated when brought to a vote in the sessions of
this body.

WOMEN REPRESENTED IN THE ASSOCIATION.

The Minnesota churches at Trenton and Dodge Center
sent, in 1863 and 1865, the first women delegates to the ses-
sions of the Association. Churches in Wisconsin soon fol-
lowed this example, and finally most of those in the other
states. In 1867 Milton appointed nine lady delegates, and in
1870, twenty. In the latter year, thirty-one women were dele-
gates from five churches. In every year since, prominent sis-
ters have been thus in attendance, and usually taken some part
in the proceedings.

In 1874 this body received a letter from the Women's
Missionary Society of the Farina church, signed by its corre-
sponding secretary, Mrs. Mary E. Rich, and addressed to the
women 4)elonging to the other churches. Its object in send-
ing the communication was stated, to secure in the movement,
"if possible, a general awakening of interest in the cause of
Missions, and a concert of action" among them, "even while
so widely scattered." The subject was referred to a special
committee of three sisters, with Mrs. Lucy A. Backus as chair-
man, who reported that they "do most heartily approve of the
plan of operation" thus proposed, and "would, therefore, re-
commend that the sisters of all the Churches in this Associa-
tion organize and carry forward similar societies" to aid in
concert such a "great and glorious cause." This committee
was reappointed for the subsequent year, and Mrs Olive B.

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8l2 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Wardner and Mrs. Eupheinia A. Whitford were added. Its
next report showed that three other societies had been formed
during the year, and that they had raised money for both mis-
sionary^ and Sabbath tract purposes. Though the committee
was continued, no further work by it was brought to the
notice of the Association. This matter seems to have remained
in a donnant state until 1884 when Miss Mary F. Bailey, of
Milton, united with others attending the session of our General
Conference, in asking that body to appoint a Woman's Execu-
tive Board, w^th its principal officers located in some church,
and its minor ones in the different Associations, with the view
of enlisting "the women of the denomination" in a united ef-
fort *'to raise funds for our various denominational enter-
prises." As an associational secretary of this Board, she
called the attention of this body in 1886 to the "Women's
Benevolent Societies" organized in different churches by this
action of the General Conference. On request, the Associa-
tion set apart a "woman's hour" in its session, to consider the
interests thus presented. This arrangement became perma-
nent, and the papers and speeches then furnished, usually by
women, have been prepared, each year since, either by her as
the corresponding secretary, or by the president or other
members of the Executive Board, all of whom belonged to our
churches. On the death of Miss Bailey in 1893, ^^^ Associa-
tion adopted a memorial report, submitted by a committee of
sisters, expressing a deep sense of their loss, and their grati-
tude to God for giving them "so many years of her devoted
Christian life," and encouraging them by "her earnest, faith-
ful example" in performing "her self-denying labors."

In the decade subsequent to 1884, Mrs. Harriet S. Clarke
was a member of the Sabbath school Executive Board; also
Mrs. Emma Landphere for one year, and Mrs. G. M. Cottrell
for three years. Since that time Mrs. Mattie Babcock has
been a member of the Board two years, and Miss Josie Higbee,
four years. In that time. Miss Bailey served as chairman of
obituary committee for two years, Mrs. Celestia J. Bliss for
one year, and Mrs. Cottrell for two years. In 1894 Mrs.
Clarke was appointed on the committee on resolutions, and
in 1901 Mrs. A. S, Maxson served on the finance committee.

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. "813

YOUNG people's SOCIETIES IN THE ASSOCIATION.

The Association recommended in 1886, that Christian En-
deavor Societies be organized throughout its bounds, so that
the "young people may be used as a great instrumentality in
promoting the prosperity of its churches." Five years after-
wards, it called upon all our pastors and other Christian lead-
ers to encourage and aid their young men and women in such
efforts. In 1889, the "Young People's Hour" at its sessions was
formally assigned to these societies, in order that their work
might be presented before the delegates and others. This
hour has since been improved by them, generally under the
leadership of the president of the Young People's Permanent
Committee of the General Conference, or of the associational
secretary of that committee. Annual reports o*f the statistics
and the operations of the societies have been laid before the
Association since 1894, with occasional omissions. The spe-
cial duties of the members of these societies as related to the
churches and the Association, have been carefully considered
and defined. The societies have been urged to assist in "ex-
citing greater interest in Sabbath reform work," and to "make
more of an effort along the line of local mission work, each
society, when possible, occupying some outpost" in such an
enterprise.

AMERICAN SLAVERY^ SECRET SOCIETIES, AND INTEMPERANCE.

On these subjects the Association has expressed its views
in the most positive language. At its first session it declared,
"We consider American Slavery a violation of the laws of God
and the rights of man, and calculated to involve our nation in
disgraceful feuds and wars f' and "it is the duty of every lover
of God and humanity to use all reasonable efforts for its im-
mediate abolition." In the session of 1853 the position was
taken that the "support of slavery or the fugitive slave law"
by one's vote is "a provoking sin," and legitimately a matter of
discipline in the churches. This body reaffirmed, by the open-
ing of the Civil War, its religious obligation to oppose the ex-
tension of slavery in the territories, and the existence of this
"sum of all villainies" elsewhere in our country. During that

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8l4 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

great struggle, it acknowledged that the calamities visited up-
on us must be recognized as the chastisement of God for our
encouraging oppression. When the liberation of the slave was
assured, it expressed profound thankfulness, that our country
had been delivered from "the relic of barbarism," and it sol-
emnly asserted that "as the recipients of blood-bought privi-
leges, both civil and religious, we will henceforth strive to de-
serve and maintain inviolate the principles on which our insti-
tutions are founded." It felt admiration for "our noble soldier
boys" on account of the sacrifices they endured in the work to
"redeem our land from the curse of human bondage," and
deep sympathy for "aching hearts at the loss of dear ones in
the strife."

The Association announced, in its second session, its earn-
est disapproval of secret societies of whatever name. Six years
afterwards it resolved that all such societies, in their charac-
ter and influence, are inconsistent with the principles of Chris-
tianity; and it recommended that its churches discountenance
all connection of their members with them. Subsequently, it
reasserted that these societies are "entitled to no support from
the children of God ;" it warned "our young people against be-
ing deceived by their plausible pretensions, or drawn into their
fellowship by the false hope of doing good ;" and it urged its
churches to "make membership in the Masonic Lodge a bar to
membership" in the church.

The Association has, from its earliest session, repeatedly
used strong and burning words against the well-known evils
of intemperance. Its sentiments in support of the total absti-
nence cause were forcibly epitomized in a resolution adopted
in 1884, in which it declared that the prevailing use of "all
alcoholic beverages" is truly "an unmitigated curse and the
gigantic crime of the age ; and that parents, guardians, and all
lovers of himianity should not only preach and pray, but vote
against it; and, by every practicable means, persistently labor
to rid the earth of this monster vice." The Association has
also in most vigorous sentences, condemned the smok-
ing and the chewing of tobacco and its production
for market. It said in 1853, "We regard the use
of tobacco as an injurious, disgusting, filthy, and

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 815

wasteful practice, and altogether inconsistent with the re-
quirements of the Gospel;" and it affirmed thirty-two years
afterwards, that the effects of this narcotic poison on the body
and mind constitute "a fruitful cause of the lack of spiritual
growth in our Churcfi;" and that all their members should,
"as a Christian duty," abandon immediately and forever,
"the raising, selling, and using of tobacco in any form." In
its session of 1895 it entreated every professor of religion,
for the sake of Christ and the work of salvation and for the
sake of his own purity of life and wholesome influence on
others, to esteem it his sacred duty "to be clean from the to-
bacco habit."

MAINTENANCE AND PROPAGATION OF SABBATH TRUTH.

The Association, in a series of resolutions prior to 1852,
enjoined upon the members of its churches to be awake to the
necessity of securing from the state legislature full protec-
tion in the enjoyment of equal civil privileges with the other
sects of the country. In that time Wisconsin guaranteed by
law such protection to all observers of the Sabbath within its
limits, and they felt great satisfaction in thus possessing their
"liberties of conscience." Our ministers were requested to
attend all Sabbath conventions held then by First-day people
in this state, in order to prevent any hostile movement which
might finally subject us to civil annoyances and the depriva-
tion of our religious rights. Later, the Association stated that
the effort of Sunday-keepers seeking to enforce by legislative
enactments the observance of their day as Sabbath, must be
regarded clearly as an attempt to unite church and state in the
control and dictation of religious beliefs and practices, and,
consequently, to incur the danger of arousing the hideous spirit
of intolerance and persecution.

In one of its sessions the Association declared "We joy-
fully accept the Providence of God" that has made us witnesses
in behalf of his holy Sabbath, and "appointed unto us the spec-
ial work of saving for the church and for the world the Sab-
bath^dea and the Sabbath practice." "So we are called upon,"
it said, "to thank God for the sacrifices we endure in sanctify-
ing his day." It took the firm ground about fifteen years

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8l6 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

since that a "better appreciation of the spiritual character of
the Sabbath, and a more conscientious and strict observance"
of the fourth commandment by our people are positively es-
sential to our success in the prosecution of the Sabbath reforni
work. A most serious reproof is uttered against any tendency
in western life to engage, on the Sabbath, in work that is not
necessary, merciful, or religious. Removals to localities where
Sabbath privileges cannot be regularly enjoyed by members
of our churches, should be avoided. There is need of frequent
renewal of our solemn pledges to give heroic and life-long de-
votion io seeking to restore the proper keeping of holy time
by "the whole body of Christ." It has repeatedly asserted that
the truth we hold demands, on our part, an active and aggres-
sive movement exerted constantly against the prevailing er-
rors of Sunday-keeping.

CULTIVATION OF VITAL PIETY.

At the very beginning the Association announced, as its
bed-rock basis, the cultivation of vital godliness in our hearts,
in order to teach and enforce successfully "those principles of
which the Gospel of Christ is the embodiment." Prayer is
deemed to be the most effectual means for the promotion of
such holiness of life. As early as 1850, the ministering breth-
ren were resolutely urged by the lay delegates present at that
session, to teach from house to house, to make real pastoral
visits, and to warn individuals, as Christ and the Apostles did,
of their need of the forgiveness of their sins and daily growing
in divine grace. Family worship is insisted upon strenuously.
Obedience to God and the consequent uprightness in action is
recognized as the fundamental element of success in all Chris-
tian work. In nourishing genuine piety, such practical duties
as these are enjoined : Regular attendance upon Sabbath wor^
ship; constant attention to the well-being of the church to
which one belongs ; diligent study of God*s word ; faithful and
discreet efforts to reclaim the backslidden and to convert the
impenitent; thorough self-examination as in the sight of the
Great Judge; stern subdual of the fleshly desires; haWtual
abandonment of all secret sins ; and consistent striving to place
the thoughts and emotions more fully under the guidance of
(51)

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NORTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 817

complete divine inspiration. To develop a deeper feeling of
spirituality and a stronger sense of personal consecration, in
the sessions of this body as far back as in 1852, and also in
1878, the call became urgent for more time of the Association
to be given to warm-hearted preaching and devotional exer-
cises, consisting of songs, prayer, and religious conference.
This demand has grown with each returning session, and has
been emphasized particularly by the spirit and exertions of the
young people in attendance, so that the older brethren and sis-
ters present have often been led to resolve at its close, that "we
will, with renewed zeal, continue our suit at the throne of grace
for a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, and for his blessing
to rest on our humble efforts to promote his glory ;" and, at the
opening of another session, they have, with exceeding great
joy, given "praise and thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father
for the divine blessings that have attended the pastors, evangel-
ists, missionaries," and other church members during the pre-
ceding year, in their labors for "the salvation of souls."

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THE SOUTH-EASTERN
• ASSOCIATION.

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CORLISS FITZ RANDOLPH.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1 361.

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THE SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION.

Corliss Fitz Randolph, L. H. D.

WILLIAM DAVIS.

The history of the South-Eastern Association may very
properly be said to have its inception in the birth of William
Davis, who was born in Glamorganshire, Wales, in the year
1663. As he approached manhood, his parents, desiring to
make a clergyman of him, sent him to Oxford University for
his education. Here he came in contact with George Fox, the
Quaker, and attached himself to the train of his followers.

He subsequently followed William Penn to America,
where after a few years, he joined with George Keith in the
revolt of the latter against Penn, and became a sort of Baptist-
Quaker. Again, after the lapse of five years more, his views
underwent further change, and he became the pastor of the
Pennepek Baptist Church, near Philadelphia, after he had been
baptized by immersion at the hands of the Rev. Thomas Chil-
lingworth, pastor of the Baptist church in Cohansey (now
Roadstown), New Jersey.

Because of his un-orthodox views touching the person of
Christ, he was excommunicated from the Pennepek Church,
in the year 1698. He shortly afterward came into contact with

I. For a fuller history of this group of churches, , the reader is referred
a work by the author of this paper, entitled A History of Seventh Day Bap-
tists in West Virginia* xxviii and 504 pp. Published at Plainfield, New
Jersey. 1905.

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822 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Abel Noble, of Upper Providence, near Philadelphia, and sub-
sequently accepted the views of the latter regarding the Sab-
bath, and became a convert to the Sabbath of the Fourth Com-
mandment.

His life, already eventful, rapidly became more and more
so, for a period of several years. He published a small book
or pamphlet, which ran through a second edition, written in
defence of the views for which he was driven forth from the
Pennepeck Church. He organized one or more Seventh Day
Baptist churches, and meanwhile kept up a running fire in face
of Keith and other former co-religionists.

The result of this contest was at least discouraging, and
he removed to Rhode Island, where -he-became a member of the
Westerly Seventh Day Baptist Church. Here he experienced
entanglements with both the Westerly and the Newport
churches, and, in consequence, returned to Pennsylvania about
the year 1717.

After a lapse of some seventeen years, more or less, he
once more removed his home to New England, and this time
settled at Stonington, Connecticut, near his former home at
Westerly, Rhode Island, and in the course of time effected a
satisfactory adjustment of his difficulties with the Rhode Is-
land churches.

William Davis was twice married, and had a large family
of children, several, at least, of whom married in Rhode Is-
land.

Not long after the year 1740, a number of Seventh Day
Baptists emigrated from Westerly, Rhode Island, and Stoning-
ton, Connecticut, and formed a settlement at Manasquan, Mon-
mouth County, New Jersey, near the Manasquan and Shark
rivers.

Hither went William Davis, in company with a large num-
ber of his children, and here he died at the ripe age of eighty-
two years, in the year 1745. Shortly before his death, there
was organized at Manasquan, a Seventh Day Baptist church,
of which he and several of his children were constituent mem-
bers.

His tempestuous life was but the legitimate heritage of
his Welsh birth, coupled with his environment. His end was

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 823

peaceful and uneventful. But his work ceased not with hi&
death. He may fairly be called the father of the Shrewsbury
Qiurch, whence his followers and descendents scattered to the
Piscataway and Shiloh churches in New Jersey, and crowded
into the wilderness of Western Virginia, only to follow, from
there, the borders of civilization further and further west,
finally across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific slope.

Seventh Day Baptist descendants of William Davis may
be found in almost, if not quite, every state of the Union
where Seventh Day Baptist churches are found. The churches
of the South-Eastem Association all, with the single exception
of the Salemville Church, at Salemville, Pennsylvania, are com-
posed largely of the descendants of Wiliam Davis; and upon
the roll of his posterity are to be found the names of upwards
of twenty-five Seventh Day Baptist clergymen, including one
missionary to China, as well as college professors and one col-
lege president.

Descendents of William Davis have held* with distinction,
positions of honour and trust in almost every walk of life —
public and private, business and professional, in war and in
peace.

THE SHREWSBURY CHURCH.

The group of Sabbath-keepers who came to Monmouth
County in the early '40's, in the eighteenth century, comprised
largely of the children of William Davis and their\families,
had organized themselves into a church as early as the year
1745. This settlement, though possibly compact at first, soon
spread over considerable territory, covering several square
miles in extent, in the vicinity of the Manasquan and Shark
rivers, as well as in the northern part of the county, at Clay
Pit Creek.

These settlers engaged in various occupations. Some
manufactured salt, others tilled their farms, while different
trades were represented among them, as carpenter, shoe-
maker, cooper, and others.

Communication was kept up with the home church and
friends at Westerly, Rhode Island. Ere long, they began to
visit friends at Piscataway in Middlesex County.

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824 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Certain doctrinal questions disturbed the serenity of the
church from time to time. That of feet-washing as an ordi-
nance of the church was often to the front. That of open or
close communion, at times occupied their attention, as well as
various other similar questions.

Formal excommunication from the church was no ordi-
nary affair, nor was it to be thought of lightly. On the con-
trary, it was accounted a public disgrace; and well might it
be so considered. A formal letter of excommunication, known
as the "Awful Sentence of Excommunication," was drawn up
and read before the assembled multitude, at the regular ser-
vice on Sabbath morning. One of these letters of excommuni-
cation, dated July'ii, 1778, runs as follows:

Whereas, Joseph Auger, Elisabeth Auger, and Elisabeth Hamp-
ton, members of this church, having been under dealings by this
church for some time on the account of breach of Sabbath, and have
been cited to our church meeting sundry times, as can be made to
appear by the records of this church, they having cast reproach on
the authority of this church by not obeying the calls thereof, and still
continue to live publicly in the breach of God's law, by Sabbath
breaking, week after week; we therefore consulting the volume of
God's Word, do look on it to be our abounding duty according to God's
Word, to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh
that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, and likewise
are exhorted by the same apostle: He that is an heretic after the first
and secoij4 admonition reject; and our Blessed Lord gave this direction
to the church of Christ, concerning one brother with another, [and]
says thus: If thy brother trespass against thee, tell him his fault
between thee and him alone, and if he hear thee, thou hast gained
thy brother, and if he neglect to hear thee, take with thee 2 or 3
more, and if he neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church, and if he
'neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man
and a publican. Which by consulting these things, we find that such
persons after they are regularly proceeded against according to rule
and the circumstance of the offenders or of the offender, I do therefore,
in behalf of this Church and before this Congregation, in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, deliver those persons mentioned before by name,
to Satan according to the apostle's directions, so thereby depriving
them of all the privileges of this Church as a church member, till God
of His infinite mercy brings them to the light of his blessed truth in
compliance with them. Amen. Which may God grant through Jesus
Christ our Lord.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 825

Personal and business diflferences among members of the
church strained to the utmost its judicial and disciplinary
powers, and crowded the pages of its records. Meanwhile the
ranks of the membership were recruited from prominent First
Day families living in the neighbourhood to which the emi-
grants from New England had come.

The church was without a house of worship for full thirty
years. On the very eve of the Revolutionary Wai the church
took steps to' erect a suitable edifice for that purpose, but amid
the turmoil of that dreadful conflict, the building was not com-
pleted for some three or four years. At the present writing,
this structure, surviving all the vicissitudes of the century and
a quarter of its eventful life, still exists, and serves as the
very creditable house of worship of the Methodist Protestant
Church of Glendola, only a few miles distant from Asbury
Park, New Jersey, and is situated but a very short distance
from its original site.

The War of Independence brought its trials to this
church, in common with all others within the field of its opera-
tions. Some of its members were of Quaker descent, and
looked upon war with great disfavor. This did not contribute
to the peace of the church, particularly when several of its
members, including its pastor, the Rev. Jacob Davis, enlisted
and went away to the active field of service. •

Moreover, the church was situated but a short distance
from the scene of the Battle of Monmouth. Then, its close
proximity to the "Pines," where lurked enemies of law and
order, redskin and paleface alike, ready to rush out at any time
for the sake of plunder for private gain added to its dangers.
They were likewise near the coast, exposed to the depredatory
military action of the enemy — ^the British army.

Though brave, loyal, and hopeful through all the magnifi-
cent, but bitter, struggle, the church suflfered greatly, and the
close of the war found its members impoverished from the
effects of the long series of privations. Consequently, when a
few years after its close, a stream of emigration set in from
New England and New Jersey toward the West, the members
of the Shrewsbury Church, many of them, were ready to join
that throng.

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826 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Accordingly, on the 8th of August, 1789, the church voted
to sell its meeting house, and put the proceeds into the treas-
ury, preparatory to setting out to a new home.

Four weeks afterward, or on "September the 6th, 1789,
then did the body of this church remove from Shrewsbury in
order to settle in the State of Virginia. Names: Our Elder,
Jacob Davis, with all his family ; William Davis, senior ; John
Davis ; Ephraim Maxson ; Thomas Badcock [sic] ; and Zebu-
Ion Maxson; and Benjamin Thorp; with all their families.
And on the thirteenth of the same month, set out from the
same place these brethren; viz., Simeon Maxson; William
Davis, Junior; and William Maxson; with all their families."

The group which started first, appears to have stopped at
Clay Pit Creek, in Middletown, for a farewell visit with such
friends there as were not going to Virginia, and when joined
at that place by the second group which started a week later
from Shrewsbury', they all proceeded together on their jour-
ney.

Rev. Simeon Babcock, who was about five years of age at
the time he accompanied his parents upon this journey, says
there were "'seven wagons in number.'' James Davis, who
was sixteen years of age when the migration to Virginia took
.place, and who, also, was one of the company of travellers,
says "The train consisted of fifteen wagons." Morgan Ed-
wards, who visited Squan, November 18, 1789, a little more
than two months after the departure of the emigrants, says
"seventy-two souls" had gone. Still another member of the
company, seventeen years of age at the time, says there were
ten wagons with seventy souls. The church record shows that
ten families started from Shrewsbury.

It is not only possible, but somewhat probable that the
original company from Shrewsbury was augmented by re-
cruits from Middletown, and from Piscataway. A daughter
of the first William Davis lived at Piscataway, and from this
place had started a movement westward, led by Samuel Fitz
Randolph, before the Shrewsbury Church started. The differ-
ent times of starting, as well as the possible several points of
starting, make it possible for all the statements of eye wit-

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 827

nesses as to the number of wagons and the number of emi-
grants to be correct.

When the procession was ready to start, the people all
assembled in a grove, where their pastor, Rev. Jacob Davis,
preached a short farewell sermon for those left behind, after
which the travellers partook of refreshments provided for them
by their friends, and then started on their long tedious jour-
ney, extending more than four hundred miles westward.

The emigrants settled on White Day Creek in what is now
Monongalia County, West Virginia. Here they tarried for
two years or more, where William Davis died July 15, 1791.

The new settlers were disappointed, however, in their
land, .which, according to Morgan Edwards, was obtained
through a man by the name of Reed.

The new comers from New Jersey had friends a few
miles away across the Pennslyvania border, north of the
Cheat River. Among them was Samuel Fitz Randolph, who
had a short time before, purchased a tract of land lying on
the waters of Ten Mile Creek, a branch of the West ForR of
the Monongahela River, some fifty miles beyond White Day
Creek. He persuaded the dissatisfied settlers at White Day
Creek to go and inspect his new purchase, as well as other
lands adjacetit, consisting largely of five thousand acre tracts.
As a result, the new settlers from Shrewsbury purchased farms
and moved to this place, where was laid out the Village of
New Salem, on the lands of Samuel Fitz Randolph.

Samuel Fitz Randolph, himself a Seventh Day Baptist of
Pilgrim descent, had formerly resided in the town of Piscata-
way, Middlesex County, New Jersey, where he was born in
October, 1738. After service in the Revolutionary War as
ensign in the Second Regiment of Militia of Sussex County,
New Jersey, he had become interested in lands in Pennsyl-
vania. This was probably due to the influence of Major Ben-
jamin Stites of Redstone, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, who
in the winter of 1786, visited New York, where Congress was
at that time in session, for the purpose of purchasing a tract
of land lying between the two Miamis in Ohio.

Sometime before the departure of the church from
Shrewsbury, Samuel Fitz Randolph had purchased of Mary

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828 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Hodgson three hundred acres of land situated on Yellow Creek
of Armstrong Township of Westmoreland County, Pennsyl-
vania. This purchase was effected on the i6th of April, 1785,
and the land lay a little to the north of what was known as the
Redstone Country, On November 21, 1785, he purchased
eight hundred acres of land to be selected by himself from a
tract of five thousand acres owned by Robert Martin, situated
in the town of Northumberland in the county of Northumber-
land, Pennsylvania. The Northumberland tract, from the de-
scription contained in the deed, evidently was entirely virgin
forest ; while upon the three hundred acres in the southwestern
part of the state, had been built a dwelling house and several
farm buildings, and the land was at least partly under cultiva-
tion. Here he went to make his home sometime between No-
vember 21, 1785, and November 26, 1790. At the time of his
purchase of the land at New Salem, he was beyond question ^
resident of Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

The new settlers on Ten Mile Creek built for themselves
a block-house within the limits of the present village of Salem,
and protected themselves as best they could against unexpected
attacks of the savages. They were, however, outside of the
usual trails of the Indians, who seemed disposed to follow the
larger water courses; and as Salem is at the crown of the
water-shed which sends its waters on the one hand west
directly into the Ohio, and on the other hand east into the
waters of the Monongahela, it does not seem to have been
threatened by large bodies of Indians, except on rare oc-
casions.

Samuel Fitz Randolph laid out a part of his land pur-
chased from Joseph and Catherine Swearingen into streets and
lots in the form of a town. The town was somewhat in the
form of a sort of truncated triangle, with its base to the west,
and its apex to the eastward. The town contained five
streets, — a main street running nearly east and west, with two
others parallel to it, and two shorter streets at the west end of
the town running parallel to each other and at right angles to
the main street. The lots were divided into two classes : "in"
lots and "out** lots, the former fronting on the streets, the lat-

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JEPTHAH FITZ RANDOLPH.
See Biographical Sketches, p. I36L

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 829

ter bordering on the boundaries of the town away from the
streets.

The block-house was erected near the centre of the town.
The church and graveyard were located on the hillside at the
northern terminus of the kmger cross-street, which was the
further west, but a few rods distant from the home of the
founder, Samuel Fitz Randolph.

Just why Samuel Fhz Randolph called this village New
Salem is not wholly certain. There is a well defined tradition
that it was so-called for Salem, in the southern part of New
Jersey, with which Samuel Fitz Randolph, as well as some of
the members of the Shrewsbury Church, may have been more
or less intimately connected, on account of family ties; and
the present writer is inclined to accept that as the true ex-
planation, but conclusive documentary evidence in support of
that theory is not available.*

Here in the town of New Salem, the new settlers made
their homes for the purpose of security from the Indians. In
the meantime, they selected and purchased farms in the
vicinity which they cleared and tilled as best they could
under the circumstances, since the necessity previously point-
ed out, for mutual protection from their red-faced foes,
which required them when they went out to do their farm
work, to go in groups of several each, working one another's
farms in successive order, naturally militated greatly against
the best interests of the crops.

As soon as they felt that it would be safe to do so, they
moved to their farms. Then they began to extend the limits of
their settlement over a larger range of country. The Mid-
dle Fork of Ten Mile Creek was occupied from its very
head to its mouth at the West Rork River. Several of its
tributaries, as well as Lamberts Run which flows into the
West Fork a short distance further up the West Fork River
towards Clarksburg, supplied homes for a number of the fam-
ilies of the new immigration.

I. There is a village by the name of New Salem in the township of
Menallen, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, which was laid out into a village
of sixty lots on August 17, 1799. by David Arnold. Why it was called
New Salem is not known. Ellis, History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania,
p. 658.

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830 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Some passed west of New Salem to Long Run, Buckeye
Run, Buckeye Fork, and Middle Island Creek down three
or four miles below the site of the present town of West
Union; then still further west across Arnolds Creek, to the
North Fork of Hughes River, near the site of the present
village of Pennsboro.

To the south of New Salem, they took their way up
Pattersons Fork over to Greenbrier Run, and the head waters
of Buckeye Creek; thence on to Meat House Fork, and
beyond to the South Fork of Hughes River. To the north
and northwest of New Salem, they penetrated the deep forests
of Robinsons Fork and Flint Run.

Thus from the West Fork River at the mouth of Ten
Mile Creek and Lamberts Run, there ran a chain of Seventh
Day Baptist homes, practically unbroken, across a belt of
country from two to ten miles in width and some forty miles
in length, or more than half the distance from the West Fork
of the Monongahela River to the Ohio River.

The settlement on the South Fork of Hughes River
was detached, geographically, from this belt, but it covered
several square miles.

On Elk Creek, which flows into the West Fork River
at Clarksburg, was another settlement at what is now known
as Quiet Dell, situated at a distance of some five miles from
Clarksburg ; and ten miles south of Qarksburg was the settle-
ment on Lost Creek, which afterwards extended to Hackers
Creek on the south and southeast of Lost Creek.

This stream of immigration brought with it the Davises,
the Maxsons, the Babcocks, the Thorps, the Brands, and
the Claytons, from the Shrewsbury church. They were either
accompanied or followed by the Randolphs, from Piscataway,
New Jersey; the Bonds, from Maryland and Pennsylvania;
the Bees and Kelleys, f rqm the vicinity of Salem, New Jersey ;
and the Suttons, the Lippincotts, the Van Horns, the Kennedys,
the Williamses, the Loofboros, the Battens and others, from
various points in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

These people came into a goodly heritage. The surface
formation of the country was hilly. It lay at an altitude of
from some seven hundred feet, to about thirteen hundred feet

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 83 1

above the level of the sea. The ground was covered by an
unbroken forest of heavy building timber of the best quality
in great variety. The soil was fertile, and the mineral re-
sources vast. Land could be had at from a few cents to a
dollar or two an acre.

The new settlers purchased large farms ranging in size
from two or three hundred to several thousands of acres.
Samuel Fitz Randolph already held lands in Pennsylvania
aggregating eleven hundred acres; and without disposing of
them he made an initial purchase at New Salem of two hun-
(ired and sixty-six and a half acres. Three brothers, Nathan,
Joseph and William Davis, purchased a tract of twenty thou-
sand acres of land of the original patentee at the rate of
twenty-three cents an acre. It was on a part of this purchase
that the present town of West Union in Doddridge County
was laid out.

The forests were soon converted into grazing lands upon
which were produced fatted cattle that were the envy of the
cattle markets of the large cities of the Atlantic seaboard.
Gradually the timber markets opened up, and the forests of
pine, oak, ash, and yellow poplar, with d fair sprinkling of
black walnut and wild cherry were converted into valuable
merchandise.

Then later, the boundless wealth of coal and oil was
discovered, so that within the past decade there has been
poured into the coffers of the farmers of this region a stream
of money aggregating, literally, many millions of dollars,
of which our Seventh Day Baptists friends have had a gen-
erous share, and, as a result, have become a most prosperous
people.

THE WOODBRIDGETOWN CHURCH.

On NovMnber 8, 1789, there was formed a small Seventh
Day Baptist church at Woodbridgetown, in Fayette county,
Pennsylvania. The organization was completed on the 6th
of June in the ensuing year, 1790.

This church was composed, for the most part, of Sam-
uel Fitz Randolph and his wife, Margaret, together with a
small number of friends who had followed them from their

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832 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

former home at Piscataway, New Jersey, and a few converts
to the Sabbath. It is doubtful if any of the members of the
former Shrewsbury Church, from New Jersey, were ever
members of the Woodbridgetown Church, though the pastor
of the former was present and assisted in the organization of
the latter church.

Rev. Samuel Woodbridge, whose name was given to the
village of Woodbridgetown, was the pastor of the new church.

The church was never a large or strong one. It served
as a sort of gateway to Western Virginia for early Seventh
Day Baptist immigrants,, and later for those who visited the
churches there from the East and North, before railroads were
built.

Besides Rev. Samuel Woodbridge, other ministers con-
nected with the church were as follows: Rev. John Patter-
son, who subsequently served for a period as pastor of the
New Salem Church ; Rev. Enoch David lived here for a time,
and during the year 1809, divided the pastoral care of the
church with Rev. Samuel Woodbridge.

Lewis Sammons was licensed by the church to preach,
but after some four years, was excommunicated for viola-
tion of the Fourth Commandment.

There is some reason to believe that James Dunn, a
member of the church, who had been originally licensed by
the Piscataway Church to preach, and whose license was prob-
ably recognized by the Woodbridgetown Church, was ordained
by the latter church. But conclusive evidence of this is lack-
ing from the records.

Among the ministers who visited the Woodbridgetown
Church as missionaries, were Lewis A. Davis, Walter B.
Gillette, Peter Davis, Joel Greene, Alexander Campbell, Still-
man Coon, and Richard C. Bond.

Rev. Jacob Davis of the New Salem Church was a not in-
frequent visitor to this little church. It was on the occasion
of such a visit in 1793, that he was stricken with a fatal illness
and died and was buried at Woodbridgetown.

Rev. Samuel Woodbridge occasionally visited the New
Salem Church to render ministerial aid. It is probable that
(5^)

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 833

he visited the West Fork River and Lost Creek churches as
well. He died July 15, 1814.

About 1795 the church erected a house of worship on
a half acre of ground given for the purpose by Rev. Samuel
Woodbridge. At his death he left a lot of six acres of ground
adjoining the church lot for a parsonage.

In 1832 the church became a member of the Seventh
Day Baptist General Conference. It was a constituent mem-
ber of the South- Western Association, formed in 1839, and
was admitted to membership in the Virginia Association in
1851.

Although the last entry in the record book is under date
of August 1844, the church did not become extinct until
several years afterward.

THE NEW SALEM CHURCH.

From the time the Shrewsbury Church left its old home
in New Jersey, in September, 1789, until after its arrival at
New Salem, Virginia, the church records are wholly silent,
save for the death of William Davis, at White Day Creek,
July 15, 1791.

The records begin anew as follows :

May the 13, 1792.
The Church met in conference at New Salem, where the Church,
or part of them, is now embodied; this being the first opportunity of
coming under regular discipline in church order since we left New
Jersey.

Henceforth the church abandoned the name of "Shrews-
bury," and was known, first as the "New Salem," and after-
ward as the "Salem," Church, its present name.

-Not all the company that originally set out from New
Jersey, came to New Salem. Death had claimed some on the
way, and others had selected homes by the wayside. Some
had settled on the West Fork of the Monongahela River, a
little south of the mouth of Ten Mile Creek, where a small
stream known as Lamberts Run enters the West Fork River,
at a distance of less than twenty miles from New Salem.

As early as June 28, 1793, a request was presented to the
New Salem Church by these settlers at *he mouth of Lamberts

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834 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Run, to be organized into a separate church. This request
was granted, and the West Fork River Church resulted, only
to go crashing into oblivion a few years afterward, over the
precipice of "open communion."

Soon after coming to its new home, the New Salem
Church was called upon to mourn the loss of its beloved pastor,
Rev. Jacob Davis, who, as previously stated, died at Wood-
bridgetown, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1793.

Rev. Isaac Morris soon joined the West Fork River
Church. On March 8, 1795, by vote of the church. Rev. John
Patterson became pastor of the New Salem Church. At short
intervals, Joseph Davis, Mosher Maxson, and Zebulon Max-
son were all licensed to preach; and in 1801, John Davis was
ordained pastor by Rev. Samuel Woodbridge, of the Wood-
bridgetown Church, and Rev. John Patterson. Two years
afterward. Rev. John Patterson was debarred from com-
munion because of a lack of loyalty to the church.

Meantime the church was kept busily occupied in deal-
ing with members who were summoned before the bar of the
church for petty, as well as for more serious, breaches of
church discipline, besides performing the functions of the
court of a justice of the peace. Business differences were
regularly taken to the church, and members whose opinions
of their respective pugilistic powers led them astray, were
threatened with the "Awful Sentence of Excommunication,"
which appears in the records as late as November, 1822.

The church quickly recognized the need of a house of
worship in its new home, and soon took steps preparatory
to building one. On June 13, 1795, the size and style of house
were agreed upon, and a committee appointed to superintend
its erection. Whether such a house was built or not does not
appear from the records. At all events, on January 10, 1796,
the church instructed the deacon to arrange for Thomas
Babcock's house for a place of worship, and in case of fail-
ure to procure that, to obtain John Davis's. On August 9,
1801, the church voted to try to buy the house in which they
met for worship, and offered fifty dollars ($50.00) for it.
Either this offer was rejected, or the church, after a little
reflection, preferred to build a new house, for a week later,

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 835

on August 16, the church voted to build a meeting house
on the lower side of the burying ground.

Upon their arrival at New Salem, the new settlers had
erected their cabins about a block-house, which they built
for their mutual protection, a common kind of defence on
the frontier in those times, but soon after Wayne's victory over
the Indians, at the Maumee, in 1794, all danger from the
savages passed away, a^d the settlers began to scatter to
Buckeye Creek, Buckeye Run, Flint Run, Middle Island Creek,
Meat House Fork, Greenbrier Run, Cherry Camp, Halls Run,
and other places, so that before many years had passed, the
New Salem Church, in order to accommodate the various
groups of its members, some of whom were situated several
miles distant from New Salem, maintained church services at
Middle Island (now West Union), on Greenbrier Run, and
on Halls Run. At Middle Island and on Greenbrier Run,
log meeting houses were built. Business meetings were held
in all three places, in turn with the village of New Salem.
It is probable that communion service was likewise held at
all these places.

In the meantime, the Bonds from Cecil County, Mary-
land, had arrived and settled on Lost Creek and Hackers
Creek. They were joined by other members of the New
Salem Church, and in 1805, the Lost Creek Church was or-
ganized.

In 183 1 the Middle Island Church was organized with
twenty-nine members drawn from the membership of the New
Salem Church, and others soon followed. This church was
situated at Lewisport (now West Union), and included not
only those who lived in that immediate vicinity, but those,
also, who had settled on the Meat House Fork of Middle
Island Creek. These settlers lived at a distance of from four
to eight miles from Lewisport, and included the numerous
Bee families, who with the Kelleys had come from near
Salem, New Jersey.

Rev. Peter Davis, who had already been licensed to
preach, was ordained in December, 1823, by Rev. John Davis
and Rev. John Greene, who ordained Rev. Lewis A. Davis,
likewise, on the 15th of January, following.

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836 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Rev. Peter Davis shared the pastorate along with Rev.
John Davis. Rev. Lewis A. Davis engaged in missionary
work, at first among the Virginia churches, and then among-
those in Ohio.

The church suffered about this time from internal dis-
turbances, which affected the serenity of the church for many
years. About the year 1825, the doctrinal views of Rev.
Peter Davis gave offence to some, but upon official examina-
tion they were found to be orthodox. Again in 1834, Rev.
Peter Davis and Ezekiel Bee pursued such a course, dictated
by conscience as they declared, that it caused trouble for a
season. In connection with this movement, the integrity of
the organization of the church was threatened for a time.
But this, too, was finally settled in a satisfactory manner.

About this time the church was disturbed by some per-
sonal difficulties which caused trouble for a term of neariy
fifteen years, but which were finally adjusted amicably.

Rev. John Davis, so long the pastor of the church, passed
to his eternal reward, June 22, 1842, and Rev. Peter Davis,
who for many years had performed the most of the duties of
the pastor of the church, now assumed sole charge.

The old hewed log meeting house had undergone exten-
sive repairs, and many alterations had been made. But it was
dark, gloomy, and forbidding at best.

The business meetings and communion services were held
at New Salem, but monthly meetings were held on Greenbrier
Run, Meat House Fork, and Buckeye Run.

In 1850, Rev. Azor Estee began his labors among the
churches in Western Virginia, and the New Salem Church
received its share of his ministrations. In 1856, Rev. David
Clawson came, and finally determined to make his home there
permanently, devoting his time for the most part, to the needs
of the New Salem and Lost Creek churches. But death soon
claimed him, and he passed to his eternal reward March 6,
i860. His last resting pkce was chosen in the graveyard
adjoining the Old Frame Meeting House at Lost Creek, where
his grave is marked by a suitable monument, bearing a record
of his earthly labours, erected by the New Salem and Lost
Creek churches, jointly.

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INTERIOR OF THE OLD LOG CHURCH AT NEW SALEM, VIRGINIA.

(S€e Page 840.)

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 837

About this time, Rev. Peter Davis, who was still the
acknowledged pastor of the New Salem Church, declined to
officiate at the communion service, which he held had been
"fulfilled and had passed away/' and for that reason was no
longer binding. As a result, the communion service was
omitted for a few times ; but it was soon resumed, since the new
doctrine, as held by the pastor, did not find favour with the
church. After a year or two, however, the pastor, weighed
down by the infirmities of advancing years, and atill adher-
ing to his newly-found views concerning the communion
service, was relieved of his active duties. He received, never-
theless, a vote of respect, confidence, and esteem from the
church, which he had served so long and so faithfully.

Thus harmlessly died away the last ripple of doctrinal
excitement that disturbed the serenity of the church.

In 1858, a new house of worship had been completed,
\ and a commendable spirit of activity in church work prevailed

' among the members of the church.

; The first years of the second half of the nineteenth cen-

I tury had witnessed a wave of educational enthusiasm, which

I culminated in the West Union Academy, sweep over the

' church. When it subsided a few years afterward, and the

' West Union Academy was abandoned, several of the young

I people who had been students of the defunct academy, mem-

. bers of the New Salem Church, went away to Alfred

J Academy, now Alfred University, at Alfred, New York.

The Civil War soon followed, bringing in its wake ruin
and subsequent depression, as the church was on the border
I over-lapped by the activities of both armies.

In 1866, Rev. Walter B. Gillette made his first visit to
I West Virginia as a missionary. His coming was a God-send

I to all the churches there, but especially so to the New Salem

Church. In 1870, he again visited this field, and assisted in
the organization of the Ritchie and Greenbrier churches, both
of which drew from the membership of the New Salem
Church. The Greenbrier Church was constituted almost
wholly of members of the New Salem Church.

Rev. Charles' A. Burdick came upon the West Virginia

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838 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

field as a general missionary in October, 1870, soon after the
close of the labours of Rev. Walter B. Gillette. He estab-
lished his residence and headquarters at New Salem, and
when a few years afterwards he engaged in educational work,
the house of worship of the New Salem Church served as the
building in which be conducted his select school at New Salem.

Ever since 1854, when he was called to serve the church
as its assistant pastor. Rev. Samuel D. Davis had ministered
to the church from time to time. Jacob Davis, Lewis F.
Randolph, and Judson F. Randolph had been licensed to
preach, and had participated in the pastoral work of the
church. Jacob Davis and Lewis F. Randolph were both or-
dained and set apart to the work of the Gospel ministry, each
after a satisfactory term of probation as a licentiate.

The church was sadly in need of a pastor who could give
his entire time and strength to the work, but financial weak-
ness was a strong barrier to such a plan. In April, 1876,
however, Rev. Samuel D. Davis entered upon a term of
service as pastor of the church, giving his entire time to the
duties of his office, at a salary of four hundred dollars a
year. This was the first time the church had ever employed
a pastor, upbn a stated salary, to give his entire time to church
work. He served the church most satisfactorily in this man-
ner, for a period of three years; but the church ran steadily
behind in its finances. After the close of Rev. Samuel D.
Davis's pastorate. Rev. Uri M. Babcock was engaged as
pastor, four members making themselves personally respon-
sible for his salary for one year. During the second year of
his term of service, the finances of the church became so
badly involved, that he resigned to accept a call to the pas-
torate of another church.

For a period of several years, now, the church struggled
against a strong tide of discouragement. It was embarrassed
because of strained relations with a sister church, occasioned
by a series of unfortunate misunderstandings, which became
the subject of consideration at the hands of the General Con-
ference. Members living at a distance from New Salem
removed their membership to churches nearer home. Among
these was the faithful clerk of the church, Franklin F. Ran-

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Q
PQ

= I

u «

<
w

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 839

dolph, who had kept the records for a period of twenty-eight
years, and who in storm and sunshine aHke, the mountainous
roads often all but impassable, had ridden on horseback, or,
as was often necessary, had traveled on foot from his home
ten miles away at New Milton, to attend the business meetings
of the church.

But the dawn of a brighter day was at hand. Again the
interest of the Seventh Day Baptists in West Virginia in edu-
cation was becoming aroused, and the long-cherished plan
of establishing a denominational school at Salem began to
take definite shape ; with the result that in the spring of 1889,
Salem Academy, soon afterward changed to Salem College,
was opened under the temporary leadership of Rev. John L.
Huffman, who was at that time serving the New Salem Church
as its pastor. A president was soon obtained for the col-
lege, in the person of Rev. San ford L. Maxson, the principal
of AJbion Academy, at Albion, Wisconsin.

In 1890, Rev. Theodore L. Gardiner became pastor of the
church, which soon afterward entered upon a period of un-
precedented, prosperity.

During the year 1891-1892, the church became a cor-
porate body, for the first time in its history, its legal business
having been done previously by a board of trustees appointed
by the cotirts.

The first of August, 1902, finds the church with a new
brick house of worship of modem design, and a well-appointed
parsonage with commodious grounds; the church itself pros-
pering spiritually and financially under the efficient leadership
of its zealous pastor. Rev. Ellis A. Witter.

The New Salem Church became a member of the Gen-
eral Conference in the year 1808, and of the Western Associa-
tion in 1838. It was a constituent member of the South- Western
Association, which was finally organized in 1839, and was an
active member of the Virginia Association, after the South-
western Association was separated into the Ohio and Vir-
ginia associations, in 1850. When the Virginia Association
was dissolved in 1855, the New Salem and Lost Creek churches
both made application for membership in the Eastern Asso-
ciation in 1856. These applications were finally granted, al-

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840 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

though they were regarded with some suspicion on account
of slavery.

The New Salem Church took the initial step in the or-
ganization of the South-Eastern Association, at Lost Creek,
in January, 1872.

After the arrival of the church at its new home at New
Salem in Western Virginia, it reverted to the plan originally
followed in New Jersey, of holding its meetings for worship
and business in the homes of its members.

On the I2th of April, 179S, the church considered the
propriety of erecting a house of worship. On the loth of
May, following, it was determined to build a meeting-house
in the following autumn. Two months afterward, in June, it
was determined to build a house, twenty-four feet long by
twenty feet wide, and that a foundation should be laid for gal-
leries. The meeting house was to be covered with a cabin roof,
and the deacons were instructed to keep a strict account of
every man's work, so that each one should do an equal part.

Whether this house was never completed, or whether it
was destroyed by fire soon after its completion, does not
appear from the records. At all events, we find that on
January 10, 1796, the deacons of the church were instructed
to try to obtain permission to use the house of Thomas
Babcock for worship, and in the event of failure to secure
that, the house of John Davis was to be used for that purpose.

On August 9, 1801, the church voted to try to buy the
house in which meetings were held, and voted to pay fifty
dollars ($50.00) for the house and lot.

A week afterward, August i6th, the church voted to build
a meeting house on the burying ground, twenty-eight feet
long by twenty-two feet in width, with galleries.

On the 19th of May, 1820, Nathan Davis and Jesse Davis
were appointed to wait upon the venerable founder of the
village of New Salem, Samuel Fitz Randolph, and get the
deeds for the meeting-house and graveyard lot3.

This meeting-house was built of hewed logs. In the
middle was a chimney with a double fireplace to supply heat.
The crevices between the logs were filled with sticks and clay
mortar. After it had been completely renovated, in 1839, ^tnd

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 84I

at least three new windows and one new door added, it was
described by Rev. Thomas E. Babcock, who visited it in
1853, as follows :

The Meeting House is an ancient looking structure of hewed logs.
There is a gallery in it, which, however, seems to have fallen into
disuse. The gloomy aspect of the house is, perhaps, too true an index
to the condition of the church. It is a sad picture, to see a church that
has stood the vicissitudes of more than a century, feebly struggling
for existence.

This building was used until 1857, when a new frame
building was begun, and was completed in the following year.
After more than forty years' service, this structure gave way
to the present brick edifice, which was completed in 1901.

As the people began to go out from New Salem soon
after its settlement, to make their homes at various other
points in the surrounding country, they formed other little
settlements, ranging in distance from three or four miles,
to ten .or twelve miles, from New Salem and the meet-
house. These little groups found it practically impossible to
attend church at New Salem with any regularity, and
consequently began to hold Sabbath services in their own
settlements, using the homes of various ones of their num-
ber as meeting places.

In the early days, such services were held at Lewis-
port (now West Union), and on Greenbrier Run, Halls
Run, and Lamberts Run. In the course of time, stated meet-
ings of the church were held at these places.

As these settlements grew, they began to feel the need
of houses of worship in their midst, and the need was met
in some places by the erection of meeting-houses which were
the property <Jf the church.

The first of these meeting-houses to be built was at
Lewisport, where three brothers, Nathan, Joseph, and William
Davis had purchased twenty thousand (20,000) acres of land
and settled for their homes. Here upon a little bluff, only a
stone's throw from the very verge of the banks of Middle
Island Creek, a rude log meeting-house was erected, and a
graveyard established upon the lands of Joseph Davis. This
was probably built some time during the first decade of the

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842 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

nineteenth centur^^ and was doubtless a crude affair of round,
unhewed logs, with a cabin roof. After a few years, this
gave way to another log structure, which too had fallen into
decay, not many years after the first quarter of the century
had passed.

After the organization of the Middle Island Church at
Lewisport was finally consummated in 1832, the New Salem
Church relinquished all claim to the property in favour of the
Middle Island Church.

Another meeting-house was built on Greenbrier Run.
This was a very small building of hewed logs, with a cabin
roof; and a chimney, with an open fieplace in the northeast
corner of the single room of the interior. The New Salem
Church fonnally relinquished all claim to this property in
favor of the Greenbrier Church, in the year 1880.

Although the church voted to hold meetings on Halls
Run as early as November 11, 1804, there is no record of any
meeting-house ever having been erected there.

The church maintained services at different other places,
some, at least, of which were as follows: Meat House Fork
of Middle Island Creek, at the present location of the Mid-
dle Island Church ; Buckeye Run ; Long Run ; and Flint Run.

At all these outlying stations where the New Salem
Church maintained services, with the exception of Lewisport
and Greenbrier Run, dwelling houses and schoolhouses were,
for the most part, used as places of meeting for worship.

There is no record of any action on the part of the
church to provide its pastor with a home at any time during
its sojourn of nearly half a century in New Jersey, and after
it came to New Salem, it was not until the yeac 1891 that it
erected a commodious, comfortable parsonage.

Besides those previously mentioned, the following have
served as pastor of the church : Rev. Samuel D. Davis, Rev.
David Clawson, Rev. Jacob Davis, Rev. Uri M. Babcock,
Rev. San ford L. Maxson, Rev. Theodore L. Gardiner, Rev.
John L. Huffman, Rev. George W. Lewis, Rev. Ellis A.
Witter.

The office of Ruling Elder was recognized in the church

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 843

as early as November ii, 1798, and was not abolished until
August 16, 1822.

Among the more promineht of those who have served the
church as deacons, are Lodowick Hughes Davis, Jepthah Fifz
Randolph, and Lloyd Fitz Randolph.

The clerk of longest service is Franklin Fitz Randolph,
who filled that office continuously for twenty-eight years.

THE WEST FORK RIVER CHURCH.

The records of this church have long since disappeared.
The only documentary sources of information now available
are the records of the New Salem Church ; a single letter ad-
dressed to the General Conference under the date of July 23,
1808, by the hand of Thomas Maxson, clerk of the church;
and the reply of the General Conference to the church.

The West Fork River Church was located at or near the
mouth of Lamberts Run, a small stream which flows into the
West Fork of the Monongahela River from the west, some
six or eight miles north of Clarksburg, and but a short dis-
tance south of the junction of Ten Mile Creek with the
West Fork of the Monongahela River. Here there settled
Thomas Maxson, a prosperous farmer from Shrewsbury,
New Jersey. He rapidly improved his farm, built a brick
dwelling house with brick out-buildings, and gathered around
him a small company, consisting of his son Timothy, with
his wife, Anna; William Vanhorn, and his wife, Virginia,
and perhaps others.

On June 25, 1793, these settlers presented a petition to
the New Salem Church to send delegates to attend the organi-
zation of a church on the West Fork of the Monongahela.
The petition was granted and Isaac Morris and Ephraim
Maxson were sent as such delegates, and the organization
was effected with a membership of five souls.

The membership, which was never large, had in 1808
increased to a total enrollment of sixteen, since the organi-
zation of the church, of whom one had been excommunicated,
two dismissed to other churches, and one deceased, leaving
an actual membership at that time of but twelve. Although

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844 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

they then had hope of growth, the church soon went into
a decline and gradually became extinct.

The doctrine of open communion obtained a firm foot-
hold in this church, to the great grief of its sister churches.
This practice was made the occasion of a lengthy communi-
cation of censure from the General Conference, when the
church applied for membership in that body in 1808.

So far as the present writer has been able to ascertain,
the West Fork River Church is the only one of this group
of churcfies in which the doctrine of open, or free, com-'
munion ever obtained a footing firm enough to menace its
integrity.

The West Fork River Church, doubtless, carried its prac-
tice of open communion to a much greater length than merely
admitting their First Day friends to the communion service
and inviting them to participate in the Lord's Supper. • This,
undoubtedly, opened the way to a much closer affiliation with
members of non-Sabbath-keeping churches.

It is somewhat doubtful, however, if Benedict's state-
ment to the effect that First Day Baptists were admitted to
membership, is correct; as the source of his information,
probably, was the foregoing correspondence, published at that
time in the minutes of the Seventh Day Baptist General Con-
ference.

The West Fork River Church now rapidly declined, and
in a short time those who had not left the Sabbath, had
become members of the Losk Creek Church.

THE IX)ST CREEK CHURCH.

The Lost Creek Church, organized October 27, 1805, was
.formed of a group of Seventh Day Baptists who settled on
Lost Creek, and the neighbouring streams of Hackers Creek
and Elk Creek, early in the nineteenth century.

In the early part of its history, the church was made up,
for the most part, of the Bonds, who had come from Cecil
county, Maryland, and the Van Horns, Williamses, and others,
who had embraced the Sabbath in the southwestern part of
Pennsylvania, through the influence of the Woodbridgetown
Seventh Day Baptist Church. These were joined by other

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 845

families from time to time, from New Salem, and from Wood-
bridgetown, as well as from points in Maryland and New
Jersey. Among these were the Huffmans, Loofboros, For-
sythes, and others.

In July, 1806, the church decided to build a meeting-
house, but the exact location was not determined upon until
November 29, 1807. The building appears to have been com-
pleted in December, 1809.

Rev. John Davis was pastor, not only of the New Salem
Church, but of the Lost Creek Church as well.

Early in 181 1, the -meeting-house was burned down by
accident, and the church decided to build again ; this time on
the land of William Van Horn, who agreed to make the church
a deed for a lot of one acre.

In 1815, some trouble arose between Rev. John Davis
on the one hand, and various members of the church on the
other. This continued to agitate the church at irregular
intervals for a period of some fifteen years, and at times it
interfered materially with its spiritual welfare. This was
finally adjusted in a manner apparently satisfactory to all
parties concerned.

As early as in September, 1815, a question arose about
free communion with the First Day Baptists. Two years
afterward, the question came into the foreground again, but
at neither time did the church take action favouring free
communion.

Early in the year 182 1 a controversy waged over Calvin-
ism, a question which divided the church into two opposing
factions. The controversy continued until a business meeting
of the church held April 29, following, which was attended
by Rev. John Davis and Deacon John Bright, both of the
Cohansey (Shiloh), New Jersey, Church. These two brethren
were requested by the church to take the question in contro-
versy under consideration, and advise the church what course
to pursue.

They decided upon new articles of faith, which they sub-
mitted to the church on December 2, following. The report
was acceptable to all, and on the 30th of the same month.

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846 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

the new articles of faith were adopted and signed by the mem-
bers of the church.

For some eleven or twelve years, William Williams had
occupied the attention of the church, to a greater or less ex-
tent. He had been licensed to preach, but soon gave offence
to thfe church. He continued to preach, however, with greater
or less regularity, until in March, 1830, when a question arose
as to whether he should be ordained, or whether he should
continue to preach as a licentiate. The latter course was de-
cided upon at that time, and again in January, 183 1, the
church declined to ordain him.

Williams now became an issue, and that question to-
gether with others soon created a division in the church.
A small minority, in face of the strong opposition of the
rest of the church, vigorously advocated a change in the
polity of the church, so that on June 20, 1831, "after mature
deliberation, for the sake of harmony and to obviate a diffi-
culty under which we have long laboured, and for other rea-
sons, a large majority submitted to the requisition of the
minority, and granted their request."

This concession did not avail, however, and the minority,
under the leadership of Williams, seceded from the church,
seized the meeting-house, and organized the Second Seventh
Day Baptist Church of Lost Creek.

The new church at once ordained Williams, and in Sep-
tember, 1834, applied for admission to the General Conference.

The General Conference referred the application to a
committee for investigation. This committee rendered a re-
port at the following annual session of the General Confer-
ence, which was adopted, impugning the motives prompting
the organization of the new church, and recommending that
the request for membership be refused.

The new church was left in quiet possession of the old
meeting-house, the old church holding services, first at the
home of one of its members, and afterwards at a schoolhouse.

Under the sagacious leadership of Rev. Joel Greene, who
was on a visit to Virginia at that time, it was decided to build
a new meeting-house; and on July 23, 1832, the church took
formal action to that effect, voting "to build a frame meeting-

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<
o

m
U a

o ^

u
u

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 847

house at the old burying ground on Mr. Bassel's premises."
This is the building that for many years was known in all
that region of country round about as the "Frame Church."
Of its erection, Rev. Joel Greene relates as follows :

This was done with [such] unanimity, liberality, and celerity, as
to do honour to the church and disarm opposition. In a short time,
the larger portion of the dissenters retraced their steps, resumed their
walk with the church, and the community rejoiced in a rather ex-
tensive revival of religion, bringing increased strength to the church,
and benefit to the cause of religion generally.

These were days of stormy trial for the church, never-
theless. The new church continued its existence with a hand-
ful of members for several years. Finally becoming weary,
themselves, of the division and consequent strife, on April
10, 1835, they presented a petition to the old church praying
for admission to that church. The petition was rejected, and
the new church gradually died away.

About this time the church became involved in certain
difficulties with the New Salem Church, which in the end were
adjusted amicably.

On December 9, 1849, R^v. Azor Estee and his wife were
received into membership from the church at Petersburgh,
New York. He had come upon the field in the capacity of a
general missionary among the churches in Virginia, and whe^n
some six months afterward the establishment of an academy
among these churches came to be seriously considered, under
the leadership of William F. Randolph and Rev. Azor Estee,
the Lost Creek Church pledged its moral and financial support
to the enterprise.

On March 13, 1857, Lewis Bond and his wife were re-
ceived into the membership of the church. They were the
two remaining members of the North Fork of Hughes River
Church, in which Lewis Bond had been ordained a deacon and
licensed to preach. He was received into the Lost Creek
Church upon the same footing he occupied as a member of the
North Fork of Hughes River Church.

On the same day, Naomi Kildow, formerly a member of
the defunct Woodbridgetown Church, and a descendant of

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848 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Rev. Enoch David, was made a member of the Lost Creek
Church.

Also upon this date action was taken preparatory to
securing the services of Rev. David Qawson as pastor of the
church.

On September 10, 1858, a committee was appointed to
confer with a Hke committee from the New Salem Church
for the purpose of making the arrangements necessary to
secure Rev. David Clawson as the pastor of the two churches
jointly. The negotiations were successful, and the new pastor
entered upon his duties with enthusiasm. His promising
career was soon cut short by his death, which occurred
March 8, i860, just as the Civil War began to throw its
blighting shadow over the Lost Creek Church, in common with
all the other Virginia churches.

Upon the death of Rev. David Clawson, Rev. Samuel
D. Davis, who had been first licensed to preach in 1841, at
the age of seventeen years, and ordained in 1850, was again
called to the pastorate of the church. He accepted the call and
continued as pastor, assisted from time to time by Rev. Jacob
Davis and Lewis F. Randolph, until the first of January,
1869, when he resigned of his own free will on account of ill
health, and relinquished the work for a short time.

In the year 1870 the church undertook the erection of
a new house of worship, to be built of brick. This was car-
ried through to a successful accomplishment, and the Lost
Creek Church was provided with the best house of worship
of any of the churches of the South-Eastern Association, and
one of the best to be found at that time in central West
Virginia.

At the end of the year 1874, Rev. Samuel D. Davis
finally resigned the pastorate of the church, and was succeeded
by Rev. Charles A. Burdick, who for several years had been
engaged in missionary work in West Virginia.

Charles A. Burdick was followed, successively, by Lucius
R. Swinney, John L. Huffman, Lely D. Seager, William L.
Burdick, and Mazzina G. Stillman.

In October, 1880, the church purchased a parsonage,
(53)

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 849

and in 1887, for a second time, the church lost its house of
worship by fire. The loss was promptly repaired.

With the establishment of Salem College in 1889, the
Lost Creek Church began to suffer a decline in its resident
membership, several families moving away to Salem in order
to give their children the advantage offered by the new schooL
The church, however, is in a flourishing condition at the
present time, and the outlook for its future prosperity and
usefulness is bright.

From the very beginning of its existence up to within a
a few years of the date of this writing, the Lost Creek Church
has maintained a preaching station at Quiet Dell, situated on
Elk Creek, some ten miles from Clarksburg, and about an
equal distance from Lost Creek Station.

This was the home of Abel Bond, Sr. His home was the
first stopping place of missionaries sent to Virginia from the
north and east, as they came on horseback up the West Fork
River from the Woodbridgetown church.

Here were entertained Rev. Amos R. Wells, from Hop-
kinton, Rhode Island; Rev. John Davis and Deacon John
Bright, of Shiloh, New Jersey; Rev. John Greene, from De-
Ruyter, New York; Rev. Alexander Campbell, of DeRuyter,
New York, and others. Here a home was built in the corner
of the yard of Abel Bond for the use of Alexander Camp-
bell and his family upon their second visit to this field.

In later years the most spirited member of the Lost
Credc Church at Quiet Dell was Dudley Hughes Davis. He
interested himself greatly in church work, and was super-
intendent for several years of a flourishing Sabbath School
at Quiet Dell. But physical infirmities overtook him which
prevented his taking part in public meetings, and the interests
at Quiet Dell languished, and have finally almost wholly died
out, from deaths and removals.

Other important interests of the church have been for a
great many years on Hackers Creek, where another one of
the Bond families located, some ten or twelve miles away from
Lost Creek Station. The interests there are represented at
the present time by the family of Boothe Bond and his brother,
Levi D. Bond.

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850 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

In the year 1808, the Lost Creek Church became a mem-
ber of the General Confemce along with the New Salem
Church. In 1837 it was admitted to membership in the West-
em Association.

When the South- Western Association was organized in
1839 the Lost Creek Church was one of the constituent mem-
bers of that body, and when the Virginia Association was
constituted in 185 1, the Lost Creek Church was a constituent
member of that body, likewise.

After the dissolution of the Virginia Association, the
Lost Creek Church, along with the New Salem Church, became
a member of the Eastern Association, in 1856, where its
presence precipitated a rancorous discussion on the subject
of Slavery, In 1858 the Lost Creek Church withdrew from
the Eastern Association.

When the South-Eastem Association was constituted in
1872 the Lost Creek Church was one of the most prominent
factors in that organization ; a position it has maintained to the
present time.

THE MIDDLE ISLAND CHURCH.

The Middle Island Church, when originally organized,
was situated at Lewisport, now a part of the village of West
Union, in Doddridge county, on Middle Island Creek.

Here the new Salem Church had erected a house of wor-
ship for the use of several families living in that vicinity who
were members of that church. A graveyard had been estab-
lished in a plot of ground adjoining the church yard.

A preliminary organization of a separate church was
effected as early as August 19, 1831 ; but a permanent organi-
zation was not completed until July 15, 1832, under the di-
rection of Rev. John Davis and Rev. Joel Greene, the latter-
a missionary on a visit to the Virginia churches.

In the short space of four months, however, grave internal
dissensions developed, which crippled the church for many
years. This trouble, as well as many other domestic difficulties
of this group of churches, grew out of the inability of many
of its members to differentiate clearly between the civil statute
and ecclesiastical law.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 851

Here also appeared some of the doctrinal ripples which
had already ruffled the surface of the serenity of the New
Salem Church, and which were finally to mass themselves into
niighty, angry billows and dash another church of the group
to chaotic destruction upon the ugly, deceptive, barren reefs
of empty ceremonialism, chilling formality, and revolting
literalism.

The Middle Island Church made little effort to provide
itself with a suitable church edifice. At one time a move was
made to obtain the property tffere, by gift, of the house and
lot owned by the New Salem Church; but the want of do-
mestic peace in the Middle Island Church seems to have de-
terred the mother church from complying with this request
for many years.

Subsequently Nathan Davis offered to give the church
a site for a house of worship in the newly-established village
of West Union, laid out on his lands, but the offer was re-
jected.

Ezekiel Bee appears to have been the only pastor the
church had during the first thirty-four years of its history.
He did not become associated with the church, however, until
1845, and his connection with it lasted but a few years.
The church was dependent largely upon the ministrations of
the pastor of the New Salem Church, or of such home mis-
sionaries as came upon the Virginia field.

In August, 1866, a meeting was held for the purpose
of resuscitating the church, which for several years had
rested in a state of apparent hopeless inactivity.

Several members of the church still lived at or near West
Union, and retained their membership in the Middle Island
Church, until the organization of the West Union Church, in
1888, when such of them as were still living, became constit-
uent members of that church.

The majority of the members of the Middle Island Church,
however, lived at New Milton, on the Meat House Fork of
Middle Island Creek, some seven miles above West Union.
There also lived at New Milton several families which still
retained their membership with the mother church at New
Salem. These together with the members of the Middle Is-

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852 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS'.

land Church, and other Sabbath-keepers residing in that vicin-
ity, had maintained worship on the Sabbath for several years,
meeting sometimes in private houses, sometimes in school-
houses, and sometimes in the Township Hall. Many of these
families were several miles apart, and lived on Red Lick Run,
Wolf Pen Run, Sugar Camp Run, and Lick Run, besides the
main stream of Meat House Fork, into which the others
flowed.

These people all united in building a house of worship
for their common use, near the^banks of the Meat House Fork
of Middle Island Creek, at the mouth of Sugar Camp Run, on
the line dividing the farms of Jepthah F. Randolph and Ama-
ziah Bee, both of whom contributed land for the site of the
new meeting-house.

The Middle Island Church held its first business meeting
in the new building on the Sixth Day of the week, September
5, 1867. At this meeting James B. Davis who had previously
been appointed a committee for that purpose, presented an
expose of faith, which was adopted. This meeting was also
marked by the report of a council which met that day to pass
upon the qualifications of James B. Davis, who had been
called to ordination by the church. The council recommended
his ordination.

The church was now fairly launched upon its new period
of existence, which dates from the very middle of its period
of seventy years of history embraced in this book. The tides
of the fortune of the church during the second period have
ebbed and flowed, but the church has maintained a continuous
active life.

For the first twenty years of this second period of its ex-
istence. Rev. James Ball Davis was its leading spirit. After
his removal to Salem in 1889, Franklin F. Randolph, by virtue
of his position as moderator of the church, besides the well
recognized elements of his personal character as a wise coun-
sellor, became the most influential leader of the church.

Besides Rev. James Ball Davis, the following have served
as pastors of the church since its re-organization : Rev. Hiram
P. Burdick, Rev. Marcus E. Martin, Rev. David W. Leath.

Rev. James B. Davis, from the time of the re-organizatioh

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 853

of the church, up to the day of his removal from the bounds
of the church in 1890, preached once a month and conducted
Quarterly Meetings in the absence of any one else to officiate,
whether he was pastor or not.

Amaziah Bee, a licentiate member of the church, also
from the date of the re-organization for a period of some
twenty years, or until failing health forbade his continuing
longer, preached for the church as often as once a month. He
often supplied some preaching station besides.

At various times the church has maintained preaching
stations on Long Run, Bear Fork of Cove Creek (now Con-
ings), Hughes Fork of Buckeye Creek, and Lick Run.

The Middle Island Church became a member of the Gen-
eral Conference in 1832. It was one of the constituent mem-
bers of the Virginia Association in 185 1, and of the South-
Eastem Association in 1872.

NORTH FORK OF HUGHES RIVER CHURCH.

Doubtless the records of the North Fork of Hughes River
Church were never more than extremely meagre; and what-
ever there may have been have long since disappeared from
view and been forgotten.

This church centres around the history of one man, Lewis
Bond, who was born in Cecil county, Maryland, February 16,
1780. In 18 1 3 he removed to Western Virginia and settled
on the head waters of the North Fork of Hughes River, about
five miles above the present village of Toll Gate, which is a few
miles west of the present village of West Union in Doddridge
County, and not far from the present village of Pennsboro in
Ritchie County.

Here Lewis Bond was visited by the missionaries sent to
Western Virginia by the Missionary Board in its early opera-
tions.

As a result of one of the visits of Alexander Campbell in
^833, a church was organized here in that year, consisting of
some eight or nine members, of whom four were Lewis Bond
and his wife, and his son Ethelbert and his wife. The remain-
ing members of the church were in all probability other mem-
bers of Lewis Bond's family.

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854 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Lewis Bond was appointed deacon and ordained to that
office. He was also licensed to preach, and served for many
years as the pastor of the church. His son Ethelbert D. Bond
was the clerk of the church.

In 1837, the church became a member of the Western As-
sociation, which had been but recently organized, at its annual
session held with the church at Alfred, New York, in June of
that year. At that time the North Fork of Hughes River
Church consisted of nine members and for the past year had
neither increased nor decreased in membership. In its com-
munication to the Western Association requesting membership
in that body, the church said, "We desire your prayers for us,
a small branch, that we may extend as the watered tree, far
and wide."

By virtue of its membership in the Western Association,
the North Fork of Hughes River Church became a member of
the General Conference. But there is no record of the church
ever having reported directly to Conference.

When the South- Western Association was organized in
1839 the North Fork of Hughes River Church was one of its
constituent members, and its deacon and pastor, Lewis Bond,
presided as moderator at the first annual session of that asso-
ciation. He was also honoured with the appointment as dele-
gate from that association to the next annual session of the
Western Association.

The church had become extinct before the formation of
the Virginia Association in 185 1.

THE SOUTH FORK OF HUGHES RIVER, OR PINE GROVE, CHURCH.

This church originally composed wholly of the members
of two families who were converts to the Sabbath, sprang into
existence through the labours of Rev. Alexander Campbell,
who had visited Lewis Bond on the North Fork of Hughes
River, not far from the present village of Pennsboro. While
there Alexander Campbell held a series of revival meetings,
and as a result there were some conversions to the Sabbath.
After his departure to Quiet Dell, one of the preaching sta-
tions of the Lost Creek Church, a local clergyman by the name
of Tichnell, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, challenged any

Digitized by V:iOOQIC

SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 855

one who would to discuss the Sabbath question publicly,
Contrary to the Reverend Mr. Tichneirs expectation, Alex-
ander Campbell returned and accepted the challenge. The
debate was attended by a large audience, many of them com-
ing itom a- distance of several miles. Among the throng were
those who embraced the Sabbath and were organized into the
South Fork of Hughes River Seventh Day Baptist Church.

For a period of five years the church no more than held
its own. On May 7, 1839, 'Asa Bee was received into mem-
bership, and soon afterward assumed the leadership of the
church. Others joined the church, some, like Asa Bee, com-
.ing from other Seventh Day Baptist churches ; and others, like
the original members, were converts to the Sabbath.

For the first thirty-four years of the history of the church,
its records, never very full, are extremely meagre. From June
17, i860, to February 12, 1868, no record whatever appears.
For many years the proceedings of the business meetings of
the church were kept a profound secret, and members who
violated this secrecy were subjected to severe discipline.

Many perplexing questions arose respecting doctrine and
church polity. These questions involved articles of diet and
manner of dress as well as church control of family govern-
ment and discipline. In short here an attempt was made to
apply the provisions of the Mosaic law governing the domestic
life of the early Hebrews to American Seventh Day Baptists,
in the middle of the nineteenth century of the Christian Era,
irrespective of the changed conditions of modern civilization
and radically different racial instinct, to say nothing of the
profound differences between the Christian and Hebrew re-
ligions. The result, as might have been expected, was a gro-
tesque failure.

For the greater part of the period of its existence, the
church was under the leadership of Asa Bee and his brother
Ezekiel, both of whom were men of marked mental ability
and of sincerity of purpose, but who were possessed of many
half-crazy ideas of Biblical interpretation, which were boun-
teously fruitful of discord.

In 1870 this spirit of dissension resulted in a split in the
South Fork of Hughes River Church, and the organization of

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856 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

the Ritchie Church. This precipitated a life and death strug-
gle between the two opposing churches. The Ritchie Church
received recognition at the hands of the Seventh Day Baptist
General Conference, as well as at the hands of the South-East-
ern Seventh-day Baptist Association, when the latter was or-
ganized in 187 1.

The mother church steadily lost ground, and when after
a decade had passed after the organization of the Ritchie
Church, the Pine Grove Church (as the South Fork of Hughes
River Church came to be called), gave one of its members per-
mission to distribute among its membership, tracts containing
the doctrines of the Seventh Day Adventists, its doom was
sealed. Two years afterward, on February 22, 1883, ten mem-
bers were excommunicated for affiliating with the Seventh
Day Adventists; and the book of records of the South Fork
of Hughes River, or Pine Grove, Church passing into the hands
of one of the excommunicated members, was closed forever,
although a few more meetings were held before the final ab-
sorption of the remaining scant membership into the Ritchie
Church.

This church, in its effort to promote simplicity of life,
placed a premium upon lack of personal adornment and
beauty, and almost upon discomfort. Dress, particularly that
of the women, was made after certain uniform patterns, ap-
proved if not prescribed, by the old men of the church. The
result was attire often so ungainly and grotesque as not only
to make the wearers objects of ridicule, but to incite them to
rebellion against ecclesiastical authority as well, so that they
were often excommunicated from the church for violating the
rules of prescribed fashion in dress as laid down by the coun-
cils of the church. This one thing, perhaps more than any-
thing else, retarded the growth and prosperity of the church.

Rules for dress in which the dead must be clothed, even
to minute directions as to the style of the coffin and the ma-
terial of which it was to be constructed, were established.

In the event of marriage, the trousseau of the bride and
the dress of the groom were described in the code of the church.
Both were to be arrayed in white, all except their shoes or

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 857

boots. The bride should not wear a cap, nor any other article
of ornament.

Certain rules relating to courtship were prescribed and
insisted upon by the church, with the result that infractions
of them were the subject of frequent disciplinary action by the
church.

Parental control of children was transferred to the church,
and on many an occasion, the church was called upon to con-
sider the complaints of parents concerning unruly sons and
daughters.

In their effort to follow the mandates of the Mosaic law,
the flesh of swine as food, was placed under ban. Mutton
and beef tallow took the place of lard in cooking. A few of
the more well-to-do used olive oil. This practice caused the
church to be known, for many years, far and near, by the
derisive name of the of the "Hog Church."

If a father died, his family was committed to the care of
the church, and his property to the supervision of its elders.*

"Investigatmg meetings'* were frequently held. These
lasted continuously from early in the morning until late in the
afternoon, the people coming and going constantly ; some for
purposes of consultation, others for refreshments, and others
for the performance of duties at home. Subjects of all kinds
were discussed, from women's underwear to doctrines of
eternal damnation and endless happiness.

Great stress was laid upon the word peculiar in the fol-
lowing and similar passages from the Bible :

"The Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto him-
self, above all the nations that are upon the earth." Oeut. 14 : 2.

"And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar
people." Deut. 26 : 18.

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy na-
tion, a peculiar people.*' i Peter 11., 9.

By peculiar, they understood that something bizarre, gro-
tesque, or odd was meant.

To the idea of a peculiar people, they added the many
warnings of the Bible against mingling with the world. The

I. This brief statement concerning the distinctive tenets of faith and prac-
tice of this church is based upon personal statements made to the present
writer, by former members of this church.

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858 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

result was that, in their minds, God's chosen peculiar people
• must in no sense identify themselves with the worid, even in
that which pertained to food ami clothing, and other habits
of life common to everybody.

These strange doctrines of the South Fork of Hughes
River Church were not only extremely Puritanical, — ultra-
Puritanical, — but formal Puritanism, at that, gone grotesquely
mad, without a single redeeming trait of spirituality.

The South Fork of Hughes River Church was one of the
constituent members of the South-Eastern Association at the
organization of that association in 1839 ; and when the South-
western Association was divided into the Ohio, and Virginia
associations, the South Fork of Hughes River Church became
a constituent member of the Virginia Association at its organi-
zaton in 1851.

When the South-Eastern Association was organized in
1872, the South Fork of Hughes River Church did not apply
for membership.

The church was deeply grieved at the threatened rupture
which finally led to the organization of the Ritchie Church, and
attempted to reconcile the aggrieved members who were ac-
tive in the new movement, but without avail. After several
abortive efforts to effect a union after the organization of the
Ritchie Church, and subsequent tentative efforts to obtain re-
cognition at the hands of the South-Eastern Association,
finally, in 1883, the church made formal application for mem-
bership in the Association.

The Association replied, stating three conditions upon
which th« application would be granted, the essential one of
which was that the church should agree to effect a consolida-
tion with the Ritchie Church at an early date.

The conditions were accepted, and in the following Feb-
ruary the union was formally consummated.

Almost a full year previous to the final consolidation,
however, a large number of the prominent members of the
Pine Grove Church deserted that church and affiliated them-
selves with the Seventh Day Adventists, who had recently or-
ganized a church in that vicinity.

May 13, 1887, there was presented to the Ritchie Church a

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 859

communication purporting to come from the Pine Grove
Church. The Ritchie Church declined to consider the letter,
as the Pine Grove Church had passed out of existence more
than three years before that date.

Again, about two years afterwards, Marcus E. Martin
organized a church designed to be a sort of successor to the
Pine Grove Church, and seized the house of worship, which
had belonged to the Pine Grove Church. The move proved
abortive, however.

The remaining members of the Pine Grove Church, who
were now members of the Ritchie Church, met and held a busi-
ness meeting on October 24, 1897, for the purpose of comply-
ing with the laws of the state of West Virginia, in making a
legal transfer to the Ritchie Church of the real estate that had
been the property of the Pine Grove Church. This was liter-
ally the last meeting of the Pine Grove Church, and on the 7th
of October, 1898, a report was made to the Ritchie Church,
that the real estate of the Pine Grove Church had been legally
transferred to the Ritchie Church, in testimony whereof a deed
duly executed and recorded in the office of the Clerk of
Ritchie County was presented to the meeting, and the union
was finally complete.

The South Fork of Hughes River Church became a mem-
ber of the General Conference by virtue of its membership in
the South- Western Association, in 1839. On account of the
doctrinal differences between this church and the other
churches of the denomination, however, it gradually drifted
away from the General Conference, and for a good many
years before its final dissolution, it had really withdrawn from
fellowship with, not only the General Conference, but all other
Seventh Day Baptist organizations.

Rev. Peter Davis, who baptized the constituent members
and -organized them into a church, visited them from
time to time as often as his duties with the New Salem
Church and the distance of the new church from his home on
Greenbrier Run would permit. Other ministers also visited
the church from time to time. Of these, Asa Bee, and his
brother Ezekiel Bee, were doubtless the most frequent visitors.

Asa Bee, who had previously moved into the neighbour-

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860 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

hood, was received into this church, May 7, 1839. On Jan-
uary 24, 1842, he was called to the pastorate of the church.
He accepted the call for a period of six months. On the 29th
of the following August, he was elected pastor for an indefi-
nite period, and served in that capacity until his death. He
was generally known as "The Elder," and is constantly called
by that name in the records of the church.

On March 22, ,1857, the church granted Asa Bee the privi-
lege of inviting Ezekiel Bee, at that time living on Meat House
Fork of Middle Isand Creek, but who expected to locate, in
the near future, within the bounds of the South Fork of
Hughes River Church, to labour with the church at such times
as might be most expedient.

June 21, 1868, Ezekiel Bee became the pastor of the
church, and remained the real leader of the church until its
extinction, although Marcus E. Martin, his son-in-law, and Al-
pheus A. Meredith, both shared the duties of the pastorate,
for a short time each.

For many years after its organization, the church held its
meetings for worship and business alike in private houses, the
homes of its members.

In 185 1 the erection of a house of worship was begun.
This was completed in less, than two years, and was designed
for use as a schoolhouse as well as for public worship. A
second house was completed in 1880.

The meeting-house and graveyard of the Pine Grove
Church passed into the possession of the Ritchie Church after
the consolidation of the two churches.

As previously set forth the first meeting-house erected by
the church was designed for use as a schoolhouse, as well as
a house of worship. This of course antedated the public free
school system, which was not inaugurated here until after the
events of the Civil War had separated West Virginia from
the Old Dominion.

The school was under the strict management of the
church, and at times, at least, members of the church were
commanded by that body to prepare themselves for teaching
at some specified future time.

The records of the church show the names of upwards of

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 86l

one hundred and thirty members during the half century of
its tempestuous existence.

THE RITCHIE CHURCH.

This church, originally composed, in large part, of dis-
satisfied members of the old South Fork of Hughes River, or
J^ine Grove, Church, was organized by a council composed of
eighteen delegates from the New Salem, Lost Creek, and Mid-
dle Island churches, including one — Rev. Walter B. Gillette —
from the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society, and five of
the disaffected members of the Pine Grove Church.

The constituent members numbered twenty-six, of whom
eleven were from the membership of the Pine Grove Church.

At the outset the newly organized Ritchie Church clearly
perceived the significance of the step they had /taken, and lost •
no time in taking the preliminary measures necessary for pro-
viding themselves with a house of worship. On the 22d of
October, 1870, a committee was appointed to select a suitable
site, and erect upon it a house of worship.

Although the committee appears to have moved with great
caution, it was not long before dissatisfaction developed which
cast a blighting shadow upon the church for a long time.
Finally, however, a site was selected, and a house of worship
erected which, although it was in use for several years pre-
vious to that time, was not finally completed until April, 1881.

In August, 1896, the church purchased a dwelling house
for the use of its pastor.

As a result of the consolidation of the Pine Grove Church
with the Ritchie Church, the latter came into possession of the
hottse of worship formerly owned by the mother church.

Rev. James B. Davis served as the first pastor of the
church. Others who have served as |>astor, are the following :
Rev. Jacob Davis, Rev. Lewis F. Randolph, Rev. Samuel D.
Davis, Rev. Calvert W. Threlkeld, Rev. Henry B. Lewis, Rev.
Lely D. Seager, and Rev. Riley G. Davis.

When Experience F. Randolph (subsequently Rev. Perie
R. Burdick), publicly announced her decision to enter the
gospel ministry, the Ritchie Church, of which she was a mem-

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862 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS*.

ber at that time, expressed its smypathy with her determina-
tion and urged her courageously to follow out the course
she had chosen.

The Ritchie Church was a constituent member of the
South-Eastern Association at its organization in 1872. It was
received into the General Conference at the annual session
of the latter body held with the church at Adams Centre, New^
York, in September, 1871.

THE GREENBRIER CHURCH.

At the request of the New Salem Church, delegates from
her sister churches met her own delegates on Greenbrier Run,
on September 23, 1870, to consider the propriety of organiz-
ing, upon their petition, a group of the members of the New
Salem Church living in that neighbourhood, into a church.

After due deliberation, the council agreed that there ought
to be a church on Greenbrier Run, and voted to proceed with
the work of organizing in the afternoon of the same day, when
the organization was effected with forty-six constituent mem-
bers.

At the request of the New Salem Church Lewis F. Ran-
dolph, after passing a satisfactory examination at the hands
of the council, was ordained to the work of the gospel min-
istry, Rev. Walter B. Gillette preaching the ordination ser-
mon the following day — Sabbath.

These meetings of the council were held in the old log
meeting-house erected on Greenbrier Run by the New Salem
Church for the use of its members in that vicinity.

Of all the churches in Western Virginia organized wholly
or in part from the membership of the New Salem Church,
there has been none toward which the New Salem Church has
ever shown a more tender, affectionate regard.

Greenbrier was the home of Rev. Peter Davis and his
son-in-law. Rev. Jacob Davis; the former of whom had been
for so many years the beloved pastor of the mother church.
The latter who had been for some years the pastor ©f the New
Salem Church, and who continued to minister to its spiritual
wants, was held in no less high regard. The relation now,
therefore, between the two churches was less that between

Digitized by VjOOQIC

REV. PERIE R. BURDICK,
nee Experience Fitz Randolph.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 863

sisters, than that between mother and daughter. Indeed, for
many years, the later relationship was openly avowed, — a re-
lationship which inured to the good of both churches, who en-
tertained none but the best feelings for each other. They re-
joiced in each other's prosperity, and shared the cup of sad-
ness and sorrow, each with the other.

The Greenbrier Church was a constituent member of the
South-Eastem Association at its organization in 1872; and
it became a member of the General Conference in September,
1872.

Immediately upon the organization of the Greenbrier
Church, the New Salem Church, which had many years before
provided a house of worship on Greenbrier Run for the use of
such of its members as lived in that vicinity, offered this house
and lot to the new church. This offer was gratefully accepted,
but owing to certain legal technicalities, the title did not pass
to the Greenbrier Church until several years afterward.

This house was used by the Greenbrier Church until the
erection of a new one which was completed in 1880.

Rev. Jacob Davis was the first pastor of the new church.
He and Rev. Lewis F. Randolph both served in this capacity
at more or less regular intervals until 1885, when Rev. Samuel
D. Davis became pastor for one year. Others who have served
as pastor are Rev. Hiram P. Burdick, Rev. Marcus E. Martin,
Rev. Riley G. Davis, Rev. David W. Leath, and Rev. Darwin
C. Lippincott.

THE WEST FORK, OR ROANOKE, CHURCH.

This church was organized January 19, 1872, by a council
convened by order of the newly-organized South-Eastern As-
sociation, which had just met with the church at Lost Creek.
The members of the new church were nearly, if not quite, all
from the membership of the Lost Creek Church, and lived at
too remote a distance to attend church conveniently, with reg-
ularity, at Lost Creek, and for whose convenience the Lost
Creek Church had recently erected a suitable house of wdrship.

The church became a member of the South-Eastern Asso-
ciation in June following its organization ; and of the General
Conference in the ensuing September. •

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864 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Rev. Samuel D. Davis was the first pastor. Others who
have served as such are Rev. Lewis F. Randolph, Rev. Mar-
cus E. Martin, and Rev. Mazzini G. Stillman.

In November, 1882, the name of the church was changed
from the Seventh Day Baptist Church of the West Fork River
to the Roanoke Seventh Day Baptist Church, to correspond
with the name of the post office newly-established there.

THE BEAR FORK, OR CONINGS, CHURCH.

This church was organized October 21, 1881, by a coun-
cil called for the purpose, and comprised members of the
Ritchie Church living on the Bear Fork of Cove Creek, in
Gilmer County, at a considerable distance from the Ritchie
Church.

It was first called the Bear Fork Seventh-day Baptist
Church, but by vote of the cliurch on July 27, 1882, the name
was changed to that of the Conings Seventh Day Baptist
Church.

This church became a member of the South-Eastern As-
sociation in 1882, and of the General Conference as early as
1889.

At first the church met in a schoolhouse for worship, as
well as for business meetings, but in 1883 it erected a house
of worship of its own.

Rev. Marcus E. Martin was the first pastor. Others who
have served as pastor are Rev. Orpheus S. Mills, Rev. Lely
D. Seager, and Rev. Riley G. Davis. Rev. Samuel D. Davis
visited it at intervals of three or four months for a year or
more, at one time. Rev. James B. Davis also visited the church
occasionally.

THE SALEMVILLE CHURCH.

This is an oflF-shoot of the German Seventh Day Baptist
Church at Salemville, Pennsylvania. The latter, in turn, is an
oflF-shoot of the celebrated German^ Seventh Day Baptist set-
tlement at Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

The German Seventh Day Baptist Church of Salemville,
which Rev. Walter B. Gillette had previously visited, entered
into correspondence with the South-Eastern Association almost
(54)

Digitized by VjOOQIC

o
o

m
<

< >

>^ in

Digitized by VjOOQIC

SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 865

immediately upon the organization of the latter body, and kept
in touch with their English-speaking brethren until, because of
certain differences of opinion, fourteen members seceded from
the mother church and organized the Salemville Seventh Day
Baptist Church, December 23, 1885. Rev. Samuel D. Davis
was present and assisted in the organization.*

The Salemville Church became a member of the South-
Eastem Association in May, 1886, and of the General Confer-
ence in September following.

At first, meetings were held in the homes of the mem-
bers, but subsequently a suitable house of worship was erected
and dedicated, September 29, 1886.

Rev. Greorge B. Kagarise was the first pastor, and served
in that capacity until his death on September 10, 1893. Others
who have served as pastors are Rev. Samuel D. Davis, Rev.
Lely D. Seager, Rev. Darwin C. Lippincott, and Rev. David
W. Leath.

THE COPEN CHURCH.

The Copen Church was organized November 12, 1887,
by a council which met in response to a petition presented to
the churches of the South-Eastem Association, by a group of
Seventh Day Baptists living on Copen Run in Braxton County,
West Virginia.

Originally the church comprised fourteen members, and
three more were added subsequently.

The church was admitted to membership in the South-
Eastefn Association in May, 1888, and in the General Confer-
ence in September of the same year.

The only pastor of the church was Rev. Samuel D. Davis.

Soon after the organization of the church, disintegrating
influences set in, and the activity of the church continued but
a short time. It has not reported to the General Conference
since 1890, although its existence was recognized by the South-
Eastem Association as late as 1896.

•For a more extended narrative of the origin of this church, the reader
is referred to a subsequent chapter of this volume, entitled, German Seventh Day
Baptists, by the present writer.

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866 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

THE WEST UNION CHt>RCH.

This churth was organized September 29, 1888, in re-
sponse to a request from the group of Seventh Day Baptists
living in and near West Union, Doddridge County, West Vir-
ginia.

The church was organized with fifteen constituent mem-
bers. Nineteen others were added during the history of the
church.

A schoolhouse was used as a house of worship. A build-
ing lot was secured for the purpose, and steps were taken to-
ward the erection of a suitable church edifice upon it, but for
various reasons progress was at first retarded and then hope-
lessly delayed.

The church held its last business meeting April 13, 1894.

The church was without a pastor until April, 1890, when
Rev. Marcus E. Martin accepted a call to that office and served
until the end of the year 1892, when Rev. Samuel D. Davis
accepted a call to visit the church once a month during the
following year.

The West Union Church became a member of the South-
Eastern Association in May, 1889, and of the General Confer-
ence in the ensuing August.

Some of the families composing the membership of the
church moved away about this time and left the organization
too weak to sustain itself. The most of the membership, ac-
cordingly, were transferred to other churches, principally the
New Salem and Middle Island churches.

The lot purchased upon which to erect a house of wor-
ship was sold by order of the Circuit Court of Doddridge
County, and the proceeds applied toward the liquidation of the
debts of the church.

It is a cause of sincere regret that the West Union Church,
the second, and it may almost fairly be called the third, at-
tempt to establish a Seventh Day Baptist church at West
Union, should result in so signal a failure.

West Union, like Salem, is one of those strategic points
which give strength,*stability, and character to any religious

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 867

denomination, and especially to one whose test of fealty is as
critical as that of the Seventh Day Baptists.

The village of West Union was laid out on the lands of
Captain Nathan Davis, a soldier of the. War of 1812, and
an influential member of the New Salem Church.

He exerted his influence to the utmost to have the Mid-
dle Island Church erect a house of worship in West Union
at the time that village was established by act of the General
Assembly of Virginia, in 1845, offering to contribute gener-
ously for that purpose ; but without avail. Afterward the West
Union Academy was established at West Union, but it was
short-lived, and when the Middle Island Church was finally re-
suscitated and re-organized, it had to be removed to New Mil-
ton, several miles away, in order to keep it alive.

THE BLACK LICK CHURCH.

In response to a request from members of the New Salem,
Greenbrier, West Union, -and Middle Island churches residing
in the vicinity of Black Lick Run, near Long Run Station, in
Doddridge county, a council composed of del^ates from the
New Salem, Lost Creek, Greenbrier, Middle Island, Ritchie,
and West Union churches, met January 20, 1894, to consider
the feasibility of organizing a Seventh Day Baptist church at
that place.

After a general discussion of the question in hand, it was
voted to organize a church. Accordingly a constitution, arti-
cles of faith and practice, and a covenant were adopted.

On the following morning the organization of the church
was completed with a constituent membership numbering
thirty-four.

The church became a member of the South-Eastern Asso-
ciation in May, 1894, and of the General Conference in Sep-
tember, following.

The Black Lick Church after its organization united with
the Baptist church in the same neighbourhood in building a
house of worship on the Buckeye Fork of Middle Island
Creek, at the mouth of Black Lick Run. This building the
Black Lick Church continues to use.

The church had no settled pastor until April, 1897, when

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868 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Rev. Marcus E. Martin was called to the pastorate of the
church, and continued to serve in that capacity for two years.
On the 14th of July, 1899, the Black Lick Church united
with the Middle Island and Greenbrier churches in calling
Rev. David W. Leath, who was already upon the field, to the
pastorate of the three churches, his term of service to date
from May i, 1899. He served the three churches in this man-
ner for two years, and was succeeded by Rev. Darwin C. Lip-
pincott, who entered upon his duties May i, 1901.

THE SOUTH-WESTERN ASSOCIATION.

At its annual session in September, 1835, the Seventh
Day Baptist General Conference adopted a plan for the re-
organization of the General Conference whereby the several
churches of the denomination were divided into associations,
according to their geographical distribution. The churches
were to report directly to these associations, and the associa-
tions, in turn, to the General Conference.

In accordance with this plan the churches in Western
Virginia were included in the territory covered by the West-
ern Association. Accordingly at the annual session of the
Western Association, held with the Second Alfred Church, at
Alfred, New York, in June, 1837, the Lost Creek and North
Fork of Hughes River churches in Virginia, made application
for membership in that body, and 'were duly accepted. The
New Salem Church sent an application also, but it arrived too
late for action at that session of the association. However, at
the next annual session of the association, held with the church
at Clarence, Erie county, New York, in June, 1838, the request
was formally presented, and granted.

Before the next annual meeting of the Western Associa-
tion, the churches of Western Virginia, South-western Penn-
sylvania, and the state of Ohio, had organized themselves into
the South- Western Association, which upon application, was
admitted into the General Conference, at its annual session,
held with the First Brookfield Church, at Brookfield, New
York, in September, 1839. Joel Greene and James H. Coch-
ran represented the South-Western Association at this session
of the General Conference.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 869

This organization was the outgrowth of a convention of
Seventh Day Baptist churches of Ohio and Virginia, held at
Lost Creek, Virginia, February 23, 1839, apparently under the
leadership of Rev. Joel Greene, who at that time was engaged
in missionary labour among the churches of Western Virginia.

It was designed that the annual sessions should alternate
between the Virginia and Ohio groups of churches. The first
two sessions were held in Virginia, and the next two in Ohio.
Thereafter they alternated annually, until the separation of
the original body into the Ohio and Virginia associations.

During some of its early sessions discord within a part of
the Ohio churches, caused by the temperance question, oc-
cupied the attention of the association.

At the third annual session Bethiiel C. Church was or-
dained to the gospel ministry. The following year, Richard C.
Bond was ordained.

At the fifth annual sessioi^the internal troubles of the
New Salem church were presented, and not finally adjusted
until two years afterward.

Sabbath Reform was made prominent in the fifth and sev-
enth annual sessions, and Missionary interests in the sixth,
eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh.

Strong temperance ground was often taken.

The 'twelfth annual session vigorously condemned war.

The great distance lying between the two groups of
churches^ in Virginia and Ohio, seriously retarded the work
of the association, and as early as 1844, action was tjJcen con-
templating a change in the organization of the association,
whereby there would be two bodies instead of one.
The churches were loth to consider this proposition with
favour, however, owing to the close bond of intimacy existing
among them. It was much like sundering the ties of a family,
as practically all the other churches of the associaticTn were off-
shoots of the New Salem Church.

Time served but to accentuate the disadvantages under
which they laboured, and despite their desire to avoid a sepa-
ration if possible, it was finally decided in 1850 that there
should be two associations instead of one — the Virginia and
the Ohio associations.

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870 SBVENTH-DAY BAPTKTS I

THE VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION.

The Virginia Association was formally organized April
14, 185 1, and met for its first annual session in the ensuing
September.

This association was destined to be short-lived, however.
Discord was soon introduced, and after a very few years
sapped the life of the new organization.

The minutes of this association for the last two years of
its life are not to be found. They were probably destroyed
when the organization was dissolved, owing to their very un-
pleasant character.

The meetings of the last session of the association be-
came so stormy that i^ was generally agreed that they should
not be held in a house *of worship. The body accordingly met
for its last meeting in the bam of William Kennedy, one of
the deacons of the Lost Creek Church.

THE EASTER41 ASSOCIATION.

At the annual session of the Eastern Association held in
Shiloh, New Jersey, in May, 1856, Rev. Samuel D. Davis ap-
peared as delegate from the New Salem and Lost Creek
churches of Virginia, bearing a petition from those churches
for admission into the Eastern Association. •

This request was granted after a spirited disc;ission of
the relation of these churches to slavery, only one dissenting
vote being cast, that of Alfred B. Burdick. At its next annual
session the Eastern Association addressed a communication
to the Lost Creek Church upon the subject of slavery ; where-
upon that church severed its relations with the association.
The Lost Creek Church remained without connection with any
association until the organization of the South-Eastern Asso-
ciation in 1872.

The New Salem Church, while not formally severing its
connection with the Eastern Association, maintained an atti-
tude of silence after the withdrawal of the Lost Creek Church
from that association, making no report after 1858 until 1867,
when it resumed its annual reports. The revived relation con-
tinued until after the organization of the South-Eastern Asso-
ciation, when it amicably severed its relations with the Eastern

Digitized by VjOOQIC

A GROUP OF LAY WORKERS IN THR SOUTHEASTERN ASSOCIATION.
Franklin Fitz Randolph. William Fitz Randolph.

Preston Fitz Randolph. Ephraim Bee.

See Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 871

Association and became a potent factor in the new organiza-
tion.

None of the other Virginia (now West Virginia) churches
formed an associational connection from the time of the
dissolution of the old Virginia Association until the organiza-
tion of the South-Eastem Association, which all the churches
in West Virginia joined, except the old South Fork of Hughes
River Church, then known as Pine Grove Church.

THE SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION.

Once more the old mother church — the Salem Church —
took the initiative, and in response to her summons a council
met at New Salem, August 20, 1871, and tentatively adopted
a constitution for a new association, which with slight changes,
was subsequently accepted by the churches, and the South-
Eastem Association was finally organized at Lost Creek, on
the Second Day of the week, January 15, 1872, on the day fol-
lowing the dedication of the new brick house of worship of
the Lost Creek Church.

The association instructed its corresponding secretary to
open communication with the church at Jackson Centre, Ohio,
inviting it to become a member of the association; and with
the German Seventh Day Baptists at New Enterprise, Pennsyl-
vania, with a similar purpose, if it should be found that they
were in doctrinal harmony with the association.

The Jackson Centre Church accepted the invitation and
joined the association in 1874. The German Seventh Day Bap-
tists did not become identified Vith the association until after
the organization of the Salemville Church in 1885.

At the first session, held with the Middle Island Church,
at New Milton, the introductory sermon was preached by
Rev. Samuel D.. Davis. Rev. Charles A. Burdick presided as
moderator. The recording secretaries were Preston F. Ran-
dolph and Franklin F. Randolph. The corresponding secre-
tary was Moses H. Davis. Rev. George E. Tomlinson ap-
peared as delegate from the Eastern and Central Associations,
and Rev. Darius K. D^vis was present as delegate from the
Western and North-Westem Associations. These delegates

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8/2 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS: *

were warmly welcomed, and formally invited to participate
in the deliberations of the body.

Rev. Lewis F. Randolph had been appointed a delegate to
represent the South-Eastem Association at the other associa-
tions whose sessions had already been held, but he was pre-
vented from doing so on account of illness in his family.

It may be noted in this connection that Rev. George E.
Tomlinson made a profound and lasting impression not only
upon our own people, but upon those, of other denominations
as well, so that on the occasion of his untimely death, four
years afterward, expressions of grief and sympathy were called
forth from a number of the prominent members of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, a neighbour of the Middle Island
Church, at New Milton.

The new organization was beset with none of the difficul-
ties of its predecessors. Doctrinal questions were carefully
avoided. Members of the Pine Grove Church (the only Sev-
enth Day Baptist church in West Virginia not a member of
the association) were treated with great courtesy when they
visited the association, as they often did. And when that
church finally applied for membership in the association, in
1883, the issue was lovingly, but firmly, met, and the church
bowed its acceptance of the conditions imposed.

Through a long period of financial depression, and the
consequent lack of ability to obtain an adequate supply of pas-
tors among the churches of this association, its annual gather-
ings were treated with a seriousness of purpose not easily at-
tainable under more prosperous material conditions.

Here the interest of the people was quickened along all
lines of denominational and religious work, those of the Sab-
bath School, and education receiving special attention.

The Sabbath Schools, so effectively organized and so
firmly grounded through the laborious, painstaking care of«
Rev. Charles A. Burdick, renewed their vigour annually
through meetings of the association, and the Sabbath School
institutes conducted under its auspices.

In the association was heard the Constant cry of the peo-
ple for improved school facilities of a denominational char-

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 873

acter. Here, finally, was the rallying point of the movement
which culminated in Salem College.

Among the leading lay-spirits of the earlier history of the
organization, and to whose earnest, faithful labours was large-
ly due the success of its entire history down to the present
time, were Jepthah F. Randolph, Lodowick H. Davis, Moses
H. Davis, Franklin F. Randolph, and Preston F. Randolph.
These men had all had a thorough training in ecclesiastical
polity as applied to existing conditions; all had been through
the fires of the tribulations of the earlier history of these
churches ; and all had acquired a cautious conservatism, which
poised, with amazing exactness, the spirit of enthusiastic prog-
ress, and jealous, faithful loyalty of them all. To such an ex-
tent did they enjoy the confidence of the churches of the as-
sociation that it is safe to venture the assertion that no move
of importance was made during the first ten years of the his-
tory of the organization without the approval, at least, of a
majority of this group of workers. The hand of Death claim-
ed a part of them, and those who were 'left, as the years sped
by, let the mantle of their activity fall upon younger shoulders.

Among the clergy, in the earlier years, were Samuel D.
Davis and Charles A. Burdick, both deeply interested in the
success of the new movement. They were ably seconded by
Jacob Davis, James B. Davis, and Lewis F. Randolph.

These pioneers built thoughtfully, carefully, wisely, well.
They built for the future, for posterity, — for their children,
and for their children's children.

The South-Eastern Association, unlike its predecessors —
the old South-Western and the Virginia associations — was
built upon a substantial foundation laid below the quicksands of
doctrinal discussions, and church embroilments and feuds, and
with loving hands and loyal hearts placed firmly upon the
deep-seated rock of spiritual truth which has been the cor-
nerstone of Seventh Day Baptist faith and hope for centuries.

As a legitimate result, denominational spirit has been fos-
tered and developed, community of interest accentuated, and
structural solidarity effected and maintained.

The number (five) of churches originally composing the
association, has, from time to time, been increased by seven

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874 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

in all; viz., Roanoke (West Fork); Jackson Centre, Ohio;
Conings (Bear Fork); Salemville; Copen; West Union; and
Black Lick. Of these, the Jackson Centre Church, for reasons
of convenience to itself, has become a member of the North-
western Association ; and the West Union and Copen churches
have become extinct. The others all preserve their identity,
and the most of them maintain a state of normal activity.

Not only that, but the original churches have grown,
not merely in numbers, but in organization and power, both
spiritual and material.

The greatest result accomplished by the association has
been the establishing and maintaining of Salem College, whose
history is discus^d elsewhere in this book.

The South-Eastern Association has before it a most prom-
ising future ; and it likewise has the ability and desire to ful-
fill its promise.

MISSIONARY WORK.

Although situated at a remote distance from other Sev-
enth Day Baptist churches, the new settlers in Virginia strug-
gled hard to keep in close touch with the rest of the denomi-
nation.

In the year 1808, Rev. John Davis attended the annual
session of the General Conference held with the church at
Hopkinton, Rhode Island, as the representative of both the
New Salem and Lost Creek churches, and had expected to
attend the annual session of the General Conference at the
same place three years afterward, but his plans changed, upon
his determination to remove to the state of Ohio.

In the spring of 1817, Manning Dunn, a licentiate mem-
ber of .the Piscataway Church, made a visit to the Virginia
churches.

At the annual session of the General Conference held with
the church at Hopkinton, Rhode Island, in September, 1817,
a plan for missionary work to be undertaken under the general
direction of the General Conference was submitted which was
adopted the following year, at the annual session held with the
church at Berlin, New York, in September. A board of man-
agers was elected. Rev. William Satterlee, Rev. Amos R.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 875

Wells, and Rev. William B. Maxson were recommended by
the General Conference to be employed to do missionary work
for the following year. To Rev. Amos R. Wells was assigned
the task of making a missionary journey to New Jersey, Penn-
sylvania, Western Virginia, and Ohio.

He made his first visit to the Virginia field in the following
winter, (1818-19), accompanied by Rev. Samuel Davis, of the
church at Salem, New Jersey. There appears to be no record
of this visit, further than some general references to it in
the report by Rev. Amos R. Wells, of his second visit a few
months afterward, ii? the* summer of 1819.

On his second visit, Rev. Amos R. Wells was unaccom-
panied. He reached Lost Creek about the loth of July. Since
his visit the preceding winter, he says, "the Lord has been
carrying on his good work in a manner, before this, unknown
iA these parts, particularly within the bounds of the New
Salem Church."

Here he spent some three weeks in faithful missionary
labour, and in the early part of August, he regretfully pursued
his journey toward the Mad River Church in Ohio. After
remaining there as long as he felt that he had time to remain,
he returned, contrary to his previous plans, through Virginia.
-He conducted more meetings, after which several candidates
for baptism presented themselves. In all he baptized thirty-
five persons in Harrison County, Virginia, during this visit.

On the 23d of May, 1820, for a third time Rev. Amos R.
Wells again set his face toward Western Virginia, as, doubtless
not without purpose, he remarks in his journal of this tour,
"to go forth facing a frowning world, and a tempting Devil."

He further says :

With considerable difficulty, and much fatigue, I arrived at
Brother Abel Bond's, in Harrison County, Virginia, the Sixth Day
[of the week], it being the 25th of August. I staid in this county nine
days, in which time I travelled upwards of one hundred miles, attended
a Methodist camp-meeting two days, and one church meeting, tried
to preach ten times, baptized two persons, and administered the
communion.

On his way to Virginia, he had gone through New York
State, visiting among other churches, those at Petersburg,

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876 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

DeRuyter, Scott (where he assisted William B. Maxson to
organize a Seventh Day Baptist church), and Alfred. He
also visited French Creek in Pennsylvania, and from that point
he started on the 7th of August on his way to Virginia accom-
panied by "a young man by the name of Cornwall * * * who
wished to travel on account of his health." His companion not
only visited Virginia with him, but also accompanied him to
New Jersey.

On the 4th of September, he set out for the Salem and-
Shiloh churches in New Jersey, where he arrived on the ninth
day, aftif travelling three hundred and forty miles in dry hot
weather, on horseback. After spending a week there, he pro-
ceeded to Piscataway in order to attend the annual session of
the General Conference.

On the 2d of April, 1821, Rev. John Davis, pastor of the
church at Shiloh, New Jersey, accompanied by John Bright,
a deacon of the same church, set out for a missionary tour
through Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana.

Like the missionaries who had preceded him. Rev. John
Davis visited the old Woodbridgetown Church, which for sev-
eral years had been so sadly on the decline that it was at
a very low ebb. Here he preached three times, besides twice on
Georges Creek, and once at New Geneva on the Monongahela
River, at the mouth of Georges Creek. On the 20th of the
month he arrived at Abel Bond's. For the next eight or nine
days he visited within the bounds of the Lost Creek Church.
He preached nine times, and baptized four individuals.

He next went to New Salem, and spent the same length
of time with that church, preaching an equal number of times,
but he records no baptisms there.

Both churches expressed gratitude that missionaries had
been sent among them, and hoped that the practice wotild
continue.

On the 7th of May, he set forward on his journey to
Ohio and Indiana, still accompanied by Deacon Bright, where
he was to visit former members of the Shiloh and Piscataway
churches. They did not return by way of Virginia.

During their visit with the Lost Creek Church, Rev. John
Davis and Deacon John Bright were invited to sit in judgment

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south-eXstern association. 877

upon the articles of faith of that churchy as the church was
divided at that time upon the doctrine of Calvinism. They
rendered a report, after taking a due length of time to con-
sider the questions at issue, which was read at a business meet-
ing of the Lost Creek Church on December 2, 1821. The
report gave satisfaction to all.

On December 6, 1821, Rev. John Greene started from his
home at DeRuyter, New York, on a missionary tour
through the western parts of New York, and in the states of
Pennsylvania and Virginia. He reached Woodbridgetown on
the I2th of January, where he stopped at Isaac Griffin's, whose
wife was a Seventh Day Baptist. Here he remained for two
days, and preached once.

Despite the extremely unpropitious weather, he started on
the 15th of the month for Abel Bond's, where he arrived
the next day. After a day's rest, in company with Rev. John
Davis, whose home was near that of Abel Bond, and Levi
Bond, he started for New Salem, eighteen miles distant, where
he was warmly greeted. Here he stayed for ten days, visiting
the widely scattered membership of that church, and preaching
twelve times.

On the 28th of January, he returned to Lost Creek, where
he remained for eight days, visiting from house to house,
and preaching nine times, besides baptizing one person.

Both the New Salem and Lost Creek churches were
greatly pleased at this coming of Rev. John Greene, and
prayed that the visits of missionaries might continue.

On the 6th of February, he set out on his return trip
home. He first proceeded to Woodbridgetown, where he
remained three days, during which time, he visited the mem-
bers of the church, and preached four times. On February
II, he departed from that place.

On the 9th of November, 1821, almost a full month be-
fore Rev. John Greene had set out on his tour on which he
visited Virginia, Rev. Amos R. Wells had once more set out
6» a missionary tour, on which he was to visit the churches
of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and
New York State.

On the 1 2th of February following, he reached Isaac

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878 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Griffin's, near Woodbridgetown, only to learn that Rev. John
Greene had finally departed on his way home that morning.

Rev. Amos R. Wells remained over night at Mr. Griffin's,
and the next day proceeded on his journey, at that tinie
planning to return by way of Woodbridgetown. He arrived
at the home of Abel Bond on February 14. *

He remained with the Lost Creek and New Salem .
churches about a month and a half. He found the people
"as they had ever been, very kind." A good fraternal spirit
existed in the churches, which were apparently in a flourish-
ing condition.

Rev. Amos R. Wells attended thirty-nine meetings in Vir-
ginia, and received two new members into the Lost Creek
Church, who had previously been baptized.

As heretofore stated, Rev. Amos R. Wells had originally
intended to return by way of Woodbridgetown, and thence
go to New York State. But after reaching Virginia, and
carefully considering everything, he decided to visit the Mad
River Church in Ohio, whence he was prevailed upon to
go on to Indiana. And on the 2d of April, in company with
Jacob Maxson, he proceeded on his journey.

Again on the i8th of November, 1823, Rev. John Greene
set out from his home at DeRuyter, New York, on a mission-
ary tour through the western part of New York, and through
Pennsylvania and Virginia.

On the I2th of December, 1823, he arrived at John Dun-
away's, near Woodbridgetown, Pennsylvania. Here he re-
mained until the i6th of December, when he resumed his
journey to Virginia. He reached Abel Bond's on the fol-
lowing day. Here he found a call to go to Middle Island, one
of the settlements within the bounds of the New Salem Church,
to assist in the ordination of Peter Davis to the work of the
gospel ministry. Accordingly, on the 19th of December, in
company with several members of the Lost" Creek Church,
he set out for Middle Island, or Lewisport (now West Union).
He preached on the Sabbath; and on the following day, he
assisted in the ordination service.

Rev. John Greene continued for some time in this region
labouring within the bounds of the Lost Creek and New Salem

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 8/9

churches. On the 15th of January he assisted in the ordination
o£ Lewis A. Davis to the work of the gospel ministry.

After having laboured in this region for a period of
thirty-two days, and preached forty times, Rev. John Greene
started from Abel Bond's on his return trip, on the 19th
of January, followed by the blessings and prayers of the
Virginia people. On the 21st, he arrived at Isaac Griffin's
where he remained for three days, and preached three
times, and then proceeded homeward.

At its annual meeting held with the Piscataway Church,
October, 1828, the Missionary Society voted to employ Rev.
Joel Greene for the entire year following, and directed that
he spend three months of this time in the states of Vir-
ginia, Indiana, and Ohio, and at French Creek, Pennsylvania.
His report the following year shows that he travelled for ten
months and two days, but does not state whether he visited
Virginia or not.

The Missionary Society at its annual meeting held with
the'church at Alfred, New York, in September, 1830, adopted
a report of its committee on arrangements, recommending the
employment of a missionary for six months of the ensuing
year in the vicinities, respectively, of Hayfield and Wood-
bridgetown, Pennsylvania, and Lost Creek and New Salem,
Virginia; and Rev. William B. Maxson was appointed to oc-
cupy that field. But at the annual meeting of the society,
held with the church at Petersburg, New York, the following
year, in September, 183 1, Rev. William B. Maxson reported
that he had not performed the labour assigned him. Then the
Society voted to send a missionary to that field for four months
of the following year.

At the next annual meeting of the Missionary Society,
held with the church at Brookfield, New York, in September,
1832, Rev. Joel Greene presented a report showing that he had
laboured upon the Virginia field for four months and a half.

At the annual meeting of the Missionary Society, held
with the church at Shiloh, New Jersey, in September, 1833,
the executive committee reported that during the preceding
year the committee had sent Rev. Alexander Campbell to
Virginia as a missionary for a term of six months; and that

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88o SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

his work had been so successful, and the solicitations of the
Virginia people for his return so insistent, that the committee
had re-appointed him indefinitdy, subject to the approval of
the society. And although the last report from him showed
that he was in rather feeble health, the committee had not seen
fit to recall him. Before the next annual session of the so-
ciety, however, he had finished his labours on the Virginia field.

For his first visit to Virginia, Rev. Alexander Campbell
started from his home at DeRuyter some time during the fall
of 1832. When he reached Uniontown, Pennsylvania, he
stopped at the home of Colonel Oliphant, whose wife was a
daughter of Rev. Samuel Woodbridge, and was herself a
member of the Woodbridgetown Church.

After a visit at Woodbridgetown, he proceeded to Abel
Bond's, at Quiet Dell. He at once began active labours with the
Lost Creek Church, which he found in a state of discourage-
ment. Here he introduced with great success, the "conference
meetings," which have been so widely known among the
Virginia churches ever since.

After about seven weeks of unceasing activity at Lost
Creek, he went to Greenbrier, where the New Salem Church
had one of its meeting houses, and where the pastor of the
church. Rev. Peter Davis, lived. He arrived there late in
the afternoon of the Sixth Day of the week, and on the
following day, began a series of meetings on Greenbrier
Run.

While on this visit, he made a trip |o Ohio, going as
far as Woodsfield, the county seat of Monroe County. On
this trip he preached five times.

After his return from Ohio, he spent some time again on
Greenbrier Run and at New Salem, after which he proceeded
to Lost Creek. Early in March, he left the home of Abel
Bond on his homeward journey, accompanied for several miles
by Abel Bond and others. He reached home early in April.

In a short time he received notice from the Missionary
Board of another appointment to the Virginia field, and re-
questing that he proceed to the field at his early convenience.
He reached Abel Bond's about the first of July, 1833, four
months after he had started for home from his first visit.
(55)

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 881

Abel Bond had built a house in his own door yard for the
missionary, who on this visit was accompanied by his wife and
a five-year-old son. His second coming was received with
great joy, and he was given a princely reception by the
Virginia people. He remained until the late autumn, labour-
ing with the Lost Creek and New Salem churches, and go-
ing in all directions to preach wherever the numerous calls
led him.

During one of these trips to Virginia, he went to visit
Lewis Bond, who lived on the North Fork of Hughes River,
not far from the present village of Pennsboro. Here he
held some meetings, and organized the North Fork of Hughes
River Church, of seven members, composed of Lewis Bond
and his family, and possibly two or three converts to the
Sabbath. Here also occurred a debate on the question of the
day of the Sabbath, between Alexander Campbell and a clergy-
man of the Methodist Episcopal church, Tichnell by name.
As the outcome of this debate, two families by the name
of Lowther and Starkey embraced the Sabbath, and were
organized into the South Fork of Hughes River Church.

Many of the meetings conducted by Alexander Campbell
during 'the summer of 1834, were held in groves, the meeting
houses being too small to accommodate the crowds which
attended. Some of these meetings continuing several days,
took on something of the character of the camp meetings of
that time.

In the late fall, he again bade Virginia farewell, and
retumed to his home in DeRu>'ter, New York. But his works ,
he left behind him, and half a century afterward, when he
returned to the scene of his former labours, for a short visit as
a delegate to the South-Eastern, Association, the memory of
him and his mission of years long gone by revived with an
irresistible power, and profoundly impressed those of his
former acquaintances who yet remained, as well as their chil-
dren, and the children of the multitudes of his friends passed
away, but who had left their oft-repeated story of the marvel-
ous work of this venerable missionary behind, as a sacred
heritage to those who should come after them.

The executive committee of the Missionary Society, at

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882 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

the annual meeting of the society, held with the church at
DeRuyter, New York, in September, 1834, reported that Rev.
Alexander Campbell had finished his labours on the Virginia
field, and recommended that a missionary be stationed at Lost
Creek for the following year. The report of the committee
was adopted. The executive committee secured the services
of Rev. Stillman Coon, of Independence, New York, to visit
the Virginia field. At the next annual session of the society,
he reported that he had been engaged in missionary work six
months and four days, during the preceding year,. The most,
if not all, of this time was undoubtedly spent in Virginia. One
of the most important features of his work on this mission was
the assistance he rendered Rev. Joel Greene, who had been
sent to Virginia by the General Conference, in order, if pos-
sible, to bring about an amicable settlement of certain diffi-
culties that existed in the New Salem Church, and to look into
Ihe circumstances attending the organization of the Second
Seventh Day Baptist Church of Lost Creek, and the regularity
of the ordination of William Williams of that church to the
gospel ministry.

At the annual meeting of the Missionary Society held
with the church at Hopkinton, Rhode Island, in September,
1835, the executive committee was instructed to obtain the
services of Rev. Lewis A. Davis for the Virginia field. For
several years past Lewis A. Davis had been employed by the
society as a missionary in Ohio and Indiana, and had rendered
satisfactory service there. He declined the appointment to
the Virginia field, however, and the executive committee em-
ployed Rev. John Davis of the New Salem Church to per-
form what labour he could in the short time g^ven him after
the receipt of his notification.

During the next three years Rev. Joel Greene appears to
have been upon the Virginia field, more or less of the time.
In 1839, ^^ assisted in organizing the South- Western Associa-
tion at Lost Creek, and was one of the delegates from that
association to the General Conference, at its annual session
at Brookfield, New York, September, 1839.

Late in the summer or early in the fall of 1839, James
Bailey, then a young man of about twenty-six years of age,

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 883

made a journey from his home in New York State to Virginia,
for his health. On his way thither, he was ordained at Scott,
New York, at the request of the Missionary Society. He
remained in Virginia for about a year, and did considerable
missionary work during his stay.

The report of the Board of Managers of the Missionary
Association, submitted to the association at its annual session
held with the church at Plainfield, New Jersey, in May, 1845,
shows that at some time during the preceding year, Rev. Azor
Estee had made a short visit to the Virginia field, and that
during the year just closing, Richard C. Bond had held an
"itinerancy" upon this field.

About the year 1849, R^v. Azor Estee returned to Vir-
ginia at the solicitation of the New Salem and Lost Creek
churches, to become the pastor of the two churches jointly.
But in the end he gave the most of his time and energy to the
promotion of the interests of the West Union Academy, until
his return to his home in Petersburgh, New York.

About the year 1858, Rev. David Qawson came to this
field, but was little more than settled as the pastor of the
Lost Creek and New Salem churches, and fairly started in his
work, when he was removed by the hand of death.

In 1866, Rev. Walter B. Gillette made a visit to the
churches of West Virginia, under the auspices of the Ameri-
can Missionary Association.

In April, 1870, accompanied by his wife, he made another
trip to West Virginia, under the auspices of the Missionary
Board, or Board of Managers of the Seventh Day Baptist
Missionary Society, remaining upon the field for a period
of six months. During this summer, he visited generally with-
in the bounds of the churches, which were situated in Harrison,
Doddridge, and Ritchie counties, besides visiting a number of
lone Sabbath-keepers in Upshur and Gilmer counties. He
assisted in the organization of the Ritchie and Greenbrier
churches, and the ordination, of Lewis F. Randolph, a licen-
tiate of the New Salem Church, to the gospel ministry.

In October, 1870, Rev. Charles A. Burdick, who had
previously accepted a call from the Missionary Board to go
to West Virginia, arrived upon the field, and at once entered

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884 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

upon active work. He purchased a home and soon settled
down to a firm steady tread, and in less than a year, the initial
steps had been taken for the organization of an association
of the churches in that state. He devoted himself largely to the
fundamental interests of the field with a view to obtaining
permanency of results. He strove to bring about improved
methods of church order and business, to improve the quality
of church music, and to establish a higher standard for the
Sabbath Schools. He closed his labours under the auspices of
the Missionary Board on the 20th of November, 1874, and
devoted himself to a strong personal effort to meet the needs
prevalent in the association for higher education.

In response to a call from the Missionary Board, Rev.
Charles M. Lewis visited the West Virginia field for mis-
sionary work, beginning about the first of March, 1875. ^^
remained in West Virginia until about the 20th of May
following.

He visited this field again, beginning work on the 29th of
October, 1875, and closing April 20, 1876. Since his second
visit the Missionary Board has, upon different occasions,
sent evangelists into West Virginia for work. In the spring
of 1896, Rev. Edward B. Saunders made his first visit to
West Virginia as an evangelist. The second was made in
September, 1897, and the third in the summer of 1899. In
the spring, summer, and fall of 1901, Rev. Judson G. Burdick
spent about eight months in evangelistic work upon this field.

For many years past the Missionary Board has wisely
done all it could to encourage individual churches to employ
pastors, sometimes a group of two or three churches employ-
ing one pastor jointly. To this end the Missionary Board
has contributed liberally. In fact the Lost Creek Church is
the only existing church of the South-Eastern Association
which has not received assistance in this way.

The pastors, missionary and others, of West Virginia
have done a great deal of evangelistic work during the past
quarter of a century. Rev. Samuel D. Davis, who has served
several of the churches as a missionary pastor, has also done
a great deal of general missionary work, but his personal
relationship with all the churches in this Association has

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 885

long been such that his missionary work has been, after all,
pastoral work of the best sort.

SABBATH REFORM.

Sabbath Reform work in Western Virginia received its
greatest impetus at the time of Rev. Alexander Campbell's
missionary tours among the churches there. As related else-
where, the organization of the South Fork of Hughes River
Church was due to a debate upon the Sabbath question, be-
tween Rev. Alexander Campbell and a local Methodist Epis-
copal clei^^yman. As a result of the debate, there were several
converts to the Sabbath, who were the constituent members
of that church.

Although the South Fork of Hughes River Church ceased
to exist as a church at the time it was merged into the Ritchie
Church, it must not be forgotten that many other Seventh
Day Baptist churches have received accessions to their mem-
bership, respectively, from the group of converts to the Sab-
bath, of whom the church was originally composed.

In the winter of 1868, Rev. Abram Herbert Lewis,
travelling agent of the American Sabbath Tract Society, visited
West Virginia. He reached Lost Creek on the 20th of Feb'
ruary. After assisting, for a week in a revival meeting which
he found in progress there, he went to the South Fork of
A^hes River, where he remained another week. He then
returned to Lost Creek, by way of New Milton, where he
stopped four days, reaching Lost Creek on the loth of March.
Here he remained a few days, and on the i6th proceeded to
Clarksburg, where he lectured on the Sabbath question for
three evenings in the county court house. He then returned
to Lost Creek, and on the 20th went to New Salem, where
he remained until the 23d, when he passed on to West Union,
and lectured upon the Sabbath in the county court house of
Doddridge County on the evenings of the 23d and 24th. On
the 25th of March, he left for home. During the whole of this
visit he was engaged in preaching or lecturing, speaking often
upon the Sabbath question. At other times, he spoke upon
temperance, always upon some theme of general interest. He
scattered Sabbath literature freely wherever he went.

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886 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

This visit was highly appreciated by the West Virginia
people, and in response to their request, he returned to
West Virginia, arriving at Lost Creek on the loth of July. He
remained upon this field until the ist of September. During
this time he conducted forty-four public services, and dis-
tributed about seventy-five thousand pages of Sabbath tracts.

Not the least part of the good service rendered by this
labour was the restoration of good feeling on tfie part of the
West Virginia people toward their brethren of the North
and East after the rancour engendered by the slavery question.

In the spring of 1873, Rev. James Bailey spent about two
months in West Virginia, just preceding the annual session
of the South-Eastern Association, in the interest of Sabbath
Reform, under the auspices of the American Sabbath Tract
Society. He lectured twelve times upon the Sabbath question,
besides preaching several sermons. He was assisted by Rev.
Samuel D. Davis of the Lost Creek Church.

He was admirably equipped for such work in this par-
ticular field, for a year's residence in Western Virginia when
a young man, had given him a personal acquaintance with
the people there that was of great value to him now.

At the time of the first annual meeting of the South-
Eastern Association with the Middle Island Church, at New
Milton, in 1872, there was considerable interest manifested
in the Sabbath question, and arrangements were made for
Rev. George E. Tomlinson, who was present as the delegate
from the Eastern Association, to speak upon that subject at
the schoolhouse of Hunters Fork of Buckeye Creek, where a
large, appreciative audience composed almost wholly of non-
Sabbath-keepers greeted him.

Beginning in the latter part of August, 1890, Rev. J.
Bennett Clarke, then in the service of the American. Sabbath
Tract Society, spent some time in West Virginia, in the in-
terest of the work in which the society was at that time en-
gaged. He was not merely promoting Sabbath Reform by
lecturing and distributing tracts among non-Sabbath-keepers,
so much as he was striving to arouse in Seventh Day Baptists
an interest in Sabbath Reform to such an extent that they

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 88/

would support adequately the aggressive work in which the
society was engaged*

If the work dooe in Sabbath Reform in Western Virginia
seems meagre as to efforts as well as results, it is because other
phases of denominational work have been accentuated out of
their relative proportion, rather than that Sabbath Reform has
been neglected or ignored.

The emphasis placed upon evangelistic labour, and the
magnitude of its results, have always carried with them the
idea of Sabbath Reform as well, and the inequality of results
is due there, as elsewhere, to problems inherent in the sub-
ject of Sabbath Reform, not found in evangelistic work, pure
and simple.

SABBATH SCHOOLS.

Probably the first of the churches to begin Sabbath
School work was that of the South Fork of Hughes River
Church, afterward popularly known as the Pine Grove Chvu*ch.
Comparatively early in its history, it organized a Sabbath
School for the study of special topics of the Bible. This was
probably as early as 1842.

Sabbath Schools did not become very general, however,
until the latter part of the '6o's. Preston F. Randolph was the
most active of the pioneer workers in the Sabbath School
movement in West Virginia. In connection with his work of
teaching private "select" schools, after his return from Alfred
University, he organized and conducted Sabbath Schools, and
at the same time, he did much to introduce music into the
Sabbath School as well as church services.

When Rev. Charles A. Burdick came upon that field as a
missionary, he strongly seconded the efforts already making
for better Sabbath Schools. He instituted a number of classes
in normal methods for Sabbath Schools, and organized Sab-
bath School teachers' meetings.

Soon after his arrival, two or three Sabbath School insti-
tutes were held at New Salem and Lost Creek, a part of which,
at least, were attended by Rev. Lewis A. Platts, and Deacon
Isaac D. Titsworth, both of the Piscataway church in New

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888 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Jersey, and both of whom were experienced workers in the
Sabbath School.

Sabbath School institutes were condikted by a committee
of the South-Eastern Association, until a very recent date.
Rev. Lucius R. Swinney, the pastor of the Lost Creek Qiurch
for several years, and Dudley H. Davis, of Quiet Dell, were
two spirited Sabbath School workers, and contributed gen-
erously of valuable time to the success of the institutes thus
held, in various parts of the association.

Except in a very few instances, the churches have exer-
cised little direct control over their respective Sabbath Schools,
from the time of their organization, originally, down to the
present time. The latter have been, to all intents and pur-
poses, wholly independent organizations within the former;
but the churches have fostered the Sabbath Schools as the
surest and most natural means of promoting the growth of
the church.

The South Fork of Hughes River (Pine Grove) Church,
doubtless, was an exception to the general rule. For although
its records contain very little about its Sabbath School, it is
equally true that, in order to maintain the greatest possible
degree of secrecy concerning the business affairs of the church,
much, even, of its more important proceedings was never re-
corded. Moreover, the close supervision it exercised, not
only over all its church affairs, but over its individual mem-
bers as well, is convincing evidence of its direct government
of its Sabbath School.

EDUCATION.

The first serious effort made to establish a Seventh Day
Baptist school in Western Virginia was that which resulted
in the West Union Academy.

This academy, incorporated by special act of the legis-
lature of the State of Virginia, under date of April i6, 1852,
was located at West Union, in Doddridge County.

A suitable building was erected, and every energy was
bent to equip it properly. But a train of discouraging cir-
cumstances interfered with its prosperity, and in 1856 the prop-

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 889

erty was disposed of and the school had soon passed wholly
into history.

The initial move in the actual physical establishment of
this school was the purchase of a lot of ground on which stood
a small building already used for school purposes. This pur-
chase was effected by private parties upon their own responsi-
bilit)', but with the full confidence and hope that it would be
taken over by the corporation when one shouM be formed.

The history of the school was of a spasmodic character.
It is probable that after the original building was purchased
by Dr. Ethelbert D. Bond, John S. Davis and Samuel Preston
F. Randolph, it was not used for school purposes until the
arrival of Stephen Thomas West Potter from Scott, New
York, who had been secured through the efforts of Rev.
Azor Estee.

Mr. Potter taught two terms of school during the winter
of 1850-51, and the following spring. At the close of the
second term, he left and did not return. During the summer
of 1851, Miss Esther F. Randolph, daughter of William
F. Randolph, one of the trustees of the academy, taught a
term of seventeen weeks.

In the following autumn (1851), Rev. Azor Estee opened-
school in the new building. This was probably the most
prosperous year of the life of the institution. It was not only
well patronized by the people of the town, regardless of de-
nominational affiliation, but students came from a large num-
ber of Seventh Day Baptist families located at New Milton,
Greenbrier, New Salem, and various other localities within the
bounds of the Seventh Day Baptist churches of Virginia.

Apparently, a term was taught the following summer
(1852), by Ezra F. Randolph, a brother of Miss Esther F.
Randolph, who had taught in the summer of 185 1. During
the year 1852-53, the school seems to have been taught by two
brothers, Benoni Israel and Robert Alexander Jeffrey, sons
of Joseph Jeffrey, one of the trustees of the academy.

In the meantime, William F. Randolph had been ap-
pointed corresponding secretary, and instructed to open cor-
respondence to secure a suitable teacher for the school. As
a result of his efforts, Daniel Maxson Burdick of Little Gene-

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890 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

see, New York, was secured and was upon the ground by the
20th of June, 1853. As he arrived later than he had expected,
he found a school already in progress in the village in the
county court house, taught by a Baptist clergyman. The
trustees, nevertheless, tendered him the academy, rent free,
and he opened a school with some twenty pupils, with a prom-
ise of about seventy for the following term. He was, how-
ever, called home by sickness in his family, and although he
promised to return, he found on his arrival at home that it
would be impossible for him to do so, and so abandoned
the enterprise. This was undoubtedly the last tangible effort
of the trustees to conduct a denominational school in the
buildings.

Apparently from the time of Daniel Maxson Burdick's
departure in the late summer or autumn of 1853, there was
no school conducted in the buildings, as it was hoped ,he
would return, until the first of the following June, when the
property was rented to one H. T. Hays, who continued to
hold possession until June 6, 1855, paying a rent of forty
dollars ($40.00) a year. Hays was not a Seventh Day Bap-
tist, and probably conducted a subscription (select) school
for the benefit of the children of the village. The build-
ings then appear to have stood idle until the 8th day of
August, 1856, when the entire property was sold and passed
into the possession of Isaiah Bee, who taught two terms of
school in the academy, when it ceased to be used for school
purposes. During the Civil War it was used as a hospital by
the Union Army.

The academy was organized and established mainly
through the joint efforts of Rev. Azor Estee and William F.
Randolph, the latter of whom was its largest stockholder and
its leading spirit throughout the entire period of its active
history.

The fundamental weakness of the West Union Academy
was the fact that while it was undertaken as a denominational
school for which there was a crying need, it was also under-
taken as a financial enterprise, which was expected to pay
liberal dividends to the stockholders. When these financial
hopes were not fulfilled and the real character of the situation

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 89I

dawned upon the promoters of the enterprise, they become dis-
appointed and discouraged. Those who could have supported
it as a philanthropic institution, refused to do so, and those
who would have done so, were unable.

Nevertheless, the West Union Academy was by no means
wholly a failure. Of its students, there went later to Alfred,
New York, to attend Alfred Academy and University, five
of the children of William F. Randolph ; viz., Preston, Esther,
Judson, Jethro, and Silas ; together with their cousins Frank-
lin, son of Jepthah F. Randolph; and Darius King, son of
Eliona Davis; besides Andrew Judson, son of Dr. Lathrop
R. Charter, a leading surgeon and physician of Doddridge
County. Neither Dr. Lathrop R. Charter nor his son, Andrew
Judson, was a Seventh Day Baptist.

The first named of these, Preston F. Randolph, after-
ward became the most potent educational factor which has
ever appeared in the counties of Harrison, Doddridge, and
Ritchie, of West Virginia. After several years experience
in teaching select and public ungraded schools, he attempted
to establish an academy at New Salem. With the assistance
of Rev. Charles A. Burdick, who was at that time labouring
among the churches of West Virginia, under the auspices
of the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society, and others,
he succeeded in obtaining from the legislature of the State
of West Virginia, a charter for an independent school dis-
trict at New Salem, with the privilege of establishing an
academy. A graded course of study was prepared for the new
school, which was aided financially by the Peabody Educa-
tional Fund, then recently established for the aid of education
in the South. Until a suitable school building could be erected,
the New Salem Seventh Day Baptist church was, on two dif-
ferent occasions, used for that purpose. Of the school thus
established, Preston F. Randolph had charge for several terms.

Ever since the inauguration of the movement which re-
sulted in the establishment of the ill-fated West Union -Acad-
emy, it had been the dream of the Seventh Day Baptists of
Western Virginia to have a denominational school maintained
in their midst.

After the final dissolution of the West Union Academy,

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892 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

the village of New Salem, by common consent, was fixed upon
as the site of the future school ; and many of those connected
with the West Union Academy laboured and hoped, incessantly,
for the realization of this dream.

Preston F. Randolph, in all his educational work in
West Virginia, held this thought uppermost in his mind,
and Rev. Charles A. Burdick, from the time he began his
duties as a general missionary among the West Virginia
churches in 1870, looked forward with anxiety to the time
when that hope would be fulfilled.

So confident was he of the success of such a movement,
that after four years service as a missionary, he resigned that
work and opened a select school at New Salem, doubting
nothing that it would soon become a permanent school, of the
grade of an academy. This school was opened in April, 1875.

At the annual session of the South-Eastern Association,
held at Lost Creek, beginning May 28, 1874, the question
of a denominational school had been especially prominent.
But it was not deemed wise for the association to move in the
matter. The select school started in the following spring
by Rev. Charles A. Burdick, was undertaken, however, upon
the assurance of financial assistance from private sources.
The business depression prevalent throughout the country,
rapidly grew worse, and the expected aid failed to materialize,
although the school was a distinct success in attendance and
in the quality of work done; for it was well patronized by
the Seventh Day Baptists throughout the association, with a
generous representation of non-Sabbath-keepers.

Rev. Charles A. Burdick, with his wife, and Miss Adelle
M. Whitford, of Utica, Wisconsin, composed the teaching
staff. The meeting house of the New Salem Church was used
as a school building, it being expected that in a short time a
suitable building would be erected for the school. After
conducting this school through the spring and summer of 1875,
it was abandoned, for several reasons, principally for lack
of funds for the erection of a school building. Mr. and
Mrs. Burdick taught in the public school in the village of
Rockford, on Lost Creek, the following winter, as they had
done the preceding winter; and in the summer of 1876, as-

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 893

sisted again by Miss Whitford, they taught a select school at
Rockford. Mr. Burdick then abandoned his attempts to estab-
lish a denominationl school in West Virginia.

Terence M. Davis, a son of Lodowick H. Davis, and
afterward a professor in Alfred University, hoped that upon
his graduation from Alfred, in 1881, he might establish an
academy at New Salem. He carried his plans so far as
the designing of the necessary buildings, to be erected on
grounds adjoining his father's home in New Salem. But his
disappointment was destined to be added to the growing cat-
alogue of unsuccessful attempts to establish a Seventh Day
Baptist school in West Virginia.

Nevertheless, events soon began to shape themselves so
as to force the issue. The principal cause of immediate anxiety
was due to the fact that of the rapidly increasing number of
young people who were going away to Alfred University,
very few returned to make their homes in West Virginia after
graduation.

The South-Eastern Association began to turn its serious
attention to this subject as early as 1887, with the result that
Salem Academy was incorporated under date of December
28, 1888, and its doors, opened to students in the following
spring, with Rev. John L. Huffman as principal.

Up to this time, the three men who had contributed most
to the success of the enterprise, were Rev. John L. Huffman,
George W. F. Randolph, and Jesse F. Randolph. Rev. John
L. Huffrnan, by his spirited leadership and organizing ability,
created a most healthful spirit throughout the association in
favour of the school, and served as the general promoter of the
enterprise.* George W. F. Randolph and Jesse F. Randolph,
two prominent business men in Salem, besides devoting time
without stint, contributed most generously to the treasury of
the academy. The former was the largest subscriber to its
stock, and the latter the second largest. Jesse F. Randolph
was made president of the corporation at the time of its organ-
ization, and with the exception of but one year, he has served
in that capacity continuously up to the present time.

Rev. Sanford L. Maxson assumed the principalship with
the opening of the fall term in 1889, and remained until the

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894 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

close of the academic year 1891-1892, when he gave way to
Rev. Theodore L. Gardiner, who has been the successful head
of the institution up to the present time (1902).^

In the meantime, Salem Academy had become Salem Col-
lege, by virtue of an amendment to its charter under date of
August 16, 1890.

SLAVERY.

Of the Western Virginia churches, but one, the Lost Creek
Church, contained any slave holders. Within the bounds of the
New Salem Church lived a man who regarded himself, in so
far as he was religiously inclined, as a Seventh Day Baptist. He
never joined any church, but was an active and sympathetic
trustee of the West Union Academy.'^ But so far as available
records and traditions show, the Lost Creek Church was the
only one of this group of Seventh Day Baptist churches which
enrolled a slave holder among its membership.

Deacon Abel Bond of the Lost Creek Church married,
in Maryland, a wife, whose uncle made her a present of a slave
girl. This slave girl, on reaching womanhood, married against
the wishes of Deacon Bond, but neyertheless with his per-
mission. She raised a family of children, who, according
to the laws of slave-holding states, were born into bondage.
Deacon Bond offered to set the family free and to pay their
expenses to a free state, but they preferred to remain with
him, as he was a kind master, exercising only such authority
over them as the laws of the state and humanity demanded
at his hands. Deacon Bond provided in his will that they
should be freed as soon as circumstances should warrant,
but soon after his death all the coloured family died but the
mother and one son, who was not physically strong. Deacon
Bond's son, into whose care they were committed at the
death of his father, again offered them freedom, but they still
chose to remain where they were.

Of these slaves, Rev. Samuel D. Davis, so long the
pastor of the Lost Creek church, writes as follows :

1. All interesting sketch of Salem College by President Gardiner may be
id on page 545 of this volume.

2. Samuel Preston F. Randolph.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 895

Black Manuel was the husband of Lottie, a black woman who
lived and died in the Bond family on Elk Creek, at the place now
known as Quiet Dell. Lottie and her husband were both members
of the Seventh Day Baptist Church on Lost Creek. Manuel was the
slave of Thomas Bond of Lost Creek, who though not a member of
the church, was a nominal Sabbath-keeper. When Manuel was well
stricken in years, his master sold the farm on which they lived to
two members of the Lost Creek Church, Eli and Moses Van Horn,
and sold Manuel to a man keeping First Day, who moved him to
a farm further away from the church.

Being dissatisfied with his new home, he appealed to the men
who bought his old master's farm, to buy him also, and bring him
back to the humble cottage he had occupied so many years, that
he might live among his church brethren.

This they did, and became the legal owners of a brother in the
same church with themselves.

But they did this, and thus became responsible for Manuel's
conduct and future maintenance, not for sordid money's sake, for
Manuel was not now able to earn wages, but that they might make
comfortable and happy a beloved brother.

It was my privilege tp pay pastoral visits to all three of these
brethren when on their dying beds, and I have no doubt that it
will be said in the judgment to these last owners of Manuel, "Inas-
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me."

Should the reader question why Manuel's brethren did not set
him free, let it be remembered that such was the law of the State
of Virginia, that a freed slave could not remain in it beyond a stated
number of days, without being sold again into bondage.

At the session of the Eastern Association held at Shiloh,
New Jersey, May, 1856, the New Salem and Lost Creek
churches made application for admission to that body, and
Rev. Samuel D. Davis appeared as a delegate from both of
these churches. These applications were referred, as usual
in such cases, to the committee on petitions, who reported
to the association in favour of admitting both churches. This
recommendation called forth considerable discussion, relating
chiefly to the relation of these churches to slavery. The
New Salem Church was finally admitted by a unanimous vote,
and the Lost Creek Church with but a single dissenting vote,
that of Alfred B. Burdick.

One of the churches of the association now took up the
matter independently, and appointed a committee to investigate
the subject. This action precipitated a heated discussion at

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896 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

the next annual session of the Eastern Association, which
finally resulted in the voluntary withdrawal of the Lost Creek
Church from the association under painful circumstances. The
New Salem Church, it should be observed, took no formal
part in this controversy with the Eastern Association, of which
it will be remembered the New Salem Church was a member
also, although that church had joined with the Lost Creek
Church in sending Rev. Samuel D. Davis as a delegate for
two consecutive years to the annual sessions of the Eastern
Association, held at Shiloh and New Market, New Jersey.
It was perfectly clear, however, that the New Salem Church
strongly sympathized with her sister church in what they both
regarded as persecution of the latter, concerning slavery.
From the date of the final action of the Eastern Association
upon the withdrawal of the Lost Creek Church, the New
Salem Church maintained an attitude of dignified silence as a
member of that association, for a period of nine years, or until
the year 1867, after the Civil War had been closed and slavery
forever banished from American soil. The Lost Creek Church
never renewed its relations with the Eastern Association,
but upon the organization of the South-Eastern Association,
became a constituent member of that body.

But the rancorous feeling engendered by so bitter, so in-
tense, and so prolonged a controversy could not die out all
at once. The visits of Rev. Abram Herbert Lewis in 1868,
did more than any other one thing toward the restoration of
the era of good feeling of the West Virginia people toward
their brethren of the North and East. In short, of all the
valuable service which he has ever performed for the Seventh
Day Baptist Denomination in West Virginia, this is doubtless
the greatest and most valuable. But it was not until the
occasion of the visit of Rev. Sherman S. Griswold to Lost
Creek, in May, 1881, that it was made entirely clear that peace
and harmony were wholly restored, and that the slavery ques-
tion among Seventh Day Baptists had become wholly a thing
of the past.

So far as records accessible at the present time show,

not more than two members of the Seventh Day Baptist

churches of Western Virginia took up arms against the Gov-

(56) <

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 89/

ernment of the United States in behalf of slavery. With these
exceptions,-' the Union was upheld and loyally supported by
the entire membership of all these churches.

Situated as they were on the very border line between the
north and the south, where political feelings, always intense,
wrere many fold so at that time, it was but natural that any and
all persons not definitely known to have voted for the success-
ful candidate for the presidency of the United States in
the campaign of i86oi should be regarded with doubt, and
many were arrested upon suspicion and confined in the county
jails or carried away to Camp Chase or other government
prisons. On one occasion, a posse of Union officers called
at midnight at the home of the loyal clerk of the New Salem
church for the ostensible purpose of arresting him and tak-
ing him away to prison as a suspicious character. To their
bitter disappointment and disgust, they found him at the Town-
ship Hall, performing his duty as a loyal citizen of the United
States in helping to conduct a federal election, whose re-
turns must be made out before the commissioners of the
election were permitted to leave their post of duty for sleep.
The churches of this association were all represented in the
Federal Army.

INFLUENCES OF LIFE AND GROWTH*

The influences which contributed to the permanent life
and growth of Seventh Day Baptist settlement and occupation
of Western Virginia, may be divided into those which are or-
ganic, those of environment, and those which are personal.

Of the first, or those which are organic, it should be re-
membered at the outset, that these people held extreme views
of personal independence. They necessarily had to entertain
such views in order to be Seventh Day Baptists : and as such,
they took not a little pride in the church organization which
could be so easily adapted to the needs of a body of people of
such personal and independent views. The very fact that in
Spite of the constant turmoil existing within the church be-
cause of its disciplinary activity, the church continued to
thrive, is conclusive proof of its resources which made for
tenacious life and endurance.

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898 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Moreover, the very environments of its earlier life here
on the frontier contributed much to the perpetuity of the
church. Here life was to be seen in simpler and more ele-
mentary phases of civilization, and the intellect easily found
ample leisure time for reflection upon the corresponding sim-
pler phases of the problems of ethics and religion, and con-
tributed mightily to the intensity of religious faith and ac-
tivity.

As time passed by, and the ruder forms of life gave way
to greater comforts with their more complex problems, per-
sonal influence gradually became, little by little, a more potent
factor in the life and growth of the church, and the need of
active pastoral work grew more and more apparent. Nat-
urally, but unfortunately, the churches themselves tardily rec-
ognized this need.

Rev. Jacob Davis, who had accompanied the church to
its new home in Western Virginia, had given the church freely
of his time and labour without money and without price, and
had finally yielded up his life — a willing sacrifice — for the faith
that was within him.

Rev. John Davis and his associate and successor, Rev.
Peter Davis, both supported tfl^mselves with the labour of
their own hands, and received little or no pecuniary reward for
the care they bestowed upon the church.

By the time the activities of these devoted men were end-
•ed, the time had arrived when the church required a guiding
and shaping hand in the pulpit, as well as its co-adjutor in the
pew.

Of two ministers, Rev. Samuel D. Davis and Rev. Charles
A. Burdick, who contributed most to this need, from the »mid-
dle of the nineteenth century to its close, it is the purpose of
the present writer to speak here.

Rev, Samuel Dazns Davis.

Rev. Samuel Davis Davis was born at what is now Jane
Lew, West Virginia, July 6, 1824.

He was the son of Jacob Davis, 2d, and Sarah (Hoff-
man) Davis. His great-great-grandfather was Rev. William
Davis, the Welshman who founded the Shrewsbury Church.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 899

Rev. William Davis's sixth son, James, was the father of Rev.
Jacob Davis, who was the father of Jacob Davis, 2d, who
was the father of Rev. Samuel Davis Davis.

Rev. Samuel D. Davis was baptized by Rev. Peter Davis
in March, 1837, and soon afterward, was received into mem-
bership in the Lost Creek Church, by Rev. Stillman Coon,
who was engaged in missionary labour in Western Virginia at
that thne.

His father died when he was but three and a half years
old, and at an early age he became the mainstay of his widowed
mother and four orphan sisters. His boyhood and early man-
hood were filled with poverty, hardship, and toil.

In the year 1841, at the age of seventeen years, he was
licensed by the Lost Creek Church to preach "within the
bounds of the church," and was appointed to preach one Sab-
bath in each month for the church. This licence was renewed
from year to year, until in 1840, when, under date of Septem-
ber II, he was given a formal certificate of licence to preach,
which was renewed from year to year.

At a meeting of the church held on September 7, 1849,
he was requested to take his ordination into consideration.
This he was reluctant to do. Nevertheless, at the annual meet-
ing of the South- Western Association, held with the church at
Lost Creek, in the following October, the church asked that
he be ordained. Rev. Peter Davis was the only ordained min-
ister present, however, and his physical condition was such
that on the second day of the session, he was compelled to
resign his office as presiding officer of the association and
consequently did not feel equal to the task of conducting an
ordination service. Accordingly, the ordination was post-
poned.

On the 27th of the following January, the church instruct-
ed Rev. Azor Estee, who was engaged ia pastoral labour with
the Lost Creek and New Salem churches, to make the
necessary arrangements for the ordination.

The ordination took place on May 11, succeeding, when
Samuel D. Davis was solemnly set apart to the sacred duties ^
of the office to which he had been called, at a service conducted
by Rev. Azor Estee and Rev. Peter Davis, at Lost Creek.

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900 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Soon after his ordination, he was called to the pastorate
of the Lost Creek Church, and with such brief intervals as
ill health demanded for rest, he sustained that, relation for
more than a quarter of a century, resigning in 1875.

During this pastorate, aside from maintaining the appoint-
ments of the church, he devoted much time to evangelistic and
revival meetings in Western Virginia, such work extending
to all the churches in that region together with their many
outposts.

In 1867, the Lost Creek and New Salem churches sent
him and Rev. Jacob Davis as missionaries on a visit to Shel-
byville, Tennessee. Some two years afterward, he again vis-
ited Tennessee under the auspices of the American Sabbath
Tract Society to labour with Rev. James Bailey, in the interest
of Sabbath Reform. Although strongly urged by the Ameri-
can Sabbath Tract Society to go upon that field and remain in-
definitely, he nevertheless declined, believing the interests there
were too great to be served adequately in the time that he felt
that he could spare from the West Virginia field, to which
under the call of duty, he had pledged his life work.

Under his leadership and pastoral care, the Lost Creek
Church increased its membership from about sixty-five at the
time he became its pastor, to upwards of two hundred when
he finally resigned. It had also built and dedicated a new com-
modious brick house of worship.

When he became pastor of the Lost Creek Church, the
only other active churches were the New Salem and South
Fork of Hughes River (Pine Grove) churches. With the
founding and organization of every existing Seventh Day Bap-
tist church now in the South-Eastern Association, except the
New Salem, Lost Creek, and Middle Island churches, he has
been intimately connected.

Perhaps the most trying experience in his pastorate at
Lost Creek, was that of the events of the Civil War. The
political views of the members of the church were widely
divergent, fundamentally, and there was every incentive to
precipitate, unguarded action, as well as great danger of arous-
ing blind and unreasoning passions. Himself, an uncomprom-
ising abolitionist, he was diplomatic enough withal, not only

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REV. SAMUEL DAVIS DAVIS.
See Biographical Sketches, p. 136L

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SOUTHEASTERN ASSOCIATION. 901

to retain the confidence and affection of all his church, but4ike-
wise to prevent any outburst, or open rupture in it.

During more than half of his term of service with the
Lost Creek Church, he had no stipulated salary, receiving only
such contributions as individual members might offer him.
In one year of this period, he travelled upward of six hundred
miles on horseback, preaching in the church and in school
houses, holding special meetings and visiting people in their
homes, and receiving for the entire year, a financial remunera*
tion aggregating six dollars ($6.00), a part of which was in
merchandise.

During these years, he maintained his family upon his
farm, which had to be paid for from his earnings, performing
the labour, for the most part, with his own hands, and often
toiling till the midnight hour.

During the latter part of his pastorate with the Lost Creek
church, it had become sufficiently prosperous to pay the pastor
a small salary, which never exceeded three hundred dollars
($300.00) annually.

In the spring of 1876, after he had previously resigned
the pastorate of the Lost Creek Church, he assisted Rev.
Charles M. Lewis in a series of revival meetings conducted
by the latter at New Salem. These meetings resulted in about
fifty accessions to the church, and in his being called to the
pastorate of the New Salem Church.

This pastorate continued for a term of three years, greatly
to the good of the church, which was strengthened by growth
of spiritual life, and by accessions to its numbers.

In the year 1879, he returned to his farm near Jane Lew^
and engaged in evangelistic and missionary work, indepen-
dently. In the following year, 1880, the Board of Managers
of the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society, engaged him
as a general field missionary, to labour in West Virginia under
its direction.

For more than ten years he continued in this service, con-
stantly visiting pastorless churches, conducting revival meet-
ings in every church and Sabbath-keeping community within
the bounds of the South-Eastern Association, and calling upon
the families from house to house.

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902 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Such labour as this he had performed lavishly during his
long pastorate of the Lost Creek Church, and the results had
been gratifying ; but now that the opportunity to do such work
was larger, the beneficent results were correspondingly great-
er. The membership of the churches was increased, converts
to the Sabbath resulted, and new churches were organized.

The field of such activities w^as not limited to West Vir-
ginia. It extended to the church at Jackson Centre, Ohio,
where he had visited at different times previously ; to Salemville,
Pennsylvania, where in 1885, he organized a prosperous Sev-
enth Day Baptist church; and to Cumberland County, North
Carolina, where he found a strong prejudice against such work
as he was engaged in doing. This prejudice he had the grati-
fying pleasure of seeing give way to a hearty welcome to Sev-
enth Day Baptist home missionaries.

After the close of his labours under the direction of the
Missionary Board, he continued to do missionary and evan-
gelistic work independently, until recently, when the infirmi-
ties of advancing age compelled him to- relinquish active minis-
terial labour, and he finally passed away from the scenes of
his earthly toil, at the home of his son Boothe Colwell, at Al-
fred, New York, February 25, 1907.

It is not given many men to grasp the really great oppor-
tunities of life, and to fewer, yet, to enjoy to its full, the fruit
of the possibilities of such opportufiities when once seized
upon and wrought out.

To Rev. Samuel D. Davis came a magnificent opportunity,
— an opportunity, however, that to most on-lookers must, at
best, have appeared to be sadly obscured and doubtful. To him
inviting as it was magnificent, it revealed no less surely its
hardships and toil. But it was worth the effort. And to the
work of cultivating the soil of the Seventh Day Baptist
churches of West Virginia, he addressed himself. No spot was
left unturned. There was no plant not watered, none so un-
promising as not to receive the tenderest care, none so thrifty
as not to need cultivation. He was literally a pastor to every
church in the association, a spiritual father to them all. The
indelible impress of his personality, and the finger-prints of his
moulding hand, are everywhere.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 903

And he wrought wisely and well. His energies and life
were as freely, as they were lovingly and devotedly, bestowed.

The highest academic honours paid, as tokens of superior
merit, for ecclesiastical service performed, are awarded either
for scholarly attainment, or for some signal service, in a min-
isterial capacity, to the church. It was the pleasant privilege
of the present writer to urge the acceptance by the subject of
this sketch, during the very last years of his life, of the degree
of Doctor of Divinity, as a fitting recognition of the unique
service he had performed in fostering the spiritual life and
growth of the churches of the South-Eastern Association. But
his modesty and his conscious want of the advantages of an
education he was forced to forego in early life, caused him to
shrink from such an honour.

But few Seventh Day Baptists can lay claim to greater
service to the church, than can Samuel Davis Davis, whose
highest honour, whose chiefest delight, was to be called a Min-
ister of the Gospel of his Lord and Master, whom he so dearly
loved and revered.

Rev, Charles Alexander Burdick.

Unlike that of Rev. Samuel D. Davis, the work of Rev.
Charles Alexander Burdick on the West Virginia field, did not
extend over the entire period of his life. It was rather a par-
ticular mission of a few years performed at a critical period of
the history of that group of churches, much as some great
statesman steps into the breach at some crisis in the history of
a mighty nation, and in the brief space of a few months, or a
few years at most, shapes and fixes the destiny of that nation
for ages to come.

He was born at Lincklaen, New York, December 5, 1829,
His educational advantages were wide in their scope, and in-
cluded attendance at the following institutions: Albion Acad-
emy, DeRuyter Institute, Oberlin College, Alfred University,
and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He had
been pastor of churches at Welton, Iowa ; Berlin, Wisconsin ;
and GreenmanVille, Connecticut. Naturally methodical in his
habits of study and work, this trait was accentuated by his
training. He had also had exceptionable opportunity to be-

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904 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

come acquainted with the history and traditions of the Sev-
enth Day Baptist denomination. His uncle, Rev. Alexander
Campbell, with whom he was upon terms of great intimacy^
and whose Autobiography he subsequently edited, although a
convert to the Sabbath, had led a life of such ceaseless activity,
and of such a breadth of scope, literally covering what are
now the Eastern, Central, Western, and Soutb-Easfem associa-
tions, besides being the leading spirit of the movement which
founded DeRuyter Institute and for many years maintained
it, as to make him one of the best known representative Sev-
enth Day Baptists <ki his time; and he deeply impressed his
nephew with the value of his rich denominational heritage.

In addition to this equipment. Rev. Charles A. Burdick
had served a term as the recording secretary of the Seventh
Day Baptist Missionary Society, and thus had become familiar
with the details of the work of that body.

With this preparation, he accepted a call from the Board
of Managers of the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society
to labour in West Virginia, and accompanied by his family,
consisting of his wife and two children, he reached the *eld
Octobet- 20, 1870.

In the preceding April, the Board had sent Rev. Walter
B. Gillette to West Virginia in the hope that he might see his
way clear to remain upon the field for a few years, but he
felt that the task set was too exacting for his physical strength,
and had made way for his successor. In the meantime, he had
inquired carefully into the conditions existing in the South
Fork of Hughes River, or Pine Grove, Church, and as a result
had assisted in organizing the Ritchie Church. He had also
assisted in the organization of the Greenbrier Church, and the
ordination of Rev. Lewis F. Randolph at the request of the
New Salem Church.

But it was a critical stage of the history of the West Vir-
ginia churches. They were just banning to recover from the
direful effects of the Civil War, whicl^ had depleted their ma-
terial resources, and had for many years cut off any friendly
intercourse with the other churches of the denomination, par-
ticularly those of the North and East.

Rev. Samuel D. Davis was the pastor of the Lost Creek

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REV. CHARLES ALEXANDER BURDICK.
Sec Biographical Sketches, p. 1361.

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 905

Church, which embraced widely scattered groups of families
at what are now Roanoke, Quiet Dell, and Hackers Creek, in
addition to those living on Lost Creek and in its immediate
vicinity. The salary paid was very meagre and he was obliged
to till his farm for the maintainance of his family, and thus
reduce to a minimum the amount of time he could give to his
pastoral duties.

The New Salem Church, with widespread interests, had
Rev. Jacob Davis for a pastor, who lived four miles away on
Greenbrier Run, and was obliged to depend upon his farm,
too, for his material support. Rev. Peter Davis, the pastor
emeritus of the church, was blind and otherwise too greatly
enfeebled to engage in any active ministerial labour.

The Middle Island Church, like the Lost Creek and New
Salem churches, was badly scattered, and presented problems
of a complicated character. Rev. James B. Davis lived here,
and in-so-far as the church had a pastor, he served it in that
capacity.

The newly-organized Ritchie Church, in addition to the
greatly strained relations existing bftween itself and the Pine
Grove Church, at once developed entangling complications
within itself.

The Greenbrier Church, organized after the Ritchie
Church, while including the homes of Rev. Jacob Davis and
Rev. Lewis F. Randolph within its bounds, did not feel able
to employ either of them for more than a nominal amount of
pastoral work.

The churches all were sadly in need of associational ad-
vantages, but they were too far away from all of the existing
associations to derive the needed benefit from any of them.

At least one more church, and possibly two more, needed
to be organized in the very near future.

Sabbath Schools, while general, were too crude to be ef-
fective.

Through the efforts of lay members, business methods

were gradually being introduced into the New Salem and Lost

Creek churches, but elsewhere chaos reigned. All were in

need bf the firm guiding hand of the right sort of pastor.

*It was estimated that there were about sixteen hundred

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906 . SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

persons connected with the various societies among these
churches. Many of these, while observing the Sabbath, had
no church connection.

Disheartened as they were from previous experiences, the
question of education was forcing itself upon the people again.

Systematic benevolence either for the benefit of. the
churches themselves, or for general denominational objects,
did not exist. All efforts in that direction had proved abortive.

Added to all this, was the fact that the people were super*
sensitive, superlatively jealous of their independence, ultra-
conservative, and hopelessly wedded, apparently, to that style
of preaching which appeals most powerfully to the emotions.

Into this maze of conditions, enough to appall the stoutest
heart, the new missionary came, bent upon improving condi-
tions all he could, and of avoiding everything that would tend
to make them worse.

It was a situation that would tax to the utmost all his re-
sources of tact and diplomacy, no less than those of his sound,
reasoning judgment, and alert, keen penetration.

His first object was t(f make an acquaintance with the peo-
ple of the various groups of his large parish. The general im-
pression which he made may well be judged from a communi-
cation written by Rev. Samuel D. Davis, to the Board of Man-
agers, under date of April 2, 187 1, less than five months after
he had arrived upon the field. After speaking of the labours
of Rev. Walter B. Gillette, this communication continues,

Eld. C. A. Burdick came to the field under more adverse cir-
cumstances. He came a stranger among strangers, at a time when
his abilities as a speaker must be compared with those who had pre-
ceded him, recollections of whom were still vivid in the minds of
those who had heard them. Will he fill the measure? and how does
he compare? were among the interrogations. But with those who had
learned to rely with implicit confidence in the fact that the Board
would not send to West Virginia a man of nKan abilities, the ques-
tion of adaptation (without which a man is everlastingly in the
wrong place) was the vital one. This has been answered to the joy
and comfort of many hearts. On the 3d •of March, Eld. Burdick
came to our place to make us a third visit. The next day we com-
menced a series of meetings under circumstances so unfavourable
that a council was subsequently held to decide whether these* meet-
ings had better be discontinued. It was decided, however, to go

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 907

on. God in his mercy poured out his Spirit, and we had a glorious
time. Sinners were awakened, mourners obtained a hope in Christ,
and those who loved the Lord were made to rejoice. Glory be to
God! Our meetings lasted sixteen days, and were held, most of the
time, day and night. The missionary preached every sermon, except
two or three. His zeal and energy were untiring, and as he reasoned
of sin, of righteousness, and of a judgment to come, men who had
resisted all the influences that had been brought to bear upon them,
until their heads were silvered over with the frosts of many winters,
not only trembled, but yielded to the persuasions of the Gospel, and
thanked God that an instrumentality had finally been effective to
lead them to Christ. The very diminutive number that resisted the
influence, did it by absenting themselves more or less from the
sanctuary the last days of the meetings. Fifteen willing candidates
have been baptized, and others are expected soon to follow.

Under date of August 25, 1871, the Board of Managers
received the following report :

It is now ten months and five days since I came on to the field.
My labours in preaching have been distributed among twelve different lo-
calities, and two or three other points have been visited. Have assisted in
revival meetings in five of these places. There was some increase to our
churches in connection with all these efforts but one, although the
increase was small, except in case of Lost Creek. I am not able
to tell just how many have been added to the churches, but think
the number is about thirty to thirty-five, including a few who had been
previously ^baptized. I have baptized twenty-one persons, preached
a hundred and thirty-one discourses, conducted three funeral ser-
vices, travelled on horseback one thousand five hundred and seventeen
miles, exclusive of travel from house to house in the same neighbour-
hood. I have not looked for any marked results to appear suddenly
from my labours here, and except in the conversion of souls and the
encouraging of Christian activity, have not laboured for immediate
results. Bro. Gillette, who had laboured here earnestly and very ac-
ceptably before me, had gathered in such fruit as was ripe for the
harvest; as, for example, assisting to organize two ne^ churches, and
to ordain one rtiinister of the Gospel, besides sowing seed. My ex-
pectation and aim have been to secure such results as must come from
gradual development, except, as has been said, in the case of con-
versions; and so far am encouraged. I think all the churches are in
a growing condition, and the brethren have shown a readiness to sec-
ond my efforts.

Last First Day a very interesting meeting was held in connec-
tion with the quarterly meeting at Salem. It was the meeting of dele-
gates appointed by the five Seventh Day Baptist churches, for the pur-
pose of considering the propriety of organizing an association of said
churches, and authorized to draft a constitution for such organization.

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908 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

in case it was deemed proper. The churches were well represented,
and the meeting was enthusiastic in favour of association. I was sur-
prised that so clear a conception of the benefits of association pre-
vailed among the delegates as was shown by the discussion of the
resolution, affirming that the Hme had fully come when the West
Virginia churches should be u^.iited in an associate capacity. A con-
stitution was framed, which is to be. submitted to the churches for
their adoption or rejection. It is true there are now but five churches
that are expected to enter into such association, but the need of co-
operation exists, if the number is small. And we all expect new
churches to be formed at no very distant day.

Of the character of the work, he expresses himself as im-
pressed in the following manner:

The religious, social, and intellectual development of diose con-
stituting the churches, and bring^ing them into a closer bond of union
with the rest of the denomination, have seemed to me an important
object to strive for in the mission.

During the next year the organization of the South-East-
em Association was completed, the West Fork (now Roanoke)
Church was organized, a new house of worship completed by
the Lost Creek Church, a new church edifice begun by the
Ritchie Church, and revival meetings held among the churches
generally. An association had been formed for training lead-
ers of church music, and Sabbath School work had been vigor-
ously prosecuted. During the session of the South-Eastern As-
sociation at New Milton, a Sabbath School institute was con-
ducted, and another not long afterward at New Salem.

During the third year, in addition to other work, he gave
considerable attention to Sabbath Reform, lecturing upon the
Sabbath wherever opportunity offered. The Sabbath School
work was prosecuted with vigour. Two institutes were held,
and a series of normal classes organized. Of the latter, he
says:

One new feature has been added to my work: That of holding
Normal Qass meetings for Sabbath School teachers and others, in
which I have endeavoured to awaken enthusiasm in the work of teach-
ing, and to give instruction needed by teachers. My aim is to meet
a class for this purpose every time I visit a church or neighbourhood
where there is a school.

As in the preceding year, considerable attention was given
to the subject of church music. For this purpose he taught

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 909

a number of classes for which he charged a tuition fee, de-
voting the proceeds to the increase of the Church-building
Fund appropriated by the Board of Managers for use within
the association. He also often gave popular lectures for the
instruction of the people as their needs might indicate. Some
attention was given to the question of education.

The fourth year saw the work steadily pushed along all
the lines previously projected, particularly as regards Sab*
bath Schools and education. He closed his engagement with
the Board of Managers of the Seventh Day Baptist Mission-
ary Society November 20, 1874, four years and one month
after he came upon the field, for the purpose of devoting him-
self to the solution of the educational problem confronting the
churches of the association, feeling that he could do this to
better advantage, independently, than if he were to continue
under the direction of the Board.

In other respects his mission was practically completed.
The South-Eastem Association and the West Fork Church had
been organized, the Lost Creek Church had completed its new
house of worship, and that of the Ritchie Church had reached
a stage of completion where it was available for use. Im-
proved business methods had been introduced into all the
churches, the organization of the South-Eastem Association
operating as a powerful stimulus in that direction, and mak-
ing available, for general use, the lay assistance referred to
previously in this paper. A substantial foundation had been
laid for the subsequent introduction of systematic benevolence,
for the support of the churches and for other phases of denom-
inational work.

Church music throughout the association had been up-
lifted and dignified as never before.

Many of the difficult problems connected with various
churches had been successfully solved, and others started in
the right direction.

There had been a large number of accessions to the
churches generally throughout the association.

The work with the Sabbath Schools had been so generally
and so thoroughly done as to have justified the Board in es-
tablishing the mission, had nothing else been accomplished.

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9IO SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

It is doubtful if anywhere else in the denomination, in so short
a time, has there been so marvelous and so substantial a
growth in Sabbath School work as was effected here in this
brief period of four years. So strongly was it developed
that for many years of the period when the churches were
practically without pastoral care following the cessation of
this mission, it may fairly^ be said that if the Sabbath Schools
did not actually carry the churches, they at least constituted
the mainstay of the latter.

In severing his connection with the Board of Managers of
the Missionar}' Society, and undertaking educational work, he
had the utmost faith in the ultimate success of his effort, for
in addition to his confidence in the general patronage the
school would receive, he had assurances of private financial
assistance. A private select school was opened at New Salem
with a flattering outlook, and effective work was done. But
a train of untoward circumstances set in, the chief of which
was a period of financial depression, and the effort was finally
abandoned.

It is certainly true that the period of prosperity the West
Virginia churches are enjoying in the closing years of the
nineteenth century and the opening of the twentieth, despite
the fact that several of them are pastorless, is in no small
measure due to the effective work done upon that field by
Rev. Charles A. Burdick. It is equally true that it is the
greatest achievement of his long and useful career, regardless
of the discouraging result of his efforts to establish an acad-
emy.

The seed was sown in a rich soil, and has produced a
bounteous harvest. The long procession of young people who
went to Alfred University during the decade following the
close of his labours in West Virginia, no less than the phenom-
enal prosperity of Salem College under adverse conditions,
were greMy influenced by his teachings.

CONCLUSION.

The results of the history of the South-Eastern Associa-
tion may be summarized briefly as follows :

First of all, it is composed of a flourishing group of

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SOUTH-EASTERN ASSOCIATION. 9II

churches which will compare favourably with any other group
similarly situated in the Seventh Day Baptist denomination.

Then it has contributed largely to the life and growth of
many other churches, outside of the South-Eastern Associa-
tion, particularly those of the North-Westem Association.

It has produced, directly and indirectly, upwards of twen-
ty-five substantial Seventh Day Baptist ministers.

It has produced one college president.

It has produced several college professors.

It has contributed directly to the active membership of
the following bodies : Board of Managers of the Seventh Day
Baptist Missionary Society; Directors of the American Sab-
bath Tract Society ; Directors of the Seventh Day Baptist Ed-
ucation Society ; Trustees of the Sabbath School Board of the
Seventh Day Baptist General Conference; Trustees of Alfred
University.

It has contributed one missionary to China.

It has contributed one of the most valuable missionaries
ever placed upon the home field in the South-West.

Last, but by no means least, it has contributed a body of
high-grade American citizens, with lofty civic ideals, who have
always answered loyally the call of duty, in war and in peace,
in the humble rank of the private citizen and in exalted stations
of civil life, all alike.

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THE SOUTHWESTERN
ASSOCIATION

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REV. JAMES F. SHAW.
See Biographical Sketches, p. I36K

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THE SOUTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION.

Rev. James F. Shaw.

This Association is the youngest in the sisterhood of
Seventh-day Baptist Associations, its organization dating Aug.
9 to 12, 1888.

The existence of Seventh-day Baptist churches in the
territory now embraced in the Southwestern Association did
not begin until about the year 1881 or 1882. The Seventh-day
Adventists had sent missionaries on the field earlier than this
and had made converts to the Sabbath ; but the first organized
work of Seventh-day Baptists was, perhaps, the Little Loss
Seventh-day Baptist church in Jack county, Texas, organized
in 1880 by Eld. J. A. Milliken, who was converted to the
Sabbath while living in southern Illinois, and afterwards
moved to Texas. The difficulties of pioneer settlements on
Texas prairies proved rather too great for the membership
and the church soon dissolved and the membership moved to
older settlements farther east in the state.

In 1882 Eld. S. R. Wheeler organized the Delaware
Seventh-day Baptist Qiurch, in Christian county. Mo., that
numbered Eld. W. K. Johnson and Eld. L. F. Skaggs, Bap-
tist ministers, converts to the Sabbath, among its members,
and who afterwards served the Missionary Society as mis-
sionaries in that part of Missouri.

During the winter of 1882-3, some Sabbath-keepers in
Alabama, in the Flat Woods, near Attalla, Etowah county,

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9l8 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

who had been brought to* the knowledge of the Sabbath
through the labors of the Seventh-day Adventists, sought
acquaintance with the faith and practice of the Seventh-day
Baptists; and as a result of correspondence, Missionary Sec-
retary A. E. Main visited them and spent nearly a month
with them, organizing them into the Flat Woods Seventh-day
Baptist church. Eld. J. J. White spent some time among
them after this in missionary work. The present Attalla
church is the successor of the Flat Woods church.

Bro. A. S. Davis of Marlboro, N. J., was instrumental
in settling a few families of Sabbath-keepers near DeWitt,
Arkansas county, Arkansas, and in 1883 Eld. S. R. Wheeler,
general missionary in the Southwest, visited them and organ-
ized them into the DeWitt Seventh-day Baptist Church with
seven members. Through some changes it is now known as
the Little Prairie church.

In the winter of 1883-4, Eld. Shaw, pastor of the Col-
lege Hill Baptist Church, at Texarkana, Arkansas, with eleven
other members, withdrew and commenced to keep the Sabbath.
On May 17, 1884, Eld. J. A. Milliken, then residing at Sher-
man, Texas, visited them and assisted to organize them into
the Texarkana Seventh-day Baptist Church. In 1890 most
,of the church members removed to Fouke, sixteen miles south-
east of Texarkana, settling in a colony. Elders A. E. Main
and S. R. Wheeler visited the church in 1884, being the
only Seventh-day Baptists, save Eld. Milliken, the members
of this church had ever seen. In 1885 Eld. Shaw accepted
missionary work for the Missionary Society in Arkansas and
Texas.

Somewhere about the same date as the organization of
the Texarkana church, the Providence church, Texas county,
Mo., was organized through the labors of Eld. N. Wardner
and A. McLeam. Eld. S. W. Rutledge, a Baptist minister
converted to the Sabbath, was one of its members and after-
wards labored as one of the Society's missionaries.

In 1885 Eld. F. M. Mayes of Housely, Texas, visited the
Texarkana church and sought membership in it and was
received. In the same year Eld. Shaw visited the com-
munity in which Eld. Mayes lived, and held a series of meet-

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SOUTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 919

ingfi, and not long thereafter (Sept. 19, 1885), he organized
the Rose Hill Seventh-day Baptist Church, Housely, Dallas
county, Texas, with Eld. Mayes as pastor. By deaths and
removals the church went to decay in 1889.

In 1886 a few Sabbath-keepers at Bulcher, Cooke county,
Texas, led by Eld. J. S. Powers, a convert to the Sabbath
from the Methodist Protestant church, were organized into
the Bulcher Seventh-day Baptist Church with six members.

Soon after the organization of the Bulcher church, Eld.
Shaw was invited to visit Eld. M. F. Whatley of Rupee, Falls
county, Texas, a Baptist minister who with his wife had come
to the knowledge of the Sabbath and had accepted it. Spend-
ing only a night and part of a day, forming a pleasant ac-
quaintanceship, he returned home promising to return in the
summer. Returning in the summer he held a series of meet-
ings. The regular appointment of the Baptist pastor, at the
Baptist meeting-house in which the meetings were held, came
in course while this series of meetings was in progress, and
the said minister preached a sermon advocating the abroga-
tion of the law. Eld. Shaw publicly vindicated the Baptist
denomination from the reputation of holding said theory, ad-
ducing proofs from the New Hampshire Confession of Faith
and the Scriptures cited therein. Under the leadership of the
Baptist pastor, seven members of the Baptist church were
arraigned and excluded from the church for advocating the
Sabbath, none of whom had up to that time ever kept the
Sabbath, but following which action all accepted the Sabbath,
and in September were organized into the Rupee Seventh-
day Baptist Church, including Eld. Whatley and wife, who
had obtained dismission from the same church early in the
year and had united with the church at Texarkana, Ark.

In the early part of this same year Bro. L. H. Smith, a
member of the Rose Hill church, settled in the vicinity of
Eagle Lake, Colorado county, Texas. Through Bro. Smith
the knowledge of the Sabbath truth was brought to the minds
of a deacon of the Baptist church near the place, named T. J.
Wilson, and family, who after prayerful consideration fully
embraced it and commenced keeping it. By invitation Elder
Shaw visited them in the summer and organized the Eagle

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920 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Lake Seventh-day Baptist Church with eight members, baptiz-
ing three of them in the Colorado River.

With this brief statement of the origin of those churches
wliich came into existence prior to the movement that resulted
in the organization of the Southwestern Seventh-day Baptist
Association, we now proceed to the history of the Association.

The incentive to the organization of the Association was
the hunger which the human soul, inflamed by the fires of re-
ligion within, feels for -communion with those of like faith.

The little churches separated by long distances from each
other, and few in membership, and sensible of the great op-
position to Sabbath-keeping and Sabbath-keepers, like the vine
reaching out its tendrils for support, yearned for fellowship,
association and co-operation with those of like faith beyond
home confines. The suggestion came that something ought
to be done to bridge this chasm of distance, and that the little
group covenanted together in church unity ought unitedly to
seek further strength for work in evangelistic and Sabbath re-
form work by association in some manner. If only by repre-
sentation they might meet periodically, and in person behold
each other, and by such acquaintance thus formed, know each
other better, they would become wiser by mutual counsels, and
stronger through the encouragement of such personal touch
to undertake the allotted special work of Seventh-day Baptists
on the southwestern field. But obstacles of a serious nature
confronted them.

The distance, the financial expense and the very small at-
tendance likely to be had, at first seemed to forbid the consid-
eration of such an attempt. But the inner longing to do, and
to inspire others to do, overcame the question of difficulties in
the way; and so the church at Texarkana corresponded with
the Rose Hill church, Dallas county, Texas; the Bulcher
church, Bulcher, Cooke county, Texas; the Rupee church,
Rupee, Falls county, Texas ; the Eagle Lake church, Colorado
coimty, Texas, and the DeWitt church, Arkansas county, Ar-
kansas, asking them to consider the question of a yearly meet-
ing, and whether they would join in such a meeting.

Responses being favorable, it was arranged to hold the
first meeting with the church at Texarkana, to begin August

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CHURCH AT HAMMOND, LOUISIANA.

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SOUTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 92 1

II, 1887. To this meeting came Eld. J. L. Powers, of the
Bulcher church; Eld. M. F. Whatley, of the Rupee church;
Eld. F. M. Mayes, of the Rose Hill church; and Eld. J. L.
Hull, of the DeWitt church, who united with the entire church
at Texarkana in holding this first meeting. Essays
were read, and sermons delivered, and devotional meet-
ings held tending to uplift all into the spiritual
realm and expanded thought of work on the field.
The meeting was indeed a feast of good things to those hun-
gering for fraternity. ' But to all present it seemed that an
annual meeting which had only the purpose of exchange of
fraternities was not enough. What was needed was to become
so 5Eissociated under covenant arrangements that they could
realize the responsibilities of doing for the cause. It was
unanimously agreed to correspond with the Seventh-day Bap-
tist churches in Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and Mississippi
with respect to forming an association that would have in its
plan all the work usually belonging to such a body. A com-
mittee of correspondence consisting of Eld. J. F. Shaw, M. F.
Whatley, and F. M. Mayes was appointed as correspondence
committee.

During this meeting an association was formed for pub-
lishing a small paper in the interest of the Sabbath, which be-
gan to be issued in January, 1888, bearing the name of the
Sabbath Outpost, the place of publication being Texarkana,
Ark. It was published most of the time as a monthly, for
awhile as a semi-monthly, and then as a weekly, continuing for
eleven years, edited at first by Eld. J. F. Shaw and Eld. J. L.
Powers, and then by Eld. J. F. Shaw and Eld. S. I. Lee, the
place of publication having been moved in 1890 to Fouke, Ark.

The committee received satisfactory responses from nearly
all the churches in the territory, and accordingly, by the au-
thority with which it was clothed, the committee appointed
Aug. 9 to 12, 1888 for the first meeting and Texarkana, Ark.,
as the place.

At the appointed time delegates from eight churches,
with letters empowering them to act in the organization
of the new association, met in the Seventh-day Baptist
meeting-house in Texarkana, and after appointing Eld. M. F.

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922 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

Whatley chairman and Eld. J. P. Shaw secretary of the
convention, the letters were read, and it was found that
the following churches had petitioned to be formed into the
new association, to wit., Providence church, Texas county.
Mo.; Beauregard church, Beauregard, Copiah county. Miss.;
DeWitt church, DeWitt, Arkansas county, Arkansas; Texar-
kana church, Texarkana, Miller county, Arkansas; Bulcher
church, Bulcher, Cooke county, Texas; Rose Hill church,
Housely, Dallas county, Texas; Rupee church. Rupee, Falls
county, Texas ; and Eagle Lake church. Eagle Lake, Colorado
county, Texas.

A constitution and rules of decorum being presented, were
read and discussed, and after some alterations and amend-
ments, were adopted and the association was declared to be in
existence, under the name of the Southwestern Seventh-day
Baptist Association.

Eld. M. F. Whatley was chosen to preach the introduc-
tory sermon of this first session. The election of officers re-
sulted in the choice of Eld. M. F. Whatley for moderator, and
Eld. J. F. Shaw for clerk.

Eld. Stephen Burdick, pastor of the West Hallock Sev-
enth-day Baptist church, Peoria county, Illinois, presented
himself as delegate from the Northwestern Association, bear-
ing a fraternal letter, full of encouragement, after the reading
of which he delivered an earnest, soul-inspiring address, fol-
lowing which he received the right hand of welcome from the
entire body and a cordial invitation to sit in the meetings and
aid in the deliberations.

Also, a letter of good cheer and fraternal encouragement
from Eld. L. A. Platts, editor of the Sabbath Recorder and
president of the Seventh-day Baptist General Conference, was
read and a vote of acknowledgement taken. The total mem-
bership at organization was 112. The number of ministers in-
cluded in the association was nine.

The second session was appointed to meet w^ith the Rose
Hill church, at Housely, Dallas county, Texas, but before the
time appointed had arrived, that church reported that circum-
stances had become such that it would be impossible for them
to entertain the body. Accordingly, on invitation of the

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SOUTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 923

Texarkana church, the meeting was held with it, beginning
July 4th, 1899.

Eld. J. L. Hull, pastor of the DeWitt church, delivered
the introductory sermon and was also elected moderator. Eld.
J. F. Shaw was re-elected clerk. The churches were all repre-
sented either by delegate and letter or by letter alone. At this
session Eld. B. F. Rogers, of Berlin, N. Y., came as joint dele-
gate of the Eastern, Central and Western Associations, and
Eld. C. A. Burdick, of Farina, Illinois, came as delegate froni
the Northwestern Association and was received by the associa-
tion, and assisted in the business of the meeting and in the
preaching services.

At this meeting a resolution was adopted advising and
urging all lone Sabbath-keepers, where it could be done with-
out too great sacrifice, to move to the vicinity of some church
for the sake of the great benefit of church associatipn to them-
selves and families. The Beauregard church reported its name
changed to Hewitt Springs church. The Bulcher church re-
ported its meeting held at Jimtown, I. T., and Eld. J. A. Milli-
ken as serving them as minister. During the associational year
three ministers. Elds. M. Johnson, J. M. Parker, and D. A.
Stratton, came into the membership of the association, all of
whom proved to be mere adventurers.

Alsoj a resolution was adopted looking to the laying of
plans for a denominational school in the Southwest. The mem-
bership had increased from 112 to 125. A good spiritual state
was reported.

The third session was held with the Hewitt Springs
church, Copiah county, Miss., July 3rd to 6th, 1890. Eld.
R. B. Hewitt was chosen moderator, and Eld. J. F. Shaw secre-
tary. Six churches were represented, Bulcher and Rose Hill
churches sending neither delegates nor letters. At this ses-
sion two churches were received to membership in the body,
viz., Hammond, at Hammond, La., Mr. A. A. Booth its dele-
gate, bearing letter of petition; and Delaware church, Chris-
tian county, Mo., by letter in the hand of its delegate. Eld.
L. F. Skaggs. Eld. W. C. Daland, delegate, representing the
Eastern, Western, and Central Associations, and Eld. E. H.

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924 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Socwell, delegate from Northwestern Association, were pres-
ent and greeted and welcomed to seats in the body.

The membership as shown by tabulated report had in-
creased from 125 to 186 members.

The fourth session was held with the Delaware church,
Christian county. Mo., commencing July 2nd, 1891. The in-
troductory sermon was preached by Eld. W. K. Johnson. Eld.
S. I. Lee was elected moderator and Eld. W. K. Johnson
clerk. Eld. J. G. Burdick, representing the Missionary and
Tract Societies; Eld. J. T. Davis, representing the Eastern,
Central and Western Associations ; and Eld. C. W. Threlkeld,
representing the Northwestern Association; and Eld. U. M.
Babcock, a visitor, were received and rendered most efficient
aid in the deliberations and exercises of the sessions. The.
Corinth church near Corsicana, Barry county. Mo., organized
during the year by Eld. L. F. Skaggs, was added to the mem-
bership of the body. Three churches. Rose Hill, Bulcher and
Rupee in Texas failed to represent at this meeting, either by
delegate or by letter. During this year Eld. F. M. Mayes of
Texas, and Eld. R. B. Hewitt of Beaurej^ard, Miss., became
disaffected and endeavored to disintegrate the Association on
sectional lines, in consequence of which a part of the church at
Hewitt Springs, Miss., drew off and formed a separate body
under the name of- the "Beauregard Seventh-day Baptist
Church, South. This was under the leadership of Eld.
R. B. Hewitt, who, along with Eld. F. M. Mayes of Texas,
had planned to inaugurate a new denomination of Sabbath-
keeping Baptists under the name of "The Seventh-day Bap-
tists, South.'' The movement began with eleven members and
failed to increase or to grow popular, and as a consequence
ceased to exist. .

The statistics this year showed 205 members against 186
last year, an increase of 19 membership.

The fifth session was held with the church at Hammond,
La. Only three letters were read at the opening, viz., Fouke,
DeWitt and Hammond. Letters from Providence church were
received later and read.

Eld. S. L Lee served this session as moderator, and Dea.
W. R. Potter as secretary. Eld. G. W. Cottrell, delegate from

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SOUTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 925

the Northwestern Association ; Eld. L. E. Livermpre, delegate
from the Eastern, Central and Western Associations, and rep-
resentative of the Tract Society ; and Eld. A. E. Main as rep-
resentative of the Missionary Society of which he was corre-
sponding secretary, were present and assisted in the delibera- -
tions and exercises of the meeting.

On recommendation of Eld. A. E. Main the association
revised the constitution and by-laws, as they now stand.

A strong resolution was adopted on the subject of educa-
tion. The association assisted the church in the ordination of
Bro. J. W. Thompson to the deaconship. The death of Dea-
con T. J. Wilson of Eagle Lake church was the only obituary
of official members this year.

No statistical table being furnished, the total membership
as against last year is not known.

The sixth annual session convened with the Fouke church,
Fouke, Ark., Nov. 30th to Dec. 3, 1893. Eld. S. I. Lee
presided, and F. J. Shaw served as recording secretary. The
introductory sermon was preached by Eld. L. F. Skaggs.
Eld. F. F. Johnson represented the Northwestern Association.
A letter was read from Eld. J. Allison Platts, corresponding
secretary of Central Association. No correspondence from any
of the other associations.

At this meeting was introduced the lone Sabbath-keeper's
hour, which continues to be a prominent feature of our ses-
sions.

Eld. G. W. Lewis sent written report of having attended
as del^ate at the Northwestern Association, and also repre-
sented the association and churches in the General Conference
held that year at Milton, Wis.

Eld. J. F. Shaw was appointed special agent to canvass the
association through correspondence with respect to forming a
nucleus for a denominational school, and to make report to the
next session of the body. The total membership this year
showed only 151 members, a decrease of 54 members. This is
accounted for in part by the Hewitt Springs making no re-
port ; the Rose Hill church had gone out of existence ; as also
the Rupee church, and the Bulcher church had dissolved and
reorganized with eleven members at Elk, L T., as the Bethel

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926 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Seventh-day Baptist Church. Besides, there had been several
lapses from the Sabbath, along with the expulsion of several
who had proved themselves as mere adventurers into the de-
nomination.

The seventh session was held with the Providence church,
Tyson, Texas county, Mo., Oct. 11, 1894, Eld. S. W. Lee, pres-
ident, Eld. T. G. Helm, recording secretary, and Eld. S. W.
Rutledge, assistant secretary. Eld. G. W. Lewis, of Hammond,
La., preached the introductory sermon. Two churches were
received to membership at this meeting : the Elk church, Elk,
I. T., Eld. J. A. Warden, delegate, and the Attalla church, At-
talla, Ala., by petitionary letters. Eld. L. A. Platts was pres-
ent, representing the Eastern, Central, and Western Associa-
tions, and Eld. T. J. Van Horn, representing the Northwestern
Association. Bro. William Jeffreys was also present and rep-
resented the Salem church, in West Virginia. Advanced steps
towards the establishment of a denominational school in the
Southwest were taken, the result of which action seemed too
radical for the time, and militated against, instead of in favor
of the scheme, and almost destroyed zeal and interest in de-
nominational education for a time. This year showed from
tabulated report, 218 members against 151 last year, a gain
of 67 membership. The number of ministers was shown to be
22.

The eighth session met with the church at Fouke, Arkan-
sas, Oct. 31, 1895. Eld. S. I. Lee, president, J. F. Shaw, re-
cording secretary. Eld. L. F. Skaggs preached the introduc-
tory sermon. Eld. L. F. Randolph, pastor of Second Hopkin-
ton church, Hopkinton, R. L, was present as del^ate from
the Eastern, Central, and Western Associations; Eld. S. H.
Babcock, pastor of Walworth church, Walworth, Wis., rep-
resented the Northwestern Association, and Eld. O. U. Whit-
ford, corresponding secretary of the Seventh-day Baptist Mis-
sionary Society, represented that society and the American
Sabbath Tract Society, all of whom were cordially and joy-
fully received. Eld. F. F. Johnson, M. D., of Stone Fort, 111.,
was also a welcomed visitor. The conclusion on the subject
of denominational education reached at this meeting was that
while the Association feels that no advance movement can be

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SOUTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 927

made on that line at this time, the ground gained should at
least be held until further strength be gained.

The membership shows by the table for this year 224, an
increase of 6.

The ninth session convened with the church at Ham-
mond, La., Nov. 12, 1896. Vice President G. W. Lewis pre-
sided, Eld. L. F. Skaggs, president, not being present, and
Deacon W. R. Potter, recording secretary. Eld. A. B. Pren-
tice, Adams Centre, N. Y., was present to represent the East-
em, Central and Western Associations ; also Rev. E. B. Saun-
ders from the Northwestern Association; also Rev. A. H.
Lewis, D. D., represented the American Sabbath Tract So-
ciety. All were most cordially welcomed and by their labors
greatly assisted in the work of the association. The educa-
tional hour was put upon the program, and it was carried out
with some interesting addresses by Elders A. H. Lewis, A. B.
Prentice and E. B. Saunders. During the meetings a special
church session was held for the ordination of a deacon, Bro.
W. R. Potter, at which the ministers present, by invitation,
assisted. Bro. G. F. Heard, a Baptist minister and convert to
the Sabbath, was present for the first time in a Seventh-day
Baptist meeting, and by request, related his experience of
how he was converted to the Sabbath. The number of minis-
ters in the association was 26 ; total membership 242, a gain of
18 members.

The tenth session was held with the Crowley's Ridge Sev-
enth-day Baptist Church, Hydrick, Cross county. Ark., Nov.
4 to 7, 1897. Eld. L. F. Skaggs, president, and Eld. J. F.
Shaw, secretary. Eld. W. H. Godsey preached the introduc-
tory sermon. Rev. G. W. Hills, of Nortonville, Kan., was
present as delegate from the Northwestern Association, and
Rev. M. B. Kelly, of Alfred Station, N. Y., was present from
the Eastern, Central and Western Associations, as joint dele-
gate, and both were heartily welcomed and greeted to our
midst and their services were most helpful. The Association
noted with sadness the great losss it sustained this year by
the unfortunate death of Eld. J. N. Belton, of Attalla, Ala.
The membership this year was pointed out to be 239, a net
loss of 3 from last year.

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928 'SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

The eleventh session convened with the church at Fouke,
Ark., Nov. 24, 1898, Eld. S. I. Lee, president, and Rev. E.
B. Saunders, by request, acted as recording secretary, pro
tern. The Bethel church. Elk, I. T., having scattered and
thereby dissolved, was dropped from the roll of churches.
Representative from Eastern, Central, and Western Associa-
tions, Rev. I. L. Cottrell, Shiloh, N. J. ; and Rev. E. H. Soc-
well, Welton, la., representative of the American Sabbath
Tract Society ; and Rev. E. B. Saunders, Milton, Wis., of the
Northwestern Association, with Rev. J. H. Hurley, North
Loup, Neb., and Eld. D. W. Leath, of Chicago church, as
visitors were present and aided in the business of the sessions,
which was most important and helpful, and appreciated by the
association. The church at Wynne, Arkansas, organized by
Eld. Leath, was received to membership. Also the churches at
Winthrop, Little River county. Ark., and Texarkana, Ark.

During this session the importance of securing complete
identity of the churches in denominational work and increas-
ing better directed ministerial effort, was much discussed, and
certain recommendations passed. Nothing came of them.

No statistics were furnished for this year.

The twelfth session was held with the church at Attalla,
Ala., Nov. 16 to 19, 1899. Rev. A. P. Ashurst was chosen
president in absence of president and vice president, and
Bro. J. C. Wilson was chosen to serve as recording secretary.
Introductory sermon was preached by Rev. R. L. Wilson.
Rev. A. B. Prentice represented the Eastern, Central and
Western Associations, and Rev. S. H. Babcock, the North-
western Association. The great distance of the Attalla church
from the body of the church made the attendance of delegates
very small and the presence and timely assistance of Elders
Prentice and Babcock was grateful help in holding the meet-
ings. The statistics show a total membership of 229.

The thirteenth session was held with the Hammond
church, Hammond, La., beginning Nov. 29, 1900. President,
Rev. G. M. Cottrell ; secretary, W. R. Potter. Rev. G. H. F.
Randolph preached the introductory sermon. Nine churches
reported by letter, or letter and delegates. Rev. W. L. Buf-
dick, of Independence, N. Y., came, representing the three
(58)

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SOUTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 929

eastern associations, and Rev. E. H. Socwell of New Au-
burn, Minn., represented the Northwestern Association. Rev.
A. P. Ashurst of Columbus, Ga., represented the American
Sabbath Tract Society, and was delegate also from the At-
talla church. Rev. O. U. Whitford, corresponding secretary
of the Seventh-day Baptist Missionary Society and represent-
ing that society, was in attendance; also Rev. F. F. Johnson,
of Stone Fort, 111., was present as a visitor. All were heartily
welcomed to seats. Time was given to the consideration of
all the general interests of the denomination.

The statistics show for this year a total membership of
233, an increase of 4 over last year.

The fourteenth annual session met with the Little Prai-
rie church. Booty, Arkansas county, Arkansas, October 24,
1901. President, Rev. G. H. F. Randolph; secretary, T. H.
Monroe.

The first service was dedicatory of the new church build-
ing. Sermon by Eld. Randolph; dedicatory prayer by Rev.
J. G. Burdick. At this session the Eagle Lake church. Eagle
Lake, Texas, was reported dissolved and the membership had
mostly united with the Fouke church. The Hewitt Springs
church reported dissolved. The church at Texarkana was re-
ported virtually extinct. The church at Gentry, Ark., organ-
ized this year, applied for membership and was received. A
resolution was passed recommending the very weak churches
to dissolve ^nd unite their membership with the stronger
churches.

Eld. J. G. Burdick presented himself to represent the
Eastern, Central and Western Associations, and also the
Southeastern Association. Eld. L. D. Seager appeared for
the Northwestern Association.

This being the county in which Col. Robt. H. Crockett
lives, who so endeared himself to the Seventh-day Baptist
people by his great and glorious effort in behalf of religious
liberty in 1887, and it being learned that his health was poor,
. a resolution of sympathy, respect and love was adopted and
ordered forwarded to him at his home in Stuttgard. Miss
E. A. Fisher, of New Jersey, who had spent the year in the
southwestern field as a voluntary mission worker, and who

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930 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

greatly endeared herself to all wherever she worked, was in
attendance, and by her zeal added much interest to the meet-
ings. As a spiritual uplift, this was the best session of the As-
sociation ever held. The obituary committee _ reported the
death of Eld. John O. Quillan, formerly pastor of the Bethel
church, Elk, I. T.

The statistics show present membership 289, a gain of
56 for the year.

The fourteenth session was held with thfc church at Gen-
try, Ark., Oct. 9 to 12, 1902. R. J. Maxson, presided, and
C. C. Van Horn served as recorder. Eld. J. H. Hurley
preached the introductory sermon. Five churches were repre-
sented by letter and delegates or by letter alone. Eld. L. D.
Burdick, Verona Mills, N. Y., being present, represented the
Eastern, Western, and Central Associations. Eld. G. W.
Lewis, Dodge Centre, Minn., being present, represented the
Northwestern Association. The sessions were all full of in-
terest, and the program well carried out. The Gentr>' church
is the newest church in the Association, the largest in member-
ship, and perhaps the wealthiest financially. The welcome
given to the meeting was most hearty and the entertainment
princely.

A lively interest was shown at this meeting on the sub-
ject of mission school work, inaugurated by Miss E. A.
Fisher, and which, under the leadership of Eld. G. H. Ran-
dolph was taking permanent form at Fouke and for which
work Miss Carrie Nelson of South Dakota was engaged and
did excellent work in a term of eight months and continued
her connection with the school for another term. A number of
pupils attended the school from other communities, and satis-
faction has been expressed by all as to the good results. The
total membership recorded this year is 281, a decrease of 7
members.

The sixteenth session was held with the Fouke church,
Fouke, Ark., Nov. 5 to 8, 1903. Rev. G. H. Randolph, presi-
dent; A. S. Davis, secretary; Miss Carrie Nelson, assistant
secretary. Rev. J. H. Hurley preached the introductory ser-
mon. Rev. D. B. Coon, Little Genesee, N. Y., appeared to rep-
resent the Eastern, Central, and Western Associations, and also

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SOUTHWESTERN ASSOCIATION. 93I

the Educational Society. Rev. G. W. Burdick appeared to rep-
resent the Northwestern Association; and Rev. O. U. Whit-
ford, corresponding secretary, represented the Missionary So-
ciety. The generally expressed opinion of all who attended,
and who had attended former sessions, was that this was the
best meeting of all. If the interest should increase in the
future as it has in the few past meetings, the blessings to our
people will be great.

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THE GERMAN
SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS

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JULIUS FRIEDRICH SACHSE, LITT. D.
Sec Biographical Sketches, p. 1361»

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THE GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS

Corliss Fitz Randolph, L. H. D.

PREFACE.

It was the pleasure of the present writer to suggest to
the committee in charge of the publication of this book, some
years ago, that they invite Mr. Julius Friedrich Sachse, of
Philadelphia, to write this history of the German Seventh
Day Baptists. His researches upon this subject, covering a
period of nearly a quarter of a century, the results of which
have been published by himself in several large octavo volumes
— results which have ruthlessly overturned a number of what
had been previously accepted as important, settled historical
facts, mark him as pre-eminently the best qualified of all liv-
ing writers to execute this task.

He accepted the invitation, and it was long confidently ex-
pected that he would prepare the history, but circumstances
over which he had no control, finally prevented his doing so,
and the task has fallen upon the shoulders of him who first
suggested Mr. Sachse's name to the committee, and under cir-
cumstances no less embarrassing to himself than to Mr. Sachse,
he has struggled with what zeal he could, to produce a his-
torical sketch worthy of the lofty subject treated.

In this emergency, Mr. Sachse has been more than kind.
He has generously placed all the material which he has gath-
ered, and now available to him, at the disposal of his suc-
cessor, who has relied almost wholly upon those sources, even
to the extent of copying page after page of Mr. Sachse's pub-
lished works, with very slight change, and often without any
change at all.

Hence, no originality is claimed for this brief outline his-
tory. Indeed it could not be otherwise, in the very nature of
things. To expect one wholly unfamiliar with a subject of

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936 SEVENTH -DAY BAPTISTS:

such scope and such importance, to write of it, originally, in
the brief space of two months, is to expect the impossible.

Whatever merit this monograph possesses, is wholly due
to Mr. Sachse's indefatigable labours for so long a period —
almost the accepted span of a human life — and to his charitable
generosity.

On the other hand, he must not be held responsible for
the many defects and weaknesses inevitable in such hasty
work, however favourable the conditions under which it is
done.

INTRODUCTION.

It has seemed wise to include in this sketcK, a brief history
of the monastic movement associated with the Wissahickon,
on the Ridge at Germantown, Pennsylvania. For, while Mr.
Sachse gives private assurance that the Order of the Woman
of the Wilderness, as they were popularly known, or The Con-
tented of the God-loving Soul, as they styled themselves, were
not actual Seventh Day Baptists, we do know that they ob-
served the Seventh Day as the Sabbath, and that a very close
bond of intimacy existed between them and the English-speak-
ing Seventh Day Baptists of that time. One of the Wissa-
hickon Brethren, Koster by name, baptized William Davis and
his associates, thus enabling them to form a church organiza-
tion, and finally Koster, himself, became so impressed with the
force of the Seventh Day Baptist position, that in order suc-
cessfully to resist its compelling influence to join them, he
abandoned his work in America, and returned to the Old
World.

It should* be remembered, moreover, that it was Matthai,
the surviving Magister of the Wissahickon, who counseled
Conrad Beissel to take the steps which really proved to be initi-
atory to the formation of a German Seventh Day Baptist
Church, and the founding of the Brotherhood of Zion and
the Spiritual Order of the Roses of Saron, at Ephrata, one
of the most celebrated establishments of its kind in the history
of the world.

It must not be forgotten, however, that beneath the mon-
astic garb of pointed cowl and Capuchin robe, there lay a
sincerity of purpose, a devotion to duty, a reverence for Al-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 937

mighty God, and His Son, the Saviour of mankind and an im-
plicit faith in the Holy Scriptures, that is not to be exceeded
— and one is almost tempted to say that it is unparalleled —
in the history of the Christian Church, particularly since its
early persecutions.

They cherished the fire of mysticism, true enough, but
the 'foundation — the bed-rock— of their spiritual life and re-
ligious faith, was the Bible, the Word of God.

Nor must they be classed as a group of mere ignorant
fanatics, unlettered and unlearned. Among their leaders were
to be found graduates, cum summa laude, of the leading uni-
versities of Germany. They established and maintained at
Ephrata, Pennsylvania, a classical school for boys, which was
patronized by the leading families of Philadelphia and Balti-
more. There Latin was taught as the medium of polite corre-
spondence.

When the Continental Congress sought a man who was
at once trustworthy and loyal, as well as competent, to con-
duct its diplomatic correspondence with Governments of
Europe, it was tne Rev. Peter Miller, an honour man from the
University of Heidelberg, with a skillful training in theology
and law alike, able to speak Latin as fluently as his native
tongue, a member of the American Philosophical Society — ^,
friend of the Penns (William and his brother and his brother's
wife), and Benjamin Franklin, but above all a humble Sev-
enth Day Baptist recluse of the Ephrata Community, he it
was who was sought out and importuned to assume that task
— ^a task charged with a momentous responsibility, and who
humbly bowed his neck to the proffered yoke, with the clear
and distinct understanding that his laborious task should be
performed without money and without price, save the joy of
an approving conscience. Congress gratefully accepted the
patriotic sacrifice.

Upon conditions identical with the foregoing, the same
trusted hand translated the Magna Charta of American Lib-
erty — the Declaration of Independence — into as many as seven
diflferent languages for the Imperial Courts of Continental
Europe.

It was the same Peter Miller, who with General Washing-

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938 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

ton, formed the central figures of one of the most picturesque
and touching scenes of the Revolutionary War, as the former
plead with the latter for the life of a traitor condemned to an
ignominious death upon the scaffold, basing his prayer upon
the fact that the doomed man was his (Miller's) "worst
enemy" and "most incessant reviler", and that his Master
taught him to pray for those who despitefully used him. So
impressed was the Commander-in-chief, that taking Miller by
the hand and with tears flowing down his cheeks, he thanked
him for his example of Christian forbearance and generosity,
and granted his prayer.

It was still another of the Ephfata Community, who acted
as interpreter when the representatives from the governments
of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, met the chiefs of
the Six Nations of Indians at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and
consummated the famous treaty whereby the Indians yielded
up their claim to practically all the territory east of the Ohio
River.

Achievements such as these one readily allows to over-
shadow any unusual external expression of Mysticism, and
gladly dismisses from one's mind everything but an apprecia-
tion of the fact that these high-minded, conscientious German
Seventh Day Baptists were a powerful factor for civic and
religious freedom and righteousness in the colonial histor}' of
this country, and lent a mighty influence to its development
and upbuilding.

They have, moreover, left their Seventh Day Baptist
brethren of English and Welsh descent a rich heritage, whose
value they can scarcely estimate too highly, or upon the signifi-
cance of which they can hardly place too great emphasis.

GERMAN PIETISTS.

The history of German Seventh Day Baptists in the
United States, naturally and of necessity, goes back to the
beginnings of the German Pietistic movement which entered
upon its activity in Pennsylvania in the latter part of the sev-
enteenth century.

This movement may be understood to embrace all those
groups, or bodies, of German immigrants which left their na-
tive country because of religious persecution, and who kept

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 939

themselves separate from dissenting countrymen and English-
speaking neighbours alike.

Because of this segregation and their adherence to their
mother tongue, their frugal and modest manner of life, and
their peculiar religious ceremonies, despite their devotion and
loyalty, they early became objects of suspicion, and subse-
quently of malignant persecution, particularly at the hands of
the Irish. This was due in no small measure to the Quaker-
like attitude which the Pietists, or Sectarians (as they are
sometimes called) sustained toward war. These Germans
brought their family Bible, catechism, hymn book, or other
book of devotion, but no evidence is found of their ever hav-
ing brought firearms or other implements of warfare from
their native land. ,

The German Reformation headed by Luther and Melanc-
thon had created a state of 'general religious unrest, and Pietism
was the nam^ given in the latter part of the seventeenth cen-
tury to a religious movement in that country, distinguished by
certain peculiarities of religious opinion and the manner in
which these were manifested. Pietism may be regarded as an
exaltation of the importance of religious feeling and of the
practical part of religion, with a corresponding depreciation
of doctrinal differences, and a contempt for outward ecclesias-
tical form.

German Pietism was the natural outcome of conditions
existing in the seventeenth century. The Reformers had em-
phasized the efficacy of faith in Christ as the means of secur-
ing deliverance from sin. But the controversies which arose
among them and increased among their successors gradually
gave too doctrinal and polemic a character to the sermons of
both Lutheran and Calvinistic divines. When the inevitable
reaction came it took form in favour of feeling and good
works, or of the heart and life.

The newly founded university of Halle became the refuge
of the leaders of the new movement, who were driven out of
Leipzig, and Halle became the centre of the movement and
a source of new religious life in Germany. Pietism also be-
came dominant in the universities of Konigsberg, Giessen,
and Marburg, and from North Germany spread to the South,

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940 ' SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

and even to other lands. Ultimately it went to excess ; fantastic
doctrines and fanatical practices came to prevail, and the ra-
tionalism of the seventeenth century was the inevitable and
healthful reaction.

One of the fore-runners of Pietism was Johann Val-
entin Andreae, who was erroneously regarded as the founder,
or at least the restorer, of the order of Rosicrucians.

The Rosicrucians, variously called Brothers of the Rosy
Cross, Rosy Cross Knights, and Rosy Cross Philosophers,
were members of secret societies, professing to be philoso-
phers, but in reality charlatans, who in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries made themselves conspicuous by claim-
ing to be possessed of secrets of nature, including th^ power
to transmute the baser metals into gold^ to prolong life by the
use of elixir vitae; to have a knowledge of passing events in
distant places, and to discover hidden things by the applica-
tion of the Cabbala, a mystical system of philosophy which
arose among the Jews at the beginning of the common era,
as a reaction against the sober and austere form assumed by
Rabbinical Judaism. It attained a great vogue after the twelfth
century, spread among Christian scholars in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries and still prevails among the Jews of eastern
Europe, though now dying out. Its adherents claimed that
their doctrine rested upon a revelation made to Abraham, or
according to others, to Adam through the angel Raziel. The
teachings were orally transmitted to the days of Moses, who
in turn transmitted them to Joshua. By Joshua they were
communicated to the seventy elders, and since that time passed
down ^without interruption through chosen individuals, until
circumstances arose which rendered it desirable to convey the
mystic lore in permanent written form. In a monologue as-
cribed to Abraham, the patriarch sets forth how he came to
the recognition of the true God, and then establishes in a
series of aphorisms the harmony between created things on
the one side, and, on the other, the thirty-two ways of wisdom,
the ten fundamental numbers, and the twenty-two letters of
the Hebrew alphabet, as manifested by the divine will. Ezek-
iel's vision of the heavenly chariot drawn by cherubim, and
tlie mysteries of creation as described in Genesis, furnished

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

941

A &. ^

PhisicaMeiaehiska

35: X

HYPERPHISICA.

X> . O . M .A .

//4

TITLE PAGE OP ROSICRUCIAN MS.

(Original in possession of Julius F. Sachse.)

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942

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

4a ^%fr k^AO^^iJ^mSk^

\fikifiaiiiiOtfNa6(,

q A+ e.

but uttmtt€r?^^jt;fatiU^^^iii^

Sbvbmth Pouo or RosiatociAM M&
6

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 943

TRANSLATION.

Firstly. — ^Wherefore the Lord God vouchsafed to the first
world 3 times 40 years; that is, 120 years of respite
and time for repentance. — Genesis vi, 3.**

Further. — From the Old and New Testament

IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.

40 days and nights it rained, as the deluge spread over the

facfe of the ear^h.
40 days after the deluge the waters subsided, and Noah

opened the Ark.
40 days and nights Moses sojourned upon Mount Sinai.
40 years the Children of Israel wandered in the desert.
40 days and nights were spent by Elias in fasting and

prayer. ^

40 days were granted to the city of Nineveh for penance.

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

40 weeks Christ, like unto all men, was formed in his

mother's womb.
40 months the Lord preached on earth and performed

miracles.
40 days and nights He £asted in the desert and was tempted.
40 hours Christ lay in the grave.
40 days after His resurrection He spent upion earth, and

showed Himself in His glorified body.
40 years after Christ's ascension the city of Jerusalem was

destroyed.
Result. — 3 times 4 times 40 is the secret interpretation.
Woe imto me, I perish, for I am of too unclean tongue to

proclaim the mystery. — Isaiah vi, 5.**

^ Ich win ihnen noch frist geben hundert und zwanzig Jahr (ue,^ ** zu
leben und bnaae zu thun,*' Martin Luther).— Basel Bible, ed. 1753.

^ An aUusion to the sanctification of Isaiah for his prophetic station. —
Basel Bible.

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944 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

the points of departure for mystical speculations regarding
the divine nature. There is much in common between the
Cabbala and the Talmud, only the Talmud is much the more
conservative of the two.

The Cabbala involves a complete philosophy of God, the
creation, and good and evil. Man himself is a type of a divine
heavenly man. He represents in his person the whole scheme
of creation. All parts of the human body have, therefore, a
symbolical significance.^

Rosicrucianism stood in some connection with freemas-
onry,^ and owed its vogue in the eighteenth century to the pas-
sion for secret associations and for a pseudo-science which
had not yet freed itself from the absurdities of alchemy, and
found expression in such forms as mesmerism, etc. This was
the age, too, of great impostors, who laid claim to supernatural
powers.

Persecution was waged against the un-orthodox of the
time, several sects of whom sought refuge in the new
world in response to the invitation given them by William
Penn who visited Germany in search of colonists for his grant
of Pennsylvania.

The first body to reach America was composed of Men-
nonites, thirteen families of whom arrived at Germantown,
October 6, 1683.

The next community, distinctly such, a party of Labadists
from Friesland, arrived in the fall of 1684 and settled at Bo-
hemia Manor near the shore of the northeast extremity of
Chesapeake Bay, not far from the present boundary line of
Delaware.

June 24, 1694, Kelpius and his chapter of Rosicrucians
landed in Philadelphia and finally settled on the banks of the
Wissahickon.

In the year 1719, twenty families of Dunkers, or German
Baptists, arrived in Philadelphia. They, too, settled in Ger-
mantown.

1. Cf. Gingsberg, The Kabbah (London, 1865); Block, Die Judische Mytiik
und Kabbala in Winter and Wunsche Judische Literatur, Vol. III. (Trier, i8s^).

2. Sachse has assured the present writer positively that there is no vital
relation existing between true Rosicrucianism and freemasonry, the latter being
but a crude imitation of the former.

(59)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 945

The NeU'geborenen, or the Stillen im Lande settled in the
vicinity of Germantown abou^ 1725.

The Ephrata Community, on the CocaHco, dates from
about the same period.

The Schwenkfelders arrived in Philadelphia from Ber-
thelsdorf and Gorlitz in the fall of 1734, and located in Phila-
delphia and Bucks counties.

The last to come were the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravian
Brethren — the Moravian Church. Their first evangelists ar-
rived in 1734. A small colony came in 1740 but their first
permanent settlement was made on the Lehigh, where Bethle-
hem now stands, in 1742.

THE SETTLEMENT ON THE WISSAHICKON.

The most interesting of these communities, by reason of
the air of mystery which for so long a time enshrouded their
history, was the one led by Johannes Kelpius, the members of
which were imbued with the highest religious and purest moral
motives. These people came to the colony, then in its earliest
stages of development, for the purpose of settling permanently
within its borders, and at the same time to enjoy to the fullest
extent the promised liberty of conscience and religious freedom.

Another cherished object was to put into practical opera-
tion the mystic and occult dogmas taught and studied in secret
for so many ages, looking not only to spiritual, but also to
physical regeneration and perfection. These dogmas, it was
believed, also existed among the aborigines on this continent.

There long existed a veil of mystery about this commun-
ity; numberless are' the traditions which were handed down
from generation to generation; gruesome the tales current in
Germantown and believed throughout the country. They
were repeated time and again during the long winter nights
while sitting beside the flickering fireside until they were ac-
cepted as facts. Weird were the myths recounted by the nat-
urally superstitious populace, of the occult rites and cere-
monies which it was said were performed by the adepts and
their followers within the portals of their tabernacle in the forest.

It is only recently that this veil of mystery, which for so
long a time shrouded the history and ceremonial life of this
community has been lifted, and the erroneous traditions set

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946 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

aside, and these enthusiastic Theosophists placed in their
proper light before theenlightenedcommunity of the present day. ^

With the decline of the first organization, the scene shifted
from the Wissahickon to the Cocalico, at Ephrata, where the
mystic theosophy, Phcenix-like, once more rose from its ashes.
In that retired valley beside the flowing brook, the secret rites
and mysteries of the true Rosicrucian Philosophy^ flourished
unnlolested for years, until the state of affairs brought about by
the American Revolution, together with the pernicious Sunday
legislation which also discriminated against the keepers of the
Scriptural Sabbath Day gradually caused the oncoming gen-
erations to assimilate with the secular congregation.

With the history of the Ephrata Community is closely in-
terwoven the history of the German Seventh Day Baptists, as
well as that of the English-speaking Seventh Day Baptists of
Philadelphia and vicinity, and the personal history of William
Davis, the founder of the Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist
Church in New Jersey,, whence sprang all the churches in
West Virginia today.

The party of which Kelpius was leader started from Ger-
many in the summer of 1693. They first rallied in Holland.
After remaining in Holland for some time, the party left Rot-
terdam for London, where they arrived during the month of
August. While in London the leaders of the party came in
contact with the Philadelphists, a society formed in England
under the leadership of Jane Leade and others, originally for
the purpose of studying the writings of Jacob Boehme. The
outcome of this movement was a league of Christians who in-
sisted on depth and inwardness of the spirit. A number of
pamphlets were published by this society and afterward trans-
lated into German. A correspondence was kept up by Kel-
pius with the secretary of the society for several years after
the arrival of the party in Pennsylvania. The party remained
in London until February 13, 1694 (O. S.) when they sailed
down the Thames to Gravesend, where they embarked on their

1. Vid. The German Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania. By Julius F.
Sachse. Philadelphia. 1895.

2. The present writer has been assured privately by Sacbse that what the
latter styles "true Rosicrucian Philosophy" was supported and defended by
Tews and Christians (both Catholic and non-Catholic) alike, and that it was
instrumental in preserving uncontaminated, the Biblical religion to the present day.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 947

ship. Thence they proceeded to The Downs, a spacious road-
stead in the English. Channel, affording an excellent anchor-
age. Here they remained for two weeks and then proceeded
to Plymouth, where they received letters from friends
left behind in Germany urging them to give up their intended
voyage to America and return home. This they refused to do,
and finally on the 2Sth of April they started on their actual
voyage across the ocean, and on June 23d they ultimately
arrived in Philadelphia. The party of new arrivals numbered
forty men of various ages. Some were in a coarse Pilgrim
garb, others in the dress peculiar to the Teutonic university
student, and others in the distinctive costume of the interior
German provinces.

After a short religious service the party, walking silently
two by two, took a survey of Philadelphia, then nothing more
than a straggling village of perhaps five hundred houses.
There was not a house of worship other than those of the
Quakers in the whole province, despite the promises of re-
ligious liberty granted by Penn's charter.^ In the embryo city
there was no town-hall, court-house, or prison.

The first act of the immigrants was to call on the Gover-
nor of the Colony and take the oath of allegiance and explain
why they had come to the Colony.

On the following day,- they took their way to German-
town, and inquired for one Jacob Isaac Van Bebber, one of
their countrymen, a native of Crefeld on the Rhine, near the
borders of Holland.

Here the weary travellers found rest. Their arrival had
been long looked for by their host, and he at once secured
for them food and shelter.

One of the party, Heinrich Bernhard Koster, finding that
the German settlers who had preceded his party had no or-
thodox services according to either the Lutheran or Reformed
ritual, at once began to hold Lutheran services in the house
of Van Bebber, and preached the Augsburg Confession.

The English settlers as well as the Germans, were re-
ceived to the services, and ere long, for the benefit of the
former, Koster conducted the service in both languages, and

I. It is said that Pcnn hotly contested this provision of his charter, and
yielded only when convinced that he could not obtain a charter without it.

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948 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

subsequently held separate services. Finding few if any
English Bibles, he ordered a supply from London at his own
expense for distribution among his hearers.

It is a fact worthy of record that, notwithstanding the
theosophical and mystical tendencies of Koster — the pious and
erratic enthusiast — ^the religious services instituted by him at
Germantown and Philadelphia in 1694 were undoubtedly
strictly according to the Lutheran ritual, and wer^ also the
first of the kind to be held in America in both the German and
English languages.

While Koster was looking after the religious needs of the
Germans and their English neighbours, Kelpius consummated
arrangements looking toward the permanent settlement of his
party and the religious and moral education of the neglected
youth within the German Township, as one of the best means
to promote vital religion, to raise the lukewarm from indiffer-
ence, and to excite a spirit of vigour and resolution in those
who had been satisfied to lament in silence the progress of
impiety.

In the meantime the party of new comers acquired pos-
session of a tract of one hundred arfd seventy-five acres of land
on what was known as the Ridge, Through it ran the stream
known as the Wissahickon, on its way to join the Schuylkill.

On the highest point of this tract of land was cleared a
spot, and a log house, forty feet square, was built, true to the
cardinal points of the compass. It was for the use of the
forty brethren whose number was arrived at according to the
esoteric symbolism of the Rosicrucian philosophy.

It was especially designed for their various requirements,
and is said to have contained a large room, or Saal, for their
religious and musical services, in addition to a school-room
and the separate kammern, or cell-like rooms, for the recluse
Theosophists.

On the roof was built an observatory, where some of the
scientific members of the party were constantly on watch at
night with a telescope and other astronomical instruments, for
celestial phenomena — so that if the Bridegroom came in the
middle of the night, their lamps would be found filled and
trimmed.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 949

This crude observatory, having for its object matters both
mystical and astronomical, was undoubtedly the first astro-
nomical observatory set up in the Province.

Close to the house flowed a spring, near which. existed a
cave among the rocks. The cave was claimed by Magister
Kelpius, and after it was enlarged and made habitable, he
was wont to retire within it for contemplation and prayer, until
the end of his life.

The citizens sought to restrain them from this solitary life
for reasons of public welfare, but the brethren persisted in
the "conviction of being impelled by a power to live apart
from the vices and temptations of the world, and to be pre-
pared for some immediate and strange revelations which could
not be communicated amid scenes of worldly life, strife, and
dissipation, but would be imparted in the silence and solitude
of the wilderness to those who came out from iniquity." Be-
cause they persisted in their solitary life, many branded them
as fanatics and self-righteous hypocrites. However, in the
end, they triumphed and obtained the goodwill of the greater
part of the community, and to them is due the credit of mak-
ing the earliest attempt to erect and maintain a charitable in-
stitution for religious apd moral instruction within the bounds
of Pennsylvania.

Kelpius now made an eflfort to unite all the German sects
in Pennsylvania into a single body for the purpose of build-
ing up and perpetuating the cause which he represented. To
this end services were held in the Saal of the Tabernacle in
the morning and evening of every day, to which all were in-
vited. Visitors, irrespective of nationality, were made wel-
come.

Frequent religious meetings, exclusive of those conducted
by Koster, as previously stated, were also held at German-
town, and at stated intervals at various places in the vicinity.
No request for religious instruction was ever refused, the
Brethren holding themselves prepared to answer any calls
from far or near at a moment's notice.

THE CONTENTED OF THE GOD-LOVING SOUL.

Because of their persistent teaching that the millennium
was at hand, holding that the Woman in the Wilderness men-

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950 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

tioned in Revelation xii: 14-17, prefigured the great deliver-
ance of the Church of Christ, the Fraternity came to be called
The Woman in the^ Wilderness, or The Society of the Woman
in the Wilderness, This title the Brotherhood never accepted.
The only name they ever acknowledged was The Contented of
the God-loving Soul.

They made a persistent effort to find out whether the In-
dians were the descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel, and
to that end they specially sought to learn whether they ob-
served the Seventh Day of the week religiously, and if so, in
what manner.

Th^ further sought to learn whether the Indians knew
anything of the philosophy of the Brotherhood, or practiced
any of its rites, and particularly whether; there were any sig^s
among them of the approaching millennium.

To their everlasting honour it may be said that all their
services, whether of spiritual, educational, or medical nature
were given free, without price and without hope of fee or re-
ward.

It was not long, however, before discord marred t^ft har-
mony of the Brotherhood. One of their number broke his
vows of celibacy and married, and his example was soon fol-
lowed by others.

Roster's aggressiveness, in the meantime, involved him
in the controversy between the Quakers and the followers of
George Keith. In this struggle, Koster allied himself with the
Keithians, prominent among whom was William Davis, the
Welshman, who subsequently became the founder of the
Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church in New Jersey.
Koster finally led a move to form a new community to be
known as The True Church of Philadelphia, or Brotherly
Love, the members of which were to be called The Brethren
in America, A new house was built for the new organization,
and called Irenia, or The House of Peace.

Koster's movement had but little influence upon the origi-
nal community, which carefully held itself aloof from any ac-
tive controversy. In the fall of winter of 1697, Koster wrote
a theological treatise, in Latin, of forty quarto pages entitled
De Resurrectione Imperii Aeternitatis. This was the first

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 95 1

theological treatise to be written in Pennsylvania, if not in all
the American Colonies. No printer could be found in the *
Colonies who would undertake to print it, and it was subse-
quently printed in Earope.

In the course of tfme the Brotherhood on the Wissahickon
began to attract the attention of the Dissenters and Sepa-
ratists scattered throughout other colonies as well as Pennsyl-
vania. Among the first to communicate with Kelpius was
Abel Noble, a Seventh Day Baptist apostle who was then
active in the province among the Keithians in Philadelphia
and Chester counties.* He frequently visited the Brotherhood,
as did the Swedish pastors, Rudman and Auren. There is
ample documentary proof that Koster and Auren both embraced
the Sabbath, and that the congregation of the former eventu-
ally became the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Philadelphia,
with Thomas Rutter as its pastor, while Auren did not allow
his observance of the Sabbath to interfere with his pastorship
of the Lutheran Church. He also was a missionary to the
Indians to whom he preached the Gospel of Christ and taught
the doctrine of the Sabbath upon almost the identical spot that
was the scene of the Ephrata Community some thirty years
afterward.

It is a fact, conclusively attested, that as early as
1699, Kelpius was in communication with the Seventh Day
Baptists of Rhode Island and Connecticut, and circumstantial
evidence appears to be strong enough to warrant the conclu-

I. Abel Noble was the son of William Noble, a wealthy Friend of Bristol,
England, and arrived in this country in 1684, coming to Philadelphia shortly
afterwards. He was a nephew of Richard Noble, who came from England in
the Joseph and Mary, Captain Matthew Payne, the first vessel that landed
passengers at Salem, New Jersey, May 13, 1675, and who held some office
under the Duke of York, and will be remembered as the surveyor of the
Jerseys who laid out Burlington; he was also active in the early settlement
of Pennsylvania after the grant to Penn.

Abel Noble soon after his arrival became possessed of a large tract of land
in what is now known as Warminister Township, Bucks County.

The claim of his having been a Seventh Day Baptist preacher prior to
his arrival in this country is a matter of doubt, as he nad not yet arrived to
the years of manhood when he landed on these shores. Further, from the
ttart he professed Quakerism, and noon became a prominent member of the
Society ot Friends in the infant colonv. However, when the Keithian troubles
commenced we find him a staunch upholder of Keith, and his name, together
with William Davis, is prominent among the forty-eight who signed the reasons,
for the Keithian separation. But at the same time he continued in accord
with the society and remained in ^ood standing among them, aa is shown by
his marriage in 169a at Darby Meeting to Mary Garrett.

After his final separation from the parent societv the transition to the
Baptists was an easy matter, and the tradition that Noble, during a business
trip through the Jerseys, came in contact with Killingworth and was baptized
by him, is probably correct; but how, and through whom, he was convinced
of the Sabbatarian doctrine, is an unsolved question. Sachse: German Pietists,
p. 126, note.

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952 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

sion that the Seventh Day of the week was observed by the
VVissahickon Brotherhood as the Sabbath.

The beginning of the year 1700 found but two church
edifices in the city of Philadelphia — an Episcopal church
(Christ church on Second' Street above Market) and a Seventh
Day Baptist meeting house, but a stone's throw from the
other.^ The Swedish Lutheran church at Wicacao was near-
ing completion. Presbyterian and Baptist services had been
held, but no regular organization effected. In Germantown.
the Mennonites were casting about for a suitable site npon
which to build a meeting house.

In the meantime, the Community had been reinforced by
several Pietists from Germany, and Koster had finally parted
from his former associates — with whom there had always been
a certain bond of sympathy and friendship, even after he had
formally separated from them — and returned to the Father-
land followed by the good wishes of every one of his former
companions, as well as their prayers and blessings for his safe
journey and future prosperity.

Upon the occasion of the dedication of the Swedish Luth-
eran church at Wicacao, the Brotherhood were in attendance
and not only furnished the instrumental music for the occasion,
but also served as choristers as well, chanting the dedicator)
Psalm and response.

Auren was also present, and, clad in the robes of his
office, assisted in conducting the consecration service.

Various accessions to the Brotherhood from the Old
World, about the close of the seventeenth century, and the
perfecting of their land titles by the express order of William
Penn himself, who apparently made frequent visits to the Wis-
sahickon during his stay in America, 1699-1701, all strength-
ened and encouraged the little group of enthusiasts, despite
many untoward circumstances.

When the Rogerenes sprang into existence in New Eng-
land they made an attempt to establish communication with

1. "This house or worship was on Second Street north of Christ Church.
It came into the possession of the Baptists in 1707, and became known as the
First Baptist Church of Philadelphia. In 1762, a new church sixty-one feet
by forty-two was built. It was enlarged during the present century, and finallv
sold and abandoned for a more fashionable neighbourhood (Broad and Arch
streets). The burying-ground was in the rear of the church." Sachse: German
Pietists, p. 140, note.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 953

Kelpius and his companions and several visits were made by
the former to the latter for advice and instruction. But the
extravagant views held by Rogers and his followers were too
foreign to the views held by Kelpius to permit any intimate re-
lation, since the doctrines of the latter were founded on the
fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. It is held by
some that the only thing in common was with regard to
the observance of the Seventh Day.*

Toward the close of the year 1700, John Rogers person-
ally visited Kelpius on the Wissahickon, on which occasion
the former arranged for the publication of a pamphlet setting
forth some of his views. This was a small quarto of twenty
pages, and was printed by Reynier Jansen, who had printed
the tract Jesus, The Crucified Man, the Eternal Son of God,
a few months previously.^

In the year 1703, the Seventh Day Baptist Church of
Newport, Rhode Island, appointed two of its members, Wil-
liam Hiscox and Joseph Crandall, to visit the home of the
Brotherhood, and then, with the aid of Kelpius, to adjust, if
possible, the differences between the Philadelphia and Penne-
pek Seventh Day Baptist churches, involving William Davis.

The fame of Johann Kelpius's piety and learning spread
to other parts of the country, and he appears to have carried
on an extensive correspondence, for that day, upon religious
and kindred subjects.'

It was not long, however, before the community began to
show unmistakable evidence of organic decay. One or two
.of the leading members to whom had been entrusted the busi-
ness affairs of the Community married, despite the views of
celibacy held by the Community, and then with others took
active part in the civil and political affairs of the German
township.

While Kelpius and a few others refused all honour and

1. Here Sachse has been followed closely. The following treatise in this
volume, upon the Rogerencs by the present writer, in which Bolles and Williams
are followed, would seem to cast some doubt upon the absolute accuracy of
the foregoing statement. The fact remains, however. tHat there were unalterable,
fundamental differences between the Rogerenes and Kelpius and his followers.

2. This tract was written by William Davis.

3. Under date of Decemh<'r ii, 1699. Kel'^ius addressed a I'^tter of several
r>ages to Stephen Mumford of the Seventh Dav Baptist Church of Newport,
Rhode Island, apparently in reply to a letter of inquiry from the latter concern-
ing the religious belief of the former. It may be noted here, as a bit of
interesting information, that the Newport Sevcntn Day Bantist Church records
state that the church had at least a part of itt> printing done at Germantown.

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954 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

riches, the majority, owing to the continual increase in the
population and the demand for men of their capabilities, again
entered the world and assumed their previous occupations or
other congenial employment.

The effect of these defections was to relax the general
discipline and habits of the Brotherhood.

ILLNESS AND DEATH OF KELPIUS.

Kelpius, who was of somewhat frail constitution, broke
down physically under the great mental strain, and the rigor-
ous climate of the New World. He kept up his educational
labours and his Theosophical studies, and likewise continued
in touch with his former associates in Europe. As late as the
summer of 1705, he was in correspondence with Deichmann,
leader of the Philadelphic movement in Europe; and with his
former teacher, Magister Johann Jacob Fabricius, of Helm-
stadt.

In the following winter 1705- 1706, he passed through a
long critical illness. During his convalescence, he wrote a
hymn of twenty-five stanzas entitled A Loving Moan of the
Disconsolate Soul in the Morning Dazvn, and then resumed
his correspondence with enquirers after truth.^

The improvement in his health was but temporary, how-
ever, and in July a violent cold again reduced him to invalid-
ism. Consumption now fastened its hold upon his frail form,
and after lingering for almost two years more, he succumbed,
having laboured for fourteen years in the Community in the
wilds of the New World, as one writer says, "working, preach-
ing, prophesying, and, we almost may say, ruling by right o'f
moral and mental pre-eminence."

The exact date of his death is unknown. It probably
occurred before March i, 1708.

Johannes Kelpius will always remain one of the most
picturesque characters of early Pennsylvania history; the
more so, on account of a certain air of mystery and reverence
which has thus far enshrouded his personality. Unfortu-
nately, in his modesty, he left but little written record of the
great work performed by him during the fourteen long years

I. Kelpius wrote many of the h)rmns sung by his followers. These were
collected into book form in manuscripts.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

955

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F| ["i^f^f r i'ln lrn.)l All ■

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Nf^

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CcftUtth

-^/'^J

Pao«imilb op a Bnglisb Pagb of Kblhus* Hymmal.

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956 SEVEXTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

that he Hved on the romantic banks of the Wissahickon. How
earnestly he sought to improve the morals and spiritual con-
dition of the rude and heterogeneous population that was then
scattered throughout Eastern Pennsylvania, is shown by the
many traditions and legends that have survived for two cen-
turies.

By reason of his scholarly attainments, devout life, inde-
pendent bearing, and, it may be said, broad humanity, together
with his repeated refusals of worldly honours and civil power
that were at various times thrust upon him, Kelpius stands out
in bold relief as a prominent example of piety and disinterest-
ed philanthropic spirit.

There can be little doubt that this devout scholar, who
thus voluntarily banished himself from his native land, home,
and friends, had many difficulties to contend with, both within
and without the Community, and that his position at its head
was a most trying one. There were conflicting interests to
equalize and often stubborn minds to combat. Wlien internal
dissensions threatened the Community it was always left to
Kelpius to hold out the olive branch.

Kelpius was a native of Transylvania, arid was the son of
George Kelp (Kelpius) of Halwegen, where Johannes was
probably born. He was educated at the University of Altdorf,
near Nuremberg, then in the zenith of its power. Here he was
graduated in i68g, with the title of Doctor of Philosophy and
the Liberal Arts, His dissertation ^vas a treatise on natural
theology. It was printed in Latin and ran through several
editions. In the following year, in collaboration with the Rev.
Johannes Fabricius, the principal tutor of the University, he
published a second treatise on theology, and before the close
of the year, a third volume from the pen of Kelpius appeared
— a treatise on the Ethics of Aristotle. This, too, was printed
in numerous editions.

The writing of Kelpius attracted the attention of several
learned men, among whom was Johann Jacob Zimmermann, one
of the most noted mathematicians and astronomers of Europe.
It was through the influence of the latter that Kelpius was in-
duced to come to America.

Kelpius was small of stature, slight in frame and suffered

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

957

I'M* C

iif^ff'tt^tttft^ ^

^^^^^

%j}t\^ I u ^

Pac-suiilb OP A Gerbian Page of Kblpius' Hymnal.

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958 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

from an affection or paralysis of the left eyelid. Besides, he
was of frail constitution, ill able to withstand the frugal fare
and abstemious habits of the Brotherhood, and the extremes of
the variable climate of the new world. He further suffered
from exposure in the cave, situated some two hundred yards
from the Tabernacle, fitted up with books and apparatus for
chemical and philosophical experiments. To this cave, six-
teen feet long by nine feet in width, and eight feet high, called
the Laura, he was wont to retire for study and contemplation.

After the pulmonary disease which resulted in his death,
had fastened its tentacles upon him, he continued his labours
as zealously as his failing strength would permit, composing
poems" and writing letters as mood and occasion demanded.

Despite the tenderest care of devoted loving friends and
the most skillful medical treatment available, the fatal malady
made daily progress, until finally, surrounded by neighbours
and friends, his spirit took its everlasting flight, when he was
but thirty-five years of age.

His entire life had been a preparation to meet the "Heav-
enly Bridegroom, laying aside all other engagements what-
ever, trimming his lamp and adorning himself with that white
silky holiness and golden righteousness that he might be found
worthy."

A surviving account of his death, given by Daniel Geiss-
ler, the confidential assistant of Kelpius, says,

Kelpius, among. other things, was of the firm belief that he would
not die a natural death, and that his body would not decay, but that
he would be transformed, transfigured, overshadowed, and, like Elijah,
be translated bodily into the spiritual world.

As his last hours drew near, and the forerunners of dissolution
appeared the Magister spent three long days and nights praying
to God, struggling and supplicating that, in his case, the Lord Sabaoth
would receive him bodily as he did Enoch and Elias of old, and
that there might be no actual dissolution, but that body and soul
might remain intact and be transfigured and received in the flesh.

At last, on the third day, after a long silence, he ceased his
pleadings, and addressing himself to his faithful famulus, said, "My
beloved Daniel, I am not to attain that which I aspired unto. I
have received my answer. It is that dust I am, and to dust I am
to return. It is ordained that I shall die like unto all children of
Adam."

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i^if

■tCM IH THE »«lTQniCAl. SOCIETY OP FtimAV UAIMJL

S^ Bio graph kill SkeicltL's, p, IJ61,

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 959

^ A few days after this episode, the pious Magister entered
into rest. All tradition seems to agree that his remains were
consigned to a grave within the orchard or garden belonging
to the Tabernacle over which he had so long and so faithfully
presided.

Such of the Brethren as were left of the original Com-
munity performed the last rites according to the impressive
ritual of the Mystic Fraternity.

It was shortly before sunset that the cortbge with the
bier solen^nly filed out of the Sagl of the Tabernacle, the
Brotherhood chanting a solemn De Profundis, ranging them-
selves around the open grave. The casket was then placed
over the opening until the orb of day was far down in the
west. As the last rays were seen, at a given signal from the
leader, the body, was lowered into the grave. At the same in-
stant, a snow-white dove was released from a hamper and
winged its flight heavenward, while the Brotherhood with up-
turned faces and uplifted hands, repeated thrice the invoca-
tion : God grant him a blessed resurrection.

Of him, the following is taken from the Ephrata ms., as
showing the esteem in which Kelpius was held by those of his
century :

Kelpius, educated in one of the most distinguished universities of
Europe and having had advantage of the best resources for the
acquirement of knowledge, was calculated to edify and enlighten
those who resorted to him for information. He had particularly made
great progress in the study of ancient lore, and was quite proficient
in theology. He was intimately acquainted with the principal works
of the Rabbins, the Heathen and Stoic philosophers, the Fathers of
the Christian Church, and the Reformers. He was conversant with
the writings of Tertullian, St. Jerome, St Augustine, St. Cyprian,
Chrysostom, Ambrose, Tauler, Eck, Myconius, Carlstadt, Hedio, Faber,
Osiander, Luther, Zwingli, and others, whose opinions he would
frequently analyze and expound with much animation. He was also
a strict disciplinarian, and kept attention constantly directed inwards
upon self. To know self, he contended, is the first and most es-
sential of all knowledge* * ♦ *He directed a sedulous watchfulness
over the temper, inclinations and passions, and applauded very much
the counsel of Marcus Aurelius : Look unthin; for within is the foun-
tain of good.

Thus lived and died Johann Kelpius. Learned and devout,
he sacrificed his life in the interest of humanity, and in pre-

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960 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

paring himself and his followers for the millenium which he
believed was near at hand.

No other of the early settlers has ever attracted the at-
tention of students of Pennsylvania history, or excited so
much speculation as this meek and gentle Transylvanian phi-
losopher.

In his Pennsylvania Pilgrim, Whittier celebrates Kelpius
thus:

Or painful Kelpius from his hermit den
By Wissahickon, maddest of good men,
Dreamed o'er the Chiliast dreams of Petersen.

Deep in the woods, where the small river slid
Snake-like in shade, the Helmstadt mystic hid,
Weird as a wizard over arts forbid,

Reading the books of Daniel and of John,
And Behmen's Morning-Redness, through the Stone
Of Wisdom, vouchsafed to his eyes alone.

Whereby he read what man ne'er read before,
And saw the visions man shall see no more,
Till the great angel, striding sea and shore,

Shall bid all flesh await, on land or ships.
The morning trump of the Apocalypse,
Shattering the heavens before the dread eclipse.

HEINRICH BERN HARD KOSTER.

Of the original Brotherhood, next after Kelpius, we are
most concerned with Heinrich Bernhard Koster, regarded by
many as the most heroic figure in the history of the German
Pietists of Pennsylvania. He was pious, devout, learned,
courageous, and combative. He boldly preached the gospel
to the settlers of thfe new province without fear or favour, and
was ever ready to take up the gauntlet when thrown down to
him. Not only that, he was aggressive, following his op-
ponents into their stronghold where he fearlessly proclaimed
his convictions.

Neither nation nor race made any difference to this de-
vout enthusiast. Casting aside for the time his mystical doc-
trines and Rosicrucian speculations, he preached the plain
Gospel with untiring energy and zeal among English, Welsh,

and Germans alike.
(60)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 961

It is from the advent of the German Pietists in 1694 that
we must date the religiou^ revival in the Province. The re-
sults of Koster's efforts were widespread ; they were not con-
fined to Anglicans and Lutherans merely, but also stimulated
the Baptists, Presbyterians, and Seventh Day Baptists to or-
ganize in Pennsylvania. Finally, when after a sojourn of
seven years in the province, he became convinced that on ac-
count of the changed religious situation, his usefulness as an
evangelist was at an end, he returned to his native country and
resumed his philosophical studies.

Heinrich Bemhard Koster (or Kuster) was bom in No-
vember, 1662, in the little town of Blumenberg, in the Princi-
pality of Lippe, in Westphalia. He was the son of Ludolph
Kuster, and Anna Catherina Blumen von Schwalenberg.

At the age of fifteen years, Heinrich went to Bremen
where he studied the philosophy of Descartes, and attended
the lectures of the Schwellings. After five years spent in
study here, he attended the university of Frankfort on the
Oder and studied law for three years. On quitting the uni-
versity he became a pedagogue in the city of Berlin. Sub-
sequently in collaboration with Baron von Schwerin, he trans-
lated the Septuagint into German.

While in Berlin, he became interested in the Pietistic
movement, and in the course of time came in contact with
John Jacob Zimmerman, and seconded his efforts to organize
a party to emigrate to America. Koster was endowed with a
remarkable memory and easily acquired several languages.
He could repeat verbatim, in Hebrew and Greek, all the
Psalms, the whole of Isaiah, and other books of the Old Testa-
ment. He was equally proficient in his knowledge of the' New
Testament.

When Koster reached America, he found the state of re-
ligious affairs at a very low ebb. There had been a schism
among the Quakers, fomented largely by George Keith, who
had returned to Europe leaving his followers behind without
a leader.

The Keithians speedily flocked to hear Koster preach of
the Saviour's death, His merits. His ascension, the use of the
Scriptures, and of the Holy Ordinances.

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962 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

This speedily brought Koster into open controversy with
the Quakers. In this he was supported by William Davis and
Thomas Rutter, who subsequently became prominently identi-
fied with the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Philadelphia.

Koster, bom and bred a Lutheran, believed that in the
absence of an ordained minster, any Christian was justified in
administering the rites of the church, and to relieve the
embarrassment of the Keithians, who had renounced
Quakerism, and believed in baptism by immersion, he declared
his intention to baptize, publicly, such as presented themselves
for that purpose.

The spot selected for this historic scene was the sandy
beach of the Delaware River, just above Penny Pothouse
Landing. This was a little north of the present Vine Street,
which was then the extreme northern boundary of the city.
Just above the inn, there was a shipyard upon the shore, and
several sheds offered convenient privacy for both priest and
postulant.

When the day and hour arrived, there was present a
large body of Quakers, who came to see if any of the seceders
would remain steadfast.

There were also many friends and adherents of the candi-
dates present, together with numbers of avowed churchmen —
Swedes, Germans, and even a few of Roster's former com-
panions of the Brotherhood.

The day was mild and serene. The throng of people
upon the beach in their various costumes ; the broad expanse
of water in the foreground, with the ships in course of con-
struction on the stocks; the primeval forests of stately oaks
and graceful pines for a background, formed an appropriate
setting for so momentous an occasion.

The central figure of attention and interest, however, was
the commanding figure of the enthusiastic German evangelist,
as he stood upon a slight elevation surrounded by the candi-
dates. Tall and erect, robed in a long black gown, and with
a fearless flashing eye, he opened service in the name of the
Trinity, and made a stirring prayer of supplication in English,
followed by an address showing the necessity for baptism, and
giving his reasons why at that time he felt justified in admin-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 963

istering the holy ordinance after the manner of the Apostles
and early Christians. After his address was finished he de-
manded a public profession from each of the nine candidates.
He then, to make the ceremony still more impressive,
after the manner of the Lutheran Church, and according to
the Prayer Book of King Edv.-ard VI, pronounced the exor-
cism of The Devil and the seductive spirit of Quakerism,
This v;«ts delivered with all the power of the speaker, as fol-
lows:

I command thee, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father, of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that thou come out, and depart from
these thy servants, whom our Lord Jesus Christ hath vouchsafed to
call to His Holy Baptism, to be made members of His body, and of
His holy congregation. Therefore, thou cursed spirit, remember
thy sentence; remember thy judgment; remember the day to be at
hand wherein thou shalt burn in fire everlasting, prepared for thee
and thy angels, and presume not hereafter to exercise any tyranny
towards these persons whom Christ both bought with his precious
blood, and by His Holy Baptism calleth to be of His flock.

When this impressive exorcism was concluded, the party
to be baptized, with Koster at their head, formed a procession,
and walked to the river's edge and into the stream, uptil they
were almost waist-deep in the water. After a short invocation
they were immersed one after the other in the name of the
Holy Trinity and were finally dismissed with the command
in Matthew xxvni.ig: "Go ye, therefore, and make disciples
of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."

Thus ended the first public administration of the
Scriptural ordinance of Baptism within the Province of
Pennsylvania. Koster himself declares that he never admin-
istered it afterwards in America.

The Keithians were now more anxious than ever to have
Koster as their regular pastor. This he refused because he
was not yet ready to accept in full the Seventh Day Baptist
doctrines.

Of this party of converts, the only names that have come
down to us are, William Davis, Thomas Rutter, Thomas
Pearl and Thomas Bowyer.^ The names of the remaining

I. The course of these four men called forth a Rebuke from Francis Daniel
Pastorius, at one time the leading citizen of Germantown.

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964 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

five are unknown. This small party formed the nucleus for
two Seventh Day Baptist churches ; viz., the church at Oxford,
of which William Davis was pastor; and the First Oiurch of
Philadelphia, of which Thomas Rutter was pastor.

Koster, likewise, not only instituted Orthodox Lutheran
services among the Germans, but was largely instrumental in
the establishment of the oldest Episcopal Church within the
State of Pennsylvania.

Koster continued to preach and exhort both in English
and (jerman, but spent much of his time in retirement and
study upon his little farm in Plymouth where he also taught
children and gave spiritual instruction to adults. During the
long winter nights he wrote several theological works. He
also composed a number of hymns which were printed upon
his return to Europe.

In reviewing the situation, Koster now felt that the term
of his usefulness among the English colonists was about com-
pleted unless he joined the Seventh Day Baptists, but he was
too deeply grounded in the Lutheran faith to do this. Ac-
cordingly he determined to return to his native land, and in
the latter part of January, 1700, reached London on the way
thither. From London he continued his journey by way of
Holland.

After his arrival in Germany, he devoted himself to
teaching, religious work, and diplomatic service until the end
of his life.

CONRAD MATTHAI.

Upon the death of Kelpius, Johann Seelig became the
Magister, or head, of the Brotherhood on the Wissahickon,
of which he had been one of the original promoters. Of all
the members of the Brotherhood he stood nearest to Kelpius.

After a short time, Seelig renounced his office as Magis-
ter in favour of Conrad Matthai, who after the disbanding of
the communal organization, was still recognized as the Magister
or Magus of such as remained in the vicinity and lived the
life of anchorites or hermits.

Seelig tilled a garden for his support, taught school,,
taught adults in religion, and as he was an expert penman,

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 965

Hnry Btrnhifd K^/ter^ WiUi^m l>4»ii^

ThomM Rntterit Thtmai Boiytr^

FOUR

Boaifling Difputers

Of this World brieay

REBUKED.

And Anrwered according ro thdr FoIT/,
which they ihemfelres b«7e raanifefted n a
late Pamphlet, eotittled* Mwkefn iJIfrO'
f^tn and Writers.

«»

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Printed md Sold by IV$»im Bf44f»4 »\ the
Bible in NcwJTvkt < ^ 9 7*

TiTLB or PA«TO>raS> « RSIDKB.M

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966 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS.

did much of the conveyancing about Germantown. He was
also a bookbinder by trade and had brought a full comple-
ment of tools of his craft with him to this country. All the
Jansen imprints were bound by him, as well as many of the
earliest editions of the Sauer press. Among the latter was
the edition of a hymn book of over eight hundred pages for
the Ephrata Community.

There is also a tradition that Seelig afterward instructed
several of the Brotherhood of the Ephrata Community in
bookbinding so that Ephrata for a time became the most ex-
tensive bindery in America.

When finally Conrad Matthai was left almost alone on
the old Community tract, an unbroken forest no longer, events
transpired which led to a removal of the spirit of mysticism
in Pennsylvania, and subsequently took shape in a new Com-
munity, The Camp of the Solitary, known in history as Eph-
rata, a settlement on the banks of the Cocalico in Lancaster
County, and which eventually became the most successful of
its kind of which we have any record.

A branch of this new Community flourished for a time
in Germantown and vicinity, and for its purposes a massive
stone building was erected in the year 1737 on the Wissa-
hickon, a short distance above the spot where the original
Tabernacle stood.

Of the closing period of the original Community it has
been written:

Dispensing religious instruction and charitable attentions to their
neighbours who c^me to cultivate the adjoining wilds, they rendered
their habitation the seat of piety and usefulness. Thus while years
rolled on in rapid succession, the few remained steadfast in their
faith and patiently watched for the revelations they so fondly an-
ticipated. These faithful ones, however, followed each other to the
shades of death and a happy eternity without accomplishing the work
of their devotion and self-denial. They were laid side by side in
what was once their garden, and their requiems were sung by the
remaining Brethren. Their history may be closed in the language
of the Apostle, —

"These all died in the faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pil-
grims on the earth." (Hebrews xi., 13.)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

967

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968 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Conrad Matthai was one of thef few surviving members
of the original Community, and while freely giving advice,
and rendering such other assistance as he might, to the new
Community at Ephrata, he never joined them but continued
to live in his cabin on the Wissahickon, where he supported
himself by the labour of his own hands^

Clad in his rough, homespun, flowing pilgrim's garb of
natural color, with sandals only upon his feet, except in
winter when they we^e protected from the cold by heavy
woolen socks, his long snow-white hair and beard surmounted
with a broad-brimmed Quaker hat, he was a picturesque
figure of primitive, but majestic, dignity.

His strength gradually failed and finally in the last days of
August, 1748, he passed to the mysteries of the Heavenly
Kingdom, and on the ist of September was laid beside his be-
loved Magister and co-labourer Kelpius, "although in his
humility he had not desired to be beside him, but only at his
feet."

ADVENT OF JOHANN CONRAD BEISSEL.

In the year 1720, there arrived from Germany a group
of immigrants who had fled from the Palatinate on account
of religious persecution. In this group was Johann Conrad
Beissel, about thirty years of age, short in stature, with a
well-knit frame, high forehead, prominent nose, and a sharp,
piercing eye — a native of the Palatinate. The son of a baker
who died two months before the birth of his child, Johann
Conrad Beissel wais apprenticed to a baker to learn the trade.
He not only became a skillful baker, but an adept in music
as well. In the due course of time, h€ came in contact with
the Pietists whom he joined and by whom he was initiated into
the Rosicrucian mysteries. Because of the persecution he
suffered at the hands of his fellow-craftsmen on account of
his Pietistic affiliations, he -finally decided to come to America
and join the Brotherhood on the Wissahickon.
, Accompanied by George Stiefel, Jacob Stuntz, Simon

Koning, Heinrich von Bebber, and others, he reached Phila-
delphia, October 20, 1720.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

969

CONKAO MaTTHAI, 1678-I748, FROM AN OLD ETCHING.

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970 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Great was their surprise, when on their arrival, they
learned for the first time that the Community had ceased to
exist as an organized body some years before, news of which
had failed to reach them in Germany. Kelpius was dead.
Koster had returned to Europe, and other leaders were scat-
tered.

Among those who remained true to their faith and con-
tinued in the vicinity of the Tabernacle were Seelig and
Matthai, who with the remnant of the former Community,
lived as hermits.

When Beissel ascertained the actual state of spiritual
affairs here, he concluded to keep quiet as to the true cause
of his leaving Germany and as to his projects of a solitary
life. As soon as this determination was reached, the party
separated for the time being, each going his own way.

Beissel now consulted Matthai as to his future course.
As he was unwilling to engage in agricultural pursuits,
Matthai advised him to remain in Germantown for the time
being and learn the weaver's art, of which he already had
some knowledge, as that was virtually the only industry that
offered any pecuniary reward.

Beissel acted upon Matthai's advice, and indentured him-
self to one Peter Becker, a master weaver of Germantown.
Subsequently the latter was the founder of the German Bap-
tist Brethren, or Dunkards : the former established the famous
Ephrata Community on the Cocalico.

Beissel was cordially received into the devout family of
his master, and, according to the custom of the day, made
one of them, and an intimacy was formed between the two
men, which persisted with more or less intermission in after
years. They were of about the same age and of kindred
spirit, and took to heart the forlorn religious condition of
their countrymen in the Province, most of whom, with the
exception of the Mennonites, had gradually fallen away from
the faith of their fathers, and had now reached a state of in-
difference to all religious teaching that savoured of orthodoxy.

The children were growing up without religious instruc-
tion, except such little as they received at home.

Even the party brought over by Becker, only the year

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

971

CONRAD BEISSEL.

TMIt AlUOOlO StLHOUtTTC Of 6(IMCL WAt FOUND IM THt tltTfR HOUM MANY VfARt AGO. IT CAME INTO POS8EMION Of
[ tTflNMAN, t9Q., Of lANCAtTCR. AND AV HIM WA« OlVCN TO THE HltTOfUCAL SOCIETY Of fENNtVlVANlA.

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972 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

previous to the arrival of Beissel and his party, were, for the
time being, estranged and separated from their leadei:*

Finally, determined to carry out his original purpose, in
the fall of 1721, Beissel in company with his former com-
panion, Stuntz, visited the Conestoga Valley in Lancaster
County. There in a secluded spot in the primitive forest, be-
side a sparkling spring of water, they built for themselves a
log cabin on the banks of the Miihlbach (Mill Creek) a
branch of the Conestoga River.

ON THE MUHLBACH.

There were weighty reasons why Conrad Matthai ad-,
vised the two enthusiasts to select a situation on the Miihl-
bach in the Conestoga country. The dominant one was that,
while they were virtually in seclusion, they were at the sarno
time so placed that they could readily engage in revival work
among their countrymen. That the selection was not a hap-
hazard one is shown by the fact that it was a strategic point
of no mean order, from which they could easily reach the
Germans who had settled within the radius which included
Coventry, Oley, Pequea, and Conestoga. Twelve years pre-
viously the very first settlement by whites in Lancaster County
had been made by Mennonites and Huguenots not more than
three miles distant. Then again, they were within easy reach
of such of the Brethren as remained in the vicinity of Ger-
mantown and Roxborough, and still occupied their anchorite
huts in the fastness of the Wissahickon and the Ridge.

After the two men were well established in their new
abode, they entered upon a life of seclusion and prayer, ex-
horting their neighbours when the opportunity offered, and
imparting instruction to such of the young men as were sent
to them. From this evidence we may well assume that in
this lovely grove beside the limpid Miihlbach, in the cool
shade of the forest trees in the summer, or in the rude log-
hut in winter, the first' free school was held within the bounds
of Lancaster County.

The faculty consisted of two or three religious enthus-
iasts; the pupils were the children of the early German set-
tlers; the curriculum simple as it was, was strictly religious

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 973

and moral. It probably did not go beyond the alphabet, the
catechism, and a few other simple religious tracts? such as
were in vogue among the Germans. However, be this as it
may, crude as was the instruction imparted in this rude hut,
there are evidences that it laid a religious foundation in the
pupils, to which they remained true to the end. Then again,
it is well to consider that no charge was ever made for in-
struction, the work was purely and simply a labour of love
and duty with these pious men, and the future investigator
and historian will undoubtedly accord Beissel and his com-
panions the honours due them as pioneers in the field of edu-
cation in the valley of the Conestoga and its tributaries.

Before the close of the year, Beissel visited the Labadist
Community at Bohemia Manor, where had been established,
in 1684, the first Protestant mystic community in the New
World.

There can be but little doubt that, although the Com-
munity at the time of BeisseFs visit was already in a state
of dissolution, it was due to his visit to Bohemia Manor and
the conferences with its leader together with a number of
books and papers, both printed and in manuscript, which Beis-
sel obtained, that we owe many of the peculiar features of
^the Ephrata Community. Not the least important one was
the separation of the sexes.

The visit was made none too soon, for soon after Beis-
sel's departure the few. remaining members separated upon
the death of their leader, and the Community passed into
history. But lasting impressions were made upon Beissel's
mind, which shaped his course in after years.

Soon after Beissel's return from his pilgrimage to Bo-
hemia Manor, whither he had been accompanied by Isaac
Van Bebber, Jr., they were joined by George Stiefel, another
companion on the voyage to America.

The four companions, Beissel, Stuntz, Van Bebber, and
Stiefel, now determined to enter upon a joint life of proba-
tion and seclusion from the world.

Religious meetings were held henceforth at regular hours
in the small hut in the forest, as well as about the country,
whenever opportunity offered. Instruction was also imparted

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974 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

to such children as were sent to the cabin. One of these pu-
pils, Barbara Meyer, was attached to the Community for al-
most sixty years.

BEISSEL EMBRACES THE SABBATH.

About this time, Beissel conceived the idea that there
was an error among them in the observance of the day for
the Sabbath. This idea was considerably strengthened by his
intercourse with the Sabbatarians in Chester County, at Prov-
idence and Newtown, whom he visited on the return trip
from Bohemia Manor.

It was not long before he made the public announce-
ment that he was convinced of the Biblical claims of the Sev-
enth Day of the week as the Sabbath, and of his intention to
observe it as such. After some hesitation, his decision was
accepted by his companions, and they all kept the Sabbath
with him.

The strange mode of life pursued by Beissel and his
companions, and their earnest exhortations and revival services
naturally aroused much attention among the settlers in the
Conestoga Valley. The meetings became well attended by
people from far and near. Some were attracted by curiosity,
but most of them from a desire for spiritual devotion and in-
struction.

Beissel, who was a fluent speaker and an earnest ex-
horter, soon became a power among the Separatists and Men-
nonites who had scattered throughout the fertile valleys of
the Conestoga and Pequea. His teachings at that time were
but little tinged with that mysticism and speculative theology
which characterized his hymns and writings in after years.

An old manuscript speaks of him as follows:

Almost immediately upon his arrival in the Conestoga country,
many persons became attached to him by his attractive and gentle
manner. Almost every one judged themselves fortunate when re-
ceived by him with favour and admitted to his friendship; and all
strove for his company, hoping thereby to attain Divine virtues.

He proved a marvel to almost »every one, and thus it was that
the awakened in the Conestoga Valley became so heartily enamoured
of him, and placed unbounded faith in him.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 975

Disintegrating influences now overshadowed the cabin on
the Miihlbach. Stiefel became disaffected and left. Van
Bebber's ^ health became impaired by the rigorous manner of
life pursued by the hermits, and he felt constrained to leave
also.

Shortly afterward, during the temporary absence of Beis-
sel, Stuntz sold the cabin, in order, as he claimed, to re-im-
burse himself for money he had expended for the enterprise.
This was a great disappointment to Beissel, who, nothing
daunted, with his axe upon his shoulder and his books and
papers in his knapsack, journeyed a mile further into the
heart of the forest, where beside a welling spring he ag^in
built a small log cabin, in the summer of 1723. Here he
planned to live a life of solitary seclusion, "not knowing
what God had ordained for him."

He was allowed to remain in solitude but a short time,
however, as no sooner was it known to the Brethren on the
Wissahickon, than he was visited by some of the recluses
from that locality, and almost immediately upon the comple-
tion of his cabin, he was joined by Michael Wohlfarth, who
had just returned from a missionary tour among the Ger-
mans in North Carolina, and who before setting out upon
that journey had obtained Beissel's consent to become his
companion upon his return. Henceforth they became friends
and companions until death separated them. Here in solitude
these two hermits lived a life of silent contemplation in the
seclusion of the forest, with nothing to mar their equanimity
or their devotions.

SCHWARZENAU MOVEMENT.

In the meantime, Peter Becker, of whom previous men-
tion has been made, had held religious services weekly in
Germantown and vicinity, during the fall of 1722. Under his
leadership, a religious awakening resulted, and a movement
inaugurated from which arose the German Baptist Brethren,
or Dunkers. This movement in Germany dates back to the
year 1521, when the so-called Zwickau prophets, Nicholas
Storch, Marcus Stuber, and Thomas Miinzer arose in Saxonj
and preached the doctrine of adult baptism and the <:oming

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976 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

millennium. This doctrine spread throughout Switzerland,
Franconia, and Thuringia, and despite persecution, from
Bavaria to Holland. They taught that a Christian should
not bear arms, but defend himself merely with a staff; they
refused to publish any creed; they held their assemblies in
the woods or open fields ; and eschewed the use of buttons as
a luxury, and substituted hooks and eyes upon their clothing.

Despite persistent efforts on the part of civil and eccles-
iastical authorities alike to crush it out, and in face of serious
blunders made by unscrupulous leaders, the faith slowly but
gradually spread over Europe. A number of independent
movements tended to keep the doctrine alive, particularly in
northern Germany, Holland, and Switzerland. The most
important of these was that of Simon Menno and his ad-
herents.

The Schwarzenau gathering in 1708 was but another of
these independent movements. Its origin is more or less
vague as to detail, from the fact that few records were kept
in the early days of the movement.

Fortunately, Alexander Mack, the younger, of the Eph-
rata Community, made some attempt after the death of his
father to gather and preserve what remained of the records
of the original congregation.

From these papers it appears that there were eight per-
sons originally who met at Mack's rhill or house at Schwar-
zenau for religious conference; five men and three women.
With others, these included Alexander Mack and his wife,
Anna Hargretha, as well as Andreas Bone and his wife,
Johanna.

This little company met together regularly to examine
carefully and impartially the doctrines of the New Testament,
and to ascertain what are the obligations it imposes upon pro-
fessing Christians; determining to lay aside all pre-conceived
opinions and traditional observances. After a time, when
they felt themselves spiritually prepared, it was determined
to put their teachings into practice. Mack, the younger, says :

As they were now prepared thereunto, so they went into the
solitude of the morning. Even eight went out unto the water called
Heder. And the brother upon whom fell the lot, baptized first the

(61)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 977

brother whom the congregation of Christ wanted baptized, and after
he was baptized, he immersed him who had baptized him, and the
remaining three brothers and three sisters; and so all eight were
baptized in the early morning hour.

This was accomplished in the above-named year, 1708. But of
the month of the year, or the day of the month or week, they have
left no account.

Two of the original members of the Schwarzenau con-
gregation subsequently came to this Province, and ended their
days here; viz., Alexander Mack and Andreas Bone.

On December 25 (Christmas), 1723, fifteen years after-
ward, a similar baptismal scene, ^ presided over by Peter
Becker as their elder, took place in the icy waters of the Wis-
sahickon, when six persons were baptized. These with fifteen
others who had previously been baptized in Germany consti-
tuted th6 first congregation of the German Baptist Brethren
in America.

The news that a congregation had been formed in the
New World was quickly carried to Germany, with the result
that Alexander Mack, together with his family and others of
the original Schwarzenau congregation, eventually emigrated
to Pennsylvania.

Before the summer of 1724 was over, a new crusade was
projected, intended to reach the Germans in outlying districts,
where some of the original members and "first fruits*' had
gone to get cheaper or more fertile lands. For this purpose,
a company was organized under the leadership of Elder Peter
Becker, to go on an extended pilgrimage, which was to in-
clude the Pequea and Conestoga valleys. The party, con-
sisting of fourteen persons, of whom seven were mounted,
journeyed forth from Germantown on Wednesday, October

23, 1725.

A strange sight it was, as these devout enthusiasts, part
on horseback and part on foot, started out upon the highway,
then hardly worthy the name of a road, upon their mission.

As they proceeded, they stopped at first one German set-
tlement and then another, in turn as they reached them. Re-
vival meetings were held, love feasts were celebrated, and
bread broken. At Coventry, in Chester County, meetings-
were held, two persons were baptized, and the Coventry

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978 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Brethren Church was organized, with nine constituent mem-
bers, with Martin Urner as preacher.

BEISSEL BECOMES A BAPTIST.

On the 1 2th of November, meeting was held at the home
of Heinrich Hohn, at which Beissel was present. Here ex-
traordinary revival powers were manifested, and at the close
of the meeting, five persons applied for baptism. The com-
pany at once repaired to the waters of the Pequea to witness
the administration of the rite, accompanied by Beissel. The
latter on witnessing the baptism of the five candidates, be-
came convinced that it was his duty to accept baptism. Af-
ter the rite was administered to a sixth candidate — b, sister
who presented herself at the water's edge — Beissel, too, an-
nounced his intention to be baptized "apostolic-wise", and
importuned Becker to administer the rite to him. No prepa-
rations were made, but as Veronica Friedrichs was led up the
slippery bank, Beissel humbly entered the freezing water and
knelt before the elder who, after a short invocation, immersed
the candidate thrice, face forward, under the cold flood.

If we except the immersion in the Wissahickon on the
previous Christmas Day, this baptism in the Pequea was the
most noteworthy one in the history of the sect-people of
Pennsylvania. While the former laid the foundation of the
German Baptist Brethren in America, the immersion of Beis-
sel virtually created the first schism within that fold, from
which may be traced the beginniVigs of the German Seventh
Day Baptists in the Province: an organization which, though
small in number, persists in different parts of Pennsylvania
to this day. '

Two days afterward, the pilgrims started on their home-
ward journey. But before their departure, they consulted
with the newly baptized converts from the Conestoga and
Pequea valleys, and told them that they would have to shift
for themselves and arrange their own affairs according to
their circumstances and ability without expectation of assist-
ance from the mother church at Germantown.

The new converts were not slow to act upon this sugges-
tion, and the t\^elve persons, six brothers and six sisters, pro-
ceeded forthwith to organize themselves into a regular Bap-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 979

tist congregation, known as the Conestoga Church. It con-
sisted of Conrad Beissel, Joseph Schaffer, Johannes Meyer,
Heinrich Hohn, Sigmund Landert, and Jonadab. The sis-
ters were Migtonia, Christina, Veronica [Friedrichs], Maria,
Elizabeth, and Franzina.^

BEISSEL LEADER OF CONESTOGA CHURCH.

Beissel was by common consent acknowledged as the
leader of the new congregation. He accepted the charge and
promised henceforth to emulate Christ and live a holy and
godly life.

Becker in his haste to return home had overlooked the
fact that Beissel and Wohlfarth had observed the Seventh
Day of the week as the Sabbath for some time, a fact which
proved to be fraught with danger to the new church, as Beis-
sel and his companion kept it constantly in the foregfround.
Moreover it led to a charge that Beissel was Judaizing, a
charge which was strengthened by the fact that Jewish traders
had operated in that vicinity for some time, some of whom
had finally settled down there for homes.

Despite all this, Beissel continued to preside over the
meetings of the church which were held regularly. More-
over the responsibility of his new charge wrought a great
change in him, intensifying his enthusiasm and his tendency to
mysticism.

A revival was held at the house of Johannes Landes,
early in May, 1725, when Beissel for the first time publicly
administered the ordinance of baptism. There were seven
candidates, Hans Meyle and his wife, Johannes Landes and
his wife, Rudolph Nagele and his wife, and Michael Wohl-
farth, the fellow-mystic and companion of Beissel, who was
the most important of them all.

A prominent German Baptist, known in the records as
Brother Lamech, who had settled in the Conestoga Valley,
also joined the congfregation about this time, and became a
staunch supporter of Beissel. It was this same Brother
Lamech who kept the diary of the congregation, and later of
the Ephrata Community, extracts of which were published

I. The full names of several are not known.

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980 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

and are known as the Chronicon Ephratense. His proper
name does not appear in any available records, and he is one
of the few prominent actors in this history whose identity has
not been discovered.

The Conestoga Congregation increased rapidly, and in
the spring of 1725 niftnbered twenty-two regular members.
The growing demands of his flock now made it imperative
that Beissel should be nearer to them. Accordingly, he left
the cabin he had last built and occupied one which had been
erected for him on the land of Rudolph Nagele. The exam-
ple of their leader was quickly followed by other members
of the congregation, and in a few months the land in the vi-
cinity of Nagele's house was dotted with the small log-cabins
of persons who wished to live in closer communion with the
new leader.

The regular meetings were still held in the houses of dif-
ferent members. No effort appears to have been made to
build a separate house for the uses of the congregation. At
these house-services, the question of the Sabbath became more
or less prominent as time passed.

NANTMEAL, OR FRENCH CREEK, SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST CHURCH.

This Stimulus came from a source entirely distinct from
the movement of Conrad Beissel. It was brought about by
the English Seventh Day Baptists who had settled on the
borders of Conestoga and Coventry townships and there es-
tablished a community of their own faith. It was about the
same time as the German revival movement, which has just
been described, that the English Sabbath-keepers in New-
town, Providence, Easttown, and Tredyffrin townships of
Chester County became more or less restless, on account of
persecutions from their more orthodox neighbours, and mi-
grated to the upper end of the county, where they took up
land at the falls of French Creek in Nantmeal Township,
and there founded a settlement and congregation, destined
for years to come to be the largest and most influential body
of Seventh Day Baptists in the Province. Among the
names of these early pioneers, who were mainly Welsh, are
to be found a considerable number who in later years appear

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 981

on the Ephrata register, and whose remains await the general
resurrection in the old burying-ground at Ephrata.

Following is a partial list of these early Seventh Day
Baptists: Owen Roberts, William Iddings (Hiddings) ; Rich-
ard, Jeremiah, and John Piercell (Piersoll) ; John Wilirams;
William David; Philip Roger (Rogers); Lewis David; and
Simon Meredith.

Abel Noble, who is sometimes called the apostle of the
Seventh Day Baptists in Pennsylvania, made frequent visits
to this settlement on French Creek, upon which occasions he
extended his visits to his old friends, Beissel and Wohlfarth,
who in turn attended the meetings of the Seventh Day Bap-
tists in Nantmeal.

It was this intercourse which strengthened Beissel and
Wohlfarth as to the correctness of the Seventh Day as the
Sabbath. Thomas Rutter, of Philadelphia, who had been
baptized by K6ster\in 1697, also accompanied Noble on sev-
eral of his visits to Beissel and Wohlfarth, with the result
that both the latter eventually became the apostles of the Sev-
enth Day as the Sabbath among the German-speaking popula-
tion of the Province.

During the year 1725, a number of immigrants arrived
from Germany, among whom were the Eckerlin family, con-
sisting of the widow and her four sons, the latter of whom
were destined to prove, next to Beissel, the most prominent
characters in the Ephrata Community on the Cocalico.

In 1726, two young women, Anna and Maria Eicher,
left their father's house and placed themselves under the
guidance of Beissel. To prevent any possible scandal, the
members built a cabin on the Mill Creek for the two sisters,
who were the first to assume a solitary life, and they lived
there under the care of Brother Lamech.

The English Seventh Day Baptist Church near the forks
of French Creek, in Nantmeal, also increased in membership
and importance. Early in the year 1728, they were joined
by a number of seceders from the Great Valley Baptist
Church. The leading persons in this migration were: Philip
Davis, Lewis Williams, Richard Edwards, Griffy (Griffith)
Griffiths, and William James. Further accessions followed,

Digitized by VjOOQIC

982 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

and the Nantmeal Church became numerically the strongest
in the Province.

The intercourse between the Germans in the Conestoga
Valley, who were inclined towards keeping the Seventh Day,
and their English-speaking brethren in Nantmeal, was cordial
and intimate, and was the means of spreading the doctrine
of the Sabbath still more among the Germans south of the
Schuylkill.

The year 1726 brought three important accessions to the
Conestoga congregation. They were Simon Konig, who, it
will be remembered, was one of Beissel's companions across
the ocean; Johannes Hildebrand, a Baptist from German-
town; Christopher Sauer, who was to become the first Ger-
man printer in America, and wield a mighty influence among
his fellow-countrymen in the Province.

The year 1727 dawned propitiously and witnessed an in-
crease of membership. The work of evangelizing went on.
The intercourse with the English-speaking Seventh Day Bap-
tists had the natural result of leading many of the Germans
toward that doctrine, a movement fraught with far-reaching
results.

MEETING ON WHITSUNDAY.

The most important event of the year was undoubtedly
the meeting held on Whitsunday (May 21, 1727) at the
house of Martin Urner at Coventry, which all the congrega-
tions of the Province were invited to attend. This was really
the first general meeting, or conference, of the German Bap-
tist Brethren held in America, and was evidently largely at-
tended. In the absence of Elder Becker, who was detained
by illness, Conrad Beissel was obliged to officiate. It proved
a veritable revival meeting, and eleven converts were im-
mersed in the Schuykill in the afternoon by Beissel. The '
meetings were continued the next day with equal success.

This revival, the most important thus far held in the
Province, is noteworthy for two things. First, it was upon
this occasion that Beissel first proved his great power as an
exhorter and an independent religious leader. It was here
that the Germantown Brethren began to realize that Beissel

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 983

was a far stronger leader than Becker, and would soon dis-
pute with him the leadership of the Brethren.

The other feature was the introduction of antiphonal, or
responsive, singing into the services of the simple worship of
the Brethren. Here was the inception of the music and
hymnology which, fostered by Conrad Beissel, proved in after
years so important a feature in the Ephrata Community
as to attract the attention of the music critics of the Old
World. The hymnology of both the Brethren and the Sab-
batarians dates from this meeting and developed rapidly in
the Western World. /

ORGANIZATION OF GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST CHURCH.

The agitation on the Sabbath question now became acute,
and caused an open breach between the Germantown Bap-
tists and the Conestoga congregation, which in turn divided
itself into two factions : one under Beissel which kept the Sab-
bath, and the other under Johannes Hildebrand who adhered
to the observance of the First Day of the week, or Sunday^

Beissel Jnaugiu-ated an aggressive campaign among the
Germans on the Sabbath question, a movement which proved
highly successful.

In the year 1728, an actual physical separation took place
in the Conestoga congregation, and the Sabbath-keepers formed
an independent organization. The intercourse with the English-
speaking Seventh Day Baptists on French Creek and at New-
town became more frequent, and Abel Noble, Thomas Rutter,
and perhaps others were welcome visitors at Beissel's cabin.
The doctrine of the Sabbath was further spread by the use
of the powerful aids of civilization and of the printing press.
The new church was organized in the latter part of Decem-
ber of this year.

Beissel in invoking the aid of the printing press in his
Sabbatarian propaganda inaugurated a new era of Christian-
ity, and incidentally introduced German printing into Amer-
ica. Some attempt at printing had been made by the Wissa-
hickon Community, but it remained for Beissel and his fol-
lowers to make a full-fledged success of such an undertaking.

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984 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

and effect the final establishment of a press of their own at
Ephrata.

To Beissel is due the credit of issuing the second original
American book which was printed in both the German and
English languages.

It was due to the influence of Beissel and Wohlf arth
that Christopher Sauer started his press in Germantown, the
first in America to print in German characters. Moreover
the first substantial encouragement Sauer received was a com-
mission from Beissel to print a hymn-book of some eight hun-
dred pages.

The records state that the first book issued by Beissel
was a Book on the Sabbath. It was an octavo in German,
printed in Roman type by Andrew Bradford in Philadelphia,
1728. This book created a sensation among the Germans in
the rural districts. The following year an English transla-
tion by Wohlfarth, appeared from the same press. It was
highly successful in its mission, as the records state that it
was "so effective that the congregations now publicly adopted
the Sabbath as the day for divine services."

The editions of the Book on the Sabbath are the scarcest
among the issues of the American press.

At this time Wohlfarth also published upon his own ac-
count a pamphlet in both German and English, entitled the
The Lord's Seventh Day Sabbath,

On the occasion of a visit to Philadelphia in company
with Wohlfarth and another of the brethren, Beissel met
Benjamin Franklin; and as the printing of the Book on the
Sabbath by Bradford had been unsatisfactory, Beissel was
ready to enter into negotiations with Franklin, who was in a
position to print and issue his works in a creditable manner,
both as to typography and proof-reading. Franklin, at the
same time, was assured business of a substantial character.

Strange as it may appear, Conrad Beissel was among the
earliest, if not the first, to patronize the Franklin press, as
well as that of Christopher Sauer.

The first result of the acquaintance between Beissel and
Franklin was the publication of Mystical Proverbs, a duodec-
imo volume of thirty-two pages. It was printed in the Ger-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 985

MrsTYRioN Akomias

THB

Myfttrj of Lawlefnefs:

OR.

Lawlefs ANTICHRIST

DISCOVER'D and DISCLOSED

Shewing that ALL chofe do belong to that
Lawlefs Jntictrifi^ who wilfully reyeSt
the Cpmmandmebts of GOD, amoDgll.

which, is his holv, and by bimfclf blelkd
Seventb-'DM'Sabbatht or his holy Reft,
of which the (aine is a Type,

For thus faith the Lord, Exoi. xx. ver. 10.

Tie Seventh Dajt is the Sabiatb cf th
iMd tby God.

Written to the Honour of the Great GOO
and his Holy Conunands.

By CVNSLAD 3ErS£LL.

Iratfitttd 9miin» ]iigh*Dutch» ty M. W.

Plinad.lik dw Y«ai I7>9

TlTUft-PAGB OP THB BNGLftH VSRSION OP BBISSBL'S SaBBATM-BOOK.

(Original in coUcctioit of Julius P. Sachte, PhiUdclphlB.)

Digitized by VjOOQIC

986 sSEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

THR

NAKED TRUTH,

Scandiag ag»iiift alt Painted and Difgui(ed

Lies, 'Deceit and Eal/bood.

OR TMS

Lord's Sevcnth-Day^bbath

Saoding as a MOUNTAIN iminove-
able for ever.

Proved fy Tbm WITNE SSES wbid^
MMot Ue.

Dir M. W«

fnntcd iatbe Tcar» 172^.

TiTL»r«oB or the Bnguib Veksion or Wohlfasth's Naud Taora.
(OiiglMd la Ubnuy of Alfred UalTcnitr.)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 987

GOTTXIGHB

Liebet und Lobes getbSne

Wdcfae in den heraen der kuidcf
derwcUzheit zularaaieft eio* '

Vti von i» tritder mftgi^l^

ZUM LOB GOTTES,

Und nun denen icUQem der himliichai

'weifishdt snr erweckung and ao&

munterang in ihxem Cientx und

Jeiden aus heitzlidierU^

be mirgetbdkb

D A N N

tf ii miaiiiiiiiiiKJii

Franklin in der Mtrtkfn^ 1750^

TlTLB-PAGB OP BbISSBL'S HYMN«MK>K.

Orlfinnl in collectiooi of Historical Society of PMasjrlvwilA aad
Hon. Samocl W. Pennypftcker.

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988 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS*.

man language with Roman type. It bears date the year 1730.

The next commission Beissel gave Franklin, was a
hymn-book. This was a duodecimo of ninety-six pages with
the Franklin imprint of 1730. it contains sixty-two hymns,
of which Beissel was the author of thirty-one. His compan-
ions on the Miihlbach wrote the remaining thirty-one.

Even to students of American bibliography it is a fact
but little known that to Conrad Beissel belongs the honour
of being the author and publisher of the first book of German
poetry written in America.^

During the same year (1730) Beissel published his Book
on Matrimony. This book, written in the advocacy of celi-
bacy, was also printed by Franklin.

During the year 1729, two events of special im-
portance occurred. The first was of general interest, and was
the arrival in Pennsylvania, of Alexander Mack, the Pa-
triarch of the Cierman Baptists, who came with his family
from Germany.

' The second was of special interest, and was a political
change in local conditions which resulted in a political perse-
cution of those who observed the Sabbath. Fortunately for
the English-speaking church at Nantmeal, they escaped.

Notwithstanding these troubles, the followers of Beissel
continued to increase. In order to make room for the new-
comers, Beissel and others of his companions gave up their
habitations to such families as wished to unite with the con-
gregation and settle here, and either built new cabins for
themselves, or took up their temporary abode with some of
the resident members.

These cabins were all built of uniform size; viz., twenty-
five feet in length by twenty feet in width, with a height to
the joists of eight and a half feet.

The time of the Brethren was by no means spent in idle
speculation ; they betook themselves to various kinds of man-
ual labour, chiefly carpentry, and refused their services to
no one who asked their assistance in building a home in the
wilderness.

I. The Kelpius hymns remained in manuscript. So far as known they
were not printea at the time.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 989

The Sabbatarian movement was prosecuted with vigour,
by both the printed page and evangeHstic labour, with flatter-
ing results.

In the year 1730, some gossip was started about the
young women who, in pursuit of a high spiritual life had
elected to live nearer the elder, had placed themselves under
the protection of Lamech. This resulted in the public humil-
iation of the individuals who had retailed the gossip, and the
discomfiture of the court which had listened to the story.

This case so incensed Beissel that he wrote another book on
Matrimony, which resulted in further accessions of women
(married) to the two sisters who were already living in re-
tirement. One of these was the wife of Christopher Sauer.
Both of these sisters were rebaptized into the congregation
during the summer, and eventually entered the Sisterhood at
Ephrata.

In the meantime, Beissel and the venerable Alexander
Mack had met on different occasions, but because of differ-
ence of opinion on the question of the Sabbath, they were un-
able to harmonize.

Beissel and Wohlfarth, however, continued in their ac-
tivity by organizing revivals and preaching the gospel of the
Seventh Day Sabbath. Success crowned their efforts to such
an extent that they again attracted the attention of the civil
authorities, who feared that in time they might change the
day of worship in the Province, and, if not promptly checked,
might soon obtain the upper hand if their rate of increase
continued. So they again began to fine and imprison all
such persons as were informed against for performing manual
labour on the first day of the week. This action was taken
under the Law of 1705. Two of the brethren were arrested
in the fall of 1731, fined and imprisoned; but in the end they
were released and the fine remitted.- This ended the persecu-
tion for a time.

BEISSEL RESIGNS HIS LEADERSHIP.

Complications now arose involving the ownership of
land, as well as conflict of authority between the religious and
civil bodies.

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990 sevenVh-day baptists:

In view of these complications and differences, the sug-
gestion was made to Beissel that he retire with all the Solitary
of both sexes, and, after the precept of the holy forefathers,
established a household in the wilderness. This suggestion
Beissel refused to entertain at the time, and stated that the
secular congregation, or the congregation at large, had the
greater claim upon him.

Thus matters continued until February, 1732, when he
called a meeting of all parties concerned, at which a general
exhortation was delivered upon the "comforting state of
God's kingdom." At the close of the discourse, he appointed
Sigmund Landert and another brother as elders to preside over
the congregation in the wilderness. Maria Christina Sauer was
designated as matron over the single women of the fold.

These three persons he bound by a most solemn promise
(at the same time giving each a copy of the New Testament)
to govern strictly according to the rules of the Book. Beissel
charged them to regard the Holy Writ as their sole guide,
and not to be misled from the straight path laid out therein.
He earnestly impressed upon the members of the congregation
at large the necessity of remaining steadfast in their faith
and convictions.

This ceremony ended, to the surprise of all present, with
tears coursing down his cheeks, Beissel impressively laid
down his office and resigned his position as Vorsteher, or
teacher, of the congregation. Then he stepped down from the
prayer-bench a humble member of the congregation.

That this unexpected action of Beissel threw the mem-
bers into consternation, is not to be wondered at. Henceforth
Sigmund Landert assumed charge, but the meetings proved
far from hannonious, and from the frequent judicial ques-
tions asked and argued, the general gatherings of the Cones-
toga congregation appeared more like court sessions than re-
ligious meetings.

SETTLEMENT ON THE COCALICO.

When Conrad Beissel bade his dramatic adieu to the con-
gregation, it was evidently part of a pre-conceived plan to
throw off the care of them and once more retire to the soli-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 99I

tude of the forest, there to devote himself to a life of self-
contemplation.

Whether he had well considered the effect of the deser-
tion of his followers is not a question to be answered at this
late day. However, he gathered up his books and papers and
once again, winter though it was, journeyed, staff in hand,
deeper into the unbroken forest. His goal lay eight miles to
the north-west. Here upon the banks of a romantic stream,
beside a never-failing spring of limpid water, a cabin had
been previously built, far away from any habitation, by Eman-
uel Eckerlin.

The situation was a somewhat peculiar one: the bottom
or meadow wherein the cabin stood was one .avoided even by
the Indians on account of the numberless snakes with which
the meadow and the banks of the creek were infested. They
called it Koch-Halekung, or the Den of Serpents. The new
settlers kept the word, which in time was spelled as pro-
nounced, Cocalico.

Emanuel Eckerlin evidently expected the coming of the
late leader. He received him with open arms, and gave up
his cabin in part to him until a separate one could be finished
for his use. The spring near this cabin, at which these two
hermits were wont to refresh themselves, is the one still used
by these living near the old Brother House of the Ephrata
Community. The water is just as clear and refresh-
ing as it was two centuries, nearly, ago.

Beissel lost no time in clearing a piece of land for seed-
ing when spring opened. This he cultivated entirely by man-
ual labour. At the same time he hewed the necessary timber
to build a cabin, which he completed during the summer
months.

During the spring and summer, when not engaged in
prayer or labour, he devoted all his spare moments toward per-
fecting the hymn-book which he had printed for the congre-
gation. His labours culminated in an enlarged collection of
hymns, printed by Franklin, with a new title.

The business part of the publication of this new hymnal
was evidently attended to by Samuel Eckerlin. With the
usual German thrift and honesty, the venture was a cash

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992 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

transaction; in fact, a portion of the money was paid before
the work was even begun.

Beissel had no sooner left the Conestoga Valley than dis-
cords and dissensions arose in the congregation, which was
now left without a leader of the requisite firmness and execu-
tive ability to guide its affairs. It was decided finally to re-
call Beissel from his seclusion and induce him to return to
them.

As a result, on September 4, 1732, just seven months af-
ter his withdrawal, he again presided at a love-feast of his
former congregation. At the conclusion of the meeting, Beis-
sel stated that, notwithstanding their earnest prayers for him
to remain in their midst, he felt it his duty to adhere, to his
original resolution, and return to his cabin in the wilderness.

This he did after giving them a final admonition to be
faithful and to keep the Sabbath and other ordinances of Scrip-
ture. Returning to the Cocalico, he was not permitted, how-
ever, to enjoy his retirement, as not a week passed without
some of the members of the congregation making a pilgrim-
age to his cabin for advice or instruction.

During the winter (1732-33) the little settlement was in-
creased by the arrival of three more single brethren, Jacob
Gast, Martin Bremer, and Samuel Eckerlin, whose wife had
died a few months before. These three built for themselves
another cabin on the banks of the Cocalico, so as to be near
their spiritual master. This was the third house in the settle-
ment.

The next arrivals were the two sisters, Anna and Maria
Eicher, who were the first sisters to devote themselves to
solitary contemplation in the Conestoga Valley, and who
clamoured for permission to pass their time in seclusion and
silent contemplation, here again, and to receive further m-
struction from their former teacher. Their demand was not
received with favour by the resident brethren, but all attempts
to dissuade them proved futile. After a long consultatioa, it
was concluded that the hand of Providence was in the matter,
and, such being true, they had no right to object. So a house
was at once erected on the opposite side of the stream for
the exclusive use of the two sisters. The house was com-

(6a)

Digitized by VjOOQIC

GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 993^

pleted in May, 1733, and was occupied by the two girls until
the erection of the first community-house at Ephrata.

Toward the close of the year 1733, a steady stream of
German settlers set in, and by the opening of the year 1734,
the country, within a radius of three or four miles of Beis-
sel's cabin, was all in possession of his followers. According
to the record.

Wherever there was a spring of water, no matter how unfertile
the soil might be, there lived some household that was waiting for
the Lord's salvation.

Another cabin was added to the number on the west bank
of the creek early in the spring. This was for the use of
Israel and Gabriel Eckerlin.

It is at this time that we find the first traces and mention
of distinctive clothing. Heretofore both men and women had
worn plain dress similar to that of the Friends. Now, how-
ever, still more radical innovations were introduced, which
eventually resulted in the adoption, by some of the most aus-
tere members, of a costiune somewhat similar to that of the
pilgrims of old.

This action caused reports to be circulated that the
brethren living separately on the Cocalico were in reality
Jesuits, who were here to seduce the populace. It was even
reported by some of their enemies that they were sent here
from Mexico, and were amply supplied with Spanish gold.

These and other tales were believed by the common peo-
ple, and finally some became so wrought up by these reports
that it was determined to bum down the entire community
and thus rid the vicinity, once for all, of the religious celibates.
With this object in view, fire was set to the dry leaves and
brush in the forest on a night when the wind blew strongly
in the right direction to carry the fire into their houses. After
the fire was started and began to gain headway, the wind
providentially changed, the course of the fire was turned, and
actually burned the bam and buildings of the chief instigator
of the crime. ^

To alleviate the wants of the many poor settlers who were
attracted to the vicinity — and man> of these were found

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994 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

among those who had vilified and denounced the Brethren — a
granary was erected for the storage of rye and corn which
was raised by the single Brethren, or contributed by the more
pro^erous secular members. Several large brick bake-ovens
were also built to supply Pumpernickel, the sort of bread in
common use among the Germans, to the indigent settlers. The
bread thus baked was distributed to the needy without charge.
The year 1734 was marked by the usual activities of the
Brotherhood, and the accession to the company of a beautiful
young girl, Maria Heidt, by name, just budding into woman-
hood, and betrothed to a young man in the neighbourhood of
her father's home. The day for her marriage had been set,
and her dower already prepared. She subsequently joined
the Sisterhood, withstanding all the appeals of her parents and
fiance to return.

ALEXANDER MACK.

On January 31, 1735, occurred the death of Alexander
Mack, the founder of the Schwarzenau branch of the German
Baptist Brethren in Americd. He was born at Schreisheim
in 1679; educated in the Reformed faith; and was by profes-
sion a master miller. He became a Baptist in 1708, came to
America in 1729, and acted as chief elder or bishop of the
Brethren until his death.

He lived in a log-house which served for the meetings of
the Brethren as well as the dwelling of the elder. Here in
this humble habitation died the patriarch of the great body of
German Brethren now distributed over this broad land as a
denomination of upwards of 100,000 communicants, and en-
joying the respect of all Christian bodies.

As typical of certain beliefs and practices common to all
these German settlers, irrespective of their peculiar religious
beliefs, a description of the burial of this venerable patriarch
of the church may be of interest.

No sooner had the soul taken its flight upon that bleak
wintry night, than the Einlader, or Anzeiger, (notifier) was
sent out towards Germantown, Ephrata, Coventry, Oley, and
the Swamp. Wherever there were Brethren, they went from
house to house advising them of the death of the patriarch,
and inviting them to the funeral. This was a peculiar custom

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 995

in vogue among the Germans and existed down to the early
years of the nineteenth century.

Other brethren again took charge of the obsequies. The
schreiner (cabinet-maker) was sent for to take the measure-
ments for the coffin. This was a shaped wooden box made of
unpainted cherry wood, as it was believed that the grave-worm
could most easily penetrate this wood, and thus the body would
be devoured most quickly. In making the coffin great care was
taken that no shaving escaped. These, as well as all particles
of sawdusj, were carefully gathered up and placed in the
bottom of the coffin, and then covered with a linen cloth, upon
which the body was placed. The reason for this great care
was the belief that, if any particle escaped, whatever house it
blew into, the next death would occur therein in the near
future. Then, when the coffin was carried into the house
of mourning, it was always brought in head first, or else an-
other funeral would soon follow. Care was also taken to
have the foot always towards the door and the lid hidden
from view behind the outer door.

There were two peculiarities about this coffin. Owing
to the prominence of the deceased, eight metal handles were
procured, a species of extravagance rarely indulged in by the
Germans of that early day. The other was that the lid was a
peaked one, giving the body ample room. The ordinary coffin
of that day had a flat lid.

Great indeed was the company that assembled on the day
of the funeral; the humble cabin wherein reposed the mortal
remains of the patriarch, was much too small for the multi-
tude who had journeyed from all quarters over the snow-
capped hills to bear tribute to the character and pure life of
the founder of the German Baptist Brethren in America. A
man who was once in affluence, while in the Fatherland gave
up his all for the cause, came to the wilds of America for
conscience' sake, and here ended his days in a cabin built for
him with contributions of the charitable.

Upon this occasion were gathered the Brethren from
Germantown, prominent among whom were Peter Becker,
Christopher Sauer, Heinrich Kalkglaser, Heinrich Pastorius,
and others, young and old. Then came the Solitary from the

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996 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

Cocalico, who, led by Beissel, Wohlfarth, and the Eckerlin
brothers, all in their picuresque Pilgrim garb, had walked the
whole distance from Lancaster over the frozen ground in
silence and Indian file. There were brethren from Coventry
and Chester County with Martin Umer, who had but a short
time before been consecrated by the deceased as his successor
and bishop of the denomination in Pennsylvania. There was
also a deputation of the Seventh Day Baptists from the
French Creek. Lastly, there came from the Ridge on the
heights of the Wissahickon those of the Pietists of the Kel-
pius Community who still lived there as hermits. Among
these recluses were Conrad Matthai, Johann Gottfried Seelig,
Daniel Geissler, Christopher Witt, Andreas Bone, and otha*s;
all to perform the last homage to the religious leader who
now reposed cold and inanimate in the lowly cabin by the
roadside.

The obsequies commenced, as was then the custom, about
noon with a funeral feast, of which gamon, cakes, cheese, and
punch were the important features. This was followed by
religious services, lasting until the sun had set, and when
darkness had fairly set in, a cortbge was formed. First came
flambeau-bearers; then the carriers, four of whom bore the
coffin upon their shoulders; then followed the Wissahickon
Brotherhood, chanting the De Profundis alternately with the
Ephrata contingent, who sang a hymn specially composed for
the occasion. The rear was brought up by the relatives,
friends, and Germantown Brethren.

It was an impressive and weird sight as the cortbge, with
its burden and flickering torches, filed with slow and solemn
step down the old North Wales road. A walk of about a
quarter of a mile brought them to a graveyard. It was merely
a small field, half an acre in extent, which was divided from
the road by a low stone wall and partly fenced oflF from the
other fields by a rail fence. This was the upper common
burying-ground, and was free to all residents who had con-
tributed towards the wall and fence, or such respectable white
residents as paid a certain sum for opening the grave. The
ground belonged to no particular congregation, nor was it
consecrated ground in the usual sense of the word.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS* 997

When the procession arrived at the grave, the sight was
an inspiring one, worthy of the artist's brush: — the hermits
and Brethren in their peculiar garb, with uncovered heads
and long flowing beards, chanting their requiem; the snow-
covered ground; the flickering torches; the coffin upon its
rude bier; the black, yawning grave; and the star-lit canopy
of heaven above. As the mourners surrounded the grave,
another dirge was sung while the body was lowered into its
resting-place. Three clods were then thrown into the grave,
a hollow sound reverberating upon the night air as they struck
the coffin. This ceremony was typical of the return of the
body to dust, whence it came.

A number of the Brethren then seized spades and filled
in the grave. When it was about half full, the torches were
extinguished and thrown into the tomb, after which the fill-
ing was proceeded with. After this, the company dispersed,
and the body of Alexander Mack, founder of the Dunker
denomination in America, was left to repose in its narrow cell.

He left four children, three sons and one daughter, all
of whom became more or less identified with the Ephrata
Community. Valentin with his wife, Maria (Hildebrand),
and his daughter, together with his sister, Elizabeth, ended
their days therein. The death of the patriarch so unsettled
the members of the Germantown Brethren, that seventeen of
them eventually joined Beissel's followers.

TULPEHOCKEN AWAKENING.

At this period, the hymn-book of the Ephrata Congrega-
tion was again enlarged. For some reason, this edition was
not printed upon a press, but laboriously executed during the
long winter nights in the cabins on the Cocalico with the pen,
by the men and women who lived the solitary life.

The year 1735 opened with a great religious revival,
which assumed large proportions, extending to nearly all the
German settlements in the adjoining counties, and resulting
in large accessions to the Cocalico settler^ent.

In the month of May, 1735, Beissel organized a pilgrim^
age to the Tulpehocken region.

Of all the various movements chronicled in connection

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998 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

with the history of the Ephrata Community none is harder to
explain than the outcome of this revival preached by Conrad
Beissel, in the month of May, 1735.

In following the course of Conrad Beissel, from the time
he first settled on the Miihlbach, we are first of all struck by
his peculiarities, and then astonished beyond measure at the
wonderful power whereby he induced other people to adopt
them. In these days it is hard to understand how it was that
when Beissel established his hermitage in what was then a
desolate region, men and women came from distant parts to
put themselves under his direction. They voluntarily submit-
ted to hardships, bearing burdens — themselves drawing the
plow — and sleeping at night on a rude bench with a billet of
wood for a pillow.^

Perhaps the best illustration of this strange power is in-
stanced by the Tulpehocken awakening, which introduces such
important personages as Rev. Peter Miller and Conrad Weiser.
The former, a pastor of a Reformed congregation, was ranked
among the most devout and learned theologians in the pro-
vince. Educated in one of the best universities in Europe, he
was ordained to the ministry and for four years 'faithfully
served his charges. Of his church officers was the latter —
one of the clearest-headed men in the Province, who for years
was consulted by both civil and military authorities in times
of need and danger, and at the same time was the official
Indian interpreter of the government. Yet both these men
were so carried away by the arguments and eloquence of Con-
rad Beissel, that they, together with several officers of the con-
gregation, left their faith, went to Ephrata and entered there
as humble postulants, and, with the exception of a single fam-
ily, ended their days in the Community.

What these convincing arguments were, at this late day
we cannot tell. The fact remains, however, that we have a
regularly ordained minister of the Reformed Church foi-
saking his congregation and following in the foosteps of one
who but a few years before had been a humble, uneducated,
unknown journeyman baker ; but who now was an evangelist,

I. Some of these benches used by the Solitary for sleeping purposes are
still to be seen in the Sister House at Ephrata.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 999

^ifJiMinwkfaehfhHe /fa vn

und
fmfiA' 2 y ^ 4

TiTUi-rAOB TO BBitsBL't Mamuiceift Hymm-Book of 1734.
OrigloAl in collection of Hlitoricml Society of Peootylvmnla.

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lOOO SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

spreading the gospel of the Master and of Jehovah, his
Father, coupled with a mysticism as inexplicable as it was
sublime.

Johann Peter Miller (Miiller), the son of a Reformed
clergyman, was born early in the year 1710, at Altzborn Obe-
ramt Kaiserslautern in the Palatinate. He was educated at
Heidelberg, and in his twentieth year, he responded to a call
for clergymen from Pennsylvania. He arrived in Philadel-
phia, August 28, 1730, and was ordained in the latter part of
November following.

Soon after his ordination, he became pastor of the Tul-
pehocken Church, and had charge of the union congrega-
tion of Lutheran and Reformed, made up of the Germans liv-
ing in the valley of the Cocalico and the Bucherthal.

It must be remembered that the Tulpehocken region, as
well as the upper end of the Conestoga Valley, was settled
almost entirely by Germans of the Lutheran and Reformed
faiths.

Rev. Peter Miller is described as a man of good stature,
with a kindly face and friendly manner. He was open-
hearted toward those to whom he took a liking, and was
modest and genial, upon which account strangers always tried
to get an introduction to him and sought his society.

He was a man of much learning and had a good theo-
logical training. His disposition, in addition to the simplicity
and kindness of his character, was open, affable, familiar,
easy of access, and agreeable in conversation.

A British officer, who visited Ephrata after the Revolu-
tion, describes him as '*a judicious, sensible, intelligent man;
he had none of that stillness which might naturally have been
expected from his retired manner of life, but seemed easy,
cheerful, and exceedingly desirous to render us every inform-
ation in his power.*'

Of Conrad Weiser, it is said thajt he was "a man who had
received from God remarkable natural gifts and sound judg-
ment, and therefore carried great weight with him into what-
ever sphere he might turn, whether that of nature or of the
church. He was the teacher's [Rev. Peter Miller's] main-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. lOOI

Stay, for they were on intimate terms together, which death
itself did not destroy."

The defection of Miller and Weiser from the orthodox
faith created quite a commotion. It of course materially
strengthened the Community, for aside from other elements
of strength, strategically the fact that Weiser was the official
Indian interpreter was of great value.

The group of new converts on the Tulpehocken, Beissel
planned to organize into a congregation with Rev. Peter
Miller as their pastor. Miller preferred a solitary life, how-
ever, and Michael Wohlfarth was placed in charge of the new
congregation.

Miller retired into solitude at first in a secluded spot on
Mill Run, a tributary of the Tulpehocken, where he was
known as "Peter the Hermit." He remained during the sum-
mer and fall of 1735, but in November of that year, he joined
the Community on the Cocalico.

The members of the local Reformed Church never for-
gave Peter Miller for his defection. No opportunity was
neglected either in public or private to show their disappro-
bation of his course; and it was a common occurrence for
them, when any of the church officers or members met the de-
vout Prior in road or field, to express their contempt by spit-
ting before or upon him. A local family tradition of one of
these Reformed householders states that, upon such occa-
sions, the Prior would never resent the insult, but, merely
crossing his hands over his bosom, would utter a short
prayer or blessing for his tormentors.

No one could have shown more of a true Christian spirit
under such trying circumstances than did Peter Miller. No
matter how persistent his tormentor, if at any time the latter
became involved in trouble, no one was more ready to extend
a helping hand than this same meek enthusiast, Johann Peter
Miller.

Up to this time the Solitary members of the Community
lived dispersed about in the wilderness. Now there was laid
out a camp for all Solitary persons at the spot where Ephrata
was finally established and where Beissel already lived with
some hermits. The Brethren were under the direction of a

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I002 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

prior, and the Sisters under a prioress, or matron, disobedi-
ence to either of whom was reckoned a grievous sin.

Besides, the Community, aside from the Solitary, had re-
ceived numerous accessions, among whom were three children
of Patriarch Mack : Alexander, Valentin, and Elizabeth.

There was no building large enough to hold the entire
congregation. The little homes of the settlers were far too
small, and the Berghaus, which, because of its size was the
favourite place for holding love-feasts and meetings, was too
small to hold the enlarged congregation.

The Solitary and householders, alike, united in the erec-
tion of a new building, which came to be known as Kedar.
Besides the hall for meetings, it contained large halls for
holding the love-feasts. In addition, there was also a number
of small rooms, or kammern, intended for the Solitary, after
the manner of the primitive Greek Church.

The structure was three stories in height, of which the
middle one was the chief. This contained the Saal, or meet-
ing room, besides the rooms necessary for holding the Agapae,
or love-feasts. The upper story, as well as the ground floor
was divided off into small rooms, or kammern, for the Solitary.

Even before Kedar was finished, nacht metten were in-
stituted by the Solitary of the settlement. These were re-
ligious watch meetings held every night at midnight, as at
that hour the Resurrection Morn was expected to be ushered
in. At first they lasted four hours. But as this period left
little time for necessary rest, it was soon reduced to two hours.

The dedication of the house was marked by a general
love-feast which was attended by a generous delegation from
the French Creek English-speaking Seventh Day Baptist
Church.

The completion also marked the founding of the Order
of Spiritual Virgins, the first of which were Maria Hildebrand,
Barbara Meyer, Maria Stattler, and Maria Heidt. The upper
story of Kedar was given them as their retreat from the world.

The ground floor was given over to the strictest of the
single brethren for a similar purpose. It was arranged that
the Brethren should first hold their devotions; and then after
they had filed out of the Saal, the Sisters should enter for their

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. ICX)3

hour of prayer. This was soon changed so that their 'mid-
night prayers were held jointly.

This arrangement not commending itself to the best. judg-
ment of all, it was arranged that a large building should be
erected adjoining Kedar, and devoted exclusively to assem-
bly purposes.

The new structure was known as the Bethaus (House of
Prayer). Beside the large SacU for the general meetings and
public' worship, there were ample rooms and offices for the
love-feasts.

At the time of its completion, the Saal was the largest
and most imposing room for public worship in the Province.
It is described as having two galleries for the Solitary, while
in the east end there was a raised platform for the gray-
bearded fathers. The body of the hall was for the house-
holders or secular members. The walb were as white as lime
could make them, the only decoration being a number of pro-
verbs and sentences of scripture executed in ornamental Ger-
man characters, or script, known as fracturschrift.

The Solitary Brethren who were quartered upon the
ground floor of Kedar were again relegated to the cabins of
the settlement, and henceforth Kedar was handed over to the
Sisterhood. The Saal upon the second floor now became the
chapel of the Order of Spiritual Virgins.

The foundation for a communal life was also laid at this
time. Accordingly, all provisions were delivered to the Sis-
ters in their kitchen, who daily prepared a supper for the en-
tire settlement in a large dining hall, the two sexes being sep-
arated from each other by a dividing secreen.

At the time of the dedication of the great Saal, the Com-
munity was endowed with the historic name Ephrata.

The Settlement now became the rallying-point for all
the German Baptists, both First Day and Seventh Day, in all
that region. The meetings were al^o largely attended by
many Mennonites of the surrounding (tountry, and by such of
the German settlers as were either lukewarm in their fealty
to their own orthodox faith, or were debarred by distance
from attending the services of any organized congregation of
their particular order.

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I004 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Again, the introduction of mystic theology, combined
with some of the esoteric teachings of the Rosicrucian cultus
and a closer form of organization with stricter discipline, added
to the strength of the new community by attracting a nvunber
of kindred spirits who had been imbued with such speculations
in the Fatherland.

With the rapid increase of membership, additional efforts
were put forth by Beissel and his supporters to extend still
further the scope and usefulness of the new institution on
the Cocalicp, which was rapidly gaining a reputation for the
holiness and asceticism of its people.

The first of these eflforts, a decided innovation,' was the
introduction and public reading of confessional papers known
as lectiones. It was ordered that weekly, on the evening of
the Sixth Day, every one should examine his heart before God
in his own cell, and then hand to the Superintendent a written
statement of his spiritual condition, which was to be read' at
the meeting of the congregation on the following Sabbath.
A number of these papers were afterward collected and
printed. It is remarkable that the most unlearned and simple-
minded stated their condition so artlessly, unreservedly, and
simply, that one cannot but be astonished at their guileless-
ness.

The second new departure of the year was a missionary
movement, the object of which was to influence the Germans -in
West Jersey, where a number of Baptists were settled in Am-
well. For this purpose a pilgrimage on a large scale was
undertaken, in which twelve fathers of the congregation joined,
prominent among whom was Conrad Weiser.

This pilgrimage was under the personal leadership of
Conrad Beissel and his trusty lieutenant, Wohlfarth. All were
clad in the coarse garb of the pilgrims of old, the habit reach-
ing to the feet and secured with a rope, or girdle, about the
waist. This band, with their long full beards and sharp fea-
tures, their broad brimmed hats,^ sandaled feet, and long staffs,
walking in silence in single file, with head bowed down, could
not fail to attract attention wherever they appeared.

I. Sachse't statement.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IOO5

Their journey led through Nantmeal and Coventry in
Chester County, and after visiting and exhorting their
English-speaking brethren in the former place, and their
German brethren in the latter, they crossed the Schuyl-
kill at Parker's Ford, proceeding over the hill and down the
Reading road, through the German settlements — Lutheran,
Reformed, and Mennonite — to Germantown where another
halt of a few days with the Solitary on the Wissahickon, still
under the leadership of Seelig and Matthai, after which they
proceeded to Philadelphia, where they again held forth from
the court house steps, admonishing the populace and advanc-
ing the truths of the Sabbath.

After a somewhat protracted stay in Philadelphia, the
party finally crossed the Delaware River, and journeyed into
New Jer§ey. Here, too, their austere aspect and humble de-
portment greatly impressed the onlookers. Wherever a Ger-
man settlement was to be found, there they went, preaching
and admonishing and exhorting the settlers to repentance.

Thus they pursued their journey until they arrived at
Amwell, where, as already stated, there existed a congrega-
tion of German Baptists. There the pilgrims met with a
cordial welcome, and an awakening or revival of religion at
once took place, and as a result preparations were begun to
form a congregation similar to the one on the Cocalico — ^an
event which, in the end, proved but a partial success.

The most important event of the year (1736), however,
was the issuing of an enlarged edition of the hymn-book of
1732, with an appendix, of fifty-two pages on mysticism. It
was printed by Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia.

It must not be assumed that these Solitary Brethren spent
all their time in mystical speculation and religious devotion.
That manual labour was not neglected is shown by the fol-
lowing note of Peter Miller :

"At that time works of Charity hath been our chief occupation:
Canestogues was then a great wilderness, and began to be settled
by poor Germans, which desired our assistance in building houses for
them; which not only kept us employed several summers in hard
carpenter's work, but also increased our poverty so much that we
wanted even things necessary for life."

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I006 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

In addition to these labours, the ground was tilled and
contributions of grain were secured which were stored to
supply the wants of the poor. Substantial assistance was
never refused to such as needed it, and a sweet spirit of
charity pervaded the settlement: the Solitary of both sexes
freely responded to all calls of mercy or humanity. Works of
charity and benevolence indeed occupied most of the time of
the Solitary when not engaged at their devotions, which, how-
ever, were so regulated as not to interfere with their daily
labour, and upon that account were mainly held after night-
fall. This unselfish activity was carried to such an extent
that they frequently lacked the supplies necessary for their
own daily wants.

About this time the Community was thrown into con-
fusion by an effort of the town constable to collect from the
Solitary Brethren what was known as "single men's tax,"
which was levied under the provincial laws.

This effort was resisted, and Peter Miller, the four Eck-
erlin brothers, and Martin Brenner were seized and taken to
Lancaster. Here in default of taxes or bail, they were im-
prisoned. After ten days, Tobias Hendricks, a venerable
justice of the peace, offered bail for them, taking their bare
word that they would appear in court when wanted, and they
were released.

When court convened the six brethren duly made their
appearance according to promise. After satisfactorily declar-
ing their allegiance to the King, and upon being asked whether
they would pay the taxes, they answered:

"Not the head-tax; because they acknowledged no worldly author-
ity's right over their bodies, since they had been redeemed from
the world and men. Moreover they considered it unjust that, as they
were pledged to spend their lives in their present condition, they
should be measured by the same standard as vagabonds and be made
to pay the same tax as these. If they would consider them as a
spiritual family they would be willing to pay of their earthly pos-
sessions what was just."

The court accepted their proposition, and an order was
entered to that effect and made permanent. The amount of
tax was next fixed, upon the suggestion of the Brethren, at

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THE KISS OF PEACE.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. lOO^

forty shillings for the settlement as a whole, and the prisoners
were discharged.

Great was the joy of the six Brethren, when free again
and out of the toils of the law. It was with light hearts that
they started on their long tramp through forest and field to
the Cocalico. When they arrived in the settlement it was
already after midnight and the night-watch was in full ses-
sion. Fervent prayers were being offered for the release of
the absent ones. During invocation the six Brethren silently
filed into the Saai,

It was an impressive and picturesque scene: the large
Saal, with its two galleries, shrouded in semi-darkness, the
only light being the flickering tallow candles, one of which
stood in front of each worshipper: the dark shadows in tfie
corners ; the six released Brethren silently ranging themselves
in front of the platform with heads bowed and hands crossed
upon their breasts similar to the penitents of old ; Conrad Beis-
sel standing erect upon the platform, austere and immovable;
and the various long-bearded Solitary, sitting upon the hard
wooden benches, listening to the invocation in behalf of the
absent Brethren.

With the entry of the party, a hush at once came over
the assembly. For a few moments the silence was painful;
then it was broken by the stentorian voice of Brother Conrad
Weiser intoning the impressive old German hymn of Martin
Luther, Eine Feste Burg ist unser Gott. Before the singing
of the first line had been completed the hymn was taken up by
all present, until the strains of the rugged melody reverber-
ated throughout the large room. It was a spontaneous thank-
offering emanating from the hearts of the assembled Brethren.
When the hymn was finished thanks were offered and the
night-watch closed with an inipressiye address by Beissel on
the power of the Beast upon earth.

Shortly after this incident, Governor George Thomas
made an official visit to the settlement. He was accompanied
by a large retinue of prominent people from Virginia and
Maryland. The fame of the settlement was not alone the
result of the sensational trial just closed, but was mainly due
to the professed holiness of the Brethren and Sisters, and the

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I008 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

austere life of the Solitary, together with theip reputation for
acts of charity which had already spread over the country far
beyond the bounds of the Province.

Upon this occasion, Governor Thomas declared himself
well pleased with the institution and first offered to Conrad
Weiser a commission as justice of the peace — ^an offer which
was subsequently accepted.

Another noteworthy incident of the year 1736 was an
unsuccessful effort of the Germantown Baptists, who visited
Ephrata for that purpose, to combine the two congregations.

At about this time, intercourse between Germantown and
Ephrata was at least partly- responsible for a movement to
establish a community of Solitary at the former place.

This movement was headed by Stephen Koch, who in
company with Alexander Mack and Heinrich Hocker in the
summer of 1737 retired into the wilderness near Wissahickon
and there erected a one-story loghouse to be used as a com-
munity house. This became known as the Kloster (or Clois-
ter), the German word for monastery, a name which has fol-
lowed the spot to the present day.

The cabin was finished in the early fall and occupied at
once. The first religious service was held there October 14,

1737.

The personnel of the inmates varied from time to time,
some joining the Community at Ephrata, and others returning
to their former manner of life, and still others occasionally
entering the Kloster. But amid all the changes, Stephen
Koch remained.

In the summer of 1738, under Koch's leadership, a gen-
eral religious revival took place in and about Germantown.
He was assisted by Rev. Peter Miller, Samuel Eckerlin, and
Michael Wohlfarth, who were in Germantown supervising the
printing of a new hymn-book for the Community at Ephrata.

As a result of this movement, which was aggressively
opposed by several of the Germantown Baptist Congregation,
led by Peter Becker, some twenty or more members of that
congregation left Germantown and joined the settlement on
the Cocalico in the summer of 1739. It was many years be-
fore the Germantown congregation recovered from this loss
(63)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IOO9

of membership and then only by the efforts of some
of the seceders who returned to Germantown in aid of the
scattered congregation.

Stephen Koch left the Kloster on the Wissahickon, March
27, 1739, and removed to Ephrata, leaving the Hocker family
as the sole tenants. They kept it as a sort of hermitage
for any of the Ephrata Solitary who might come to the
vicinity, until the following fall, when they too removed to the
Cocalico and it was closed and left tenantless.

On this spot occupied by the log-cabin Kloster, there was
built, between 1746 and 1752, a handsome three story stone
mansion as a homestead, by Joseph Gorgas, who was a miller
or millwright. Here Gorgas, doubtless, often entertained the
Solitary from Ephrata until he sold it in 1761 to Edward
Milner, and Gorgas and his wife themselves joined the Solitary
at Ephrata.

During the summer of 1736, a pioneer group of evangelists,
appeared in the Province from Germany, known as the Unitas
Fratrum, or United Brethren — the Moravians of the present
day. Upon Beissel's invitation they visited Ephrata, and
friendly relations were established.

During the winter of 1736-37, Michael Wohlfarth pub-
lished both German and English versions of his Testimony,
delivered publicly in Philadelphia in September, 1736. Both
versions were from Benjamin Franklin's press.

Such of these writings as were published in English at-
tracted considerable attention among the Quakers and Seventh
Day Baptists in Pennsylvania and adjoining provinces, and in
some cases were even the means of bringing converts into the
fold of the English-speaking Seventh Day Baptists. All this
tended to strengthen the intercourse between the congrega-
tions whose bond of sympathy was the Bible Sabbath. Visits
were made and returned between the leaders at Nantmeal on
French Creek, and Ephrata, and great respect was always
paid by the English-speaking Seventh Day Baptists to the
Germans on the Cocalico on account of their austere life and
holiness.

Conrad Beissel also kept his pen active at this time.
He proposed the publication of a new German hymn-book, not

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lOIO SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

only for the use of the Ephrata Community, but for the use
of other German congregations as well. For this purpose
Beissel and several of his immediate supporters composed a
number of spiritual and mystical hymns. To these were
added the hymns contained in the Franklin imprints of 1730,
1732, and 1736, and the manuscript collection of 1734, along
with a large number of hymns used by the inspired in Ger-
many, making a total collection of about seven hundred hymns
in number. This collection enjoys the distinction of being the
first book to be printed in German type in America.

The business relations of the Community with Benjamin
Franklin had not been altogether pleasant owing to the con-
tempt in which the latter held the former, despite the fact that
their patronage had contributed so largely to his early pros-
perity. He uniformly spoke of them as "Dutch** and their
books as "Dutch" books.

Thus, when the new hymn-book was ready for the press,
Beissel was ready to entertain a proposal from Christopher
Sauer that its publication should be delayed a year to enable
the latter to establish the necessary plant and then print the book,

Sauer and Beissel had been congenial spirits in Germany,
where the former was a journeyman tailor, but after his com-
ing to America he had been a farmer until his wife deserted
him to become a Solitary of the Ephrata Community.

Sauer now gave up agricultural pursuits, and repaired
to Germantown, where he engaged in various trades, x:hiefly
those of carpenter, wheelwright, and cabinet maker. He was
probably instructed in the mechanic arts by Dr. Christopher
Witt, a former member of the Kelpius Community. In due
course of time, he became a clock-maker and established a
shop in Germantown — a trade he followed for ten years after
he embarked in the printing business.

Franklin, at the suggestion of Beissel and the Eckerlins
had started in June, 1732, a German newspaper, which was
supposed to be a translation of the Pennsylvania Gazette.
This was not altogether satisfactory, however, and Sauer
conceived the idea of setting up a German press. Allying
himself with the Lutherans, he endeavoured to get them to
establish a press — with Sauer as its head for the ostensible

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. lOII

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fen <B<Dm6Mf ontcrii^cMidx tTctfe'
mffhd> «u5 gebnidtt 41 i

3aa2>iaill

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M ^ Utttmmi Ut eoniMii (TiMtfim Xintt

&jDittf , onb m ibrcr €rmnnfiranii ouf oic

1Ritt(roa4Ki9(|ufimQI MQrlmigmiil

OM ftittt 0C0r5eit.

^trwamovii t ffic&rwfr fetp C^ino»{^ 6outr. 1719

TITLB-PAGE Of TBB VIKST lOOK niMTBD WITH CUMAN TVfB IN AMUKICA.

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I0I2 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS*.

benefit of the Lutheran Church. His project failed. Sauer
became a Separatist and Franklin printed the hymn book
of 1736.

In course of time, however, Sauer obtained the German
type, and constructed a home-made affair for a press. He
now contracted to print the new Ephrata hymnal. He lacked
the requisite paper, of which Benjamin Franklin had the mo-
nopoly in the Province and refused to let Sauer have it except
at his own price and for cash^ as he flatly refused "credit to
the Dutch.'*

As neither Sauer nor Beissel had the necessary money
for the coveted paper, the outlook was gloomy until Conrad
Weiser came forward and pledged his personal credit for the
amount of the paper bill.

The paper was now secured. Rev. Peter Miller was ap-
pointed proof-reader by the Ephrata Community, with Samuel
Eckerlin and Michael Wohlfarth as assistants, and the print'
ing went forward without delay.

Sauer, however, set himself up as a censor of the hymns.
This caused more or less friction between himself and the
proof-readers; but when the 400th hymn was set up, a per-
sonal controversy arose between Sauer and Beissel which
ended in an estrangement that lasted ten years.

This controversy with Beissel did not, however, estrange
Sauer from the Ephrata Community, as we find a constant
intercourse between himself and some of the mystic Breth-
ren on the Cocalico, especially the faction opposed to Beissel.

Gradually, as the Community on the Cocalico increased
and mystic theology supplanted the plain teachings of the early
Baptist and Sabbatarian movements, it became apparent that
some form of government was needed to ensure a permanent
existence for the new Community, which consisted of both
sexes.

As* is was, the settlement was merely an aggregation of
religious enthusiasts, most of the men living separately as
hermits, or anchorites. An effort had already been made to
organize the single women into the Order of Spiritual Vir-
gins, as previously stated. But all efforts to effect a similar
organization among the Brethren had been unsuccessful.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IOI3

The only government of this peculiar settlement consisted
of the dictates of Conrad Beissel, or Brother Conrad as he
was usually called, and even these were frequently ignored,
as there was no means of enforcing them.

Now, however, the number of Brethren required to com-
plete the mystic number of forty — ^the figure of Rosicrucian
perfection — being available, renewed efforts were made to
change the solitary mode of life into a conventual one. This
movement culminated in the establishment of a mystic monastic
society. Rev. Peter Miller explains this step as follows:

That f Monastic life was judged to be more inservient to sancti-
fication than the life of a Hermit, where many under the pretense
of holiness did nothing but nourish their own selfishness. For as
the Brethren now received their Prior, and as the Sisters their
Matron, and we were now compelled to learn obedience, and to
be refractory was judged a crime little inferior to high treason.

From the beginning of the formation of the congrega-
tion on the Miihlbach, its members had adopted the plain garb
of the Quakers. This was the same course pursued by the
Seventh Day Baptists of Providence and Nantmeal and later
by the German Baptists of Germantown and elsewhere.

There were, however, certain innovations which were
gradually adopted by the Conestoga congregation — peculiar-
ities in dress which are still to a greater or less degree in
vogue in Lancaster and the adjoining counties. There was
a strong tendency to revert tovEdenic dress so far as existing
laws and conditions would permit — the present-day cry of
"Back to Nature."

Conspicuous features of this sf:heme were letting the beard
and hair grow, going barefoot whenever weather would permit,
and a vegetarian diet. As a result excellent health and a ripe
old age were expected.

In the religious ceremonies incident to the love-feast and
Lord's Supper, when the kiss was passed each brother would
grasp his neighbour's beard with the right hand as he gave him
the salute. This particular custom appears to have been con-
fined to the Zionitic Brotherhood and was based on Biblical
origin (IL Samuel xx., 9).

Upon the organization of the monastic community the
dress of the members received renewed consideration. The

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I0I4 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

avowed object was a return as nearly as possible to the life
and customs Of the primitive Christians, and it was believed
that dress had much to do with accomplishing this end.

The style finally adopted for the men was a modification
of that of the Capuchins, or White Friars, and consisted of a
shirt, trousers, and a sort of waistcoat, together with a long
gown to which was attached a pointed cowl or monk's hood.
A belt or girdle was used with the gown. The habit of the
Sisters differed only in the substitution of a woman's skirt
for trousers, and the hood or cowl being rounded instead of
pointed. The sisters also wore a large apron which covered
them entirely in front and extended down the back as far
as the girdle; it was somewhat similar to the Roman Scapu-
lary, and was a distinguishing mark of their spiritual betrothal.
When the different members of the Order attended public
worsjiip, they wore in addition a special short cloak which
reached well down to the waist ; this garment also had a cowl
attached which could be pulled over the head. This dress,
for both sexes, was made of unbleached linen, or wool, ac-
cording to the season of the year.

The secular congregation soon after adopted a gown of
gray color, as a distinguishing mark from the Solitary. This
was to be worn at divine service as well as upon all public
occasions, such as baptisms, processions, and pilgrimages.
There was also some distinctive mark for widow's and widow-
ers. This garb, although received with great favour at first,
was soon discarded.

The Solitary, however, adhered to their dress so long as
the monastic order survived.

Besides the distinctive dress adopted by the Solitary, they
adopted the custom of dropping their baptismal names, and
substituting others; e. g., Johann Conrad Beissel became
Freidsam Gottrecht; Rev. John Peter Miller, Agrippa, or
Jaebez; Hermann Zinn, Macarius; and Maria Hocker, Petro-
nella. There is no complete roster of either the Brother-
hood or Sisterhood.

Of many, the monastic name only, is known, the Christian
and family names being lost. Moreover, several of the Mo-
nastic names are duplicates, being merely different forms of
the same name.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

lOIS

A snSXTUAL VIRGIN IN THB HABIT OP TMB OftDBR, tKBTCH ON FLY-LKAP OF
MSS. HYMNAL, DATBD 1745.

(Original in the collection of Julius F. Sachse.)

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ioi6

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

BooD Worm mw tbb Sutbmiood, showing Capb and Lapbu. (Onc-sixUi slse.)

GROWTH OF COMMUNITY.

Among the important events of the year 1738, was the
formation of the Zionitic Brotherhood and the erection of a
large building for the uses of this mystic society.

In the meantime members continued to flock to the set-
tlement from all parts of this and other Provinces; and the
regular congregation at Ephrata became the largest Sab-
batarian Settlement in the Province.

About this time came to the settlement Ludwig Blum,

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WITHIN THE SAAL.

Entrance from Sister House. Facing toward Northwest.

General View. The Preacher's Table.

Southwest Corner. Northwest Corner.

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' GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IOI7

a musician, who virtually introduced the system of music pe-
culiar to the Ephrata Kloster.

Moreover the Brethren of the Berghaus found their home
the rallying point for all the mystics in the Province, and as
their numbers increased, they clamoured for better accom-
modations, similar to those of the Sisters at Kedar. The
necessary funds for this were finally supplied by one of their
members, a young Swiss of means.

BROTHERHOOD OF ZION.

The Brotherhood of Zion was, in short, an organization
which practiced the mystic rites of Freemasonry of the
eighteenth century, which were very different from the rites
of Rosicrucian philosophy which was so dear to the hearts
of Beissel and Miller. The leading spirits in the Brotherhood
of Zion were the four Eckerlin brothers. In direct contrast to
Beissel and Miller, who were religious and retiring, the Ecker-
lins were, to say the least, ambitious and over-bearing — a dif-
ference which finally led to the expulsion of the latter from
the community.

Love of mysticism in Lancaster County, was by no means
wholly confined to the German religious enthusiasm. During
the earliest days of its history a Masonic lodge was organized
among the wealthier English residents. This was undoubtedly
the first Masonic lodge organized in the Province outside of
Philadelphia.

Nothing, however, appears to show any connection be-
tween the English-speaking Freemasons and the German
mystics on the Cocalico.

The new building, placed on an elevation overlooking the
valley and the mountains, was constructed after designs such
as to render it appropriate to the uses of the Zionitic Brother-
hood.

In December of the year 1738, a second pilgrimage was
made to Amwell, in New Jersey. Ever since the pilgrimage
of 1736, intercourse had been kept up between Ephrata and
Amwell. The second pilgrimage was highly successful, the
revival meetings resulted in a great outpouring of the Spirit.
Resolutions were passed by the German Baptists of Amwell

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I0l8 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

looking more distinctly than before to the establishment of
orders and discipline similar to those at Ephrata.

Beissel attempted to carry this plan into effect, but it
proved abortive and was finally abandoned, and those who
accepted the truth of the Sabbath migrated to the Cocalico.

zion's saal.

In order better to accommodate the growing needs of
all the interests of the Community, it was determined in the
fall of 1739 to erect a building to be used as a prayer-house
and a school house alike and to place it on Zion Hill adjoin-
ing Zion, the building occupied by the Brotherhood of Zion.
This was to be large enough to accommodate the secular
Seventh Day Baptist congregation as well as all of the Solitary
and other enthusiasts in the bounds of Ephrata. For this
building a new tower clock and bell were sent over from Eu-
rope by the father of Rev. Peter Miller.

As soon as the new building was well under way, a mys-
terious order was issued, now believed to have been inspired
by the Eckerlins, for the destruction of the ornate and beauti-
ful House of Prayer adjoining the Sister House, Kedar,
which had been erected but a little more than three years be-
fore.

This new building, Zion's Saal, was projected upon an ex-
tensive scale; it was three stories in height, and when fin-
ished was a large and sightly structure. The lower story was
a large hall, designed to accommodate the entire congrega-
tion, secular as well as the mystic or recluse, when assembled
for public worship. The walls were adorned with texts in
ornamental script, such as are still to be seen in the Saal. At
one end of the hall (most likely in the east), a platform and
choir with a gallery were built, the lower part for the Zionitic
Brotherhood, and the gallery for the Sisterhood. In front
of this choir or chancel, the Vorstehcr had his seat and desk,
or table, while the entire body of the hall was furnished with
chairs and benches for the secular congregation. In the second
story was a large hall, or Saal, arranged and furnished with
all conveniences and appliances for holding the Agapae, or love-
feasts, as well as for performing the service of the pedelavium.

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THE SAAL AND SISTER HOUSE AT EPHRATA.

^outh Front of Sister House.

Angle of Saal and Sister House from N. E.

The Saal (Peniel).

Sister House (Saron) from N. W.

South Gable of the Saal.

Angle of Saal and Sister House from S. W.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IOI9

or washing of feet. The third story was divided into a num-
ber of cells, or klausen, for the Solitary Brethren of the Zion-
itic rite.

On the Sabbath Day, July 5, 1740, the last joint divine
services were held in Kedar, after which the building, for
the time being, fell to the exclusive use of the Sisterhood, or
Order of Spiritual Virgins. On Wednesday, July 16, 1740,
the new Prayer-house of Zion was dedicated to its pious uses
with imposing religious and mystic ceremonies. To the former,
all Sabbatarians from far and near were invited, not excepting
the Welsh and English Seventh Day Baptists in Nantmeal
and Newtown, in Chester County; invitations were also scat-
tered broadcast among the Germans beyond the Schuylkill.
The hospitalities of the Community were extended to all who
came; love- feasts were held and pledges of faith renewed.

From this time forward, the congregation, as well as the
orders, held their devotions in the new building, and it was
this building that was cpnverted into a military hospital for
the sick and wounded during the Revolutionary War, shortly
after the Battle of Brandywine.

INTERNAL DISSENSIONS.

Internal dissensions arose in the Brotherhood of Zion,
in which Beissel did not interfere so long as the Prior, or
active head of the order, remained subordinate to him (Beis-
sel).

Unfortunately for the Sabbatarians throughout Lancaster
County, the completion of this large and elaborate house
of worship did not stop the bickerings between the two orders
of the Solitary, nor equalize the interests of the secular mem-
bers with the peculiar ideas and actions of the mystics. It
was scarcely two months after the dedication, when the differ-
ences between the two mystic orders became so great that a
separation took place, 'and each held its religious services
independent of the other. The secular congregation now regu-
lated their services regardless of the others and held them at
such times as suited themselves, without reference to either of
the Solitary orders.

The new clock and bells given by the father of

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I020 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Rev. Peter Miller, were placed on the new building. The
clock was fitted with a device for chiming the bells, which rung
them at different times during the day and night, calling the
religious devotees to prayer.

These innovations, together with the rites and ceremonies
of the two orders, interfered still further With the worship of
the secular congregation, and before another month had pass-
ed, several prominent members entered a vigorous protest
against their exclusion, or the curtailment of their rights and
privileges.

A NEW PRAYER-HOUSE.

A heated discussion ensued, which resulted in the with-
drawal of several of the prominent members of the congre-
gation from the Community, and in a general compromise
being effected whereby another prayer-house was to be built.
Owing to the extreme inclemency of the weather, however,
the work proceeded slowly, and the fall and following winter
had passed and the spring opened before the work moved with
satisfying rapidity.

DEATH OF WOHLFARTH.

In the midst of this work, the Community was called upon
to mourn their loss hf death of Michael Wohlfarth (known
as Brother Agonius). His death at this time proved a serious
loss, not only to the Solitary on the Cocalico, but to the Sab-
bath-keepers, German and English-speaking alike, throughout
the Province. Bold and aggressive, fearless and sincere, as
he was, Michael Wohlfarth may well be called an apostle of
Sabbatarianism. Believing it to be his duty to preach the
keeping of the Seventh Day, he was wont to travel on foot
from place to place, staff in hand, dressed in a pilgrim's garb;
and no matter where he was, on the roadside or in the market-
place, in meeting-house or church, in town or country, in sea-
son and out of season, he boldly and fearlessly proclaimed his
doctrine and admonished his hearers, being oblivious to taunts
or persecution ; wherever he could find an audience there was
his voice heard admonishing to penance and obedience to
God's command as to His Holy Sabbath Day.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

I02I

SiSTBR HOUSB AND SAAL PROM SOUTHWEST.

Wohlfarth, or Welfare as he was known among the En-
glish-speaking people, was one of the earliest religious leaders
among the Germans to employ the printing-press to reach the
populace, of both German and English nationality, versions of
his work being published in both languages. He was well
known to Benjamin Franklin, to whom we are indebted for
the only recorded reason why the Ephrata Sabbatarians never
promulgated or published a confession of faith. In his auto-
biography, after reciting the fact that he had suggested to
Wohlfarth that it might be well to publish their articles of
faith and code of discipline in order to silence calumniations
of certain sects opposed to them, Franklin says that Wohlfarth
gave the following reason for not doing so:

AN OLD PICTURE OF EPHRATA CLOISTER.

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I022 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

When we were first drawn together as a society, it had pleased
God to enlighten our minds so far as to see that some doctrines,
which we once esteemed truths, were errors; and that others, which
we had esteemed errors, were real truths. From time to time He
has been pleased to afford us further light, and our principles have
been improving, and our errors diminishing. Now we are not sure
that we have arrived at the end of this progression, and at the per-
fection of spiritual or theological knowledge; and we fear that, if
we shpuld once print our confession of faith, we should feel our-
selves, as if bound and confined by it, and perhaps be unwilling to
receive further improvement, and our successors still more so, as
conceiving what we, their elders and founders, had done to be some-
thing sacred — never to be departed from.

The funeral was attended not only by the Sabbath-keepers,
but by settlers of all denominations for miles around, who came
out of respect for the deceased exhorter. The services were
performed with much ceremony. As his body was lowered
into Its last resting place in the gaveyard adjoining the set-
tlement, the Sabbatarians sang a special funeral hymn, com-
posed for the occasion by his friend and mentor, the Vorsteher.
The funeral was closed with the mystic rites of the Brother-
hood of Zion.

PENIEL.

Owing to the many drawbacks which the Community ex-
perienced during this building operation, it was not until
September that the new structure was enclosed. A curious
feature of the building, which is still standing, is the extreme
pitch of the roof. This was occasioned by the fact that the
winter of 1740-41 was marked with an extraordinary snow-
fall. This induced the Brethren to raise the angle of the
frame so as to shed the snow the more readily in case the
succeeding winters should prove as severe.

The building was finally completed and dedicated with a
general meeting and a love-feast in December, 1741, upon
which occasion, the Vorsteher named the new building Peniel,
for upon this spot he had wrestled in the spirit and prayed, and
had a vision.

After the dedication, Emanuel Eckerlin (Brother Elime-
lech) was installed as Vorsteher of the new house of prayer,
after which divine services were held under his direction at
stated intervals for the congregation at large.

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INTERIOR OF SAAL.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO23

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.

The arrangement of the Saal at first was entirely differ-
ent from what it is at the present time. As originally designed
and built, it was double the height of the present room ; it was
light and airy, with two broad galleries running north and
south, supported by a single pillar in the centre. The high
ceiling was supported by two heavy beams set at right angles,
thus forming four panels. They, in turn, were supported by
a massive chamfered pillar, which is still in place.

The general entrance for the Brotherhood and congre-
gation at large, was by the door in the west. This has the
same peculiarity as have all the doors leading into the
prayer-halls of the Community, in being very narrow, so as to
carry out the Scriptural injunction that "narrow is the way
that leadeth unto life." In the east, directly opposite the
door and upon a slightly raised platform, stood the preacher's
bench and table.

The two galleries were screened with lattice work, for the
use of the women of the settlement, the north gallery being
reserved for the use of the Order of Spiritual Virgins. In
this arrangement, they followed the custom observed in the
Holland and German synagogues, wherein the women were
relegated to the screened galleries. The entrance to these
galleries was by a door which opened upon a narrow staircase
in the northeast corner of the building, which, in turn, led
to a corridor running the length of the building at the eastern
end.

A narrow door, twenty by sixty inches, gave access to
the north and south galleries. By this arrangement, the Sis-
ters and women of the congregation could enter and depart
from the services without coming into contact with the male
worshippers. Each of these galleries was lighted by three
windows, while the west wall was pierced for four windows.
The plan of the Saal as here described, was continued until
after the adjoining convent became the home of the Sisterhood.

SCANT USE OF IRON.

A peculiarity about these unique Ephrata buildings is the
almost total absence of iron in their construction. Wooden

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I024

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

PuLPtT OP THB Old Bsonoot-SAAU.
From tkctch by Jacob Konlgmacbfic of the original.

pins were used in place of spikes or nails wherever it was
possible to do so. Even the split oak laths which hold the
plaster in place were fastened without the use of nails. . A
channel, or groove, was plowed in the upright timbers, and
the laths were cut to proper length, the ends pointed, and,
after being wrapped with straw and mortar, then slid down in
grooves in the posts.

The absence of iron is explained by the fact that in the
Cabbalistic as well as in Rosicrucian philosophy and Biblical

(64)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

1025

teachings, iron was the metal which was symbolical of night,
or darkness. It was the antithesis of gold, the symbol of
purity and light. Iron was held to be the product of the
powers of darkness, and to be the medium through which all

physical and moral evil was brought into the world. The
many Biblical commands not to use iron in the construction or
preparation of altars and other holy places, were cited in sup-
port of this position. The temple of Solomon, into the con-

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I026

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

struction of which great edifice no iron entered, was a con-
spicuous example of this doctrine.

It was in obedience to these Biblical commands, there-
fore, reinforced by the teachings and traditions of the Order,
that Httle or none of the proscribed metal was used in the con-
struction of the buildings intended for sacred purposes. The
furniture of the Saal was put together entirely with wooden
pins, while the boards which formed the altar were carefully
scoured with fine sand to eradicate every sign of a tool mark
before they were put together for the pious uses in the 6ast
end of the Saal.

Tub Saal and Outbuildings.

They even went further and eschewed metal utensils at
their love-feasts ; their plates or platters were made of poplar
wood, as were the candlesticks used in the religious meetings;
their knives and forks were made of the harder hickory. The
sacred vessels, the paten and chalice, used in the administra-
tion of the holy communion, were also of wood, made by the
brethren, it is said, without the use of iron tools ; and strange
as it may seem, the snow white altar-cloth, or linen cloth used
to cover the table, even to the present day, after being washed,
is smoothed, or "ironed," with square wooden blocks which
are used in place of the ordinary flat or sad iron, so that
none of the unholy iron may touch the altar or its belongings.

ALTERATIONS.

In its interior arrangements, the Saal has undergone rad-
ical changes. The most important one was made some years
after the adjoining convent was handed over to the Sister-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 102/

hood, and the large SacU adjoining the Brother House
(Bethania) was built. It was the division of the Saal into two
separate rooms. For this purpose, the centre pillar was mortis-
ed, and two beams were introduced to carry joists between
the two galleries; these were then floored over, thus closing
the open space. The effect of this change was to make the
Saal the low dingy room that we now see it.*

In the upper part, the lattice work was removed from
the former galleries, and these, with the intervening space now
floored over, formed a large light room of a size correspond-
ing to the one below, — about thirty-six by twenty-sev-
en feet. This room was broken by a single obstruc-
tion only; viz., the large central pillar. Entrance
was gained to the halls upon both floors from the
adjoining Sister House xby narrow doorways of twenty
by sixty inches, in the extreme north-west angle of the room.

After this radical change was effected, the lower room
was continued in its original uses for public worship and oc-
casional love-feasts. The upper room became the private
chapel, or prayer-room of the Sisterhood of Saron.

The public entrance to the lower Saal is by a hooded
door in the west front ; this door is flanked by a small window
upon either side with nine panes of glass. The interior with
its furnishings is extremely plain. The walls are wainscoted
about half way up the sides with unpainted boards, above
which they are as white as lime can make them, and for
purity of colour they vie with the linen cloth spread upon the
communion table.

DECORATIONS.

No decorations or ornaments greet the eye, except the old
scriptural texts and allegorical compositions in ornamental
penmanship (fracturschrift) hanging against the walls, and
which were placed there over a century and a half ago. There
are still to be seen within the Saal twelve of these large il-
lustrations of ornamental Kloster penmanship. Once upon a
time, they were choice specimens in the Sisters* writing room,

I. Sachse has b«en closely followed here. An examination, somewhat super-
ficial, made by the present writer, failed to reveal evidence of such original
conditions as described by Sachse.

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I028 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

examples of patient toil and artistic handiwork, unsurpassed
in delicate tracery of flourish and detail, but now yellow and
discolored, — the paper disintegrating and crumbling, with ink
browft and faded, while some of the wording is hardly de-
cipherable. Yet they are priceless mementoes of the past,
showing the present generation to how great an extent educa-
tion and culture flourished among the early German settlers
in this valley.*

Light is admitted to the Saal by six windows in addition
to the two in the west wall; thre^ of these are in the north
and south walls respectively. To keep out the sun these are
shaded with a piece of plain white linen, with a hem at the
top, through which a cord is drawn and fastened at either side
of the casement.

The furniture of the Saal consists of four long tables in
the body of the hall, flanked by wooden benches devoid of
backs, upon either side of the table. Along the sides of the
room are ranged regular benches with backs, while against the
south and west walls a shelf is fastened, high up near the
ceiling, for the hats and wraps of the worshipers.

In the east end, upon a small raised platform, is the
preacher's bench and the communion table ; this is a plain un-
painted wooden affair covered with a white linen cloth, upon
which were usually placed the Bible, hymn-book, and an old
hour-glass, whereby in olden times the length of the preacher's
sermon was regulated.

A door to the left of the preacher's platform leads into
the kitchen offices, this department consisting of a long narrow
room extending the whole length of the house. In this room
are still to be seen the appliances for preparing the viands
and baking the unleavened bread used in the love-feasts. Here
is still the old dough-trough in which the flour was mixed,
and the plain oaken table upon which the dough was worked
until it was ready to shove into the large brick oven, the door
of which opened directly into the room. Here is still to be seen
the reiser, an ingenious tool with which the loaves were scored
before baking so that they would break evenly. Access to this
department was also gained by the door which opened to the

I. Several of these fracturschrift compositions have been successfully restored.

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GERMAN tSEVENlfH DAY BAPTISTS.

GOTT UND

DAS KEUSCHE

Lamm muss stetig in tms wallen

Und uns in Bwigkeit nicht lassen mehr

ERKALTEN.

1029

Translated :

GOD AND

THE IMMACUI.ATE

I«amb must continually within us abide,

Nor tnust He forever let our

ZEAI. ABATE.

FRACTURSCHRIPT TABLET OVER PRBACHEr's BENCH IN SAAL.

private staircase already described, whereby the Sisters Un
charge of the kitchen could enter and depart without being
seen by the other worshipers.

Returning to the Saal of today, we find the girders or
beams of the ceiling supported by two heavy posts in addition
to the mortised pillar. These posts are directly below the
beams which formerly supported the galleries. The ceiling
between the heavy timbers is made of yellow poplar boards,

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1030 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

with narrow laths covering the joints, and, like all other wood-
work in the Saal, is unpainted and kept as scrupulously clean,
as when the Sisters of Saron here reigned supreme.

FOOTPRINTS ON CEILING.

The portion of this ceiling beneath the old gallery is
said to be in its original condition. Directly under the old
north gallery rnay be plainly seen at regular intervals the im-
pressions of the naked human foot, that have remained here
during all the lapse of years, notwithstanding repeated at-
tempts to remove them with soap and sand and an applica-
tion of muscle such as only a Pennsylvania-German matron
is capable of.^

In the centre of the room there stood until recent years a
relic in the shape of an old cannon stove, such as was made
early in the nineteenth century and designed to consume an-
thracite coal. Specimens of this kind are seldom seen now.
It is now replaced with a stove of more modem type.

The historic Saal now serves as a meeting-house for the
local German Seventh Day Baptist Congregation, who since
the year 1813 are the legitimate successors to the old commun-
ity. Religious services are held upon the Seventh Day when-
ever a preacher can be obtained, as they divide their time
among the congregations of Ephrata, Snow Hill, Salemville,
Morrison's Cove, and other points.

The room, as well as the services held therein, is still as
in the days of yore, — in appearance as plain and unadorned as
were the first Quaker meeting-houses, the services as fervent
now as when led by the austere Prior Jaebez (Rev. Peter
Miller.

For several years the upper part of Peniel was divided
off into rooms and used as tenements, but in the year 1899,
under the direction of the board of trustees, the tenants were
dispossessed, so that the building might be restored to the same
condition as ^ when occupied by the old Sisterhood, and at the
same time put into complete repair, so that it may withstand
the ravages of time, and together with at least one of the two

I. These footprints were doubtless made by some Brother whose bare

feet had become sore or tender and had applied oil or grease to their soles

to ' relieve them and had then walked the length of board in questioiv The
Brethren, it will be remembered, went entirely barefooted in summer.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO3I

Other houses still surviving, it may remain for many years to
come a monument to the memory of the early German Sev-
enth Day Baptists of Ephrata Community, in Pennsylvania.

INFLUENCE OF COMET.

A few weeks after the dedication of Peniel, the appear-
ance of a beautiful comet in the heavens wrought a com-
motion among the mystics at Ephrata and those surviving on
the Wissahickon. The effect upon Beissel was so great as
to inspire him to write a number of mystical hymns subse-
quently incorporated into the collection known as the Paradis-
isches Wunderspiel, These were followed by the Wunder-
schrift, a mystical disquisition by Beissel upon the fall of man.
It was delivered, and then written, in German. Thi^ is per-
haps 'the most remarkable of BeisseKs numerous productions,
and was one of the first pamphlets to be printed on the Ephrata
Press. It is also the scarcest of the Ephrata imprints, and
bears the date 1745. It appeared in both German and En-
glish.

VISIT OF MORAVIANS.

The first visit of the Moravian pioneers to Ephrata in
1736, left such a pleasant impression that upon the arrival of
Bishop David Nitschman and his companions in December,
1740, to reinforce the Moravian party, three of the Solitary-
Brethren at Ephrata were at once sent to welcome and greet
them. In the following March, a larger delegation of the
Solitary made a similar visit. In the following July, a re-
turn visit was made to Ephrata for the double purpose of unit-
ing the two evangelical movements, and of thoroughly in-
vestigating the monastic feature of the Ephrata Community.
The delegation for the latter purpose consisted of Anna Nitsch-
man and David Zeisberger, the elder. The former took up
her abode with the Sisterhood, and the latter lodged with the
Zionitic Brotherhood.

The result of this visit was much bad feeling between the
two communities, owing to the defection of Gottfried
Haberecht from Ephrata, influenced, as charged, by Anna
Nitschman, who was likewise accused of misrepresenting the
attitude of the Sisterhood toward marriage.

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1032 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

3n Wfm re$tm Sdtm uitb Soden

fbM Mr iKum SMt ktmt oetfkm. S^$m^e

3n dncr mi noicit wAnnjiroieinm ®iii^

m 4uf SSetfe bet engftfcficii uKb ^dim

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EFHRAT^ Suvptibus Societatii: l 7 $ 4i

KOHICBD PAC4IMILB OF TlTtB. (ORIGINAL tlH « 8 INCHBS.)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

1033

Differcfltion on

MANS FALL,

Tnattued {torn dicHi^jhrGecauaOqguiaL

TjEHOhT

ICI£ EFHRATENXCf^

k&iied: EPMILifA Anno MDCCLXV*

old n Phnadelphia b% hSOkan Crsktopk

Makshaxi and Wiluau Douiap

TITLB-PAGB OP ENGLISH VERSION OP BBISSBLS' WUNDBRSCHRIPT

Original in Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

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I034

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

3n Mefm Iti^ttnS^tm un^ Sa^minbmcntKatN

JMdjti^ <n <«H(r mneif eanmitm MtbtlMilkc titfb sum £o(
bee ttc^ftn iSotttqtaatcidfUm 0etffit<W«ib <V^Qicil

EPBRi«fC:Typii«eCtaftiifiiSocietMU A: IhMDCCLXYK

TBB OKBAT HYMMAI. OP TBS BPHRATA COMMUMITy.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

1035

BMTKAlfCS TO TRK OLD GOD'S ACRB OF THB I^LOSmU

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1036 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

When Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the Unitas Frat-
rum, or Moravian Church, in Germany, visited America in
1 74 1, he was astonished to find the hold that the Sabbatarian
doctrine had upon the entire German populace of Pennsylvania,
and particularly upon his own followers. For some time
the Moravians had been keeping not only the First Day of the
week, but the Seventh also. This practice, upon investigation.
Count Zinzendorf was constrained to approve, himself.

SYNODS.

On December 30, 1741, Zinzendorf issued a call for a
synod, or religious conference, irrespective of denomination,
of all people, including the English, Swedish and German
Lutherans, and the Scotdh, Dutch and German Reformed, be-
sides a numerous list of German Sectarians. In this large and
variegated assemblage, the Ephrata delegation was accorded ^
the place of honour. Israel Eckerlin was at the head of the
delegates from Cocalico, and to him Count Zinzendorf paid
much attention, and arranged that another synod should be
called at Ephrata two weeks later. This arrangement, how-
ever, did not meet with the approval of the Community, and
it was arranged that the conference be held elsewhere.

In all there were seven of these synods, or conferences, but
they failed to accomplish the purpose for which they were
designed.

Count Zinzendorf appears to have made two visits, per-
sonally, to Ephrata, but it does not appear that on either
occasion he met Beissel. Several efforts were made subse- -
quently to induce the secular brethren of the Ephrata Com-
munity to leave the fold of the Seventh Day Baptists and unite
with the Moravians, but the scheme was always foiled by the
influence of Beissel, or the actions of his deputies who at-
tended the conference.

HEBRON.

The Eckerlins conceived a scheme for inducing such
members of the secular congregation as occupied lands adjoin-
ing the settlement to bring themselves to a still higher spiritual
condition. The plan was to erect a large building to be divid-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO37

ed into two parts, one for the fathers and the other for the
mothers ; and upon their entering this establishment their farms
and landed estates were to be handed over to the Brother-
hood, thus becoming convent property.

This cunningly devised scheme to possess themselves of
the settlers' lands and improvements was presented to the
Vorsteher, with the argimient that several couples had recently
separated, the men entering Zion and the women Kedar, and
that there were many others ready to take the same course.
Beissel's consent to the scheme was thus secured.

It was not until the spring of 1743, however, that a build-
ing was erected for this specific purpose. It was built at right
angles to Peniel, and was called Hebron, As interpreted in
Ephrata, this name symbolized the end of conjugal life.

By Christmas, 1743, the new house was ready for dedi-
cation. Its dimensions were thirty by seventy feet. It was
divided into two parts, one of which was to be occupied by
the men, with an entrance on the north side. The other part
was for the matrons, their entrance being on the south side.
It was so designed that each division was a counterpart of the
other. In addition there were rooms, chambers, and a hall
for love-feasts, similar to those in Zion and Kedar, and in
order fully to introduce the monastic discipline, several of the
Zionitic Brotherhood moved into the house and took charge
of the services, under the general direction of a steward.

Upon the day set for the dedication, January 12, 1744,
the whole community assembled at Peniel. The crowning
feature of the dedication was the handing of letters of divorce,
previously prepared, to the house-fathers and matrons who had
voluntarily divorced themselves with the intention of improving
their spiritual condition by living separate lives in Hebron.

The entire scheme was doomed to failure, however.
Those who entered the monastic community held on to their
landed property — just what the Eckerlins did not want them
to do. Besides, the children of many of them had been left
at home on the farms, and the power of parental ties soon
began to assert itself. Moreover the civil authorities began
to investigate the extra-judicial divorces which had been is-
sued, with the result that as soon as Beissel was apprised of the

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1038 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

actual state of affairs, he promptly advised the fathers and
mothers to return to their families and resume their former
domestic relations — advice which was promptly acted upon
with happy results in every instance.

After the last couple to renounce their solitary state had
been re-united, a special convocation was called of all the
orders. An altar was erected in the angle formed by Peniel
and Hebron, upon which, after an impressive divine service,
the divorces, or articles of separation, were solemnly burned.

Thus ended this remarkable episode in the history of the
Ephrata Community. Hebron, now vacant, was handed over
for the use of the widows and poor of the settlement, who
had been sheltered by the Hebron Community, and were now
supported by the labour of the Zionitic Brotherhood.

SARON.

After the failure of the Hebron Community, a proposition
was made to pass over to the uses of the Sisterhood the two
buildings in the meadow. This suggestion meeting with the
approval of Beissel and other leaders, steps were taken to
carry i^ into effect forthwith.

The proposition was that the Order of Spiritual Vir-
gins should be reorganized into an order similar to that of the
Zionitic Brotherhood, and that thenceforth the female celibates
should be known as the Roses of SaroUy according to the
mystical interpretation of the second chapter of the Song of
Solomon, Hebron was to become Saron and Peniel the
Schwester-Saal, and these two names, Saron and Saal have
remained until the present day. Kedar was to be devoted to
the use of the widows who had been temporarily quartered in
Hebron.

By the first week in July, 1745, the necessary alterations
had been completed, and on the 13th of that month the dedi-
cation took place. Thenceforth the Sisterhood became a sepa-
rate order, entirely independent of the Brotherhood. Father
Friedsam Gottrecht (Beissel) was the acknowledged spiritual
director and leader, however.

The celibates were now divided into seven classes, each
class having its own special duties. The arrangement of Saron

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

1039

18 ^mi grw f f^mMl

TiTLS-PAGKS OF THB MaIIUSCKIFT CHBOKICON OF TBB KFHFATA SMTBBaOOOlft

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I040 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

was such that several cells, or kammern, opened out upon a
common room containing a fire-place and other conveniences.
Each of these common rooms was used by each respective
class for its own special economy, — thus, there was one
for spinning, another for writing, and others for singing,
for basket-weaving, for quilting, for sewing and embroidery,
etc. Each class was under a sub-inspectress, who was alone
responsible to the Mother Superior ^^ or Mutter Maria (Maria
Eicher).

A separate house-diary, or Schwester-chronic, was com-
menced. This was still in existence a few years ago.

BETHANIA.

The Eckerlins, while yet in the zenith of their power,
conceived a plan for building a large addition, or wing, to the
Zion Monastery. This house was to contain no less than one
hundred kammern, or cells, for that number of male celibates,
together with the necessary community rooms and offices
requisite for their comfort.

The plan for this house, in many respects, was formed
after that of the old monasteries in the Fatherland, and, if
it had been erected as originally designed, would have formed,
together with the other buildings on Zion Hill, a most unique
group of buildings, and afforded ample accommodations for
the anticipated arrivals of novices from both at honn{*and
abroad.

Most extensive preparations were made for the early
completion of this new building. The foundations were laid,
the timbers were made ready, and the needed boards were
seasoning down by the saw-mill.

In the midst of this activity, however, an event occurred
which not only changed the plan for building the house, but
which affected the general policy of the Community as well.
This was no less than the dethronement and expulsion of the
Eckerlins.

After the departure of the Eckerlin party, all work upon
the new building ceased. It was then proposed that the G>m^
munity erect a Brother House in the meadow near to
the Sister House, or Saron, and thus utilize the building ma-
ces)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO4I

terial prq)ared for the monastery. This proposition met with
general favor, and work was begun at once on the new struc-
ture and prosecuted with such vigour that toward the end of
September, 1746, it was up, under roof, and enclosed.

It was now found that there was a sufficient quantity of
heavy hewn timber and other material left over to build an
even larger house than the one just completed. It was pro-
posed to utilize this by building a chapel, or saal, adjoining
the new Brother House. The frame of this Brother-Saal was
raised in November, all the timbers being prepared and put into
place within five weeks. This was the most stately building
tiius far erected by the Community, and surpassed an3^ing
to be found at that time in America.

The new chapel was placed at right angles with the
Brother House, the north gable commencing about in the cen-
tre of the eastern end of the Brother House, and extending
southward a distance of nearly one hundred feet. The main
entrance to the Brother-SacU was by a door in the west front.
The Brotherhood of Bethania, however, had a private entrance
upon each floor. These doors were at the end of the corridors
which divided the monastery, and opened into the extreme
northwest corner of the Saal, It will be observed that the
salient features of the Sister House and adjoining chapel were
reproduced in the Brother-Saal.

In the course of years, the Brother-Saal underwent a
change similar to that of Peniel, in so far that the gallery
was turned into a hall on the second floor, and this large room
was utilized by the Brethren as an academy, or classical school.

It is the third floor of the old Brother-Saal, however, that
is of more than ordinary interest to us, as here was set up,
after its completion, the enlarged printing establishment of the
Ephrata Community. Here the type was set,* the levers of the
presses pulled, the sheets printed and hung up on long poles
to dry, — sheets of the Ephrata imprints, some of which, on
account of their scarcity, have since become almost priceless.
Here also the sheets were folded, glued, and stored until the
demand for them warranted their binding.

The Brother-Saal was used for school purposes for many
years after the decline of the Community, until, finally, for

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I042

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

some unexplained reason, it was demolished some time after
the year 1844.^ No picture of this old sanctuary is known.

The old Brother House, however, remains standing to the
present day. Time has dealt kindly with the old landmark.
One of the peculiarities of this building is the recession of the
third floor. Just why this is so has never been explained ; nor
is it known just how the timbers are framed. There is also
a slight projection between the first and second stories. There
have been many changes in the window openings of the old
monastery, and they now present an irregular appearance,
as but a few of the original frames remain.

m^-'..

Thb Old Brother Housb (South Frovt).

As we step into the old house by way of the south door,
the visitor is attracted by the narrow and steep staircase, with
a rope affixed to the one side, by the aid of which the mystic
recluses ascended^ the steep and narrow flight of steps. Just
how the lower floor was originally arranged is difficult to
surmise, in view of the changes made in late years, since the
rooms have been used for tenement purposes. Originally, the
lower floor was undoubtedly used for a refectory and ^or
culinary purposes.

Vi.

I. Rev. Walter B. Gillette, who visited Ephrata about the end of that
ear, says the Brother-Saal was still standing at that time although in ruins,
^id. Th9 Sabbath Recorder, Dec. 5, 1844.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IC43

On the second floor, one sees yet the long corridors upon
which the small cells, or kammern, of the religious votaries,
open. The doors are but twenty inches wide. According to
an old record, the Brethren cast lots for the cells after the
monastery was finished.

Several years ago, several of the interior partitions were
removed and the rooms utilized as tenements. Of late, how-
ever, steps have been taken to make all the necessary repairs
to insure the preservation of what remains of the old Kloster
— Bethania, which like its companion, the Sister House, Saron,
across the meadow, forms a unique setting within the old
Kloster confines.^

THE PILGRIMAGE TO NEW ENGLAND.

In the fall of 1744, Israel Eckerlin, Samuel Eckerlin,
Alexander Mack, and Rev. Peter Miller set out upon a pil-
grimage to New England for the purpose of visiting the Sab-
batarian communities there and those that lay between, in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The preparations for the journey were soon made, all
that was required being an extra sole under their wooden
sandals, a sharp iron at the end of their pilgerstab, and a day's
provisions, in addition to a copy of the Weyrauchs Hugely and
a few theosophical tracts.

These simple preparations being complete, a solemn love-
feast was held in the Saal of Zion on Friday night, September
21, 1744, when the bread was broken and blessings invoked
upon the pilgrims. These services lasted until far into the
night, and even the hours between midnight and dawn were
passed in prayer and supplication. On the next morning, Sab-
bath, the pilgrims were present at the meeting of the congre-
gation. After the close of the Sabbath, they started upon their
long journey, accompanied for a short distance by many of
the Brotherhood.

Once fairly upon their way, they walked in single file,
as was their custom, silently and bareheaded, stopping for the
night at any house that offered them shelter. The road selected
led through the German settlements in eastern Lancaster

1. More recently, owing to the ^eatly decayed condition of its founds*
tion timbers, the old Brother House is falling into ruin, and it is doubtless
a question of but a short time when it will wholly disappear.

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1044 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

County, by way of Churchtown, thence north-eastward to-
wards their English Seventh Day Baptist Brethren at Nant-
meal, in Chester County, where a stop was made and several
missionary meetings held.

From the Falls of French Creek, the road was taken
through Coventry. Here visits were made and services held
among the many German families of that vicinity. Thence
the journey led across the Schuylkill to the German settle-
ments scattered along the roadside leading to Germantown.
When the party arrived at the Ridge, a somewhat lengthy ^op
was made with Conrad Matthai, Seelig, and the Brother Mys-
tics on the Wissahickon. The rest of the journey to the city
was uneventful.

After a short sojourn at the house of William Jung, the
Philadelphia agent of the Community, and visits to the Sev-
enth Day Baptist brethren in the city and on the Pennepek, the
four pilgrims started fairly on their journey to a new and
distant country. They attracted no little attention as they
slowly plodded their way north-eastward, crossing the Nesh-
aminy at the Falls, and thence by way of Coryel's ferry into
New Jersey.

At Amwell, in Hunterdon County, another somewhat
lengthy stop was made, as the converts baptized some six
years before still kept up their organization and considered
themselves a branch of the parent Community at Ephrata.
But little more than fifty years ago, the descendants of these
people still kept up an organization and church, but as the old
people died out, the younger generation gradually assumed the
manners, customs, dress, and Sunday observance of the other
residents of the place.

After leaving Amwell, they took up their journey through
the pines and sandy dunes towards the ocean. Their path
led for miles through the unbroken forest, where often for
hours, the monotony was broken only by the note of a bird or
some crawling reptile in their path. Houses were few and far
between, and, in addition, the pilgrims were forced on several
nights to bivouac around a fire in the woods so as to keep
oif any wild beasts, with no other shelter than the canopy of
heaven. Autumn had now well set in, and the nights were al-

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C/5

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. I045

ready cold and frosty. This, however, did not tend to cool
the ardour of the pilgrims nor deter them from their under-
taking.

VISIT TO SHREWSBURY.

Their objective point was that part of New Jersey com-
monly known as Bamegat, where a small company of Sev-
enth Day Baptists had settled in the Township of Shrewsbury,
in Monmouth County, between the waters of the Shark and
Manasquan Rivers. These Sabbatarians had emigrated hither
from Stonington, Connecticut, and Westerly, Rhode Island,
a few years before, and were reinforced by several members of
the family of William Davis, from Pennsylvania. Sachse says.

At the advent of our pilgrims, this community numbered but
fifteen adult members, who, notwithstanding the smallness of their
number, met and signed a covenant shortly after their settlement,
binding themselves to live and walk together as Christian people,
though they had no church organization or pastor.

The pilgrims were kindly received; meetings were arranged
and held in their honour. At these gatherings, Rev. Peter
Miller preached and admonished them to remain steadfast in their
faith. This resulted in a church being organized, and William Davis,
the elder, though in his eighty-first year, was elected pastor.

This was the Shrewsbury Seventh Day Baptist Church,
which, in 1789, emigrated in a body to Western Virginia, and
subsequently became the present Seventh Day Baptist Church
at Salem, West Virginia.

BARNEGAT.

From Shrewsbury, the pilgrims wended their way down
the west shore of Bamegat Bay, to a point almost opposite the
inlet of that name, where was a settlement of New England
Sectarians known as Rogerenes. These people appear among
the earliest settlers of Morris County, New Jersey, whither
they came from New London, Connecticut, in the year 1734.
The party was led by John Culver, or Colver, of Groton, Con-
necticut, and his wife, who were among John Rogers^ earliest
and most faithful followers. They first settled on the east side
of Schooley's Mountain, Morris County, New Jersey. After
about three years, they migrated to wjiat is now Waretown —

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1046 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

so-called from a Rogerene, Abram Waeir — in the present
county of Ocean. After remaining here eleven years they re-
turned to Morris County and settled on the west side of
Schooley's Mountain, between Succasunna and Hopatcong
Creek. It was while they were at Waretown that they were
visited by our pilgrims.

Whether these Rogerenes still observed the Seventh Day
or not, does not appear. They were received with a hearty
welcome, however, and entertained by John Culver, who had
previously made several visits to Amwell and Ephrata and in- -
vited them to come to Barnegat.

After the visit to Barnegat, the pilgrims went to visit a
hermit who lived near Crosswick Creek near Burlington, in
Burlington County. The records speak of him as " J^l^ Lovell,
an old Pythagorean." Who he was, or what connection there
was between the Ephrata Brotherhood and this recluse, does
not appear.

NEW LONDON.

From Crosswick Creek, the pilgrims journeyed toward
New Brunswick, where they had the good fortune to find a
vessel bound for New England. This landed them at Black
Point, Connecticut. After a short sojourn with the Rogerenes
at New London, Connecticut, they proceeded to Rhode Island,
where they made an extended visit among the brethren of the
Newport and Westerly (Hopkinton) Seventh Day Baptist
churches.*

On their return, the pilgrims again visited the Rogerenes
at New London, where they made a very favourable impres-
sion upon people of all denominations. The day of their
departure from New London was made a holiday in their
honour.

They took passage from New London on a sloop for
New York, where, upon their arrival they were arrested
and on account of their monastic garb, charged with being
Jesuits from New Spain. A friend interceded for them, and
they were released.

They now hastened home, going by way of Staten Island,

I. Sachse 8ays accounts of this visit are known to be in existence, but
were not accessible to him at the time of his writing. German Sectarians.
Vol. II., p. 109.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. I047

Woodbridge, New Brunswick, Trenton, and Philadelphia. At
Philadelphia, they stopped three days for rest and then started
on their weary tramp of eighty-six miles to Ephrata. The
bad condition of the roads and the severe weather greatly
retarded their progress, and they were obliged to make an-
other short stop at Lancaster. ^

Finally, however, they arrived within sight of Mount
Zion just as the sun was setting back of the hills in the west.
Falling upon their knees, they offered up a prayer of thanks-
giving for their safe return. A little further on, a stop was ^
made with a house-father, so timing themselves as to arrive at
Zion while the Brotherhood were at their devotions, that they
might once more hear the sweet cadence of the Ephrata Choir.

Great was the surprise of the assembled Brotherhood to
see the four gaunt, haggard figures file silently into the Saal
and take their usual places. After fraternal greetings were
over, arrangements were made to hold a general love-feast
in Peniel on the following Sabbath, to celebrate their safe
return, and to listen to the greetings sent by the brethren at
Amwell, Barnegat, and New England, and the account of their
extended pilgrimage. After this was over, each of the four
Brethren returned to his regular routine of work and prayer,
as if there had been no intermission.

INDUSTRIES.

Undoubtedly the four Eckerlin brothers were the organizers
of the industrial and commercial features of the Ephrata
Community. The various enterprises in which the Solitary
of both sexes engaged shortly after their organization for a
time promised to make the Community the greatest industrial
establishment in America.

Israel Eckerlin was the one who conceived these enter-
prises, and during the few years that he remained in power,
the Brotherhood grew in riches and influence. With his ex-
pulsion by Beissel in 1745, most of the enterprises lapsed or
were discontinued, a notable exception being the printing
office, and it is likely that this was carried on for the sake of
disseminating religious literature rather than for profit or gain.

In the beginning, the cultivation of the ground was the
chief labour of the Brotherhood, and so primitive were their

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1048 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

methods and so scant their resources, that not only did they
drag the plow with their own hands, but even the cart was
drawn in a similar manner.

The first industry at Ephrata of which we have any rec-
ord, was a bakery, which was operated in the interest of the
poor settlers, no charge whatever being made for the bread
or for the baking.

With the adoption of the communal life, a change came
over the scene, and as the Eckerlin brothers assumed charge
of the government of the community, plans were laid for de-
veloping the resources of the land as well as of the people
who composed the settlement. The idea was to make the
community more than self-supporting.

The first move in this direction was to set out a large or-
chard, as well as a row of fruit trees extending entirely around
the Kloster property. A vineyard was also planted.

MILLS^ TANNERY^ ETC.

Next, the Community came into possession of a small grist
mill on the Cocalico, at the foot of Zion Hill, dating from the
earliest days of the settlement of the valley. After the mill
was purchased by the Community, its power was rapidly de-
veloped. The mill was rebuilt of stone, and its capacity in-
creased to three run of stones.

Moreover, in a short time, there were as many as five
different industries centred at this point. First, there was
added a saw mill. Second, there followed what may perhaps
be called the one second in importance, the paper mill of the
Brotherhood, wherein much of the paper was made that was
used during the Provincial period. Third, there was also added
within a few years a skillfully built oil mill, with stones the
like of which existed nowhere else in America ; much of the oil
pressed at the mill was used to make the printer's ink required
in the province. Fourth, looms for weaving both linen and
cloth were set up. Fifth, a fulling mill was also erected, where
the cloth and homespun made in the community and vicinity
were fulled and prepared for use.

A tannery was projected upon a large scale where both
tanning and tawing (Roth und Weisgerberei) were to be car-
ried on. A bark mill, for grinding the oak and hemlock bark,

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO49

was also built. Shoemaking was carried on upon an extensive
scale. The leather was also used for binding books bound by
the Community.

One authority declares that the Brotherhood at one
time operated a pottery, where a crude class of earthenware,
such as milk pots, pie dishes, etc., was made. Corroborative
evidence of the truth of this statement is not wholly lacking,
either.

Horses and wagons were procured to meet the demands
of the various industries, and so greatly did they increase that
they kept three teams on the road almost constantly.

Quarries were opened, and stone prepared for building
and for other purposes. Stone bridges were projected, and
an effort was made to improve the roads. Agencies wfere
established in Philadelphia and elsewhere for the purchase
and sale of supplies and products.

Various industries were started in the Community houses.
One of the earliest of these was a bookbindery, which in
1742-43 was the largest and best equipped shop of its kind in
the Colonies. It was the only one which could undertake to
bind an edition of magnitude.

Even the Sisterhood were not exempted from labour, as,
in addition to their domestic, educational, and musical duties,
tliey carried on spinning, quilting, embroidery, the making of
sulphur matches, and other employments, upon an extensive
scale.

The most important enterprise, however, was undoubtedly
the installation of the printing press, for which the ink and
paper were all manufactured by the Brotherhood, who printed
the sheets, bound the books, and distributed the edition.
\

STONE BULDINGS PLANNED.

Many were the plans laid by the Eckerlins to increase the
income of the Community and place the institution upon a
good financial basis. It was designed that eventually the frame
structures should be replaced by great stone buildings, similar
to the old monastic institutions of Europe. The first of these
architectural monuments was to be an imposing mausoleum
on Zion Hill, for the repose of the Brotherhood of Zion, as

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I050

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS!

THE BUILDINGS SHOWN IN THIS
PICTURE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE
THOSE ON ZION HILL.

they were called from time to eternity. To that end plans
were drawn, stone was quarried and dressed, and other prep-
arations made which were interrupted only by the expulsion
of the Eckerlins from the Community.

ASCENDENCY OF THE ECKERLINS.

When the successful issue of the efforts of the Eckerlins
began to bear fruit, Conrad Beissel, as the spiritual leader
of "the settlement, conjectured that the success of these corn-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. - ' 10$ I

mercial ventures was not only advancing the interests of an
unworthy aspirant for the leadership of the community in
Beissel's stead, but that the worship of Mammon would soon
extinguish the fires upon the altars of spiritual religion, if
the greed for gain and the accumulation of wealth was not
speedily checked.

This brought about a rivalry between Beissel and the am-
bitious Prior, Israel Eckerlin (Brother Onesimus), and ended
with a division of the Brotherhood and an estrangement among
the Sisterhood, the Prioress siding with the opponents of
Beissel.

For some time previous to this rupture, matters, both
spiritual and secular, were in the hands of Israel Eckerlin,
under whose shrewd management the industrial and com-
mercial ventures prospered and the wealth of the Zionitic
Brotherhood increased.

So far as the spiritual affairs of the Community were
concerned, ritualistic and ceremonial innovations were intro-
duced, in which the Prior and Prioress figured as chief actors.
Special robes were now made for the Prior according to his
design and directions, for use in the various functions of his
office. They were the handiwork of the Sisters, and were dif-
ferent from anything thus far used in the Community.

Thus, a distinctive robe was designed, which he (Israel
Eckerlin) put on when officiating at a baptism. Another cos-
tume, assumed upon high feasts when officiating before the
two orders, was patterned after that of the Jewish high priest,
as described in the Book of Exodus. As a model, they used
a picture in an old German Bible. Tradition states that it
was followed even to a row of tinkling bells. The Prior, more-
over, went so far as to have a jeweled breastplate made, which,
according to the record, he wore as a "sign that he had to
bear the sins of his people on his breast, to which fancy, it
is reported, he clung till death."

The Prior now constituted Maria Eicher, the superintend-
ent of the Sisterhood, an Abbess, who forthwith bedecked her-
self with insignia and robes similar to those worn in the con-
vents of Europe. Henceforth, for a time. Prior Onesimus and

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1052 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

Abbess Maria revelled in ecclesiastical pomp and splendour,
and assumed the whole management and direction of the Com-
munity.

HUMILIATION OF BEISSEL AND EXPULSION OF THE ECKERLINS.

The humiliation of Beissel was now complete. Nominally
he was still superintendent, but, as a matter of fact, he was
completely ignored by the aggressive Prior and his supporters,
who gradually deposed him from all power, and forced him to
retire to one of the small cabins where he remained for a
time, sick and neglected by all but a few faithful ones of both
orders. As the Chronicon says :

During which time the Superintendent sat in his house, for-
saken by God, men, and angels, whereof no judgment could be
passed against him, since he did not lay claim to any good for him-
self.

At last, however, Beissel summoned strength enough to
overthrow the opposing party, when he expelled the leaders,
and as he thereby swept away, as it were, the commercial
features, the settlement for a time at least became a spiritual
community again.

I GREAT MATERIAL PROSPERITY.

At the time of the expulsion of the Eckerlins, the mills
of the Community were crowded with orders to their utmost
capacity. At the saw mill, piles of logs were awaiting their
turn to be sawed into timber and boards. In the paper mill, the
demand was so great that orders could be filled only in the dis-
tant future; to supply this demand, it had been necessary to
collect a large stock of rags and have them ready to put under
the stampers as opportunity offered.

The demands upon the capacity of the grist and oil mills
were even more pressing, as they were run not alone upon
the grist, or toll, system, but upon the merchant principle as
well. Wheat, grain, and seed were bought outright by the
Brethren and store^d in granaries until it could be converted
into flour or oil, and then sold at a good profit in the Phila-
delphia markets.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO53

To operate these varied interests, a number of horses,
oxen, wagons, and employees were required, together with
agents and correspondents at different trade centres. All of
this needed a head witK executive ability, and a mind strong
enough to control the working forces and opposing influences
within the Community.

DECLINE OF INDUSTRIES.

Such was the condition at Ephrata in September, 1745.
With the exit of the Eckerlins, an immediate change took
place. The mills were summarily closed, and the announcement
was made that all contracts were canceled; standing orders
would be filled, after which, no grain, wheat, seed, logs, or
rags would be purchased by the Brotherhood, excepting such
as would be required for the uses of the Community. Follow-
ing this notice, all horses, wagons, and oxen were sold and
the employees discharged. One of the chief incentives for
such drastic measures was to refute the charge made "that
the Brotherhood were in reality merely a company of buyers
and traders." The demands upon the Brotherhood for the
products of their mills, however, continued in spite of the
radical retrenchment. The excellence of their flour, the weight
of the oil, and the quality of the paper and cardboard— of
which they were the only makers in America — ^all combined
to create a market for the Kloster products. No effort was
made, however, in after years again to extend the business, or
to cater to any, except home demand.

Thus things went on until the night of December 5, 1747,
when toward morning a great calamity overtook the Com-
munity, and three of the mills were destroyed by fire. By
a supreme effort, the saw mill and paper mill were saved.
The flour mill, with its three run of stones, together with
two hundred and sixty bushels of wheat and a hundred and
fifty bushels of other grains ; the very skillfully built oil mill,
besides a large store of oil and upwards of five hundred bushels
of flax-seed; and the fulling mill, with all its appurtenances,
all fell a prey to the devouring element.

The mills were all rebuilt within a few months and placed

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I054 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

in commission once more. The fulling mill, however, appears
to have been burnt again in 1753.

Soon after the close of the Revolutionary War the grist
mill was enlarged and its capacity increased, in order to meet
the demands made upon it. But this was scarcely completed,
and the mill in active operation again, when it was once more
set on fire, but the flames were stopped before they had done
great damage.

A visit to the old mill seat shows the changes of time. The
oil mill, with its ingenious machinery ; the paper mill, with its
stamper, vats, and sieves; and the fulling mill, with its noisy
rattle, have all long since passed away.

The grist and saw mill, however, which until very recently
stood ready to grind and saw, fed by the Cocalico, as of yore,
have been converted into a private electric light plant for the
use of a wealthy country gentleman, who possesses a large
landed estate not far away.

The upper mill seat, known as the "Bauman" Mill, -was
enlarged in 1791, and later was used exclusively for making
paper and cardboard. We n0w find in its place a large modern
steam flouring miU.

Both mill seats have long since passed from the owner-
ship of the Seventh Day Baptist Congregation, which now
holds sway over the old Kloster confines on the Cocalico.

THE SAUER BIBLE.

Previous to the publication of the Sauer Bible, there was
no low-priced German Bible which was acceptable to a large
number of the Germans of the Province. The distribution of
the Canstein and Amsterdam editions of the Bible was in the
hands of the regularly accredited pastors from Germany. The
Berleburg edition, which was in four large folio volumes came
at the high price £4. 14^. od. Besides, many of the German
Bibles were printed in small type, which could not be read
by older people whose eyes were more or less dimmed by age
or other infirmities, and spectacles as yet were almost unknown
among the labouring classes.

Such was the situation which induced Christopher Sauer
and his associates to consider the advisability of publishing an

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO55

American edition of the Holy Bible— one which should prove
acceptable to all religious factions, and of such size and clear-
ness of type that it could be read easily by the older people,
and at the same time, be within the limit of their means.

The plans for publication of an American Bible in the
German tongue were undoubtedly consummated at German-
town during the printing of the Weyrauchs Hiigel, at a time
when Peter Miller, Conrad Weiser, with two of the Ecker-
lins and others, from Ephrata, were all intimately associated
with Christopher Sauer, and who were then supervising the
publication of that hymn-book, if in fact they did not perform
most of the manual labor connected therewith.

The statement has been made repeatedly in print that
the Sauer Bible of 1743 was the first edition of the Holy
Scriptures to be printed in America. This is correct so far
as any European tongue is concerned, but an error as to the
general statement, because a version in the Indian tongue,
known as the Eliot Bible, was printed and published in Bos-
ton in 1663, fully eighty years before the appearance of the
Germantown Bible.

Just whom the Germantown printer consulted about his
proposed undertaking, or who encouraged him with substantial
assistance at home and abroad, is not known. What share
Conrad Beissel, Peter Miller, the Eckerlins, Johannes Hilde-
brand, and others had in shaping his determination, is a prob-
lem we cannot solve. It must be remembered, however, that
this was at a period of great spiritual activity and excitement
among many sects within the province.

In a careful survey of the situation, we may safely say
that Sauer's support in his great venture for printing the
first German Bible in America, was derived chiefly from the
Separatist sects, such as the Ephrata Community, the Dun-
kers, the Mennonites, and others who had renounced allegiance
to the Lutheran and Reformed faiths, and that the successful
accomplishment of this great pioneer edition was due to these
people.

It appears that a sufficient quantity of printing material and
type was procured from a type-foundry and publishing house
at Frankfort-on-the-Mayn. The paper was obtained from the

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1056 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

local paper makers, while the ink was a home-made composition
of Germantown soot and linseed oil from the mills of the
Ephrata Qjmmunity. Thus was commenced, early in the year
1742, the printing of the Holy Bible in a European tongue in
America ; 51 work which for ages to come will redound to the
credit of these pious German settlers in the Province of Wil-
liam Penn.

History is silent as to who the men were that set the type,
laboriously inking the forms, correcting the sheets, or even
pulling the lever of thp press. Tradition tells us, however, that
much of the type-setting and proof-reading was done by the
Ephrata Brethren. It is known that Rev. Peter Miller and
two of the Eckerlins had had some experience in Europe as
proof-readers, and that Jacob Gass was a practical printer, as
well as Johannes Hildebrand, who had also served some time
in the preparation of manuscript for the printer, and that he
was in Germantown during the printing of the Bible. Con-
sequently, so far as the latter are concerned, the old tradition
is undoubtedly true.

Then, again, we must consider the fact that some of the
Ephrata Brethren were constantly present at Germantown
during the printing of the Weyrauchs Hugel, and that a close
intimacy existed between the Eckerlins and their followers
among the Ephrata Brethren.

No time was lost in entering upon this stupendous task.
Contributions of linen rags were solicited and gathered, and
were sent in turn to the paper mill to be made into printing
paper. Lampblack and linseed oil were procured and made
into printer's ink.

The first type was set and the first forms were worked
off early in April, 1742, and long before the harvests of the
year were gathered, the printed sheets of the first five books
of Moses were drying in the loft over the press-room.

In August, 1743, the announcement was promptly made
that the new Germantown Bible was ready for delivery. So
far as the time went, and the quality of paper and typography
was concerned, the printer had conscientiously kept his promise.
This monumental work of no less than 1267 pages, quarto,
was set up, and twelve hundred copies were laboriously printed

(66)

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ONE OF THE EPHRATA PRINTING PRESSES.
In Collection of HlHtoricnl Society of Pennsy.vanla.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO57

four pages at a time, with a title page in two colours, and the
book was finished in about a year and a half. »

Sachse has discovered that at least a part, if not all, of
the paper used in the Sauer Bible was made at Ephrata. He
has found further evidence showing that the greater portion
of this edition was bound at Ephrata, and distributed from
there under the supervision of Samuel Eckerlin. Sachse
further seems to intimate the possibility that all the work
on the entire edition (including the binding) was done at
Ephrata.^

Christopher Sauer, the younger, succeeded his father as
a printer and published the second and third editions of the
Germantown Bible. He was likewise an elder in the Dunker
congregation of Germantown. In 1751, he married Cathrina
Sharpnack. During the Revolutionary War, he was arrested
by the American forces as a spy and traitor. Through the
magnanimous intervention of Gen. Peter Muhlenberg, his life
was saved. His property, however, was confiscated and sold,
and his last days were spent in abject poverty — an object of
charity. Several of his children enjoyed the prosperity of their
treachery to their native land. Christopher Sauer, 3d, became
King's printer and deputy post-master general for Nova Scotia.
Peter Sauer, another son, held some position in the West
Indies.

EPHRATA PRESS.

Of greater and of far more importance than the mystical
theosophy of the Kloster, and the varied industries which
developed th^ resources of the monastic settlement on the
Cocalico, are the issues of the Ephrata Press, locally known
as the Kloster Presse or Die Presse der BrUderschafft (Klos-
ter Press, or Press of the Brotherhood).

Erected here in the wilds of Pennsylvania, it was the first
one upon which both English and German type were used.
Sauer's early attempts to print with English type proved
abortive, and it was not until 1749 that an English work was
issued from his press at Germantown. Further, it was not until
the year 1747 that Franklin issued an imprint in German type.

That the printing office at Ephrata was supplied with

I. German Sectarians, Vol. H., pp. 47-50.

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ios8

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

fonts of both English and German type is shown by the
Chronicon, which tells us that Israel Eckerlin printed a polemic
in English against the Moravians, as early as the year 1745,
if not earlier.

Just when the
was first set up
the outfit was ob-
far remained an
tery, owing to the
any extended doc-
dence.

Little did the
hood think, when
1 i s h i n g their

Ephrata Press
and from whom
tained, has thus
impenetrable mys-
total absence of
umentary e v i -

Ephrata Hand Prbss,

Ephrata Brother-
they were pub-
books, that the is-
sues of their press, in the course of time, would not only be-
come valuable and much sought after, but that they would
be classed among the rarest and most peculiar of unique
American imprints, and that large sums would be paid for
specimens of their handiwork, to be guarded carefully in
glass cases in the leading libraries of the world.

It is generally assumed that the installation of this print-
ing office on the Cocalico was evidently a direct outcome of the
quarrel between Beissel and Christopher Sauer, in connection
with the printing of the Weyrauchs Hiigel.

Be that as it may, the Ephrata Brethren laid their plans
well, and doubtless intended to go into the printing business

An Old Klostbr Cartoon.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO59

upon an extensive scale, as they made their own paper, oil,
and ink, besides hiaving a fully equipped bindery;. Thus their
printing establishment was a complete economy, in the German
sense of the word.

Without doubt, the Eckerlins were the chief factors in set-
ting up this press at Ephrata. Further, the printing plant
must have been an extensive one, well equipped from the
start. So far as can be gleaned from the fragmentary notices
that have come down to us, they n^ust have commenced with
two presses, — a large and a small one. The latter was soon
disposed of to the Moravians, a transaction, which, it appears,
is noted in the Bethlehem Diaries. This was replaced by a
larger one.

One of these historical presses, upon which it is said the
first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence were
produced, is now in the museum of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania. The other, early in the nineteenth century,
found its way down to the Snow Hill Institution, where it did
duty until a few years ago, when it was taken to Bedford
County, where it served for some time to print the weekly
paper of the German Seventh Day Baptists of Morrison's
Cove.*

EARLY ISSUES OF PRESS.

One of the earliest issues, if not the very earliest, of the
Ephrata Press was a small broadside, I4j/^x6^ inches. This
was intended as a talisman or protection against the inroads of
the Moravians. This was known as Eine Sdule gegen den
Bosen Rott.

Then followed two large placards, usually called the
"Eckerlin Broadsides." The title of the first, rendered into
English was as follows : The Precepts and Rules of the War-
rior of Jesus Christ; of the second, A Veritable Spiritual
Mirror, etc.

The first book to be issued appears to have been a Men-
nonite devotional book, of Ii6 pages, small 24mo.

X. It is now in the printing office of Frank R. King, at Salemville, Bed*
ford G>unty, Pennsylvania.

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io6o

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

0o(d^auff(ragtot3tm<^re^/
^frmaiiM(((Kd^6rfomBiaima0«

2MKii»a1IM(pQ32c^iftl/

2MlQ>miiciiCo(crQ9ttfcarniir
\SnoMc(l486mft0ii(crSfaufiir
90iib€paiidmA>nD(Icmpfffie|iir|ftr/
2<6fi^<^(i^ftnanfan0pfamdr/

CAKTOOMS lULUSTKATlHG THB PKINTING AMD BOODINDBR faomSTIUn.

Found Among Some Old Bpbsata Papui.

The next regular issue was another small 24mo for the
same people.

Then followed several important works by Beissel, one
of which was a work on mystic theology, of 283 quarto pages.

Owing to the unsettled state of affairs after the expulsion
of the Eckerlins, there was no issue of the Ephrata Press
during the year 1746. The next year, an attempt was made
to print the hymn-book known as the Turtel Taube, which was
to be for the exclusive use of the Congregation.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO61

^ tinfam/n wxb ntHftntn

ffC^

it(&t

mtteitmn hti^ ^ie aoorfofi tn mm SQOt cit$
MM^ ^ie Miswif^^ Mtfomimo^ (&tuMsm» IMtotf #

gctfUtc^e dttiimtt ge^c^

aSoneinem ^rie^famett un( m^Ut

BPHRATA.

GREAT MARTYR BOOK.

It was during the printing of this hymn-book that the
mills of the Community were destroyed by fire. As affairs be-
gan to settle down to the old routine during the preparation of
the book, and while the book was yet upon the press, overtures
were received from the Mennonites, looking forward to the
translation of their great Martyr Book into High German, and
its publication in that tongue.

It had long been the cherished dream of the followers

. Digitized by VjOOQIC

I062

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

M^m^m

WtffPttWrfitt^

Arfiften MtaMb M ficrooctt ti)oc>cn> ton S!ir^3ntiii
WdiifliitfSiir i(56(x

lmtT.J.V. BRAGHT

EPHR AT A tivFenfyfvaiiien,

TtTLB-PAOB OF TBK GrBAT 11 ARTYR BOOK.

Digitized by VjOOQIC

GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

114' 4-

1063

BPHBATA WATBRMAKX.

of Simon Menno in America to have a German version of
Bragbt's Martyrer Spiegel in their own language. For some
reason, possibly on account of the magnitude of the task, and
of the scattered condition of the Mennonites in the Fatherland,
it was not undertaken either in Holland or in Germany. Con-
sequently when the Sauer Press was set up in Germantown
and the Bible printed there, the Mennonites began to hope
that now there was an opportunity for a fulfillment of their
long and fondly cherished desire.

The estrangement between Sauer and his collaborators

yrirWMUMK Q9 THB ZfOlonC BROTBBKBOOD raiOlt TO 1745*

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1064 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

from Ephrata, and the unsatisfactory quality of the p^per
used in the Sauer Bible, together with the lack of any com-
petent translator and proof-reader, caused the Mennonites to
abandon their project, for a time, and again to turn their at-
tention to the old country. This appeal proved futile, and the
Mennonites turned their attention once more to the Ephrata
Press, with the result that a contract was made for the work,
about the 20th of March, 1748.

Preparations were now made by the Community to print
the book. Rev. Peter Miller was the translator and master
spirit. Fifteen Brethren were to be employed upon the task
constantly until its completion. Of these, eight were assigned
.to the printing department, namely, four as compositors, and
four as pressmen, two to each press. The other seven
wrought in the paper mill, the whole work and the correc-
tion of the sheets being under the supervision of Prior Jaebez
(Rev. Peter Miller.)

The paper for this edition was of an extra quality of
stock, and was prepared with great care. It was made upon
plain sieves without any special water mark ; the sheets when
bound and trimmed measured fourteen by seventeen and one-
half inches, the page of type matter was 7J4xi2 inches; two
pages were locked up to a form. This measurement would
indicate tlAt each page was brought separately under the
platen to be impressed upon the paper.

This monumental literary venture was finally finished,
bound, and ready for delivery some time during the year
1 75 1. It had taken just three years to complete the task. A
council of Mennonites was now called and the price was fixed
at twenty shillings per copy.

The binding was as solid and ponderous as the book itself.
It consisted of heavy boards covered with home tanned leather,
reinforced with mountings of brass at the corners, each of
which, together with a band at the top and bottom of the book,
was heavily studded with large headed brass nails to protect
the leather. Two massive brass clamps kept the pages and
cover in position when not in use.

Some of tlie copies were embellished with a large copper-
plate engraving. No definite records exist as to where these

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 106$

9IMIP W^'9im

tier

uimt'-rnHf^i

tPHEATA ft Pcafylvntca

ama-TAOB to tbs Sboomd Pakt or tub Oabat Maiitvb Book.

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io66

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

WATBUIAUC AOOPTBD by the COMMUmTY Arm TVS

BxroLnoN op tbb Bcuuujns.

plates were printed, whether in America or abroad. Of late
strong evidences have been found that there was such a press
as copper plates are printed from, at Ephrata at an early date.*

This splendid folio, which is really two volumes bound
in one, was in some respects the most remarkable book of the
colonial period.

Every volume contains sixteen full quires of paper. The
edition was thirteen hundred (1300) copies; consequently
when we consider the usual percentage of loss allowed at that
period it amounts to a grand total of no less than eleven
hundred and eighty- four (1184) reams of this extra heavy
paper.

OTHER ISSUES.

During the year 1748, there was also printed, upon the
same sort of paper as was made for the Martyr Book, a small
i6mo of 88 pages, entitled (English translation) as follows:
The Description of the Gospel of Nichodemus, etc.

I. In private converaation with the pretent writer, Sachae expreaaed himaelf
aa atrongly of the opinion that the copper plate illuatrationa of the Martjr Book
were not printed at Ephrata.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

1067

The Ephrata Press continued its activity, printing some-
times for private individuals unjder contract, and sometimes
for the Community. The success of this venture excited the
jealousy of Benjamin Franklin, and he set up an opposition
press in Lancaster, upon which he printed various books and
a fortnightly newspaper. The enterprise did not prosper and
Franklin disposed of it.

The Ephrata
e X t e n sively in
for poster blocks,
prise of the kind
in the country,
dence that print-
also engaged in..

In 1754 there
tion of the Para-
spiel (Paradisical
This was follow-

Watskmakk osbd in Ephrata
Papbr-Miu. Pern Commrrcial
Work.

Press engaged
wood engraving
the first enter-
on a large scale
There is also evi-
ing linens was

was a folio edi-

*disches W under-

Wonder- Music),

ed by a German

version of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, issued in two vol-
umes, duodecimo, of 280 and 264 pages respectively, at the
expense of the Brotherhood. The year closed with an

English edition of John Fraeme's Scripture Instruction, a
i6mo of 162 pages.

During 1755, ^ number of new hymns were printed at
the cost of the Brotherhood, as an appendix to the Turtel
Taube of 1747. It was a quarto of 112 pages.

Early in the next year, 1756, we have another collec-
tion of devout poems, in which the Brotherhood of Bethania
and the Sisters of the Rose of Saron were interested.

The first of these collections is known as the Briiderlted,
or Hymns of The Brethren. It was a quarto of thirty pages,
and was incorporated in the Wunderspiel of 1796. The other
was a quarto of twenty-eight pages of the hymns of the Sis-
terhood.

From this time forward to the close of the year 1793,
the Ephrata Press continued its work with greater or less regu-
larity sometimes printing hymn-books or other literature for
the use of the Community; sometimes doing work for pri-

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io68

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO69

vate individuals, or for other communities or societies. Among
the latter class were the German Baptist Brethren. The
Bollinger Genealogy, the earliest Pennsylvania genealogy to
be printed, was the product of the Ephrata Press.

In the year 1768, an English prayer-book was printed for
the Rev. William Barton. This is one of the rarest issues of
the Ephrata Press.

A well supported tradition, which Sachse accepts as fact,
says that during the years 1777-78, a large number of sheets of
an issue of $25,000,000 in Continental currency, authorized by
Congress, was printed at the Ephrata Press.

CHRONICON EPHR^\TENSE.

In the year 1786, was issued the well-known Chronicon
Ephratense, which next to the Book of Martyrs was^he most
important issue of this press.

This book has thus far been the principal source of in-
formation relative to the history of the Mystic Community on
the Cocalico. It was in fact, however, a mere abstract of the
Diary of the Brotherhood, which had been kept by Brother
Lamech (real name unknown), who died in 1763. Such parts
as were printed, were intended as a eulogy of the late founder
and superintendent, Conrad Beissel. Brother Jaebez (Rev.
Peter Miller), who had charge of this printing, evidently suc-
ceeded Brother Lamech as a diarist, consequently both he and
Brother Lamech appear upon the title-page as the compilers,
Prior Jaebez using the Latin equivalent Agrippa for his Klos-
ter name.

The compilation of the book was begun a few years after
the death of Father Friedsam (Beissel), the intention being
to issue both. a German and an English version simultaneously.
When the German version was finished, a clean transcript was
made, and translated into English by Prior Jaebez. This was
completed just before the invasion of Pennsylvania by the
British army in 1777, when the English manuscript was taken
by Jaebez and Obed (Ludwig Hocker) personally to their
Philadelphia correspondent, Christopher Marshall, who was
then sojourning in the city of Lancaster, with the request that

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I070

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS:

Chronicon Ephracenie,

$riei)fam ^mtt^tf

Epbnu to bet OMffCftaft Laoctfter te P«iiiiiTt.vANiA.

3«fam ffl getragm Pon ^r. Lamech n. Agripp»

ef Ift IMC ^11 Sever duct (SelK(&«icO«/ «n^ »&< ^^ €Mft ti? {SdA<r: Cl
m^ du SCinocf tol «eitiliicn »U <9oI^ snb ®IIb<s. iRafcuft. h t. %.

Cl iil bU 3cit, Mf anfate ba« Qleti4^t om ^onff eotttf, f» obct gwA «
«n6; too^ loiU tor fin CiiOe toeT&ea mU tcnot/ Me ban CMH^eft^ Omci
fitcbt alanben. VM f» Def (Bered^te ttmmer(l4^ cr^len vMt olt trttJM
(Bottlore itn^ e&nOer erFiNRcn i. 9etv. 4t s7** iS*

jXHOV^

vT>i;licta efhratenses

SPHRATA: ^tMOt Anno MDCCLZX^XVI^

TITXA PAG8 OF CH&ONICON BPHRAT8N88.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. I07I

he revise the English version. This manuscript consisted oi
four hundred and eighty-eight quarto pages.

The seizure of the buildings for hospital purposes, and the
troubles incident to the Revolution evidently prevented the
printing of the Chronicon at that time.

When finally, after peace was declared, a renewed effort
was made to publish the book, a German version alone was
printed. It was a quarto of four hundred and fifty pages. The
fate of the English manuscript corrected by Christopher Mar-
shall is unknown. An English translation of the Chronicon,
by Rev. J. Max Hark, was published in Lancaster, Pennsyl-
vania, in 1889.

END^OF EPHRATA PRESS.*

With the year 1793, we come to the close, practically, of
the career of the Ephrata Press, since a part of the printing
outfit was leased to Solomon and Benjamin Mayer, who appear
to have been practical printers. The Mayers were in charge
of the Ephrata establishment until the close of the century.
Occasional broadsides were, however, still printed by the old
Brethren of the Kloster.

In the last year of the eighteenth century, the historic
plant of the Ephrata Brotherhood passed into the hands of
Johannes Bauman. The first issue of his press was a small
i6mo of thirty-two pages. This curious booklet purports to
be a conversation or argument regarding the Sabbath, in
which a Dunker, a Rogerene, a Roman Catholic, and an Epis-
copalian all participate. A letter written by George Washing-
ton to the Baptists is quoted.

EDUCATION.

If we look back to the movements of Kelpius and the
Hermits on Wissahickon, we find that one of their earliest
concerns was the education of the youth. The records und^r
date of August 7, 1694, show the following:

I. The two chapters of Sachse's German Sectarians of Pennsylvania. VoL
II., relating to the Ephrata Press, give a very full account of this tamoua
press, and are replete with title pages in fac simile.

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1072 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

We are now beginning to build a house there [on the banks of the
Wissahickon] and the people lend us all possible help. We place
this to the public good, and expect not a foot's breadth on our own
account. For we are resolved, besides giving public instruction to
the little children of this country, to take many of them to our-
selves and have them day and night with us, so as to lay in them
the foundation of a stable, permanent character. With them a be-
ginning must be made, otherwise there will be only mending and
patching of the old people.

This system of education was followed by Seelig and
Matthai after the death of Kelpius in 1708.

A similar course was followed by Beissel upon his re-
tirement to the Mill Creek (Muhlbach) in 172 1, where he in-
structed the children of the early settlers of the Conestoga
Valley. •

The organization of the educational department of the
Ephrata Community may be said to date from the advent of
Ludwig Hocker in the early spring of 1739. Hocker, it will
be recalled, was one of the Brethren who, for a time, lived on
the banks of the Wissahickon, at a place still known as the
Monastery. He was married and had one daughter, Maria;
after his entrance into the Community, the couple voluntarily
divorced themselves, he entering the Zionitic Brotherhood, and
his wife, and daughter becoming Sisters.

Soon after his arrival, Hocker was installed as the school-
master of the congregation, instructing the youth in the de-
ments of education.

PENMANSHIP.

In the different buildings of the Kloster Community, reg-
ular hours were set apart by both sexes for instruction and the
practice of caligraphy — ornamental penmanship, engrossing,
and the study and copying of music. Many remarkable speci-
mens of the beautiful work done by the celibates have ccxne
down to us.^

It is by no means certain who the writing-master was, or
who originated the system and style peculiar to the Kloster.
The Chronicon says that up to about the middle of the year
1741, "they had sought self-sacrifice in hard labour, but now

I. Many of these have been used to illustrate Sacbse's books.
(67)

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

1073

SPBCIMBN OP BPHRATA PBNWORK PROM MS. HYMN-BOOK OP 1 745.

the Superintendent was urged by his guide to establish higher
schools, of which the singing-school was the beginning."

The first outcome of the singing-schools was a demand for
music scores for the use of both the celibates and the secular
congregation. This formed the incentive for the cultivation of
copying music. Great pains were taken in transcribing and
duplicating these compositions. The copy followed for the
Ephrata rnusic was an old German tune-book engraved on
copper and printed at Augsburg. So diligent was the practice,
that soon the written books equalled and even surpassed the
engraved prototype. Numerous specimens of this beautiful
work are now cherished in public and private collections.

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1074

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

TESTIMONIALS TO BEISSEL.

After a high state of proficiency had been reached by
both sexes in this beautiful art, it was resolved at a general
council, that the Brotherhood and Sisters, alike, present Beis-
sel with a worthy reward as a testimonial of their filial esteem.

ALPHABET USED IN THE MANUSCEIPT TUNS BOOKS OF THE EPHRATA COICICUNITY.

(Each letter is mad« with a single stroke of the pen.)

This was to consist of two complete music-books, furnished
for all voices, one of which was to be made by the Brother-
hood, and the other by the Sisterhood. Both parties put their
most skillful members to work upon the task.

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GERMAIN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO75

On the part of the Brotherhood, three of its members
wrought at it for three-quarters of a year. It contained about
five hundred tunes for five voices; everything was artistically
ornamented with the pen, and every leaf had its own separate
head-piece. The Superintendent's name stood in front, skill-
fu)ly designed in Gothic text ; around it was a blessing added
by each brother.

The work of the Sisterhood was no less remarkable. It
was artless and simple, but something \yonderful shone forth
from it — something for which no name can be found.

This book is now in the collection of the Historical So-
ciety of Pennsylvania.

The making of music-books for the use of the congrega- .
iton led to the cultivation of designs for ornamental letters
and script for the headings of the tunes and melodies. For
the lower case letters, the usual German Monchsschrift — now
known as German text — ^was used.

FRACTURSCHRIFT.

The next step was the establishment of the writing school,
where special attention was given to the production of writing
in ornamental Gothic text, or fracturschrift. The record says
that this department was instituted chiefly for the benefit of
such of the celibates as had no musical talent. It is said that
Beissel personally designed the outlines of these beautiful let-
ters, but that the shading and ornamenting of them was left
to the pupil.

In the year 1750, a specimen book of these ornate letters
was prepared. It is a folio of about eighteen inches in length
by twelve wide, each of the capital letters occupying a full
page.

The title page runs as follows:

The Christian's \ A, B, C, \ is Suffering Endurance and
Hope I who this has learned \ He hath his Goal obtained \
Ephrata MDCCL,

The book contains two full alphabets of capitals. The
first is highly ornamented — each letter containing a vignette
and having a wide border. The second alphabet consists of

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1076

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

st^i.^^

*?*^H^"^v;

mmmmMm.

SrwauMM or Ornatb Feactuk Imitiai. *'0»'* msr Ai-fbabbt.

capitals less ornate and without borders. Then follow several
sets of Gexman lower case or Gothic letters, also numerals.
A script alphabet is also given. The latter were all made
by the expert writers with a single flourish of the pen. In
fact, each letter is but a single flourish. So expert did these
men and women become in the art that it is doubtful if their
work could be duplicated in any writing school of the present
day.

ACADEMY.

But little is known of the classical academy maintained
at the Kloster. The Fahnestock manuscript distinctly states

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS,

1077

Specimens of Gothic Letters in the Christian's A, B, C Book.

that a classical school was established there at an early per-
iod, "which soon gained for itself an honourable reputation
abroad, and many young men of Philadelphia and Baltimore
were sent to this nursery of learning to receive their entire
education." One writer, John F. Watson, cited by Sachse,
says that "they were remarkable as a community, being fine
Latinists, writing and speaking Latin as readily as their
vernacular tongue. Men in Philadelphia who sought a good
classical education for their sons, used to send them there;
and," Watson continues, "I have known some who used
to correspond with some who were educated there, who

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1078

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

used to correspond with some of the Brethren in Latin."*

One writer states that the authorities of the Old Academy

on Fourth Street, below Arch, in Philadelphia, made over-

Tub Old Epurata Acaobmy.

tures to the Brotherhood to print an American edition of the
classical authors for the Philadelphia Academy, but the Klos-
ter people declined to do the work, a fact greatly to be regret-
ted from the standpoint of the present day.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

The elementary schools were in charge of Ludwig
Hocker, who at an early day compiled and published a Ger-
man school-book for the use of his pupils entitled as follows :

Short, comprehensive \ useful \ School Book \ To ifistruct
the Children in Spelling \ Reading and learning by Heart \ To
which is appended a short, yet clear and \ fundamental \ in-
struction I in Arithmetic. \ Compiled for the use and service
of Children \ By L, H.: \ Ephrata. \ Printed and to be had of
the Schoolmaster. \ Printer and binder.

I. This academy was conducted on the second floor of the old Brother Saal,
long since disappeared, which adjoined the present old Brother House. The
picture shown on this page, of the Ephrata Academy is that of a building
erected at a much later date. It is still standing. Rev. Walter B. Gillette says
that on the occasion of his visit to Ephrata in November, 1844, the Academv
was a new building, and the Brother Saal in ruins, although still standing. Via.
The Sabbath Recorder, Dec. 5, 1844.

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS.

1079

Orhamkntal Pnf Womc vkom SraciacBM Boos *'D» Christbm A, B» C*

No copy of the original edition of this work has come
down to us, nor is even the year known when it was printed.
The foregoing title is taken from the second edition, issued
in 1786.

On the reverse of the title page is printed the following
introduction, which gives a slight insight into the methods of
instruction pursued in the elementary Kloster school:

After the children have learned to spell through the A, B, C,
and namebook, we can bring them into this one and let them well
learn to spell and read. Thereby they get it into their minds to
learn by heart, after which we can teach them the figures. After-
ward we can let them read over the Arithmetic, when they will

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I080 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS! ^

BtftOi imo (ni6ti>ai5i0 lam,

9BfftfM fOR fill 000 OMm^ Ml
SIM L. H

VPHRATA.

TnXB PACS OF uoacKHR'8 kph&aya pruoou

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO81

learn to express the compound numbers. And after they are well
schooled in this, they can read in all books. And with this book,
we can save with every child a Psalter and Testament, which they
usually destroy during their schooling. If they are to learn Arith-
metic, we can diligently exercise them in these rules, so that they
may comprehend them. Afterward they can be advanced without much
trouble.

It will be observed from the foregoing mention of the
Psalter and Testament, that the instruction was a strictly
religious one, based upon the Bible. This was similar to the
practice of the Lutheran and Reformed churches, who used
their catechisms as their text books.

THE FIRST SABBATH SCHOOL.

One of the most interesting episodes of the Ephrata Com-
munity was the introduction of the Sabbath school fully forty
years before Robert Raikes established his Sunday school.
There are many traditions, many of them conflicting, concern-
ing this movement. It is held by some that the Bible school
was held on the Seventh Day of the week; by others, that
it was conducted on the First Day; and by still others that
there was no Bible school conducted here.

Careful investigation appears to establish the following
facts :

First of all, that Ludwig Hocker (Brother Obed) or-
ganized the school and conducted it, assisted by his daughter
, Maria (Sister Petronella), who is described as a beautiful and
lovely girl, not only comely in form, but lovely and beautiful
in her Christian character as well; and as ardent and active
in the Sabbath School as she was in every Christian virtue.
She was undoubtedly the first female Bible school teacher
of whom we have any record.

Next, it appears that the Bible school was conducted on
the Seventh Day of the week for the benefit of the children of
families observing the Sabbath, and on the First Day for those
of their neighbors observing Sunday. This theory, which
Sachse declares is unquestionably correct, reconciles the con-
flicting statements as to the day of the week on which the
school was conducted and is in harmony with the well known
policy of the Community to benefit every person they could.

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I082

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS :

An Bpurata Sabbath-school Rbwaro Card.
Tb« outer border Is In colors done by btnd.

Fahnestock says that Hocker's object in establishing this
school "was to give instruction to the indigent children of the
vicinity who were kept from the regular school by the em-
ployments which their necessities obliged them to be engaged in
during the week, as well as to give religious instruction to
those of better circumstances."

MAGISTER JOHANNES HILDEBRAND.

Prominent among the members of the Ephrata Brother- •
hood who sojourned at Germantown during the printing of
the Sauer Bible and took active part in the work, was Jo-
hannes Hildebrand, father-in-law of Valentin Mack, who,
it will be recollected, was the most prominent man among the
secular congregation, or house-holders, at Ephrata. In ad-
dition to being a fluent preacher and active exhorter, he was
an adept in Jacob Boehme's theosophy, as appears from
Hildebrand's writings. As a delegate to the Pennsylvaina
synods, he upheld the superiority of virgin life. How he
and his associates withdrew from the third conference (synod)
has already been narrated.

When the dispute with the Moravians was at its height,
Hildebrand not only wrote several pamphlets against the Zin-

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. IO83

zendorf party, but also supervised the printing of several
polemical essays by members of the Zionitic Brotherhood,
wherein were championed the cause, policy, and discipline of
th^ institutions on the Cocalico, and wherein were denounced,
on the other hand, the course and teachings of the new re-
ligious propaganda in the Province, which had established
itself at Bethlehem.

From entries in the Ephrata records, it appears that
these polemical tractates were prepared by order of Beissel,
or at least, at his request, and were not wholly the work
of Hildebrand\ as has been erroneously stated. Upon this
point, the following is of interest :

He (Beissel) summoned a Brother [Jaebez — Rev. Peter Miller]
and commanded him to compose a writing and to sharply rebuke these
people [the Moravians] because of their disorderly lives and carnal
passion for making proselytes. The Brother soon had it finished
and brought him a sketch, which he sanctioned; but observed that he
might have been more severe. The Brother accordingly added more
salt.

The Brother Prior embraced this occasion to free himself again,
because he had too freely communicated with them, and added a sup-
plement not less biting. But that was not all, for a house-father, by
the name of Hildebrand, brought out still another supplement, in
which he laboriously proved that the marriage state originated in
the fall of man (Chron. Eph.,'p. 152, Eng. trans.)

These Anti-Moravian pamphlets are now exceedingly rare,
a few of them being in the library of the Pennsylvania His-
torical Society.

There appear to have been at least six tracts in this series,
whether all passed through Hildebrand's hands does not fully
appear.

About 1742-43, the Moravians addressed a reply to Hil-
debrand refuting in the strongest terms the charges of the
Ephrata people. This provoked a further reply from Hilde-
brand.

THE GREAT COMET OF I743-I744.

The differences incident to the dispute with the Mora-
vian Brethren, aggravated as they were by the pamphlets of
Hildebrand and others, had barely subsided, when an event
occurred which once more threw the Community into a state

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1084 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

of consternation and excitement. On Christmas night, 1743,
just after sunset, a comet was discovered in the west. It was
the one seen by Klinkenberg in September, 1743. At first
to the naked eye it appeared no larger than a star of the
second magnitude, but it rapidly increased in size and brilliancy
and stood in the heavens for upwards of two months.

The length of its visit and the brilliancy of this comet
inspired great dread and fear among the speculative Mystics
on Mount Zion. It was accepted by them as the precursor
of the Millenium, when Mount Zion would form the centre
of the New Jerusalem in the New World, and the Zionitic
Brotherhood would be the chosen servants of the temple. A
rhythmical prayer was composed for the use of the congrega-
tion, which was afterward printed. This unique pamphlet,
of which only a single copy has come down to us, is to be
found in the Pennypacker Collection, and is one of the earliest
issues of the Ephrata Press.

Before criticising the action of the Brotherhood, we must
take into consideration the strained nervous condition of these
religious enthusiasts, whose minds were almost unbalanced
by their mystical speculation and ascetic mode of life, while
their bodies were mortified by vigils and fastings until they
were worn to mere shadows of their former selves.

Moreover, we, at the present time can form but little
conception of the effect of these celestial visitants upon the
German recluses and enthusiasts in the Province, sincere as
they were in their convictions and imbued with the super-
stitions of the Fatherland. The same in a somewhat lesser
degree applies to the German residents of Germantown.

To them the comet was a fiery sword, or bunch of flam-
ing rods of wrath, sent by the Almighty as an announcement
to a wicked world, foreshadowing punishment in the shape
of flame, pestilence, war, and other dire calamities here in
America, like unto the similar judgments visited upon Europe,

EXORCISM OF FIRE.

In this connection, it may not be amiss to call attention to
another superstition of the Ephrata Community, which in com-
mon with other Germans of the Province, they inherited from
the Fatherland. This was the Exorcism of Fire — belief in

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. I085

which persists among many Germans of Pennsylvania to the
present day.

The Ephrata buildings, it will be recalled, were all built
of wood ; even the large chimney fliies were originally of that
material, lined with clay, or grout, as may be seen by a visit
to the loft of the old Brother House which is still standing.

It has often been a matter of surprise that during the
whole history of the Mystic Community on the Cocalico, there
was never any loss by fire among the buildings within the
settlement proper ; although, according to Sangmeister, several
attempts were made to fire the buildings. There is, how-
ever, a record of two incendiary fires at the mill seat of this
Community — the first upon the night of September 6, 1747,
which destroyed three out of five mills ; the other in Septem-
ber, 1784, which was extinguished without doing any material
damage. This immunity from the devouring element has
been attributed to the mystic ritual used by the Brotherhood
which was believed to control the element of fire.

The means employed by the Zionitic Brotherhood for
the protection of the Kloster buildings were supposed to be
both protective and preventive. They are descnibed at length,
and in a very interesting manner, by Sachse.

THE MUSIC OF THE KLOSTER.

One of the most interesting features of the Ephrata
Community was its music, with its distinctive feature of har-
mony, unique notation, and quaint melodies, with a peculiar
method of vocal rendition, all of which were an out-growth
of the theosophy taught by Conrad Beissel and his follow-
ers on the Cocalico.

That this singular system of harmony (if strictly speaking
it can be called a system) was an original evolution from the
brain of the Magus on the Cocalico, cannot be denied, and it
has the additional distinction of being the first original treatise
on harmony to be published in the western world. This was
fully a quarter of a century before the New England tanner,
William Billings, published his New England Psalm Singer,

Contemporary accounts by visitors to the Ephrata Com-
munity during the eighteenth century, all bear witness to the pe-
culiar sweetness and weird beauty of the song of the Sisterhood,

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io86

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I

TrrTT~~T'T-ffT

Vrm vTr;;/, -n/^ ^ viT tI'^h'^^^I

Ck^;/^ Cke^rr'rr, ^J>f^^ ff/-'^ J^^'

EARLIEST EPHRATA MUSIC— FROM MS. HYMN-BOOK USED AT AMWEIX,
N. J., ABOUT 1735

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GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. loS/

and the impressive cadence of the chorals and hymns of the
combined choirs. Some writers even dwell upon the angelic
or celestial quality of the vocal music as it floated through
the spaces of the large Saal, as the responses were sung and
they reverberated from gallery to choir.^

Much of the beauty of the music was no doubt due to the
quality of the voices and the way they were used.

With' the decline of the monastic or celibate feature of
the Ephrata Community, the music of the Kloster fell into
disuse, and gradually became a lost art. The only place where
any attempt was made to keep the Ephrata music alive, was
at the institution known as the Nunnery, at Snow Hill in
Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Here the music and Beissel's
system of harmony were fostered, taught and practiced until a
few years ago when the last of the Snow Hill celibates passed
from time into eternity.

It may truthfully be said that during the whole of the
nineteenth century no effort was made outside of the Snow
Hill Nunnery to practise or keep alive this distinctive German
Seventh Day Baptist music.

I. ^n early writer in speaking of Beissel and his music says: "In com-
posing sacred music he took his style from the music of nature, and the whole
comprising several large volumes are founded on the tones of the Aeolian
harp: the singing is the Aeolian harp harmonized; it is very peculiar in its
style and concords, and in its execution. The tones issuing from the choir
imitate very soft instrumental music; conveying a softness and devotion almost
super-human to the auditor. Their music is set in four, six and eight parts.
All the parts, save the bass, are lead and sung exclusively by females, the
men being confined to the bass which is set in two parts, the high ana the
low bass — the latter resembling the deep tones of the organ, and the first, in
combination with one of the female parts, is an excellent imitation of the
concert horn. The whole is sung on the falsetto voice, the singers scarcely
opening their mouths, or moving their lips, which throws the voice up to the
ceiling, which is not high, and the tones, which seem to be more than human,
at least so far from common church singing, appears to be entering from above,
and hovering over the heads of the assembly." Rupp's History of Lancaster
County, pp. 226-327. (Lancaster, Pcnn. 1844.)

The following is an extract from a letter written by a traveller during
the proprietary administration of Governor Penn : "The counter, treble, tenor,
and bass, were sung by women, with sweet, shrill, and small voices, but with
a truth and exactness in time and intonation that was admirable. It is im-
possible to describe to your Lordship my feelings upon this occasion. The
performers sat with their heads reclined, thein countenances solemn and de-
jected, their faces pales and emaciated from their manner of living, their clothing
exceedingly white and quite picturesque, and their music such as thrUled to the
very soul; I almost began to think myself in the world of si>irits, and that
the objects before me were ethereal. In short, the inTpression this scene
made upon my mind, continued strong for many dajrs, and I believe, will
never be wholly obliterated.** Ibidem.

Rev. Walter B. Gillette, on the occasion of his visit to Ephrata, in Novem-
ber, 1844, remarks upon the exquisite music made by the choir from Snow Hill;
and Rev. Samuel Davison, who visited Snow Hill in the summer of 1847, says
of the music, "I never before heard nor conceived of such solemn, son, soul-
ttirring melodies as they make." Vid. The Sabbath Recorder, Dec. 5, 1844, and
July 8» 1847.

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