Massachusetts Sends Missionaries to New York

October 21, 1795.  David Irish established the first Baptist church in Cayuga County, New York, in the Finger Lakes area.  He was sent out by the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society.  This was a frontier area at the time, and pastors like Irish helped settle and expand our nation.  The Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine, published by the society, published a letter from Reve. Irish in the December, 1812, issue.   The MBMM became the Baptist Missionary Magazine,  which eventually evolved to the American Baptist.  ABHS has a complete set of all the issues of these magazines.

Imprisonment for Failing to Pay Church Tax

October 15, 1752.  Elizabeth Backus, a fifty-four widow and mother of Reverend Isaac Backus, was arrested and imprisoned for two weeks for failing to pay the church tax that went to the official (Congregational) church.  In 1728 an Act was passed by the General Court of Massachusetts, exempting Baptists from the tax, but that was the personal tax only, the property tax was still liable.  ABHS has many writings of Isaac Backus and microfilms of his personal papers.

Warren Association Petitions for Religious Liberty

October 14, 1774:  The Warren Association in Massachusetts petitioned the Continental Congress for religious liberty.  The Warren Association was in the vanguard of the battle for religious freedom in early America. Baptists had been persecuted throughout their history; their struggles to attain their “privileges” led to the insertion of the anti-establishment clause in the Bill of Rights. In 1774 the Warren Association sent a delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia to plead for religious freedom. Two years later, when a Baptist meeting in Pepperell, Massachusetts, was broken up by a mob, the Warren Association published an account of the affair, and engaged the people of Pepperell in a pamphlet war until they “made the town ashamed of what they had done.” ABHS holds the Warren Association Minutes from 1767.

Massachusetts Open Only To Orthodox Preaching

October 11, 1665:  Four Baptists were brought before the Massachusetts court and told to cease ‘schismatical practices.’ Puritans in Massachusetts were not open to any other practice of religion, and Quakers, Baptists and Anglicans were not allowed to preach.  When King Charles II (of England) insisted, Massachusetts passed a law deliberately using the king’s language, allowing anyone “orthodox in religion” to practice in the colony; however, they also defined such orthodoxy as consisting of views that were acceptable to local ministers. This effectively negated the law, because there were probably no ministers in the colony who would agree that other protestants satisfied their idea of orthodoxy.  ABHS has pamphlets and other histories of the struggle for religious freedom.

David Benedict, Historian, Born

October 10, 1779:  David Benedict born in New England. Although he was apprenticed to a shoemaker, he went to school, including Brown University.  While in seminary Benedict preached for Baptists in Pawtucket, RI, and following his graduation he was ordained and became the pastor of the newly established First Baptist Church in Pawtucket.  Benedict traveled (on horseback) collecting materials about Baptists, and sent out questionnaires for his History of the Baptists in the United States which was published in 1813. ABHS has a copy of Benedict’s History, and is it used frequently by researchers.

 

John Clark Advocated for Religious Freedom

October 8. 1609.  John Clarke was born in Suffolk England.   He was a physician, Baptist minister, co-founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, author of its influential charter, and a leading advocate of religious freedom in the Americas.  He arrived in Boston where Baptists were considered heretics and were banned, in 1637 and decided to go to Rhode Island.  But Clarke wanted to make inroads there and spent time in the Boston jail after making a mission trip to the town of Lynn. The fledgling Rhode Island colony needed an agent in England, so Clarke handled the colony’s interests.  All of the other New England colonies were hostile to Rhode Island.  After the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, it was imperative that Rhode Island receive a royal charter to protect its territorial integrity. It was Clarke’s role to obtain such a document, and he saw this as an opportunity to include religious freedoms never seen before in any constitutional charter. He negotiated for months with Connecticut over territorial boundaries. Finally, he drafted the Rhode Island Royal Charter and presented it to the king, and it was approved with the king’s seal on 8 July 1663. This charter granted unprecedented freedom and religious liberty to Rhode Islanders and remained in effect for 180 years, making it the longest-lasting constitutional charter in history.

William Cary Baptized

October 5, 1783.  William Carey was baptized in Northampton County, England.  Carey is known as the “father of modern missions.” He was a Particular Baptist minister, translator, social reformer and cultural anthropologist who founded the Serampore College and the Serampore University, the first degree awarding University in India.  He translated the Hindu classic the Ramayana into English, and the Bible into Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Arabic, Marathi, Hindi and Sanskrit. When Adoniram and Ann Judson landed in India, they sought out Carey to talk about Baptist beliefs.

Birthday of Walter Rauschenbusch

October 4, 1961.  Walter Rauschenbusch was born in Rochester, NY.  He is considered the father of the Christian social gospel.  From 1891-1892, Rauschenbusch studied economics and theology at the University of Berlin and industrial relations in England, Rauschenbusch’s work influenced, among others, Martin Luther King; Desmond Tutu; and his grandson, Richard Rorty. Rauschenbusch’s view of Christianity was that its purpose was to spread the Kingdom of God, not through a “fire and brimstone” style of preaching, but by the Christlike lives led by its members. Rauschenbusch did not understand Jesus’ death as an act of substitutionary atonement; rather, he came to believe that Jesus died “to substitute love for selfishness as the basis of human society.” Rauschenbusch wrote that “Christianity is in its nature revolutionary” and tried to remind society of that. He taught that the Kingdom of God “is not a matter of getting individuals to heaven, but of transforming the life on earth into the harmony of heaven.” ABHS has a large collection of Rauschenbusch family papers, correspondence, photographs, and lectures.

National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc Organized in Atlanta

Sept 23, 1895.  The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc, was organized in Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. It was a merger of the Baptist Foreign Mission Convention, the National Baptist Convention of America and the National Baptist Education Convention.  Reverend E. C. Morris from Little Rock, Arkansas was chosen as the president of this merged body. ABHS has books and articles about the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc, the minutes of their conventions,  as well as several National Baptist periodicals.

First Missionaries Arrive at Kodiak Island

Sept 22, 1886.  Ernest and Ida Roscoe arrived at Kodiak Island.  They were the first Baptist missionaries to Alaska.  Among other things, they started a school and the Baptist Mission at Kodiak.  ABHS has a book their son, Fred, wrote of his life growing up in Alaska where there was no local government and no federal control except for customs collections.

Local Autonomy For Churches

Sept 19, 1749.  Philadelphia Baptist Association stated its support for local church autonomy.  The Church of England and Methodist church had a defined hierarchy that left little local church autonomy, but the Baptists had only loose Associations, and a local church could choose which Association they wanted to join.  Other decisions like which pastor to call, and who could join the church were decided by the local congregation.  The Philadelphia Association was influential; ABHS has records from this association beginning in 1763.

Laywoman Starts Academy With 40 Students

Sept 18, 1901.  Alderson Academy was founded in Alderson, West Virginia by Emma Alderson, a committed Baptist laywoman. Classes started with 40 students.  As the years passed, Alderson Academy added junior college status. Financial hardship in the late 1920’s led to the decision to merge Broaddus College and Alderson Junior College to become Alderson-Broaddus College in Phillipi, West Virginia.   ABHS has many folders of correspondence about Alderson-Broaddus which is affiliated with the American Baptist Church-USA and the West Virginia Baptist Convention.

 

Indian Orphan’s Home Organized in Oklahoma

Sept 17, 1902.  Joseph S. Murrow organized the Indian Orphan’s Home in Oklahoma.  This was the first Baptist orphanage for Indians.  Murrow also founded Bacone College on which campus the Orphan’s Home was located.  He was 94 when he died, and had been a missionary for 72 years.    ABHS has his obituary which was printed in the Baptist in 1929.