On February 16, in 1747, Isaac Backus formed a church with 16 people in Titicut, MA. He was going against legal requirements. Backus spoke out for separation of church and state, and was one of the original trustees for Brown University, the first Baptist school of higher learning. In 1751, Backus became the pastor of Middleborough Baptist church in Massachusetts. The accompanying photo shows Backus listed as the pastor of Middleborough in the 1790-1795 Baptist Register. ABHS has a collection of Backus’ personal papers and many books by and about him.
