USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > Historical catalogue of the members of the First Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island > Part 20
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Rev. Samuel L. Caldwell, D. D. (History of the First Baptist Church in Provi- dence, page 5), speaking of the date of the origin of this church, says-'The first sign of organic action is in the baptism of twelve persons, at some time prior to March 16th, 1639.' In a note he adds, 'This is the date of the reference to this event in Winthrop's Journal. Of course it took place before, but how long before is not known. He speaks of Mrs. Scott as 'going last year to live at Providence,' which construed strictly and according to the calendar at that time, would be between March 25th, 1637, and March 25th, 1638. The probabilities are in favor of the formation of the Church within the year 1637-8: but as this entry in Winthrop's Journal is the earliest authentic notice of it, the chronology of the Church has usually been reckoned from that date.'
Dr. Reuben A. Guild says (Brown University and Manning, page 201), after repeating the facts quoted by Dr. Caldwell, 'The year 1638, therefore, may fairly be assumed as the date of the founding of the Church.'
Prof. George P. Fisher, of Yale University, says (The Colonial Era, page 123): 'In 1638 Williams was immersed by an Anabaptist named Holyman, and then he himself immersed Holyman and ten others. There was thus constituted the first Baptist Church in America.'
Dr. J. M. Cramp (Baptist History, page 404) says, in his account of Roger Williams-'But shortly after his settlement at Providence, the whole subject of baptism came under consideration and discussion. How it originated, and in what way the inquiry was carried on, we know not. The result was, however, * that in 1638, twelve men declared themselves Baptists in principle. * * * One of their number, Ezekiel Holliman, was chosen to baptize Mr. Williams, who then baptized the others. A church was immediately formed, of which Mr. Williams became pastor.'
Dr. Henry M. Dexter (As to Roger Williams, page 114) says-'The first mention of Anabaptism in the history of the New England colonies appears to
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THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
be in connection with Mr. Williams and his new settlement at Providence: where early in 1638, becoming convinced that he had not been himself baptized, and seeing no other way to obtain the pure ordinance, he submitted to it at the hands of one Ezekiel Hollyman: after which he turned round and himself rebaptized Hollyman and some ten others.'
In A Review of a Report presented to the Warren Baptist Association, etc., prepared by a Committee appointed by this Church, consisting of the pastor, Dr. J. N. Granger, Dr. Alexis Caswell and Prof. William Gammell, after a careful examination of the facts it is said-'we have no doubt, therefore, that this Church was founded before the year 1639.'
In The Mother Church, pages 16-17, a little volume prepared by the present pastor, it is stated-'The baptism of the twelve was the first evidence of any attempt at organized church life. * * * For the knowledge of this important event, in which their separatism culminated, and their organic union began, we are indebted to Winthrop's Journal, under date of March 16th, 1639, which contains the earliest authentic record of it. It may have taken place a month or a year before the record. * The probabilities place it at least a year before this.'
Rev. Morgan Edwards says (Materials for a History of the Baptists in Rhode Island, in Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, Vol. 6, page 314): 'For their beginning as a church we must look back towards the year 1638.'
Inasmuch, therefore, as the date of the origin of this Church has been reck- oned heretofore, not from the baptism of Roger Williams and his companions, but from the subsequent record of that baptism by Governor Winthrop, under date of March 16th, 1639;
And inasmuch as all historians are agreed in placing the date of the baptism at least several months before the record of it by Winthrop;
And inasmuch as many careful and unprejudiced historians actually speak of the baptism and of the origin of the Church as having occurred during the year 1638,
Resolved, That hereafter the date of the constitution of this Church be re- garded as 1638, and that it be so printed in the Minutes of the Association, in all historical sketches of the Church which may be prepared, and in all church papers and documents in which there is occasion to refer to the origin of the Church.
Resolved, that a copy of this action be presented to the Warren Association at its next annual meeting in explanation of this change of date in its Minutes."
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the paper and the resolu- tions presented and adopted by the First Baptist Church, Providence, R. I., at the quarterly business meeting, held Tuesday evening, March 21, 1899.
Attest:
WM. A. GAMWELL,
Church Clerk.
Providence, September 14, 1899.
APPENDIX B.
AN INQUIRY AS TO THE PERSONS WHO WERE THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH.
It is an interesting historical question who were the constituent members of the First church in Providence, who were the persons whom Roger Williams baptized immediately after Ezekiel Holliman had baptized him, and who thus with him founded the first Baptist church in this new world. As is well known, the early records of the church have been lost, but tradition may be as trust- worthy as documentary evidence, if it has come down in an unbroken line, fits in to the known circumstances and is confirmed by all the known facts. The fact of the baptism is established beyond question, but the names of all the persons baptized will probably never be known with certainty. It has been generally believed that there were twelve in all (the apostolic number), in- cluding Roger Williams.
Hubbard says Roger Williams "was baptized by one Holliman, then Mr. Williams rebaptized him and some ten more." Winthrop also writes: "A sister of Mrs. Hutchinson [probably a sister-in-law], the wife of one Scott, being infected with anabaptistry, and going last year, to live at Providence, Mr. Williams was taken, or rather emboldened by her to make open profession thereof, and accordingly was baptized by one Holyman, a poor man, late of Salem. Then Mr. Williams rebaptized him and some ten others." William Coddington and Richard Scott, contemporaries of Williams, also bear un- questionable testimony to his immersion. See "The Mother Church," pp. 27- 38, also "The Baptism of Roger Williams."
It will be noticed that Hubbard and Winthrop do not say "ten more," but "some ten more," leaving the number indefinite, so that it is not absolutely certain that the whole number baptized was exactly twelve. It may have been two or three more.
After Roger Williams had purchased the site of Providence from the Indians, he generously shared his purchase with twelve others, whose names are known, and are as follows: Ezekiel Holliman, Stukely Westcott, William Arnold, Thomas James, Robert Cole, John Greene, John Throckmorton, William Harris, William Carpenter, Thomas Olney, Francis Weston, and Richard Waterman. These twelve and Roger Williams are called "the original proprietors of Provi- dence." It has been quite customary to select twelve of these names, and call them the original members of the church. Stanford, Benedict, Knowles, Ar- nold and others do this. They omit the name of John Throckmorton or Throg- morton, for what reason I have been unable to ascertain. It is well-nigh cer- tain, as will be seen, that he was one of the number.
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THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH,
Backus quotes from a letter written by Roger Williams seventeen years after- ward, in which he clearly implies that William Arnold and William Carpenter were not Baptists, but were in sympathy with the Massachusetts colonies and amenable to them. Dr. Hague in his discourse at the two hundredth anniver- sary omits the names of Arnold and Carpenter as well as Throckmorton, and speaks of the original members of the church as ten in number. Morgan Ed- wards gives the names of the thirteen original proprietors, and adds "some of these were Baptists," without specifying how many or which ones. He then makes an illuminating quotation from a letter of Hugh Peters, pastor of the church in Salem, written to the church in Dorchester, which refers to the action of the Salem church in excluding certain members for having been "rebaptized." The names of these members are given in the letter.
Dr. S. L. Caldwell in his discourse at the two hundred and fiftieth anniver- sary of the church, refers to Peters' letter, and comments upon it as follows: "The church in Salem excommunicated ten persons, who had come to Provi- dence, and according to the letter of Hugh Peters, the minister there, 'except two are all rebaptized.' Their names were given as 'Roger Williams and his wife, John Throgmorton and his wife, Thomas Olney and his wife, Stukely Westcott and his wife, Mary Holliman and widow Reeves,' four men and six women, the men being four of the thirteen original proprietors of the town. Which were the two not rebaptized it is difficult to learn. To these ten are to be added Ezekiel Holliman certainly, and probably Richard Scott and his wife."
Several explantory remarks need to be made. These rebaptized persons must have been baptized in Providence, for they had all gone there, and that was the only place in this new world, where "rebaptism," that is, immersion on profession of personal faith in Christ, was administered at that time. Although we do not know who the two not rebaptized were, we know that Roger Williams was not one of them, for we have at least four positive testimonies from his contemporaries that he was rebaptized. It seems probable from Peters' letter that John Throckmorton was rebaptized, and was therefore one of the constituent members of the Providence church, as has been said. The ten excommunicated persons were evidently in full sympathy with each other, and it is probable that the two quickly followed the example of the eight.
It is, moreover, certain that the rebaptized women joined the church at the time of its origin. Dr. Caldwell is undoubtedly correct in including Mrs. Scott among the number, for Winthrop charges her with leading Williams astray, and Mr. Scott also confessed later, when he had become a Quaker and hostile to Roger Williams, his former connection with him, saying that he "walked with him in the Baptists' way three or four months * * * * when he broke from the society."
It is more than probable that the wives of other men, besides those mentioned by Peters, joined their husbands in this new movement, and became members of the church. It is recorded that a Mrs. Verin identified herself with Mr. Wil- liams' followers, and was so opposed by her husband that the town declared that he was infringing upon her sacred rights of conscience, and censured and
189
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
punished him. The following entry is found upon the town-books: "It was agreed that Joshua Verin, upon the breach of a covenant for restraining of the libertie of conscience, shall be withheld from the libertie of voting till he shall declare the contrarie."
The question suggests itself, does the omission of the names of female mem- bers in the constitution of a church indicate a frequent custom in those early days? When a church in Swansea, founded by the Welsh preacher, John Myles, in 1663, which was the first Baptist church in Massachusetts, was or- ganized, seven persons signed the covenant, all of them being men. Yet the wives of some of these men undoubtedly entered into church fellowship with them. When in 1682 in Kittery, Me., a few Baptists under the leadership of Rev. William Screven organized what was the first Baptist church in the dis- trict of Maine, the covenant was signed by the ten male members only. It is known that several women had been recently baptized there, including the wife and mother-in-law of Mr. Screven, yet their names do not appear attached to the covenant.
It may be that there were twelve men, in addition to the women, who con- stituted the Providence church. Now, if we omit the names of Arnold and Carpenter from Benedict's list, names which the letter of Roger Williams ex- cludes, and insert the names of Throckmorton and Scott, for whom there is strong favorable testimony, we still have the requisite number, twelve. There may be some doubt about one or more of these being Baptists, especially John Greene, who had his children baptized not long before he left the mother country (though a sea voyage may have served as a tonic in his case as in many another), and who left Providence for Warwick to join his fortunes with those of Mr. Gorton soon after the church was organized; but these names will probably stand as the original members of the church until new evidence to the contrary is found.
Among the "second comers" to Providence, and to the church, were Chad Brown, William Wickenden, and Gregory Dexter, who after the withdrawal of Roger Williams and also of Thomas Olney, who subsequently formed a new church, assumed the pastoral care of the First church. These were all men of character and influence, and competent leaders of the new movement.
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
Exterior of Meeting House, 1854.
Title.
Interior of Meeting House, 1854.
48
Exterior of Meeting House, 1908
96
Interior of Meeting House, 1908. 144
Old Parsonage
176
James Manning
8
Stephen Gano.
16
Robert E. Pattison.
24
William Hague.
32
James N. Granger
56
Samuel L. Caldwell.
64
Edward G. Taylor
80
T. Edwin Brown.
88
Henry M. King
104
Elijah A. Hanley
112
John C. Stockbridge
128
Francis Wayland 136
James H. Read.
152
John L. Lincoln
160
Charles F. Wilcox
168
Opposite Page
Date Due
FACULTY
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
BX6250.P9F5 K5 Historical catalogue of the members of Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library
1 1012 00000 3238
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