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First Baptist Church finds its roots in 1696, when William Screven and his twenty-eight member church (est. 1682) moved from Kittery, Maine, and settled near Charleston, as the earliest Baptist church in the south. In 1698, they moved into Charleston, as First Baptist Church, still located on Church Street. Other early Baptist pastors here include Oliver Hart and Richard Furman. Read more...
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A short drive southwest of Orange is Monticello, at 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville, the home of President Thomas Jefferson – principal author of the Declaration of Independence. His tombstone inscription says: Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia. copyrighted and Read more...
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Nearby is Montpelier, home of the two-term, fourth President, James Madison – Father of the Constitution and Architect of the Bill of Rights. It was here that Dolley Madison earned the epithet “America’s first, ‘First Lady’.” Montpelier is at 11350 Constitution Highway, Montpelier Station. copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, and Read more...
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On Washington Avenue, stands the Thomas Jefferson Religious Freedom Monument, made from stones sent from churches across the country. It commemorates Jefferson’s Virginia Religious Freedom Statute, promising that “no man shall… suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief.” The Statute became the basis for the religion clause of the First Amendment. copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History Read more...
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Berryville (formerly Buckmarsh) Baptist Church is at 114 Academy Street. John Gerrard (Garrard, ca. 1720-87), in 1772, constituted the Buckmarsh church. James Ireland (ca. 1745-1806) served the Buckmarsh pastorate from 1786 until his death. Ireland’s remains lie in an unknown grave in the Buckmarsh cemetery. A historical plaque marks the site where Buckmarsh Baptist once stood. The plaque is only Read more...