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In Titicut Parish Cemetery, at 41 Plymouth Street, Backus’ granite tomb is pulpit-shaped and holds an open Bible. Under the Bible is a bronze memorial plaque. copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, and Practices Featured Image Credit: Wikipedia contributors. File:Isaac Backus.jpg – Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Isaac_Backus.jpg. Read more...
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First Baptist Church, founded by Roger Williams in 1638, was the earliest Baptist Church in America. Erected in 1775, its present building is at 75 N Main St. Its twelfth pastor, James Manning, was founder and president of nearby Brown University. copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, and Practices Featured Image Credit: Read more...
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Underneath the Roger Williams Statue, at Prospect Terrace, lie Williams’s ashes. With John Clarke, he was the co-founder of Rhode Island. (See Chapter 12). copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, and Practices Watch our interview on Roger Williams: Featured Image Credit: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Read more...
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United Baptist Church, John Clarke Memorial, at 30 Spring Street, was founded in 1644 by John Clarke. It was America’s second Baptist church. Clarke was co-founder of Rhode Island and an early defender of liberty of conscience. copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, and Practices Featured Image Credit: “Home – United Read more...
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Newport Historical Society (NHS) houses the first Seventh-Day Baptist church in America. In 1671, Stephen Mumford led a small group of First Baptist to establish this church. In 1884, the NHS bought the Seventh-Day Baptists’ 1730 wooden chapel. In 1915, the NHS moved the elegant chapel from Barney Street to the rear of their headquarters, at 82 Touro Street. Here, Read more...
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Ye Olde Yellow Meeting House, located on Yellow Meetinghouse Road, off Route 526, dates to about 1737. Its earliest records, beginning in 1766, are in a 165-page handwritten “Church Book: Giving an Account of ye First Settlement & Progress of the Baptists at Crosswicks, or Upper Freehold.” In 1766, its forty-seven members organized into Crosswicks Baptist Church. In 1773, its Read more...
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Marked by a tall obelisk at 1500 Washington Avenue, is the grave of George Washington’s mother. Near the obelisk, an inscription on Meditation Rock says of her, “Here Mary Ball Washington prayed for the safety of her son and country during the dark days of the Revolution.” Mary’s home is at 1200 Charles Street. copyrighted and used by permission from David Read more...
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In 1774, Baptists in Tappahannock established the earliest Baptist church in Essex County-Piscataway (now Mt. Zion) Baptist, on Dunbrooke Road. On that same day, inside the local Essex County Courthouse, which is now the oldest courthouse building in Virginia, officials sentenced fines and imprisonments to the three men who preached the church’s opening service – John Waller, John Shackleford, and Read more...
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The Chesterfield County Museum, at 6813 Mimms Loop, is a replica of the 1749 courthouse where magistrates, during 1770-74, sentenced seven Baptist preachers to jail for preaching Christ without state-church approval. See the section, “Virginia Baptist Preachers Imprisoned in Chesterfield Jail 1770-74,” in Chapter 15. copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, Read more...
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The grave of Virginia Governor Patrick Henry, a friend of persecuted Baptists, is at Patrick Henry National Memorial, 1497 Red Hill Road, Brookneal, VA 24528. This beautiful plantation is called Red Hill. copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, and Practices Patrick Henry (1736-1799) loved freedom – risking his life and Read more...
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Founded by Shubal Stearns, in 1755, Sandy Creek Baptist Church is located at 4765 Sandy Creek Church Road, Liberty. Stearns’s obelisk tombstone stands in the church cemetery. Historical monuments on the grounds provide fascinating glimpses into the Sandy Creek heritage. The year 2005 marked the 250th anniversary of Stearns’s organization of the church. In 2015, Sandy Creek Baptist erected a new, Read more...
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Siloam Baptist Church, 2409 Siloam Church Road, was founded by John Waller. The historical marker at the church offers valuable information. copyrighted and used by permission from David Beale, Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, and Practices Featured Image Credit: Photo: Siloam Baptist Church Marker. www.hmdb.org/PhotoFullSize.asp?PhotoID=95768. Read more...