From Encyclopedia Virginia:
In this 1772 document, the sheriff of Orange County is ordered to summon Nathaniel Saunders, minister of Mountain Run Baptist Church, to appear in Culpeper County Court to answer the charge of “unlawfull Preaching.” Virginia required ministers to obtain preaching licenses, but some Baptists refused to do so on the grounds that it was not a matter for man to decide whether someone could preach the Gospel. Baptist ministers who did acquire licenses sometimes violated their terms. Places of worship were usually specified by the licenses, thereby making itinerancy and revival meetings illegal.
From church website:
Culpeper Baptist Church was birthed in 1774 in the soil of religious liberty by our pastor Nathaniel Saunders, who was imprisoned in the Culpeper Jail and our 3rd pastor, John Leland, who helped establish religious freedom in the Constitution. While we remain linked to our past, we are keenly focused on the present and looking toward the future just as they were.
Read more at http://culpeperbaptist.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Religeous_Freedom.pdf
Many Baptist ministers were imprisoned in Culpeper before the U.S. colonies gained their independence and drew up their own governing documents.
During his sermon, Carlton listed 14 ministers by name, including Nathaniel Saunders, the founding pastor of Culpeper Baptist Church, or Mount Poney, as it was known in his day.
In the early 1770s, a license was required by the British crown in order to preach.
“These Baptists, many of them the product of the Great Awakening, felt they shouldn’t need to ask if they could preach or not,” Carlton said. “They were willing to suffer to show their dedication for teaching the gospel.”
Taylor said authorities in the late 1760s and early ‘70s required those seeking such a license to go to Williamsburg to get it, as well as restricting its user to specific, “appropriate” theology.
“Among the most famous stories is that of James Ireland, who was thrown into the Culpeper jail from November 1769 until April of the following year,” Taylor said.
The Culpeper Jail was a dank and miserable place, and the stories say Ireland endured beatings, a smoke bomb, and even attempts to poison him by supporters of the Anglican church, who were in authority at the time.
Nevertheless, Ireland continued to preach through the jailhouse window, and supporters brought him food, blankets, and words of comfort.
“Ireland was at first abused by his cellmate, a rough character, but then he was able to win him over,” Taylor said. “The man became so dedicated to Ireland that he became kind of a bodyguard for him.”
Built in 1749, the jail stood at the corner of East and East Davis streets.
In 1859, Culpeper Baptist Church built a sanctuary there, but the structure burned down in 1892. The congregation constructed a new church building, which survives today as the Free Gospel Church of Christ in the heart of downtown Culpeper.
More than five decades ago, Culpeper Baptist Church built the core of its current meetinghouse on West Street; it has been added to over the years.
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