August 10

On this day in 1567, Christian Langedul, Cornelis Claess, Mattheus de Vick, and Hans Symons, were arrested on suspicion of being Anabaptists.  Each confessed his faith in Christ alone for salvation and they were jailed.  After a month of confinement and horrendous...

August 3

When George Fownes became the pastor of the Broadmead Baptist Church in Bristol, England, he knew he was stepping into danger.  His immediate predecessor had been imprisoned many times between 1671 and 1678.  And that man’s predecessor had even died as a result of the...

July 27

Here is a bit of local history.  How many can picture the location of Dayton, Washington?  It is about 150 miles southwest from Post Falls and 41 miles north of Walla Walla on highway 12, resting under the shadow of the Blue Mountains. Today it has a population of...

July 20

Samuel Pearce was born on this day in 1766.  As a young man he happened to be in a house where a man lay dying.  The man in despair cried out, “I am damned forever.”  The words filled young Samuel with terror.  For more than a year, the death of that man and the...

July 13

William Powell (not the actor of by-gone days, but William Rufus Powell), was born into a godly home in 1808, but he was not born again until many years later. At an early time in his life, his mother died, and other family tragedies sent him swinging back and forth...

July 6

Barnas Sears was one of the great educators of this country, but that may not be his most important role in Baptist history.  In 1825, he graduated with the highest honors from Brown University, after which he studied at Newton Theological Institution (both respected...

June 29

Isaac Sawyer was born in rural New England in 1770.  When he was a baby his village was attacked by Indians, and his father and all the other men were taken captive, leaving the women and children to fend for themselves.  On the eleventh night of their captivity,...

June 22

Thomas Armitage quoted an article, written by a historian named Some, which described the persecution of the Baptists in England at the end of the 16th century.  Mr. Some records that the charges against our forefathers were that they “insisted on maintaining all...

June 15

Edward Jerome was born on this day in 1826. While at Yale college studying to become a lawyer, the Lord graciously saved his soul. With his new life in Christ, he was determined to be the best lawyer he could possibly be. While still attending a Congregational...

June 8 in Baptist History

Robert Robinson was on his way to becoming a minister in the Church of England when the Lord interrupted his plans. After the death of this father there was no money to continue his education, although he did what he could to expand his mind. In 1752 he went to hear...

June 1 in Baptist History

Samuel Stennett is perhaps the most well-known member of a family of early English Baptists.  His great-grandfather, Edward; his grandfather, Joseph; and his father, Joseph, were preachers, as were his brother, Joseph, and his nephew, Joseph.  Confused? Samuel was...

May 25

Michael Sattler was born in Germany about 1490.  At an early age he entered a Benedictine Monastery where he learned Greek and Latin, and where he studied Paul’s Epistles.  Through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit brought Michael to the truth of the gospel, after...

May 18

In 1794, three Baptist families and one lady became determined to leave England for America in search of religious freedom. They formed themselves into a Baptist church and called one of their men, John Healy, to be their pastor. After spending about six months in New...

May 11

John Hart was a resident of Hopewell, New Jersey, before the Gano family moved to the area.  In my book on the Ganos, I mentioned Brother Hart, but I didn’t call him a Baptist, as is often implied in other histories.   He appears to me to be a Presbyterian.  He was...

May 4

In Great Britain during the 17th century, God’s Baptist people were brutally persecuted. Toward the end of that period, Edward Terrill, a member of the church in Bristol, kept a journal, from which we can glean an insight into the dangers of that period. 1682. Jan....