July 3

Zachary Lewis immigrated from Wales to America in 1692, settling in Virginia. There he became quite prosperous. Like most of his neighbors, Zachary was an Anglican, and he brought up his seven children in this religion. The youngest child of the family was Addison....

June 26

When John Borum was thirty years old, he and his family moved from Virginia to Tennessee to start a new life. In 1807 he joined the Round Lick Baptist Church just east of what was to become Nashville. Very quickly he began serving the Lord and soon was preaching God’s...

June 19

It was on this day in 1834 that Charles Spurgeon was born. He was the first of seventeen children. His ancestors had come to England from Holland. His grandfather, James, was the pastor of the Independent Church in Stambourne, Essex, for 54 years. His Father, John...

June 12

James Madison, was not a Baptist preacher. He was raised an Episcopalian, and there is no indication that his doctrinal position was ever changed. He became the fourth President of the United States, and some call him the “Father of the Constitution.” Madison began...

June 5

Knowing what you now know about salvation, how far would you travel in order to hear the gospel of God’s saving grace? Half way around the world? Nathaniel Williams was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1784. His parents were Unitarians, and thus, Nathaniel was raised...

May 29

John Gano was ordained to the gospel ministry by the Baptist church in Hopewell, New Jersey, on this day in 1754. John’s mother was a Baptist, but his father was a Presbyterian, so the young man was raised under a cloud of theological confusion. After his conversion,...

May 22

Joseph Ivimey came into this world at Ringwood, England on this day in 1773. I mentioned him a week or two ago, because the Lord saved him and called him into His ministry. In his youth he was sent to live with his uncle to learn a trade, and it was through that...

May 15

J. E. Feisser was a minister in the Dutch Reformed denomination in Holland during the 19th century. The early part of his life was not pleasant. He lost his wife and two children, then his own health began to deteriorate, and he lost his right eye. Immersed in...

May 8

John Bates was born in Bugbrook, England in 1805. As a twenty-two-year-old, he moved to London to find work, and it was there he found the Saviour. He was born again, baptized and joined the Eagle Street Chapel, pastored by the Baptist historian, Joseph Ivimey. Two...

May 1

While the War for Independence was being waged in America, the Baptists in England were watching with great interest. The 1689 Edict of Toleration, as its title stipulates, provided some degree of religious toleration, but as long as there was one religious...

April 24

On this day in 1854 James Voller preached his first message as pastor of the Bathhurst Baptist Church in Sydney, Australia. It was only twenty-three years earlier that the first Baptist worship service was given to the Lord in that country. Something which made...

April 17

For several reasons, I rarely present anyone from the 20th century in these little histories. Today, I’m going to make an exception. Florence Almen had been serving in a Baptist mission in French Equatorial Africa. After a short furlough in America she bought passage...

April 10

Joshua Morse was born on this day in 1726 when his parents were living in the colony of Rhode Island. Even though his grandfather was a Baptist, his parents were not, and Joshua was not raised in the light of the Word of God. Nevertheless, at the age of sixteen he...

April 3

Abraham Marshall was the son of Daniel and Martha. When he was just a baby, his parents began an effort to evangelize the Mohawk Indians in rural Connecticut, but when Shubal Sterns invited them to join him, they moved to Sandy Creek, North Carolina. While serving...

March 27

The baby born on this date in 1828 was given the name of his father, Edward, a Baptist preacher who served the Lord in Virginia. When Edward was only eight years old, his missionary-minded father moved the family to Alabama. Eventually, the Lord saved the soul of...