February 26

It was on this day in 1770 that John Picket began his three month incarceration in the Fauquier County, Virginia, jail. Because only the Church of England was lawfully permitted in Virginia, Brother Picket did most of his preaching in the open air. On one occasion...

February 19

When it is God’s will, things can move very quickly. Adoniram Judson was an unsaved, unconverted man when he enrolled in Andover Theological Seminary. Later that year, in September 1808, he was born-again and his study of the Word of God took on a new nature. Five...

February 12

During the 19th Century, Czechoslovakia was a Roman Catholic nation, but there were small groups of Protestants holding secret meetings throughout the country. Into this environment, in 1846, Henry Novotny was born. While still a youth he visited a secret Protestant...

February 5

David Jones was, it is said, the first Baptist to become a chaplain to the American military. In 1776 he was appointed to serve Colonel St. Clair’s regiment and later was chaplain under Horatio Gates and Anthony Wayne; he also ministered to the troops at Valley Forge....

January 29

On this day in 1620 Lucy Apsley was born. Her birth took place in the Tower of London where her parents were – not imprisoned – but where her father, Sir Allen Apsley, was governor. Lucy’s parents were dedicated Presbyterians. She was raised in a godly home surrounded...

January 22

Hezekiah Smith was born in 1737 at Long Island, N.Y. Under the ministry of John Gano, he was born again, and following Gano’s example, he moved to Hopewell, N.J. in order to attend the Baptist Academy. After some time there he moved a few miles down the road to attend...

January 15

It was on this day in 1549 that Elizabeth was arrested as an Anabaptist. We don’t know her last name, but we do have records of the details of her trial before a council of Roman Catholics. Council: What do you think of the Mass? Elizabeth: I do not approve of your...

January 8

James Carroll was born into poverty on this day in 1852, while his parents were living in Arkansas, having moved there from North Carolina, via a stay in Mississippi. Almost all the wealth of the Carrolls was incorporated in the slaves which they owned, but with the...

January 1

Daniel Marshall arrived in the Colony of Georgia on this day in 1771. He was originally from New England, but he had been serving the Lord with Shubal Stearns in North Carolina for a while before feeling led of the Lord to move south. Stearns and Marshall were...

December 25

William Ashmore was born on this day in 1821. After the Lord redeemed him, he graduated from the Covington Theological Institution in Kentucky, and in 1848 he was ordained by the Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ohio. Two years later, he and his wife sailed for Hong Kong,...

December 18

John Courtney was born in 1744. His family was Virginian and Episcopalian, but through a Separate Baptist preacher the Lord saved him, and in time called him into the ministry, after which he became the first pastor of the Rehoboth Baptist Church in King William...

December 11

The Jeffersonton Baptist Church began its life on this day in 1773. It is the second oldest Baptist church in Culpepper County, Virginia. The first members were members of the Carter’s Run Baptist Church, but they lived too far from the meeting house and...

December 4

Nathaniel Chambles was born on this day in 1762. The place was Sussex, Virginia. His parents were godly Baptists, but Nathaniel was not converted until sometime during his 26th year. He was baptized and received into the High Hills Baptist Church. Nearly twenty years...

November 27

  Ebenezer Lee Compere, was born in 1833. He was the son of English former missionaries to Jamaica who, because of health problems, moved to Charleston, S.C., but then on to work among the Creek Indians in Alabama, where he was born. After E.L. was converted to...

November 20

1527 was a glorious year for the Anabaptists in Europe.  On February 8, George Wagner was executed by fire in Munich for saying that baptism did not save souls.  The same was true of Melchoir Vet.  In May a former Catholic priest, named Michael Sattler had his tongue...