New Britain herald., 1928-11-16
BAPTIST CHURCH
ANNIVERSARY HELD
Historical Facts RGited at
=; tsOh Year Observance

On Thursday evening $50 sat down
to an old time supper in celebra-
ttion Of the l2Oth anniversary OF the
First Baptist church. Following the
supper the chapel was filled to hear
4 concert OF old songs rendered by
the church quartet and chorus fur
nished by the young woman's sewing
guild, The singers wore costumes
representing the periods OF the
church's history which were pic
turesuue and added to the pleasure
OF the evening.
Supper was served by the Loving
Service class.
The pastor. Rev, William Ross.
welcomed out of town visitors who
were once connected with the
church. Among those to receive a
cordial welcome was Rev. Lyman
johnson who was baptized by Rev.
e. p. Bond In 1857.
William H. Judd gave an interest
ing sketch Of the pioneers who mi
grated from Pennington among
whom were ancestors OF both his
father and mother. He also showed
interesting relics which are treasured
by his family.
b. I. Knapp then gave the history
of the formation of the First Baptist
church In this city.
First Immersion Baptism
In the recital of historical events
In connection with this church. Mr..
Knapp related that the first refer
ence to the Baptists. or Separatlsts
as they were once called. is in the
history of the First Ecclesiastical So
'ciety under the ministry of Rev.
John Smalley about 1875. jeremiah
lOsgood was baptized in small
brook. damned up for the purpose,
next to Samuel Smiths house IN
Stanley Quarter. 1t was here that
tho rite OF baptism by immersion
was practiced for the first time in
this vicinity.
The second person baptized was
Elijah Francis and Lydia, wife of
the aforementioned jeremiah Os-
good. was the third. She was bap-
tiled in In 1777. and at that time
was about 10 years of age. Many
thought the immersion would cause
her death. but the following day she
was AZ well as usual and even able
to visit her son. The same year
Sarah. wife of Stephen Wallister.
left DR.. smalley's church and be-
came . Baptist. She had belonged
to the other church for more than
half a century but her changing was
purely from religious convictions
with reference to baptism and she
openly declared against the Gus
'tomary sprinkling Of children. When
she decided to leave DR.. Smalley's
church she arose during service,
stood in the center of the aisle,
stated her reasons and left the build
ing.
First IS Years
During the first rs years the
erowth OF the church here was slow
and its members hardly numbered
rs. The early meetings were held
~ tu6 uUUt0 VI AUIJdh GlhAIAi a.
schoolhouse In the fourth district
and later at the old Hinsdale House
isn East street. Occasionally the
members journed to Wethersfield.
!Westfield or suffield to attend
services.
. Az the church grew. meetings
were held regularly at the Hinsdale
House on Saturdays. Finally, on
June i6. 1908. the Baptists united
IN church fellowship under the name
'sf the First Baptist church of Ber-
lin and the original members were
Jeremiah Oseood. Elijah Francis.
Gideon Williams. Thomas Booth.
John Osgood. Moses Smith. Oliver
Weldon. Dan Wright. Sarah Wins
dale. Sarah Wallister. Lydia Osgood.
Mary Osgood, Sally Weldon. Jerusha