| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Baptist Churches of the Western Reserve |
| Title: | Baptist Churches of the Western Reserve Records |
| Dates: | 1817-1934 |
| Dates: | 1839-1907 |
| Extent: | 0.40 linear feet (1 container) |
| Abstract: | Baptist churches in the Western Reserve were organized in the early nineteenth century. Having no formal hierarchy, Baptist churches formed associations linking church members and resources. Baptist churches in northeastern Ohio first belonged to the Beaver Baptist Association based in western Pennsylvania. In 1817, the Grand River Baptist Association became the first in the Western Reserve. Associations organized around geography, issues, and projects. Some Baptist associations, such as the Rocky River Baptist Association and the Geauga Baptist Association, embraced missionary activity. Bible distribution was also common in the Western Reserve, through groups such as the Ashtabula Bible Society. The collection consists of correspondence, financial records, historical notes, a Sunday school register, meeting minutes, and programs of meetings, of various Baptist Church associations, societies, and individual congregations located in the Western Reserve of Ohio. |
| MS Number | MS 4673 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
Baptist Churches of the Western Reserve were organized in the early nineteenth century. The first Baptists in the Western Reserve immigrated from Washington County, Pennsylvania, and settled in Warren, Trumbull County, where they formed a church in 1803. Having no formal hierarchy, Baptist churches in the Western Reserve and elsewhere formed associations which linked church members and resources in the early nineteenth century. Baptist churches in northeastern Ohio first belonged to the Beaver Baptist Association (established 1809), based in western Pennsylvania. In 1817, the Grand River Baptist Association became the first such association in the Western Reserve. Associations organized around geography, issues, and projects. In the mid-1820s, Rev. Alexander Cambell's goal of uniting all Baptists under one doctrine was debated throughout the region. Cambell attacked institutionalized systems such as missionary societies, education societies, and the associations. He was successful in converting Baptists in the middle of the state, but the Baptist churches in the Western Reserve rejected the Cambellite Reform. Missionary work was a particularly divisive issue in the 1830s. Baptists in the Western Reserve who embraced missionary activity included newly formed associations such as the Rocky River Baptist Association and the Geauga Baptist Association. Bible distribution by Baptist groups was common in the Western Reserve, and elsewhere, throughout the mid-nineteenth century and twentieth century. The Ashtabula Bible Society, for example, was established around 1870.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Baptists
The Baptist Churches of the Western Reserve Records, 1817-1934 (1839-1907), consist of correspondence, financial records, historical notes, a Sunday school register, meeting minutes, and programs of meetings.
This collection is of value to researchers interested in the history of the Baptist Church in America and Baptist religious activities in the Western Reserve.
None.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4673 Baptist Churches of the Western Reserve Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Unrecorded.
Processed by Charles Piotrowski in 1994.
Baptist Churches of the Western Reserve Records 1812-1934 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Adams Baptist Association, previously Straight Creek Baptist Association, historical notes 1812-1912 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | American Bible Society, Ohio and Indiana Branch, Ashtabula County, Ohio, Rich Brown, agent, correspondence and monthly reports 1883-1884 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Ashtabula County Bible Society, Ashtabula Baptist Association, A.K. Hawley, treasurer 1869-1889 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Ashtabula Turnpike Company, receipts 1839-1840 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Baptist Association History, unknown location, transcription of minutes 1864-1878 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Baptist Church Associations, programs, minutes and tracts 1817-1890 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Auglaize Baptist Association, Waynesfield, Ohio, program 1890 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Cambridge Baptist Association, Salem Baptist Church, program 1890 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Elk Creek Church, transcription of minutes 1842-1843 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Evangelistic Band of Rochester Theological Seminary, Rochester, New York, outline of meetings undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Meeting Superintendents of Missions, General Missionaries, and Other Representative Workers, Des Moines, Iowa 1890 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Miami Baptist Association, Middletown, Ohio, minutes 1890 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Northern Baptist Convention, "The Northern Baptists and Their Apportionment," tract undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Ohio Baptist Convention, First Baptist Church, Piqua, Ohio, program 1887 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Stillwater Association, formerly Flat Run Association, Flat Run Church, transcription of minutes by Wallace Hugh Cathcart 1817 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Baptist City Mission Society, Cleveland, Ohio, George Phypers, treasurer, financial records 1906-1921 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Columbus Baptist Association Organization, list of officers and committee members 1931-1934 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Cushing, H.K. financial records 1907 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Dresden Baptist Church, historical table 1844-1895 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | East End Baptist Church, Sunday School register 1900-1901 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Geauga Baptist Association, minutes and correspondence 1848-1858 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Hamilton Baptist Church, notes on history 1841-1895 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Immanuel Baptist Church, financial records 1906 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Jefferson, Ohio, First Baptist Church, records 1881-1911 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Lakewood Baptist Church, financial records 1906 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Leonard, George E., corresponding secretary, Ohio Baptist Convention, correspondence 1890-1912 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Lost Creek Regular Baptist Church, letter 1891 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Miscellaneous documents 1817 1873 1894 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Late nineteenth century newspaper clippings, unidentified portrait undated | |||||||||