BAPTISTS IN AMERICA. There were among the early colonists those who held Baptist views, hut the first church established was at Providence, R. I. Roger Williams, a minister of the Church of England, but an advanced Puritan, on coming to the Colony of Alassachusetts, became almost at once a disturbing element there, by his advocacy of notions that the authorities of that colony were not disposed to tolerate. Ile was condemned to banishment, October 8, 1635, and, to escape being deported to England, made his way through the wilderness in midwinter, bought land of the Nar ragansett Indians, and founded the Colony of Providence, on the principle of complete civil and religious liberty. His study of the Scriptures convinced him that only believers are fit subjects of baptism, and others of the little colony had come by March, 16:39, to hold similar opinions. No minister being within call, this little band of twelve believers decided to originate baptism; one of their number, Ezekiel HoIliman, baptized Williams, and he baptized the rest. In the fol lowing year, probably, another Baptist church was formed in the neighboring Colony of New port. A company of Welsh Baptists emigrated in 1665 and established themselves in the Colony of Massachusetts, settling after some vicissitudes at in 1667. A Baptist church was formed in Boston in 11555, and in spite of severe persecutions succeeded in maintaining itself there. Until 1691 the Baptists of Massachusetts experienced repeated and severe pe•secutions fines and imprisonments and whippings—and it was not until 1833 that they ceased to be taxed for the support of a State Church. Up to the Great Awakening (1750), there were but eight Baptist churches in this region.
A group of churches, established a little later than these in the New England region, became the most influential centre for the propagation of Baptist ideas. In 1688 a Baptist church was formed at Pennepek, or Lower Dublin, now a part of Philadelphia, and in the smne year an other church was organized at Middletown, N. J. Twelve such churches were in existence by 1770. The constituent members of these churches were English and Welsh Baptists, of the Calvinistic wing, and the establishment of the Philadelphia Association in 1707 made them the most com pact and influential body of Baptists in Amer ica. Most of the churches of New York Colony, as they were constituted from 1712 onward, sought admission to this association, which also contained members in Virginia and the Caro linas, as far south as Charleston. The adoption of a Confession before 1742; ever since known as the Philadelphia Confession, furnished a stand ard of doctrine that has endured to the present day. and multiplied the influence of this asso ciation.
From these two centres the extension of Bap tist churches slowly proceeded until the Great Awakening, when new life and vigor was in fused into the movement, and the progress of Baptists in all the colonies became relatively rapid. This progress was not seriously checked even by the Revolution, save in certain localities. There were probably no more than 10,000 mem bers in the Baptist churches existing at the out break of that struggle; but a careful estimate made in 1792 (an enumeration. in large part)
put the number of members at 35.000, and at the close of the century the Philadelphia Asso ciation stated the number at 100.000, distributed among 1200 churches. The great westward movement of the population after the Revolu tion was the opportunity of the Baptists, and they promptly improved it. The churches and associations on the borders of the new country sent missionary preachers into the new settle ments, and gradually local societies were formed for this work. This led to the organization of State missionary conventions, and in 1832 to the formation of a national organization, the Ameri can Baptist Dome llission Society, which now sustains over 1000 workers at a cost of more than half a million dollars a year. In 1813 a society for foreign' missions was formed, called 'The General Convention of the Baptist Denomi nation in the United States,' which continued to be the general agent of the churches. for this work until 1845, when differences between the Northern and Southern churches concerning slavery produced a division. The Southern churches formed Time Southern Baptist Conven tion,' which has continued until the present time to be their missionary agency; while the North ern churches organized 'The American Baptist "Missionary Union.' The American Baptist Pub lication Society—beginning merely as a tract society in 1824, but since 1840 a great denomi national publishing agency—completes the na tional organizations.
The progress of American Baptists during the Nineteenth Century was very rapid, in spite of many controversies and schisms that divided their forces and lessened their numbers. The most serious of these schisms was that resulting in the establishment of the Disciples as a sepa rate body, beginning about 1815 among the churches of western Pennsylvania and Ohio. This controversy extended throughout the region of the Central West, and had disastrous effects. Less serious was the division among the East ern and Southern churches from 1835 onward on the issue whether missionary societies, Sunday schools, and other similar agencies for Christian work are authorized by the Scriptures. The es tablishment of the Old School or Primitive Bap tists was the result. Aside from their rapid numerical progress, the educational work of American Baptists is the most striking feature of their history. Their first educational institu tion was an academy at Hopewell, N. J., which began in 1756. but was brought to an end by the Revolution. The Philadelphia Association began to plan for a college as early as 1750, and to the efforts of this body was due the chartering of Brown University (as Rhode Island College) in 1764. Waterville Colby) College was founded in Maine in 1818, and a literary and theological institution (now Colgate University) was begun at Hamilton. N. Y., in 1820. Front this time on the number of colleges and theologi cal seminaries multiplied, at times far in excess of the needs of the denomination or its ability to support them, until the closing century saw the Baptists in possession of 7 theological schools, 105 schools of collegiate grade, and 90 academies. These schools possess property val ued at $44,000.000, of which fully half is pro ductive endowment.