Cold
Spring Baptist Church
1684 - 1702
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In
the history of Pennepack we saw that Elias Keach was led to the Lord and
baptized by Thomas Dungan of the Cold Spring Baptist Church. Cold Spring
Baptist Church was located on a farm owned by the Dungan family. On this farm
was a spring that supplied water for the family and neighbors all around. It is
believed that the area derived its name from that cold spring. The present day spring is pictured on the left. As far as
history can tell, the church never met in a meetinghouse built for the purpose
of church services. It is believed that the church met in the Dungan log cabin
or in the barn.
The
first and only pastor of the church was a man named Thomas Dungan. Local records of Bucks County, Pennsylvania,
show that Thomas Dungan’s son, William, came to Cold Spring in 1683. The father came the next year and settled on a
two hundred acre grant of land received from William Penn. It was almost all wilderness at that
time. We know from history Thomas Dungan
had fled to America from Ireland because of the persecution of the Baptist.
When arriving in America he joined himself to the First Baptist Church in
Newport, Rhode Island, where John Clarke was the pastor. We find the following
in a book, The Historical Sketch of the
First Baptist Church, Newport, Rhode Island written in 1876, by C.E.
Barrows, who at that time was pastor of the church: “The first Baptist minister
in the Province ‘now the state of Pennsylvania’, was Thomas Dungan, who was
dismissed from this church and went to Cold Spring, Bucks County, Pennsylvania,
about the year 1684.”
Cold
Spring Baptist Church, a church started out of First Baptist Church, Rhode
Island, was short lived yet had a great impact on history. Thomas Dungan died in 1688 and Cold Spring Baptist
Church dissolved in 1702 when many of the remaining members joined the
Piscataway Baptist Church. Cold Spring Baptist Church left a legacy. She gave birth to Pennepack Baptist Church,
which became known as the mother of all Baptist churches in New Jersey and in
Pennsylvania.
First Baptist Church
1638/1644 – present
“I
will either make them of conform, or I will harry them out of my kingdom.” King
James I of England spoke these words with deep conviction. He ruled over England from 1603 until 1625.
King James I believed strongly in the Divine Rights of Kings, and believed in
the use of force for defense of those rights. Though the Lord did use him in
giving to us the King James Bible in the English language, he was not a friend
to those who would challenge his authority in religious matters. For this
reason many fled to Holland where they found the surroundings in the
Netherlands were not favorable to them. Their writings tell us they found the
language harsh, the weather undesirable and their environments were not
satisfactory in many ways. So they came to America and settled at Plymouth. In
1630 many Puritans (Puritans were not looking for religious freedom for others
but desired to purify the Church of England) fled England to come to America
and settled in Boston, founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Such
were the conditions into which John Clarke was born. In a book written by
Wilbur Nelson, The Life of John Clarke,
we find the following statement: “John
Clarke was born at Westhorpe, Suffolk County, England, October 8, 1609. His
father’s name was Thomas Clarke. His mother’s maiden name was Rose Kerrich. He was
one of eight children, six of who came to America and settled in different
parts of New England.”
There
seems to be very few records of the early life of John Clarke. As time
continues on history continues to reveal glimpses into his early life. We know
by his writing and his skill as a doctor that he received a formal education.
Records show that he graduated from the University of Lyden in Holland. We know
he came to America in 1637 along with his wife Elizabeth. Upon their arrival he used his skills as a
physician to minister to the needs of the people. Soon after his arrival in
Boston the “magistrates law” was passed and people could only worship in
approved churches. The Redwood Library in Newport, Rhode Island, lists the
following accomplishments of John Clarke during his lifetime.
“Physician,
minister, statesman and pioneer of religious liberty, he was one of the
cofounders who purchased this island from the Indians on March 24, 1638, he
signed the agreement on April 28, 1638, thus marking the establishment of
Newport….
“Dr.
Clarke was responsible for the first written constitution guaranteeing the
right to religious freedom as the author of the Charter of Rhode Island of 1633;
he secured it with the signature and the seal of King Charles II on July 8,
1663. It stipulated that this colony would be known as ‘The Colony of Rhode
Island and the Providence Plantations’…
“On
April 20,1676, the day Dr. John Clarke died, he wrote his will which, in part,
asked that a trust be created for educational purposes…
“Currently,
the John Clarke Trust is the oldest educational fund in the U.S. The original
document has been preserved by the Newport Historical Society.”
The
First Baptist Church in Newport, Rhode Island, was the first Baptist church in
America started between 1638 and 1644. We know that it existed in infancy stage
in 1638. In the winter of 1638 John Clarke, his family and eighteen other families
began their travels in search of religious freedom. This group left Boston
where they were persecuted for their Baptist faith and traveled to New
Hampshire where they found the freedom they desired. There is no written record
of church services being held here, it is hard to accept that those who were
fleeing persecution for their faith would neglect the command found in Hebrew
10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some
is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day
approaching.” Upon their arrival in New Hampshire they soon realized the winters
were too severe for them to survive; therefore in the middle of the winter they
were once again on the move. This time they moved southward and then into the
Narragansett Bay where they lodged with the sympathetic Rodger Williams. At this time is when they decided to come to
rest on the island of Aquetneck.
There
are many historians and the website of United John Clarke Memorial Baptist
Church (New name of First Baptist Church of Newport) who date the founding of the
First Baptist Church while they were in Portsmouth in 1638. The date of their
founding will always be a question. We do know that there were no records of
any other Baptist church at this time. There are many who lay claim that Rodger
Williams started the first Baptist church in America. We know Rodger Williams
leaned toward Baptist tendencies he had learned over time and that he started
his church by allowing Ezekiel Holliman to administer baptism to him. He in turn baptized Ezekiel Holman. This is not the pattern set forth in the New
Testament. After watching a baptism administered by John Clarke, he said he
believed it was the closet thing to scriptural baptism he had seen.
John
Clarke and Obadiah Holmes pastored the church until the death of John Clarke on
April 20, 1676.
As
the colony grew, the influential John Clarke was very active in civil
government. He traveled several times for long lengths of stay to England.
During his absences from the church, Obadiah Holmes pastored the church. After
the death of John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes pastored until his death in 1681. In his
last will and testament, John Clarke left his land on Tanner Street (now Dr.
Marcus F. Wheatland Boulevard) for the use of the church as a burial ground. There
are many pastors who are buried there; Dr. Clarke, John Calendar, and Michael
Eddy are among those buried there. In 1707, the first meetinghouse in
Newport at Green End was sold and another built on land on Tanner Street, given
to the church by John Clarke. The church
on Tanner Street was sold, and in 1737, Hezekiah Carpenter and Josiah Lyons
donated land on Spring Street to the church.
A building was erected on this site the following year. In 1771 plans were made and the building was
enlarged.
“In
1778, this building was occupied by British troops. The structure was
moved to front on Sherman Street in 1846, and was eventually demolished in
1929.” In 1846, the present building of the United Baptist Church was
built on the Spring Street site. Until 1946, it was known as the First
Baptist Church (John Clarke Memorial).
On one of
John Clarke’s trips to England there was a division in the church. Twenty-one members left and formed the Second
Baptist Church. In 1847 there was a division in the Second Baptist Church. Forty-three members left and started the
Central Baptist Church. Then in 1906,
the Central Baptist Church consolidated with the Second Baptist Church. On May
2, 1946, the First and Second Baptist Churches voted to unite into a single
church. The new congregation was called the United Baptist Church, John
Clarke Memorial.
