Guide to the First Baptist Church Of Seneca Falls Records,
1827-1883.

Collection Number: 6006

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3530
Fax: (607) 255-9524
rareref@cornell.edu
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
S.L.
Date completed:
Mar. 1979
EAD encoding:
Andrea Hektor, June 2004

© 2004 Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
First Baptist Church of Seneca Falls records, 1827-1883.
Collection Number:
6006
Creator:
First Baptist Church of Seneca Falls (Seneca Falls, N.Y.)
Quantity:
2 reels microfilm.
Forms of Material:
Microfilm.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Articles of faith, church covenant and minutes of regular and special church meetings, dealing with church finances, abolition, temperance, and religious discipline. Also three unrelated items: a sermon entitled "The hard-shell Baptists" (n.d.) satirizing that type of group; "The Baptist church manual" (1853); and "The Sunday School receiving book" (1838-1850) which lists pupils, dates of entry, parents' names, occupations and characters, residences, classes and remarks.
Language:
Collection material in English

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

Records of the First Baptist Society predating the church organization have not been located. Gaps exist in the church records from March to October 1844, thus omitting references to the schism which tore the church apart when the minister began to preach second adventism, and between volume I and volume II (February 24, 1850-July 31, 1853). Issues of central importance to this congregation were church finances, slavery, temperance, and church discipline. Members who enrolled during meetings are listed, but little else is mentioned about the revivals.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Articles of faith, church covenant and minutes of regular and special church meetings, dealing with church finances, abolition, temperance, and religious discipline. Also three unrelated items: a sermon entitled "The hard-shell Baptists" (n.d.) satirizing that type of group; "The Baptist church manual" (1853); and "The Sunday School receiving book" (1838-1850) which lists pupils, dates of entry, parents' names, occupations and characters, residences, classes and remarks.
SUBJECTS

Names:
First Baptist Church of Seneca Falls (Seneca Falls, N.Y.)

Subjects:
Baptists--New York (State)--Seneca Falls.
Baptists--Sermons.
Sunday schools--Records.
Sunday schools--New York (State)--Seneca Falls.
Temperance and religion--New York (State)--Seneca Falls.
Baptists
Church discipline.
Antislavery movements.
Baptists--Education.
Baptist church buildings.
Church records and registers--New York (State)--Seneca Falls.

Places:
Seneca County (N.Y.)--Religious life and customs.
Seneca Falls (N.Y.)--Religious life and customs.

Form and Genre Terms:
Sermons.
Minutes.
INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:
First Baptist Church of Seneca Falls records, #6006. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
CONTAINER LIST

Description
Container
Part I
Records of the First Baptist Church at Seneca Falls New York, 1828.
 Item 1
This volume contains the Articles of Faith, Covenant, minutes of covenant and regular church meetings of the church and of the Baptist Conference which predated it from Sept. 15, 1827 to Feb. 24, 1850, and "A List of names of members of the Baptist Church .. Constituted the 5th June, 1828," containing the name, date of baptism, admission by letter, dismission, exclusion, restoration, date of death, and a list for March 10, 1846 (p. 323) with names of members for visiting.
First Baptist Church of Seneca Falls, N.Y. Record no. 2.
 Item 2
This volume contains the Articles of Faith, Church Covenant, and minutes of regular and covenant meetings (July 3, 1853 - July 10, 1853) with a list of members with the same information as that listed above in 9 double-faced pages.
Volume I page 3
Articles of Faith
Volume I page 7
Covenant
Volume I page 9, Sept. 15, 1827
church organization
Volume I page , Oct. 8, 1828
council meets to form church
Volume I page 15, Oct. 25, 1828
minutes of the church commence
Volume I page , Aug. 30, 1834
1st letter to the Ontario Baptist Council's annual meeting, which contains year-end reports of temporal affairs and spiritual progress, including membership statistics, additional letters are as follows:
Volume I page 65, Sept. 23, 1835
Volume I page 73, Sept. 29, 1836
Volume I page 80-81, Sept. 23, 1837
Volume I page 96, Sept. 27, 1838
Volume I page 121, Sept. 1839
Volume I page 160, Sept. 21, 1840
Volume I page 196, Sept. 1841
Volume I page 247, Sept. 1842
Volume I page 331, March 10, 1846
Volume I page 149, Sept. 1848
Volume I page 76, Jan. 28, 1858
founding of Waterloo Conference Tyre church
Volume I page 99, Jan. 8, 1839
Doctrine of Universal Salvation
Volume I page 103-104
Doctrine of Universal Salvation
Volume I page 138, 141, March 5, 1840
bro. is licensed to preach to the Sailors in Oswego
Volume I page 140, 145, April 11, 1840
Bro. Sheardon visits and quickens many souls
Volume I page 176, Feb. 23, 1841
campellites
Volume I page 179-185, Feb. 27, 1841
Mr. Bachus leads a revival
Volume I page 214, Oct. 1841
problems with the subscription system
Volume I page 239-24 2, Aug. 9, 1842
resolution on the evils of slavery
Volume I page 236-237, Aug. 2, 1842
Baptist Conference in Fayette
Volume I page 252, letter for l84l
discussion of a revival
Volume I page 255, Nov. 8, 1842
unitarianism
Volume I page 258, Jan. 17, 1843
revival
Volume I page 292, Nov. 23, 1843
temperance
Volume I page 308, March 23, 1844
Bro. Pinney, the minister, resigns
Volume I page 318
wife beating
Volume I page 375
"a List of the names of members..."
Volume II
Articles of Faith
Volume II
Covenant of the Church
Volume II
Minutes - begin July 3, 1853
Volume II, pages 33-49
Names of members
Part II
"The Hard Shell Baptists" sermon, n.d.
Item 1
The term, "Hard-Shell Baptists" was used during the 19th century to refer to primitive, fundamentalist, uneducated Baptists. This sermon may not have originated vith the First Baptist Church of Seneca Falls, but has been filed with other Baptist material because of the title.
This is a comical, satirical sermon, possibly pretend, referring to an uneducated preacher. It also satirizes other religious groups including Methodists, United Brethren, Catholics and Universalists, and their ways of attaining salvation, c. 1860
"The Baptist Church Manual", 1853.
 Item 2
Published by the American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia.
"The Sunday School Receiving Book," Nov. 1838-1850.
Item 3
Contains lists of pupils with date of entry, register number, parent's name, parent's occupation and character, residence, class, and remarks. There is one list for 1838-46, one for Oct. 22, 1848-1850. A list of Sunday School officers is also included.