Hector, N.Y. records, 1835-1863.
Collection Number: 6016

Records prior to 1837 have been lost, however, a history of the church in item 4 gives an account of the church's development from its founding in 1802 until 1837.

History: On Nov. 15, 1809 the First Baptist Church of Christ in Hector and Catherine met to ask fellow churches to recognize them as a church. This occurred a few weeks later. Apparently the early church was anti-Mason, as a prospective minister was called upon to denounce Freemasons prior to his ordination. By 1813 the church had dropped "and Catherine" from its name, since members from Catherine had formed their own church. In 1824 delegates attending the Chemung Association asked leave to join the Seneca Baptist Association. In 1830 the first meeting house was completed. The church split over temperance, Sunday Schools and missionary societies in the early l840's, the splinter group calling themselves the Old School Baptists. The church remained weak and disheartened until a revival occurred, bringing in new members. In 1842 the house of worship was repaired and enlarged. See the church histories in part 4 for the names of ministers and deacons.

Membership list in alphabetical order by page, chronological order on the page.

Articles of Faith

Session Records, Nov. 25, 1837 - May 18, 1887

Interruptions after Aug. 29, 1847, Oct. 1865, and June 13, 1874 for lists of members or the organ guarantee. These are minutes of regular and covenant meetings which deal with church discipline, election of trustees, baptisms, voting letters of dismission, exclusion of members, and occasional resolutions. Items of note include resolutions concerning the grounds for exclusion (Sept. 11, 1847), and a public day of Thanksgiving on Nov. 25 (Nov. 13, 1847).

Partial index to the early minutes, and two histories of the church, one written in the l9th century, the other added to it in 1925.

1842-1857 , Chronological, no pagination

The Ladies Benevolent Society formed to raise funds for charitable causes on June 11, 1842. Thereafter they met annually to elect officers, choose their project for the year, and to make pledges. Projects included the Baptist Missionary Convention; the Sunday School library; whitewashing and painting the interior of the meeting house; purchasing a communion service, blinds for the church, a bible and a hymnal; and regular contributions to missionary causes. Contributions included spun wool, cotton and silk, knitted stockings, sewn garments and linens, cloth, and cash. A constitution precedes the minutes.

Nov. 15, l86l - March 14, 1862: "Records of the Bennettsburg Sociable" (Note: M.E. Sachett was the last president of the Benevolent Society and the First Secretary of the Sociable, which is probably how the notes came to be in the same volume).

These records contain the constitution and minutes of the meetings containing place of the bi-weekly meetings and the amount of money collected.