University of Virginia Library

THE BAPTISTS

The people called Baptists were well established in Caroline
within the first half century of the county's existence. There
is no definite record of the first preaching in the county by
Baptists, but it is certain that ministers of this faith preached in
the county prior to 1760. In the Clerk's office of the county
may be seen court records of the imprisonment of several Baptist
ministers, one of which reads as follows:

Monument to Imprisoned Baptist Preachers at Bowling Green

"July Court MDCCLXXI, 1771

"Bartholomew Chewning, James Goodrich and Edward
Herndon being brought before the court for teaching and preaching
the Gospel, without having Episcopal ordination, or a license
from the General Court: Ordered, that they be remanded back to

gaol of this county, & there remain till they give security, each
in the sum of twenty pounds & two securities each in the sum of
two pounds, for their good behaviour twelve months and a daye."

Records of similar charges and punishments are found in the
same book against John Burruss, John Young and Lewis Craig,
and upon one occasion Patrick Henry came to Caroline to defend
the liberties of these ministers when they were charged with
preaching without the proper authority.

At the present time there are sixteen white Baptist churches
in Caroline with a membership of approximately four thousand,
and nearly a score of colored churches with a membership equally
as large as that of the white churches. It is conservative to say
that the membership of the white Baptist churches will out-num-ber
the combined membership of all other denominations in the
county. Following are sketches of nearly all of the Baptist
churches in the county: