First Baptist Church of Williamsburg records
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Abstract
The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg records date from 1839 to 1939 and measure 1.5 linear feet. The majority of the collection consists of handwritten and typescript minutes of church meetings, covering the years of the church's existence. Membership rolls provide a list of church members with admission and dismissal dates, and prior and subsequent church memberships. Membership rolls are indexed and also have an accompanying volume listing marriages in the church, linking female members' maiden and married names. Also included are a catalog of the Sunday School library, a 50th anniversary booklet, and three photographs which show the interior and exterior of the church.
Historical note
The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg was founded in 1839 as Bethel Baptist Church, a small congregation that met at a schoolhouse in the then-village of Williamsburgh, N.Y. The church was renamed First Baptist Church of Williamsburg in 1846, and moved to larger locations along Driggs Avenue. A new chapel was erected in 1885, located at Lee Avenue and Keap Street in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. In 1910, the church absorbed members of the Central Baptist Church of Williamsburg who had originally split off from First Baptist 50 years earlier. Members of the First Free Baptist Church of Brooklyn also migrated to the church in 1915. The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg closed in 1939, at which time most active members joined Emmanuel Baptist Church in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Scope and Contents
The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg records date from 1839 to 1939 and measure 1.5 linear feet. The majority of the collection consists of handwritten and typescript minutes of church meetings, covering the years of the church's existence. Membership rolls provide a list of church members with admission and dismissal dates, and prior and subsequent church memberships. Membership rolls are indexed and also have an accompanying volume listing marriages in the church, linking female members' maiden and married names. Also included are a catalog of the Sunday School library, a 50th anniversary booklet, and three photographs which show the interior and exterior of the church.
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Conditions Governing Access
Open to researchers without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
Reproduction rights for photographs have not been evaluated. Please see library staff for more information.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); First Baptist Church of Williamsburg records, ARC.134, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession V1990.034 was a gift of Betty Nelson Cotton, 1990. Source and date of acquisition for accession 1985.062 are unknown.
Other Finding Aids
Item-level description and digital versions of images from the collection are available for searching via the image database in the library.
About this Guide
Processing Information
This collection combines two accessions: 1985.062 and V1990.034.
Minimally processed to the collection level.
