This page will help those who are interested in the Baptist Associations in early America. Dr. Wright and I obtained these during our past research trip to the Library of Congress. To my knowledge, this is the only website that contains any of these documents. We possess most of the published minutes and circular letters of nearly every Baptist Association from 1770 to 1819. These minutes contain the Baptist pastors' response to the War of Independence and the War of 1812. Detailed accounts of church growth in association churches are present in all minutes, along with pastors' names. These were quite helpful to us when ascertaining the Baptist pastors' view of Church Incorporation. If you are interested, I will point out those minutes that showed their view of incorporation of a Baptist church to be "unChristian surrender to the State (EEOC v. Townley, 1988)."

 

     We have the minutes of the following Baptist Associations in early America:

          Bethel Association - South Carolina, started in 1791

          Boston Association - Started from Warren Association in 1811

          Bowdoinham Associaion - Maine, started in 1790

          Bracken Association - Published minutes in 1803 only

          Charleston Association - South Carolina, started in 1751, started printing minutes in 1774

          Danbury Association - Connecticut, started in 1790 (Note, this is the Association that Thomas Jefferson wrote stating his "wall of separation" between the church and state.)

          Elkhorn Association - Kentucky, started in 1792

          Georgia Association - started publishing minutes in 1788, 1794, 1804

          Ketocton Association - Published minutes in 1797, 1811, 1812

          Leydon Association - Massachusetts, started in 1800

          Long Run Association - Kentucky, started in 1803

          Middle District Association - Virginia, started in 1791

          New Hampshire Association - New Hampshire, started in 1790

          New York Association - New York, started in 1791

          Philadelphia Baptist Association - Pennsylvania, started in 1707, the minutes started being published in 1769

          Salem Association - Kentucky, started in 1802

          Shaftsbury Association - Vermont, started in 1786

          Stonington Association - Connecticut, started in 1787

          Sturbridge Association - Massahusetts, started in 1803

          Vermont Association - Vermont, started in 1790

          Warren Association - Rhode Island, started in 1769

          Warwick Association - New York, started in 1791

          Woodstock Association - Vermont, started in 1789

We will be placing samples of these minutes on this website over a period of time. I trust they will be a blessing to you. Other samples will go on the "Law" page if they purtain to Church Incorporation, so you may check there also.