GREATER COLDWATER CENTENNIAL



Copyright © 1997 by Judith Weeks Ancell. This copy contributed for use in 
the USGenWeb Archives.  

 

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GREATER COLDWATER CENTENNIAL, Souvenir Historical Program
 Greater Coldwater Centennial 1961

Pages 18-20:

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
	

	The first settler, of Baptist belief, to locate in the village of 
Coldwater in July 1833, was a man named Parley Stockwell. On December 31, 
1834, several members of the Baptist denomination met at the home of Dr. 
Hiram Alden on East Chicago Street, elected a moderator and clerk and 
directed the clerk to draft and circulate "certain articles" among members 
of the Baptist denomination who were interested in forming a conference for 
the purpose of  "maintaining the regular worship of God and for the 
edification and growth in grace of each other."
	January 17, 1835, a conference of the group was held in the 
"old Red School house on the northeast corner of Pearl and Hudson, with 
Elder E. Loomis, a missionary of the American Baptist Home Missionary 
Society.  Plans were made for a Church Council to be held in Coldwater 
February 11, 1835, at 10 A. M., for the purpose of organizing a Baptist 
Church.
	On February 11, 1935, the Council consisting of pastors and deacons 
from the churches of Clinton, Greenfield and LaGrange County, together with 
Elder Loomis and members of the local group, met in the Alden home.
	They found there were sixteen prepared to enter into church 
membership, nine of whom bore the name of STRONG.
	In October of 1835 Reuben Graham became the first minister of the 
church.
	Regular worship services were held in the homes of members until 
1844, when a small frame meeting house was erected on the northwest corner 
of Pearl and Monroe.  By May of 1846 the clerk reported 99 members on the 
church roll.
	In the spring of 1863, a lot having been give to the church, at the 
northwest corner of Pearl and Division Streets by two members Mr. Henry C. 
Lewis and Mr. Artemus Allen, the church made plans to sell the meeting house
and parsonage.
	The new church was built during 1864.  The basement or "Lecture" 
room was used for the first time November 3, 1864.  The sanctuary was 
finished later, and appropriate Dedication Services held on August 23, 1866.
The present bell, weighing 2,500 pounds and costing $1,150, was purchased 
during the year 1869.
	In the fall of 1878 an order was given to Johnson & Sons of 
Westfield, Massachusetts, for the purchase of a No. 10 Pipe Organ, the cost 
to be $2,150.
	The sanctuary was redecorated and the original windows of the 
sanctuary replaced by stained glass memorial windows about 1906.
	The church remained much the same in structure until after the 
arrival of Rev. Harold H. Hamilton in 1947, when the Board of Education of 
the City Schools purchased the parsonage on Division Street for school usage.
It was decided to build a parsonage to the north of the church which would 
connect with the basement of the church.  This served as a parsonage until
fall of 1957, when the pastor moved to the new parsonage on the corner of 
Church and Daugherty Street, and the vacated parsonage was used to meet the 
needs of a growing Sunday School.  It now became known as the "Church House."
	The church has observed several anniversaries.  The first one 
mentioned was the 38th annual meeting.  The 75th anniversary was held during 
the pastorate the Rev. Frank Bachelor, at which time the Rev. Barnes of the 
Presbyterian Church was a guest speaker for the evening service.  During the 
pastorate of  the Rev. Hugh Crouch the 110th anniversary was observed on 
October 11, 1936…this date being two years late due to changes in pastors.  
At that time the church enjoyed a full day of fellowship with former pastors 
and friends.  The evening service was given over to the presentation of a 
Centennial Pageant in four episodes.  At the close of the Pageant a 
Centennial Communion Service was observed as a very impressive ending of the
day.
	This year, 1961, finds the Baptist Church, under the able leadership 
of Pastor William Harrington, seeking to fulfill the privilege of witnessing 
to the community of their faith in God.  There is gratitude in their hearts 
and they are reminded of the rich heritage they possess because of the 
sacrifices made by pioneer people of a century ago.








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