Footnotes to Long Island History
date
Town’s Baptist
Churches
by
Thomas R. Bayles
The First Baptist Church in Suffolk county was organized and a
“meetinghouse” built in 1747 at Coram on the site of the present
Methodist church. The records of the activities of this church are
wrapped in obscurity, but upon ground across the road from the church,
are inscribed the names of many of the forefathers of Coram. Among
these is “Rev. Noah Hammond, Minister of the Gospel and Pastor of the
Baptist Church at Coram, born Feb. 24, 1718, died Nov. 4, 1774.”
This old
meeting house was probably owned by individuals in shares, as was
sometimes done in those days, and an item from a local in those years
states that Samuel Bishop, for the consideration of two pounds, sold his
interest in the Baptist meeting house at Coram to David Overton and
Isaac Smith.
In 1847 the old
Baptist church was torn down and sold to Alanson Overton, who used the
material in the construction of a house at Port Jefferson.
In 1853 a number
of the surviving members formed a church and built a house of worship at
Yaphank. The ceremony of laying the cornerstone was held on December
29, 1853. The certificate of this incorporation is recorded in the
Suffolk County clerk’s office at Riverhead. Preaching services were held
on alternate Sunday afternoons between Yaphank and Setauket.
On July 31,
1861, the members living on the north side of the town met at Setauket
and adopted the following resolution: “Whereas, we believe that the time
has come when the cause of Christ may be better served by having a
separate and independent organization, resolved. That the members of the
Brookhaven Baptist
Church, be requested to ask for letters of dismission from the parent
church at Yaphank for the purpose of forming a new and independent
church in Setauket and Port Jefferson.”
On October 2,
1861, 31 members organized themselves into the First Baptist Church in
Setauket and Port Jefferson. Charles Hawkins and Adolphus Bayles were
elected deacons of the newly formed church. This church was officially
received into affiliation with the New York Association of Baptist
Churches on October 16, 1861 at a service held in Port Jefferson. The
first pastor was the Rev. Lanson Steward who assumed his duties on
November 30, 1861.
The church
building was purchased from the Congregational society in 1861, which
had been built in 1355 by that denomination but fallen into disuse.
The certificate
of incorporation of the Baptist church was recorded in the certificates
of Religious Corporations at the county clerk’s office in Riverhead on
July 23, 1866.
In October
1951, the ninetieth anniversary of the church was held at Port Jefferson
in a very impressive ceremony.
In 1876, the
Baptist church in Patchogue was reorganized after having been inactive
for many years and a church was built on the lower end of South Ocean
Avenue. On September 12, 1888, the First Baptist Church of Patchogue was
organized. A lot on Academy Street was purchased in 1891, and a new
church was built there and dedicated in 1892. This building was moved
in 1910 to it’s present location on North Ocean Avenue. A Carnegie
organ was given to the church in 1910.