CHAPTER X
Sectional Divisions
In reading the inscriptions on the banners of our historical Baptist host we meet with various kinds of Bapists: Regular, Separate, United, Primitive, General, etc. These are relics of former conditions. The conditions have passed away, but occasionally the titles remain. Like boulders on a plain, they are remembrances of the past, of mountains that are far away and forces that are now at rest. We have seen that the denomination in this state was not imported, but sprang like a plant out of its soil. It was revival born. As to the inward life they were believers; as to the outward life they were Baptists. But men of older churches came in, and brought their peculiarities with them. At a meeting of New Design church in 1802 certain "Articles of Union" agreed to by most of the Regular and Separate Baptist churches of Virginia and Kentucky were considered, and the church voted to "sustain the Union." The use of the terms "Regular" and "Separate" came about in this way:
Baptist churches in our southern colonies date from about 1714, and by 1750 they were there in large numbers. These we may call regular Baptists. They descended from the Baptists of the past. In 1744 George Whitefield, one of the most marvelous evangelists in history, made his second visit to New England, and the Spirit of God moved mightily among the people. Among those brought to a new life was Shubael Stearns. He joined the revival party among the Congregationalists. They called themselves Separates, separate from the world, but by outsiders they were called New Lights. He became a Baptist preacher in 1751, and in 1754 carried the gospel to the Carolinas. An amazing revival followed his word everywhere. The field was ripe, for it had long been a time of spiritual depression. Many of those converted became preachers in turn, and scores of new churches sprang up and were known as "Separates," bringing the name over from New England. They rejoiced in God, and walked in the Spirit. They differed from other Baptist churches chiefly in having more fervency in their testimony and more zeal in their evangelism. In 1758 they organized the Sandy Creek Association, the third in the country, the first two being the Philadelphia and the Charleston. The meetings of
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this Association were joyful seasons, and people came hundreds of miles to attend. Within thirty years there were a dozen Associations of Separate Baptist churches!
But the use of the name created a barrier between them and the churches that had not sprung out of Shubael Stearns' ministry. In Virginia in 1787 this was partly removed at a meeting of delegates from the Ketocton Association and six Associations of Separate Baptists, both sides agreeing to be known as United Baptists. There were churches however on both sides who refused to "sustain the Union." Some of the Separates cherished the name for the recollections attached to it, and some of the Regulars believed the Separates were not sound in doctrine. So the result was as it always is in such cases: instead of decreasing the sects another was added to the number. The New Design church by being willing to be known as United Baptists were helping as they hoped to promote unity among their brethren. But the unity was not reached as expected. As an indirect consequence the church itself ultimately was divided. After all the most precious unity is that which comes from the presence of the Spirit. In Psalm 133 it is typified by oil and dew.
In 1802 brother John Messenger came to New Design. He was a remarkable mathematician, and became one of the early teachers in Rock Spring Seminary. In the same year Capt. Joseph Ogle removed to Ridge Prairie, two miles west of O'Fallon, and there he died in 1821 ; two years before the death of James Lemen. He was, as Peter Cartright called him, "the leader and pioneer of Methodism in the state of Illinois." There were throughout the American settlements a number of Methodists, but no church organization or regular preaching. After the gathering of the class at Capt. Ogle's in 1798 there was no M. E. preacher in Illinois until 1804. In that year a third Baptist church was added to the number.
The members composing this third church came in a body from Barren county, Ky., and were organized as a church of eleven members before leaving home, May 25, 1804. They brought with them their pastor, John Baugh, whom they had licensed to preach but who had not yet been ordained by a council. Thus they came out not only as a colony but as a church; in the stately language of the day, "she traveled with her constitution." Like many of the older immigrants they were attracted not only by the better soil of the new land, but by the desire to bring up their families in a free community. For a time
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they remained at New Design, but finally settled near the Badgley and Ogle settlements in the northern part of St. Clair county, giving their church the name of Richland. For a time they were content to be an "Arm" of New Design. Another Arm was located not far away, on Silver creek., becoming an independent church about 1806.
In 1802 a colony of Irish Presbyterians from South Carolina settled east of Kaskaskia, in Randolph county. They were known as "South Carolina Irish," but in their faith they were true Scotch Covenanters. They are not counted in the Presbyterian history of the state. The honor of being the first Presbyterian church in Illinois is claimed by a Church in White county, organized in 1816.
It was in 1803 that Napoleon, having come into possession of the territory of Louisiana, immediately sold his title to the United States for half a cent an acre, on twenty years' time. This made the Rocky Mountains, instead of the Mississippi river, our western boundary. The village of St. Louis, which was part of the property purchased, contained at that time one hundred and fifty houses, with a Catholic church in the center. But with the raising of the American flag the spiritual monopoly of the Church was ended. Henceforth father Clark needed no more to cross the river at midnight to fill his appointments, and any man was welcome tp preach the gospel wherever he could gather hearers. ================= [Edward P. Brand, Illinois Baptists -- A History, 1930, pp. 34-36. -- jrd]
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