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"These things are past, but the record is for us. 'The wise man will hear and increase learning.' If we profit by the experience of our fathers, they and we may yet rejoice together." - p. 77

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A report given in 1837: "One of the sorest evils existing among us in years past, and also now, is the habit of meeting regularly for public worship and preaching the gospel in the churches but once a month. This practice, hitherto so extensive througout the western and southern states, can be justified only on the providential contingency of a great disproportion of the number of ministers to that of churches. And even then a church is wholly inexcusable if the members do not meet regularly on the first day of the week for the worship of God. Is the plea made that there is no one to pray, read the scriptures, or preach in public? That plea if a true one decides at once the utter incompetency of the members to be formed into a church. It shows great and unpardonable neglect of the law of Christ in the Great Commission, - 'teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.' Our regular monthly meetings on Saturdays we have no desire to change, but we do hope that strenuous efforts will be made to reclaim from desecration those sabbaths that God has consecrated to himself, and that weekly meetings as in apostolic times be held in all our churches." - p. 132.

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Table of Contents

Preface
I. A Glimpse Through the Centuries
II. The Early Races of Illinois
III. The French Period in Illinois History
IV. First American Settlers in Illinois
V. James Lemen
VI. James Lemen's Conversion
VII. The First Baptism in Illinois
VIII. The First Baptist Church in Illinois
IX. Perplexing Questions
X. Sectional Divisions
XI. Growth and Outward Difficulties
XII. Our First Illinois Baptist Association
XIII. Associational Experiments
XIV. The Association Broken Up
XV. Saving the Fragments
XVI. The Friends to Humanity
XVII. The Birth of a State
XVIII. John M. Peck
XIX. Elder Peck's Removal to Illinois
XX. The Anti-mission Period
XXI. How an Anti-mission Church was Converted
XXII. Causes of the Antimission Movement
XXIII. Growth of the Friends to Humanity
XXIV. The Battle for Freedom
XXV. The Wabash Association
XXVI. The Muddy River Association
XXVII. The Sangamon Association
XXVIII. The Rock Spring Seminary
XXIX. The Friends to Humanity Become Three Bands
XXX. The Edwardsville Association
XXXI. The General Meeting at Winchester
XXXII. The State Convention at Whitehall
XXXIII. Campbellism
XXXIV. New Associations
XXXV. The Northern End of the State
XXXVI. The Alton Seminary
XXXVII. Shurtleff College
XXXVIII. The Bible Controversy
XXXIX. The State Convention at Work
XL. Illinois Baptist Preachers, 1830-1835
XLI. Baptist Preachers, 1835-1840
XLII. Wood River Association
XLIII. The Palestine Association
XLIV. New Northern Associations
XLV. New Southern and Central Associations
XLVI. The Northwestern Convention
XLVII. The General Association
XLVIII. Early Baptist Periodicals
XLIX. The Chicago Association
L. The Pastoral Union
LI. The American Bible Union
LII. The General Association and the Home Mission Society
LIII. Relation of the State to Local Associations

Appendix
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This book was provided by Dale Stopheran, Streamwood, IL. - Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall

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