The Limestone Church, the eleventh planted in Kentucky, was located in what is now Mason County, near the mouth of Limestone Creek. When Mason County was established in 1788 by the Virginia Legislature, and Washington became the County seat, the church was moved to that place, and in August 1792 the name was changed from Limestone to Washington Church. The town contained 462 inhabitants in 1790 according to the United States census.The Limestone Church was gathered in 1785 by Rev. William Wood, who became the first pastor. He bought a thousand acres of land where Washington stands, and helped to lay off the town in 1785. The first members of the Limestone Churcn were: Rev. William Wood, Sarah Wood, James Turner, John Smith, Luther Calvin, Priscilla Calvin, Sarah Starks, Charles Tuel and Sarah Tuel. The first ordinance of baptism witnessed in all that part of Kentucky was administered by the authority of this church in August, 1788, in the Ohio River in front of the place where Maysville now stands. A large assemblage of people came to witness the baptism. While the ordinance was being administered, a band of Indians assembled on the opposite shore of the river, and watched the procedure, with great interest, and heard the singing sounding across the waters. Those baptized were Elizabeth Wood, John Wilcox, Ann Turner, Mary Rose and Elizabeth Washburne.
After the Limestone Church was located in Washington, they determined to build a house of worship though the country was still but thinly settled. While one party of the men was engaged in hewing the logs and putting them in place, others acted as guards and scouts to protect them from the savage tribes of Indians. The rifle was as important as the broad-axe in the erection of the building. It was planned to hold the memorable debate between Alexander Campbell and Rev. William L. McCalla of 1823 in this meeting house in Washington, "but the crowds were so immense and the weather favorable that the debate was held in a nearby Methodist Camp Meeting ground."
Elder William Wood continued as pastor of the Washington Church until 1798, when a difficulty arose between him and one of the brethren, and the pastor, rufusing to make satisfactory concessions, was declared "not one of us." Nothing further is known of him. "The Washington Church has held a continuous existence from its constitution to the present time. It is now quite weak (1885). In 1875, it reported a total membership of only 21."
The One Hundredth Anniversary of the constitution of this old church was held in February, 1885. Elder A. M. Vardeman was pastor at the time. Dr. J. H. Spencer, the author of the History of Kentucky Baptists then in press, was one of the principal speakers. He spoke at length of "One Hundred Years of Baptist History." Elder R. B. Garrett, then well known in the State, preached on "Who are the Baptists and What have they done for the World." Elder Cleon Keyes, a pioneer preacher in the Bracken Association, gave a "Reminiscence" of the old pastors and members of the church. Elder W. P. Harvey, then one of the young preachers in Kentucky, took an offering of $170.00 to aid in repairing the old meeting house, which building burned in 1889, four years following Centennial, after which the church dissolved.
============= [From Frank M. Masters, A History of Baptists in Kentucky, 1953, pp. 36-37. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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