In the summer of 1854, several brethren were returning from the city on a Sabbath afternoon, where they had been holding religious services.They took a short cut across the fields where Kensington Row now stands, and found a company of * boys at their games under some large spreading trees. The brethren took occasion to address the boys, who seemed to be interested, and promised to be there on the next Lord's day at the same hour. They came and brought their friends with them. These Sabbath afternoon meetings were continued under the trees with increasing numbers and interest until the weather became too cold and unpleasant for out-door exercises, when a basement room was secured on the corner of Mason and Auburn Streets. Here a regular Sabbath school was organized and continued uninterruptedly through the winter, and became a nucleus around which gathered the Christian element of the Hill, and resulted in the organizing of the Mt. Auburn Baptist Church.
The first preliminary meeting with this object in view was held April 24, 1865, and December 26,1855, a committee was appointed to make all necessary arrangements for the organization of the church, and to procure letters of dismission from the Ninth Street Baptist Church for such members as chose to join in this movement.
Eighteen letters were granted, as follows: To Geo. F. Davis, Mrs. Nancy W. Davis, John H. Ewing, Henry Miller, R. A. Holden, John W. Shays, Mrs. Susan T. Shays, H. Thane Miller, Mrs. Fannie Miller, G. A. Taylor, John Bevan, Mrs. Hannah Bevan, I. H. White, Mrs. Carrie R. White, Sumner Poineer, George F. Davis, Jr., Mrs. Sylvia H. Taft, Mrs. Mary A. Shays.+
On March 1,1856, a council for the recognition of the church met at the Ninth Street Church, and passed the following preamble and resolutions:
"Whereas, The brethren of Mt. Auburn deem it to be their duty to Christ to establish a new interest on Mt Auburn. Therefore--------------------------------------------
"Resolved, That we will interpose no obstacle to the accomplishment of their purpose, but will lend to the enterprise our prayers and Christian sympathies.
"Resolved, That the Mt. Auburn Baptist Church be cordially recognized by this council as a regular Baptist church."
* One of those boys is now a prominent member in the Mt. Auburn Church, and an earnest Christian worker.
+ We deem it a remarkable fact that after thirty-six years, nine of the original eighteen constituent members are still alive.
[p. 27]
A lot of land was donated to the church, and a building committee appointed, who proceeded to erect a house of worship, which cost something less than $5,000.The basement was occupied in the early autumn of 1861, and the house was dedicated November 28, 1861.
In 1865 the church purchased a parsonage at the cost of $6,800.
After an occupancy of twenty-three years, the old meeting-house was deemed unworthy of the increased prosperity of the church and its surroundings, and on March 30, 1884, farewell services were held in it, and a new and more commodious building arranged for.
April 27, 1885, the first meeting in the new building was a woman's prayer-meeting, held on Wednesday at 4 p. m., and in the evening the first general neeting (being covenant meeting) was held in the basement.
February 7, 1886, the new house was dedicated free of debt, having cost about $28,000.
The first pastor of the church was Rev. E. A. Crawley, then president of the Young Ladies Institute, who entered upon his labors January 29, 1856. He was afterwards professor in Acadia College, Nova Scotia.
The second pastor was Rev. S. W. Lynd, of sainted memory, who long since passed to his reward. He commenced his pastorate in 1860.
The third was Rev. Wm. Cleaver Wilkinson, in 1864, afterward professor in Rochester Theological Seminary; now professor in Chicago University.
The fourth was Rev. A. Judson Rowland, in 1866; now pastor of a church in Baltimore, Md.
The fifth Rev. Chas. E. Smith, in 1868; now pastor of a church in Fredonia, N. Y.
The sixth Rev. John C. C. Clark, in 1871; now professor in Shurtleff College, Alton, Illinois.
The seventh Rev. Wayland R. Benedict, in 1873; now professor in Cincinnati University.
The eighth Rev. Chas. A. Hayden, in 1876.
The ninth Rev. A. S. Hobart, in 1878; now pastor of a church in Yonkers, N. Y.
The tenth Rev. J. L. Ray, in 1885; now pastor of a church in Brooklyn, N. Y.
The eleventh Rev. E. Armstrong Ince, in 1889, our present pastor.
All those who have been pastors of the church, with the exception of Rev. E. A. Crawley and Dr. Lynd, are now living.
The church has enjoyed many precious revivals during the thirty-six years of its history, and has enrolled nearly 400 members, about an equal number by baptism and by letter.
Our Sabbath-school from the beginning has been a mission school, and more than half of the converts from its members have joined other religious bodies, not from personal choice, but because of prejudice and opposition of parents and friends.
The unsettled population of Mt. Auburn has not been productive of a large membership, nor has the active Christian element of the church confined its efforts to the Hill, but has been largely known in every religious and benevolent enterprise in the city and State.
============== [From the Miami Baptist Association Minutes, 1892, pp. 26-27. Document from the Miami Baptist Association Office, Cincinnati. No author is listed. Transcribed and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
A man who was an earlier member:
W. Howard Doane, Hymn Writer Ohio Baptist History
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