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STATISTICS
A History of the Baptists
By John T. Christian

     It is interesting to give the statistics of the denomination in the period under consideration. The following is a list of the first fifty-eight Baptist churches in this country, together with the dates of their organization according to Benedict:

Providence, R. I.	1639	    Middletown, N. J.	    1688
1st Newport, R. I.	1644	    Lower Dublin, Pa .	    1689
2nd Newport, R. I.	1656	    Piscataway, N. J.	    1689
1st Swansea, Mass.	1663	    Charleston, S. C.	    1690
1st Boston, Mass.	1665	    Cohansey, N. J.	    1691
North Kingston, R. I.	1665	    2nd Swansea, Mass.	    1693
7th Day Newport, R. I.	1671	    1st Phila., Pa. 	    1698
South Kingston, R. I.	1680	    Welsh Tract, Del.	    1701
Tiverton, R. I.	        1685	    Groton, Conn.	    1705
Smithfield, R. I.	1706	    7th Day, Piscataway, NJ.1707
Hopkinton, R. I.	1708	    Southinton, Conn.	    1738
Great Valley, Pa.	1711	    West Springfield, Conn. 1740
Cape May, N. J.	        1712	    King Wood, N. J.	    1742
Hopewell, N. J.	        1715	    2nd Boston, Mass.	    1743
Brandywine, Pa.	        1715	    North Stonington, Conn. 1743
Montgomery, Pa.	        1719	    Colchester, Conn.	    1743
New York City, N. Y.	1724	    East Greenwich, R. I.   1743
Scituate, R. I.	        1725	    Euhaw, S. C.	    1745
Warwick, R. I.	        1725	    Heights Town, N. J.	    1745
Richmond, R. I.	        1725	    South Hampton, Pa.	    1746
French Creek, Pa.	1726	    Scotch Plains, N. J.    1747
New London, Conn.	1726	    King Street, Conn.	    1747
Indian Town, Mass.	1730	    Oyster Bay, N. Y.	    1748
Cumberland, R. I.	1732	    Sturbridge, Mass.	    1749
Rehoboth, Mass.	        1732	    Bellingham, Mass.	    1750
Shiloh, N. J.	        1734	    Killingby, Conn.	    1750
South Brimfield, Mass.	1736	    Westerly, R. I.	    1750
Welsh Neck, S. C.	1738	    Exeter, R. I.	    1750
Leicester, Mass.	1738	    Thompson, Conn.	    1750

(Benedict, A General History o/ the Baptist Denomination in America, pp. 364, 365. New York, 1848.) "      These are all the churches," continues Benedict, "which acquired any durability that arose in these United States in a little more than a century after the Baptists began their operations."

     According to Morgan Edwards, in 1786, there were in the United States and Nova Scotia 137 churches. These were distributed throughout the country as follows:

Nova Scotia	 2	New Jersey	15
New Hampshire	 1	Pennsylvania	10
Massachusetts	30	Maryland	 1
Connecticut	12	Virginia	10
Rhode Island	36	North Carolina	 8
New York	 4	South Carolina	 8
	        	Total	       137

     John Asplund, in his first Register, in 1790, makes the following exhibit:

NUMBER OF MINISTERS

   States	   Churches	Ord.	Lic.	Members
1  New Hampshire     32	        23	17	1,732
2  Massachusetts    107	        95	31	7,116
3  Rhode Island	     38	        37	36	3,502
4  Connecticut	     55	        44	21	3,214
5  Vermont	     34	        28	15	1,610
6  New York	     57	        53	30	3,987
7  New Jersey	     26	        20	 9	2,279
8  Pennsylvania	     28	        26	26	1,231
9  Delaware	      7	         9	 1	  409
10 Maryland	     12	         8	 3	  776
11 Virginia	    207	       157     109     20,157
12 Kentucky	     42	        40	21	3,105
13 Western Territory  1	         -	 -	   30
14 North Carolina    94	        86	76	7,742
15 Deceded Territory 18	        15	 6	  889
16 South Carolina    68	        48	28	4,012
17 Georgia	     42	        33	39	3,184
18 Nova Scotia	      4	         -	 -	    -
   Total	    872	       722     449	64,975

     Benedict in 1812 reckoned the following statistics: Churches, 2,633; ordained ministers, 2,142; members, 204,185; and 111 associations.

     Allen, in his Triennial Register for 1836, makes for the United States and the British possessions in America the following statistics: associations, 372; churches, 7,299; ministers ordained, 4,075; licensed, 966; and membership, 517,524.

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[From John T. Christian, A History of the Baptists, Volume 2, 1926; reprint, pp. 25-27. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.


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