First Baptist Church Clock - New London, NH - Town Clocks on Waymarking.com

The First Baptist Church of New London, New Hampshire, was organized on Thursday, October 23, 1788, nine years after the town’s corporate history began and in the year in which the government of the United States was constituted. The U.S. Constitution stipulated that it was to be effective when ratified by 9 of the 13 states. New Hampshire became the requisite ninth state on June 21, 1788. The development of the First Baptist Church in many ways reflects the growth of the nation in the years that followed.

On June 25, 1779, sixteen settlers secured a charter from the state of New Hampshire to form a town. New London, then known as Heidelburg, held its first town meeting with thirteen voters present. Among the actions taken that day were: To begin a school for three months of the year and to arrange some sort of religious services. Before the first church was built, services were held in a log cabin-like structure situated near the former Crockett homestead.

On September 24, 1787, the Reverend Mr. Job Seamans, a Baptist, was called as the first pastor of the town and the community church . . . "the terms of his salary were forty pounds a year . . . three pounds in cash, and 37 pounds in labor, grain, and produce he may want."

Elder Seamans accepted the call, and with his family, after a twelve-day journey by ox-cart from Attleboro, Massachusetts,arrived in New London, July 1, 1788. In the meantime, work progressed on the New Meeting House, located in the southern portion of the present cemetery on Old Main Street. There were no windows, no doors, and no heating arrangement. The first communion service there was January, 1789, with twelve members.

In 1819 an Act of Toleration was passed in the state, freeing the people from having to support the minister if they followed another faith. In 1825 in New London there were thirty members of the Universalist Fellowship, 27 members of the Free Will Baptist Church and 117 Regular Baptists comprising First Baptist Church.

Some Regular Baptists sought exclusive use of the Town Meeting House on Sundays, but were defeated by a formal vote. So these Regular Baptists decided to build a church of their own on the present site; cost of the land was $75.00, with construction financed by sale of pews. The frame was raised on July 4, 1826, the steeple and Revere bell were authorized and installed, and the new building, this present building, was dedicated January 11, 1827.

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Status: Working Display: Mounted Year built: 01/11/1827 Web link to additional info: Not listed

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