Ties That Bind? : Baptists and the First Church System in America, 1784-1830
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TIES THAT BIND?: BAPTISTS AND THE FIRST CHURCH SYSTEM IN AMERICA, 1784-1830 By MICHAEL THOMAS JUSTUS A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1993 Copyright 1993 by Michael Thomas Justus For my wife Janis Adkinson Justus my father Ernest E. Justus and in memory of my mother Ima Jean Thomas Justus ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study could not have been possible without the assistance and support of many individuals and organizations. The University of Florida Department of History Summer Research Grant program provided much needed financial support during the summers of 1988 and 1989. The Southern Baptist Historical Commission awarded a study grant for the project. Additional financial assistance was provided by Mountain Mold and Die and J. & S. Enterprises. The staffs of several university and denominational archives have been helpful. Martha Mitchell of Brown University's John Hay Library guided me to important papers I would have missed otherwise. Bill Sumners and other members of the staff of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in Nashville, Tennessee, have consistently provided first class assistance and guidance. Likewise, I would like to acknowledge the staffs of the following research facilities for their help during the various stages of this project: South Carolina Baptist Historical Collection, Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina; South Caroliniana Library, Columbia, South Carolina; American Baptist Historical Society, Rochester, New York; American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., Valley iv Forge, Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Historical Society, Philadelphia; Princeton Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey; Princeton University Library, Princeton; Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia; Office of Presbyterian History, Montreat, North Carolina; New-York Historical Society, New York; and the American Bible Society, New York. Due to teaching responsibilities, important supplementary research had to be conducted through inter library loan. Barbara Strickland of Georgia Southern University and Vanesa Chappell of Hannibal-LaGrange College always came through when I needed them. Throughout out this process Bertram Wyatt-Brown and Samuel S. Hill have directed this work. Without their sound advice, criticisms, and guidance the dissertation would never have grown beyond an idea. Their patience and confidence in me made a long and difficult process not only bearable but at times enjoyable. They helped me to believe in myself and in the value of this study. Dr. Hill and Dr. Wyatt-Brown never allowed me to lose sight of my goals, and for that I am most grateful. Over the years John Sommerville has served as a model as a teacher as well as a scholar. I am grateful for the contributions of committee members Darrett Rutman and Eldon Turner. Their insights have been most helpful. I would also like to acknowledge Harold Wilson for his willingness to come to my aid. V Over the years friends and colleagues have given much needed support. At the University of Georgia, Terri Blair, Russ Duncan, Win Myers, Tom Richy, and Brian Wills affirmed my belief that history was worth doing. At the University of Florida, Lou Williams, David Alexander, and Tim Huebner helped me to keep my bearings during the midst of storms. Graduate Secretary and friend Betty Corwine helped me to navigate through the labyrinth of paper work in order to reach this point. As the "juniorest" of the junior faculty at Georgia Southern University, Brian Wills (again) , Buckner Melton, Tracy Revels, and Carolyn Malone each assured me that dissertations could be completed and that together we could survive our first year teaching. We did. Department veterans George Shriver, Frank Saunders, Charlton Mosely, and Vernon Egger encouraged both my teaching and writing. I could always count on Jamie Woods and Tom McMullen to lift my spirits. Department Chairman Walter J. Fraser did his part in making sure that my work was progressing. Peggy Smith, departmental secretary without equal, consistently asked, "How many pages did you write today?" Some days that was sufficient motivation to keep me going. The Hannibal-LaGrange College family likewise was instrumental: Academic Dean Beverly Simpson and Assistant Dean Barry Morgan not only gave encouragement but also facilitated the completion of this project by giving me time vi off from teaching duties to write. My office suite—mates, Ted Manzke, Martha and Robert Bergen, and David Pelletier listened with interest and offered heartening advice. Kenneth McNutt and Jerry Thomason, having recently received their doctorates, reminded me on a regular basis that my goals could be achieved. The friendship of each of these individuals and other HLG colleagues has sustained me through discouraging periods in my work. Likewise, serving the people of Oak Grove Baptist Church has often lightened the load. They have remained loving and understanding even when their pastor must have appeared to be somewhat distracted. Ruby Walker planted the seeds for this project many years ago. As a Church Training teacher she introduced me to history of the church and the "heroes of the faith" including Luther Rice and Adoniram Judson. Most importantly, she provided a living example of the faith she so lovingly and steadfastly professed. Most of all, without the help and support of my wife and family this work would not have been possible. Through out her life, my mother, Ima Jean Thomas Justus, never wavered in her faith in her son. Above all others she understood and supported her son's dream of pursuing higher education. Even though my father, Ernest Justus, was afraid that I would always be a "professional student," he endorsed my efforts. Sisters Sherry Crisp and Sheila Smith never vii lost patience with their brother and offered moral and other support. I am also indebted to their husbands, Joe Crisp and John Smith, who have become more than brothers to me. For the past few years, my step-mother, Jean Justus has added her encouragement to that given by others. My wife, Janis, always knew that the work would be completed. Her faith helped to sustain mine. viii . PREFACE Although many American Christians would later divide into distinct regional bodies, from 1784 to 1830 they were united behind national denominational and benevolence organizations. The issue of slavery, however, caused those bonds to be frayed and ultimately severed. As a result. Southern religion became distinctly Southern. As described by Samuel S. Hill, Christians of the North and South changed from being "first cousins separated" to "third cousins alienated" and eventually became "strangers in the same household."* This dissertation will explore the period of the Early Republic in which the sometimes conflicting and sometimes complementary tensions between nationalism and regionalism vied for prominence. Because nationalism prevailed over regionalism, this period was at the heart of what can be described as the first national church system. Just as political scientists have used the paradigm of party systems to examine political history, one can look at the course of religious development in terms of the rise and fall of denominations. *Samuel S. Hill, The South and the North in American Religion (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1980) IX The first system, the period covered by this dissertation (1784-1830), marked the rise of national denominational organizations. At Christmas in 1784 the Methodist Episcopal Church was formed. The first general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church met in 1785 and the church was fully organized in 1789. The first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America convened in 1788. Organized national Baptist life emerged relatively late. The General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States for Foreign Missions, otherwise known as the Triennial Baptist Convention, was created in 1814. Even though other issues were also involved, slavery was the primary cause of the collapse of the first church system. For theological reasons, the Presbyterian Church divided along roughly regional lines in 1837.^ Prompted by the case of Georgia bishop James Osgood Andrew, Northern abolitionists within the Methodist church forced the General Conference of 1844 to suspend Andrew until he removed the ^C. C. Goen notes that most contemporary reports and some present day historians attribute the Presbyterian division to theological reasons. Goen makes a strong case for the importance of slavery to the schism. He quotes the Cincinnati Journal and Luminary ^s 15 January 1837 account: "The question is not between the new and old school — is not in relation to doctrinal errors; but is slavery and anti-slavery. It is not the [doctrinal] standards which were to be protected, but the system of slavery." C. C. Goen, Broken Churches. Broken Nation: Denominational Schisms and the Coming of the American Civil War (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985), pp. 68-78. X " imped iement" of slaveholding. In response Southern Methodists met in Louisville, Kentucky, in May 1845 to create the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. ^ Similarly, Baptists divided over whether a missionary could own slaves. In May 1845 delegates met in Augusta, Georgia, to establish the Southern Baptist Convention. The national Episcopal Church remained intact until the Civil War sparked the creation