The Historic First Baptist Church of Williamsburg: One of the Oldest Black Churches in America

Photo of the First Baptist Church taken in the 1950s (Source: Colonial Williamsburg)

 

As part of Black History Month this month’s blog posts will be dedicated to topics related to Black American history (although there are various previous posts dedicated to these topics present on this blog that are recommended to you the reader, including posts on Ebonics, Kwanzaa, and Anthropological Perspectives of the Black Lives Matter Movement, to just name a few).  The inaugural Black History Month post is dedicated to the recent and on-going archaeological project at Colonial Williamsburg that focuses on one of America’s first Black Churches.  This blog post will address the history of the church, as well as what the discoveries and future plans for this collaborative project.

 

The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg was founded in 1776 by a group of enslaved and freed Blacks.  The church held services in secret at a location in Green Spring Planation as gatherings by large groups of Blacks were illegal at the time, but this did not stop Reverent Moses and his congregants from worshipping.  In 1781 the congregation organized under the Baptist Church and fell under the direction of Reverent Gowan Pamphlet, an enslaved Black.  They relocated to Racoon Chase, on the outskirts of Williamsburg, and it was here that they caught the attention of Jesse Cole, who was so moved by the enthusiasm of the worship that he donated the carriage house on his property on Nassau Street for the congregants to use.  Unfortunately, the carriage house was damaged in a tornado that hit the area in 1834, but that did not stop the congregation from continuing to worship.  They did so alongside the white parishioners at their Baptist church until 1856, when a new church was dedicated and named the African Baptist Church.  It was later renamed the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg in 1863 and stood at that location until 1956.

 

In September 2020 the formal archaeological project related to the original church locations began.  This is a collaborative effort among Colonial Williamsburg, the College of William and Mary, the First Baptist Church's Let Freedom Ring Foundation, and other institutions and organizations, and each collaborator is providing specific logistical and/or financial support to the project.  Members of the First Baptist Church's Let Freedom Ring Foundation are interested in learning more about not only the Church’s history but want to highlight the contributions of Blacks to their own and the overall American identity and story.  Stories that demonstrate individual choices by colonial Blacks are incredibly important to emphasize.  The archaeologists at Colonial Williamsburg see this project as an opportunity to clarify the uncertain historical records on the church and its congregants.  Their goal is to work with modern descendants in collecting and using oral histories to lead the project, and in turn provide them with the archaeological evidence and information so they can tell the story of their ancestors and the church as they best see it.    Jack Gary, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's director of archaeology, also feels that this project can and will reopen necessary conversations about America’s past, particularly in recognizing the contributions of Blacks in the formation of America and American identity. 

 

The initial project wrapped up in November 2020, and after analysis of the initial evidence it resumed again in January.  Since then much more information has been learned about the church, including the location of previously incomplete construction projects at the church and the discovery of a burial site.  This latter discovery was expected as previously acquired oral history evidence noted that burials were present at the site.  The archaeologists involved in this project are working closely with descendants to try to identify who the burials belong to and how best to excavate and reinter the remains.  This is an ongoing collaborative project that will take several more years to complete, but thus far the partnerships have yielded some great results and promises of more yet to come.

 

References

Bogger, T. L. (2020). History. Retrieved from THE HISTORIC FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 1776: https://firstbaptistchurch1776.org/index/history/

Perry, A. (2020, December 7). Burial remains uncovered at First Baptist Church site in Colonial Williamsburg. Virginia Gazette.

Ryan, S. (2020, August 25). Archaeology Project Will Explore Site of America’sOldest ChurchFounded by Enslaved and Free Blacks. Retrieved from Colonial Williamsburg: https://media.colonialwilliamsburg.org/media/documents/FINAL_FBC_news_release.pdf

The Colonial Williamsburg Department of Archaeology. (2020, August). FIRSTBAPTISTCHURCH AND LOT M: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH DESIGN. Retrieved from Colonial Willamsburg: https://media.colonialwilliamsburg.org/media/documents/FBC_Research_Design_Final_-_August_2020.pdf

Wicker, J. (2020, September 17). Archaeologists dig to uncover one of America's first Black churches in Colonial Williamsburg. Retrieved from MSNBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/archaeologists-dig-uncover-one-america-s-first-black-churches-colonial-n1240325