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Michigan and Illinois connections

Discussion in 'Baptist History' started by ChattieKathy, Feb 15, 2018.

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  1. ChattieKathy

    ChattieKathy New Member

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    Hello! I'm new here. I joined because I have some history questions. I grew up in a God fearing, but not churchgoing home. As a young adult, I chose Christ, and affiliated myself with a local Conservative Baptist church. In doing my family genealogy and genetic genealogy, I am continually finding links to Baptists in my family going way back to the late 1700's in New England, and in Canada. My particular line seems to involve possible missionaries to western Michigan and northern Illinois as early as the 1840's. It has been very hard to trace these lines, because info is scarce. There is also a group that seemed to be firm believers converted to the Mormon church. Is there any historic info about these areas, and Mormon converts?

    Thanks for reading!
    ChattieKathy
     
    #1 ChattieKathy, Feb 15, 2018
  2. rlvaughn

    rlvaughn Well-Known Member
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    Hi, Cathy.

    Perhaps some of our members with Northern backgrounds will be able to help with specific knowledge.

    Here are a few resources you might check and see if they offer any help.
    History of Baptists in Michigan by Mary Elizabeth Day Trowbridge, 1909
    Illinois Baptist History on Baptist History Homepage
    Michigan Baptist History on Baptist History Homepage

    Old county histories or church/association histories might also yield results. There are probably more books like these on Google Books or elsewhere on the web.
    History of Kalamazoo County, Michigan by Samuel W. Durant, 1880
    History of the Fox River Baptist Association by Jeremy Tolman, 1859
    The Oldest Baptist Church in Illinois by J. M. Peck. 1855

    Hope this helps.
     
    #2 rlvaughn, Feb 15, 2018
  3. ChattieKathy

    ChattieKathy New Member

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    Thank you!
     
    #3 ChattieKathy, Feb 15, 2018
  4. rsr

    rsr <b> 7,000 posts club</b>
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    It was not unheard of for Baptists to convert to Mormonism (even today a large number of Mormons are converted Baptists) at that time.

    The frontier was deeply influenced by the waves of the Second Great Awakening — it was a stew of evangelistic groups like the Methodists and Baptists, Campbellites and any number of other sects, sometimes orthodox, sometimes not.

    It was not uncommon for orthodox Christians to wander from sect to sect and eventually end up fully unorthodox, like the Mormons. A good example is Sydney Rigdon, a Baptist minister who flirted with Campbellism and then fell under the influence of Joseph Smith in Ohio. Rigdon became a member of the inner circle of the Mormons (and may have written the Book of Mormon) until he attempted to succeed Smith and was ousted, only to set up his own Mormon splinter sect.
     
    #4 rsr, Feb 15, 2018
  5. ChattieKathy

    ChattieKathy New Member

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    Thank you!
    I did not know this!
     
    #5 ChattieKathy, Feb 16, 2018
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