The Seventh-Day Baptist Church of Adams Centre NY

The Seventh-Day Baptist Church of Adams dates its origin to 1817, when several families of that faith removed from Berlin, N. Y., to Adams Center, and soon held meetings. June 9, 1822, the church was formally organized, with a membership consisting of Rev. William Greene, Charles Greene, Jared G. Potter, Joseph Greene (2d), James Main, Ethan Greene, Elisha Crosby, Russel Greene, Sela Burdick, Mercy Greene, Roswell Saunders, Amy Greene, Olive Sweet, Martha Greene, Mary Saunders, Sarah Crosby, Amanda, Betsey, Cynthia, Clarissa, and Mercy Greene (2d). Of this number Charles Greene, now past 99 years, is the only one living. At the same time, William Greene was ordained pastor by the Revs. William B. Maxson and Daniel Coon, and Jared Potter was elected deacon. Regular preaching was now maintained for fifteen years in the schoolhouse in Greene’s Settlement, until the church at the “Five Corners” (Adams Center) was erected. It was a small wooden structure, completed in 1837. In 1868 this building was raised up, 18 feet added to its length, and a lecture-room made of the basement. It is heated by a coal furnace, and the audience-room will seat 400 people. The membership of the church is 292, and the work is in a flourishing condition. A Sabbath-school is connected with the church, under the Superintendence of S. W. Maxson, having more than 200 members.

The pastors of the church for the past fifty-five years have been: William Greene, Eli S. Bailey, Giles M. Langworthy, Joel Greene, Alexander Campbell, James Summerbell, George E. Tomlinson, and Asa Prentice, the present pastor, and to whom we are indebted for this information. Jan. 3, 1836, a church society was formed, with Edward Whitford, Elisha Cleveland, Joseph S. Maxson, Asa L. Maxson, Benjamin Maxson, Charles Greene, Joseph Greene, Jr., Job Spencer, and Sela Burdick, trustees. The present board consists of Andrew J. Greene, Samuel M. Potter, and James C. Heath.

While Alexander Campbell was pastor of the above church there was a division of opinion respecting some of the doctrines he taught, which resulted in the withdrawal of himself and seventeen members. These, in March, 1852, formed themselves into a new church, styled ” The Independent Seventh-Day Baptist Church of Adams.” A house of worship was erected the following summer, in the southern part of the village, at a cost of $1300, which was dedicated December 15, 1852.

The Evangelical Seventh-Day Baptist Society was formed Jan. 3, 1853, with H. Bunce, Job Spencer, and Joel Saunders, trustees. Under the ministration of Campbell the church grew in numbers and influence, having had 82 members in Aug., 1853. Several years later Mr. Campbell returned to the fold of the old church, when the new began to decline. At this stage, in 1861, several ministers of the Advent faith appeared, and under their forcible preaching a number of the new church were led to accept that doctrine. In March, 1862, a church was organized, with Samuel Walsworth and wife, Job Spencer and wife, Edward Spencer and wife, Jasper L. Green and wife, William Green, Henry Bunce and wife, Hannah Green, and L. Green, members; and Samuel Walsworth, deacon. It was styled ” The Seventh-Day Advent Church at Adams Center,” and as its members were chiefly those of the new Seventh-Day Baptist Church the society was controlled by them, with the same name, and possession taken of the church. The present trustees are J. L. Green, D. B. Green, and Edmund Spencer. The membership of the church is 57, with S. N. Walsworth and Henry Brown, deacons. No regular pastor is maintained, but M. E. Cornell, J. N. Andrews, and others have preached to this people at various times. About 1870 a Sabbath-school was organized by Joel Saunders. Its present membership is 50, and Z. M. Lewis is superintendent. In 1876 the church building was renovated and repaired, and it now presents a neat appearance. ¹⁾Source: Durant, Samuel W. and Henry B. Peirce. History of Jefferson County, New York, With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co., 1878. p 242-243.

• Adams Center Community Church/Seventh Day Baptist Facebook Page

Records Available for the First Congregational Society of Adams Village, NY

The following items are available at the Flowers Memorial Library in Watertown New York.

• Seventh Day Baptist Church, Adams Center
  Membership roll including deaths, some births, parents’ names, & miscellaneous information; (indexed).

More than 500 volumes of original records of churches, associations, and state bodies have been placed in the American Baptist – Samuel Colgate Historical Library, in Atlanta Georgia. See: New York Baptist Church Records at the Samuel Colgate Historical Library for more information.

• Adams Center, Seventh Day Baptist Church – (Original Records); 1822-1927.