Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives Wightman Legacy -125 years of Successive Pastors from the Same family

Thomas E Kresal · September 29, 2020

Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives Wightman Legacy -125 years of Successive Pastors from the Same family

The First Baptist Church of Groton was organized by Rev. Valentine Wightman as pastor in 1705. This church has the unique distinction of having the father, Valentine Wightman, his son Timothy, and his grandson, John Gano Wightman, successively pastors for one hundred and twenty-five years. Your essayist was present at the unveiling of a tablet commemorative to the memory of these three worthy pastors of this old church at its 200th anniversary in 1905. It must be borne in mind the founding of this church carries us far back into the early settlements of the country, seventy years before the American Revolution. Probably the oldest Baptist parsonage in the country is the one built by Valentine Wightman, 211 years ago, still standing three miles west of Old Mystic, near the Turnpike, on the north side of the road. This church was located three miles west of Old Mystic, where, afterwards the society built their new and commodious meeting house. With this church Stonington Union Association met in 1845, the first association I attended. The Rev. Charles C. Weaver of Voluntown preached the sermon and William C. Walker was ordained. Many of the North Stonington people before 1743, attended this church, who had a leaning toward the Baptist faith, although members of the Congregational Church. The distance traveled in those days was not a potent factor. Elder Wait Palmer was baptized May 27, 1711, and Mary Brown, his wife, daughter of Eleazer Brown and Ann Pendleton, was baptized June 12, 1704, at the Road Church.Note from Tom: Valentine Wightman’s great grandfather Edward Wightman, the last martyr to burned at the stake in England in 1612. Prepared by Thomas E. Kresal from: Days and Recollections of North Stonington, by Cyrus Henry Brown. This is a portion of a paper read before the Westerly, Rhode Island Historical Society, November 9, 1916.