Baptists vs. Slavery
Thomas E Kresal
3h · October 30, 2020Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives Baptists vs. SlaveryNot only did many Baptists in the North oppose slavery, but a large number of Baptists in the South also held to the same position. John Leland, outstanding Baptist spokesman who led in obtaining the First Amendment to our national constitution, was very outspoken on the subject. “The horrid work of bartering spirituous liquor for human souls, . . .” Another outstanding example is David Barrow, eminent pioneer Baptist preacher of Virginia and Kentucky. He was born on October 30, 1753, and was baptized when he was seventeen. He began preaching the next year. “In 1771 he was ordained and became pastor of three Baptist churches in his native state. As he began an itinerant ministry in Virginia and North Carolina, he became the target of persecution. In 1778, he received an invitation to preach at the house of a gentleman who lived on Nansemond River, near the mouth of James River. A ministering brother accompanied him. They were informed, on their arrival, that they might expect rough usage; and so it happened. As soon as the hymn was given out, a gang of about twenty stout, well dressed men came up to the stage, which had been erected under some trees, and sung one of their obscene songs. They then undertook to plunge both of the preachers. They plunged Mr. Barrow twice, pressing him into the mud, and holding him down and nearly succeeded in drowning him. David Barrow had served in the army during the Revolutionary War, and contended for the liberty of the American colonies, and imbibed the notion of universal liberty. Upon this principle, he came to the conclusion that it was sinful to hold slaves. Accordingly, he freed all his Negroes, of which he owned a considerable number. IIn 1798 Barrows moved to Kentucky and accepted the call to pastor the Mount Sterling Baptist Church in Montgomery County. Here he became a very zealous advocate for the abolition of slavery. David Barrow passed into the presence of his Lord on November 14, 1819.Dr. Dale R. Hart From: “This Day in Baptist History III” David L. Cummins pp. 635-36Note from Tom: “David Barrow organized the first Anti-Slavery Association west of the Alleghenies. One of David Barrow’s sons, Hinchea Gilliam Barrow, married Rachel, daughter of Abraham and Nellie (Humble) Scholl, June 9, 1810. David Barrow performed the wedding ceremony at the marriage of Abraham Scholl and Tabitha Noe in Kentucky December 15, 1803. Two of David Barrow’s granddaughters married grandsons of Peter Scholl, brother of Abraham.”It is quite an interesting coincidence,” wrote A. C. Barrow to Abraham Scholl’s granddaughter, Adeline Cochran, in 1920, “that my great grandfather, Abraham Scholl, was opposed to slavery, as was also my great grandfather, David Barrow, who organized the first movement to free the slaves and wrote a book on that subject and sent a copy to Thomas Jefferson, to which Jefferson replied, and I have a copy of that letter. ”http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/…/ch45…
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