Navigating Hostile Waters- secular research in Baptist History Part two of two. by Jim Curran

Jim Curran April 18, 2020  · 

Navigating Hostile Waters- secular research in Baptist History Part two of two.

in the previous installment we looked at some of the pitfalls and cautions in doing secular/ religious opposition research into Baptist history. Now we will look at some thoughts on types of sources. I must admit wherever there are books I am looking for history that can be useful. This is not intended as a master list of books but rather thoughts on finding information. What you are researching would effect what resources you would find. I will also note that I generally view these resources in one of two ways. First of all there is the general read area- just getting information. Sometimes these may clue you in to different areas- and give you people and areas for further research. Secondly in an almost opposite way they fill in gaps and give us additional information- this is especially true of local histories.SECULAR HISTORY

1. County/ local histories. I am starting with what I feel is the most useful of the secular sources- local histories. This is especially true of the US. (Although I imagine that there may be some equivalents in other places- I have been reading through an account of “The Lollards and Protestants in the Dioceses of York” from England and it would be considered a local history book) These local histories are a vast wealth of information on the earliest church planting efforts in an area and local histories of churches. Many county histories were printed in the 1900-1940 range and have special sections on religions within the county. Often these will list the first preachers into the county and the earliest churches. Often these churches and preachers will have brief histories. Sometimes this is information found nowhere else. Most of the time the information is fairly neutral. I can not begin to note how many tidbits I have gotten in local histories. They serve to connect the dots in history many times. A church record book may have a list of founding members but sometimes these can give us insight with biographies of prominent citizens. A county history was the missing piece that help me to further clarify the identities of Isaac McCoy’s first Indian converts. McCoy simply notes them as having influential relatives, the county history then showed me that they actually were the granddaughters of Chief Little Turtle. Generally county histories are available at your local library. Many will have a local/state history room with multiple counties information, although you might need to go to an individual county. It is also of note that www.archive.org does have a large number of these county histories online. Search by county and state.
2. General histories- many times these also have tidbits that are broader versions of what we see in the local histories. Sometimes you may find more specialized histories that include some Baptist history. English histories and some medieval histories can include some reference. There are other specialized general histories such as William Warren Sweet’s religion histories of America. While there are some things that we will disagree with there-there are useful things as well. State histories can often give information as well.
3. Grave/Cemetery records- This may seem a little bit offbeat but they are a valuable source of information. These may be found in different places- county offices and libraries are primary sources. Another very handy too, especially for distant research is www.findagrave.com which lists cemeteries and grave sites. Many times the only trace when a church has went out of existence is the cemetery surrounding it. In many cases there is a blank space where the church building once sat. These records are also useful in finding the graves of Baptist pastors. As a note sometimes in the absence of the church the cemetery name may have changed. In Find a Grave try searching without “Baptist” or “Church” but just the name. For example search Bethel cemetery rather than Bethel Baptist Church if the full name fails to bring a result.
4. Library resources- while some of that was touched on in the above two instances, many times a library local history/ genealogy room will have many different records. These may be as simple as a folder in a file cabinet or a locally published book. Most librarians in these rooms are overjoyed when you ask about local history and will gladly get you resources. When I was doing research on Isaac McCoy the Lord gave me meetings in several key areas and I hit the library in the afternoon and found some information.
5. Local Historical Societies- like libraries these can be a tremendous source of information. This can be in the form of individual members or like the libraries various files of research. The search will be similar to the local libraries above.
6. Secular biographies- these are a little less common but sometimes there are secular biographies of Baptist figures or related figures. Isaac McCoy and Roger Williams (OK he wasn’t a Baptist for long and was questionable) are two that come immediately to mind that have had secular biographies published of them. Oftentimes there are biographies of related figures that are published. Sometimes a genealogist will publish a family history or a biography. In addition do not overlook finding biographies of people that you might encounter in your research.
7. Related subjects- this is a little more specific area and will vary with the research being done. Perhaps a few examples might be in order. If researching the Separate Baptists some related fields to finding research would be the Regulator War and religion in colonial America. In the case of Native American missions other related areas of study would include the government relation to the Indians, the history of the Indian traders and the history of Indian removal and the Trail of Tears. For the specific research think of areas that might overlap and look at those related subjects.

Religious sources

1. General church histories- These are broad and include all denominations. As such generally there will be some bias and Baptist history origins will be downplayed. You will need to wade through junk (please see the first part of this for cautions) but sometimes you can find information that is useful. Many groups will be addressed as “heretical” while taking the Catholic view on them. Often they are more sympathetic to the Waldenses than other groups however. Each of these books will show bias. There are some that make frank admissions though for example, Mosheim the Lutheran Historian says

“The origin of the sect, who from their repetition of baptism received in other communities, are called Anabaptists, but who are also denominated Mennonites, from the celebrated man to whom they owe a large share of their present prosperity, is involved in much obscurity [or, is hid in the remote depths of antiquity, as another translator has it]. For they suddenly started up, in various countries of Europe, under the influence of leaders of dissimilar character and views; and at a time when the first contests with the Catholics so engrossed the attention of all, that they scarcely noticed any other passing occurrences. The modern Mennonites affirm, that their predecessors were the descendants of those Waldenses, who were oppressed by the tyranny of the Papists; and that they were of a most pure offspring, and most averse from any inclinations toward sedition, as well as all fanatical views.In the first place I believe the Mennonites are not altogether in the wrong, when they boast of a descent from these Waldenses, Petrobrusians, and others, who are usually styled witnesses for the truth before Luther. Prior to the age of Luther, there lay concealed in almost every country of Europe but especially in Bohemia, Moravia, Switserland and Germany, very many persons, in whose minds were deeply rooted that principle which the Waldenses, Wyclifites, and the Husites maintained, some more covertly and others more openly; namely, that the kingdom which Christ set up on the earth, or the visible church, is an assembly of holy persons; and ought therefore to he entirely free from not only ungodly persons and sinners, but from all institutions of human device against ungodliness. This principle lay at the foundation which was the source of all that was new and singular in the religion of the Mennonites; and the greatest part of their singular opinions, as is well attested, were approved some centuries before Luther’s time, by those who had such views of the Church of Christ”(Mosheim, Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, III. 200).

1. Hostile witness- There are references to our spiritual forefathers in various Catholic/ Protestant sources. One example is Augustine attacking the Donatists. There were pronouncements of Zwingli and Calvin against the Anabaptists. Bede who would be considered both a historian and a Catholic source gives an account of the Welsh Christians and their opposition to Rome. These are all items that have to be found on an individual basis. Find your area of research and do an online search to find related areas and personalities. Then further location of resources can be found.
2. About the Inquisition: Let me start with this- there is no complete or anywhere near complete record of most all of the inquisition. These things were hidden and a few records were preserved in various ways. (It makes you wonder though what is in the Vatican Library though- it has never been cataloged- lots of dirty secrets in there) The Inquisition was not all about us either as there were many victims. It was also used heavily against the Jews but that was not the end of its scope as it was the Gestapo of its time. It attacked every little deviation from Catholic demands even upon practicing Catholics. The little book “The Records of the Inquisition” contains an example of this- one 80 year old man was arrested and imprisoned for eating BACON on the eve of a fast day! Books on the Inquisition are certainly out there- each carries their own bias some pro some neutral and some against. We will step away from our hostile sources for a minute and look at a friendly source that cites many hostile sources. Martyr’s mirror has the trials of many Anabaptists from the Catholic records. In many cases is also cites what they really believed giving us a baseline to compare the Catholic accusations with reality. This in turn helps us to see other Catholic records in this light and helps us to “translate” the accusations against Biblical beliefs.

Connecting online- For both the secular and religious we live in an era where we have much information at our fingertips. Google searches can reveal a lot of materials on countless subjects and personalities. Than can lead us also to books that we can reference. We also have electronic availability of books that preceding generations could have only dreamed of. Www.archive.organd Google books have millions of books scanned and free for download. Try searching on a subject and see what you find. Of course many of these books we are searching for we may not want to purchase but simply refer to. For that we have a resource to find them www.worldcat.org This lists 2 billion items available in libraries. A great many of these can be accessed through an inter-library loan from your local library (at least in the US however this does reference other countries) For on site research it does list the individual libraries that a book is available at and distance from you.

Facebook