𝗔 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆

J.H. Spencer Historical Society – Facebook – Yesterday at 7:20 AM ·

𝗔 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆

OTD in 1651 Baptist preacher Obadiah Holmes was given 30 lashes at the public whipping post in Boston. His crime? Preaching the gospel and holding an illegal Baptist worship service in Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony.

On Sunday, July 20, 1651, Baptists John Clarke, John Crandall, and Obadiah Holmes traveled from the Baptist Church at Newport, Rhode Island to Lynn, Massachusetts where they held a small Baptist service in the home of William Witter. In the middle of their service, the authorities bust in and arrested them for “seducing and drawing aside others after their erroneous judgment and practices. Under the Puritan law it was illegal for Baptists to preach or hold church services.

Of these Baptists it was said, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴.”

The three men were fined and if their fines were not paid, they were to be publicly whipped. Someone paid Clarke and Crandall’s fine, but Holmes refused to allow this. He viewed payment of the fine as admission of guilt. So, on September 5, 1651, he was given 30 lashes with a three-corded whipped.

Afterwards, Holmes famously said to the magistrates, “Ye have beaten me as with roses.” Two men, John Hazel and John Spur rushed to help Holmes. Both were arrested and fined for offering the Baptist preacher assistance! Obadiah Holmes was beaten so badly that for weeks he was forced to sleep on his elbows and knees. He would bear the scars of religious persecution for the rest of his life.

John Clarke would record this story in his book “Ill News from New England.” Clarke sailed to England where he was eventually able to convince King Charles II to allow religious liberty in the fledgling colony of Rhode Island.

Obadiah Holmes went on to serve as the second pastor of the Newport Baptist Church for 30 years. Obadiah and his wife Catherine later had ten children. Among their descents is Abraham Lincoln.

After years of faithful service, Obadiah Holmes died on October 15, 1682. May his forgotten story be rediscovered by a new generation of Baptists. “𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺, 𝘪𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧, 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺.” 1 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 2:19 

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