PROVIDENCE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH AND
CEMETERY OF ELKHART COUNTY
A light cloud of dust rises from (he
old country mad that is now County
Road 46. It was Sunday. 'I"he sun is out and the air is fresh and warm.
The day
is beautiful under a clear sky. The occasional horse or buggy is headed
for the plain while simply
styled colonial church
meeting house. It is located about
one mile east of what is now State
Road 19. A cemetery rises on a hill on the churches west side. The area
is pretty much all
farmland and open space.
Providence Primitive Baptist Church
was organized October 5. 1850 and
is the oldest
continuing church in Elkhart County,
according to Elder Michael Pitney.
pastor of the church, and his wife Shirley. The church was organized in
1850 with five
members: Abraham Truex. Sarah Truex. Elia.s O. Pittman. Sarah Pittman
and Jacob Francis. The
original land parcel was purchased from Sam Hoover and the original
building was erected in 1852.
Elder Asher Cottrell served as First
pastor from 1850 to 1853.
Primitive Baptist congregations refer to their pastors as Elder. The
line of Elders to
present is as follows:
Elder
Asher Cottrell 1850-1853
No Pastor 1854-1858
Elder William
Jackson 1859-1860
Elder David Fawley
1861-1874
Elder David Fawley and Elder Isaac
McGowen 1875
Elder David Fawley and Elder
Zachariah Thomas
1876-1879
Elder Zachariah Thomas and Elder J.W.
Taylor 1880
Elder J. W. Taylor
1881-1886
Elder J. W. Taylor and Elder D.V.
Yoder 1887
Elder S. H.
Benjamin 1888-1890
Elder S. H. Benjamin and Elder George
Bretz 1891
Elder George Bretz
1892-1894
Elder A. Dove 1895
Elder George Bretz
1896-1898
Elder Nowels 1899
Elder Andrew
Pittman 1900-1902
Elder N. L. Ford
1903-1907
Elder Andrew
Pittman 1908-1909
No Pastor 1910-1914
Elder N. L. Ford
1915-1922
Elder John Skinner
1923
Elder N. L Ford
1924-1929
Elder Charles Jones
1930-1933
Elder N. L. Ford
1934-1935
Elder John Sparks
1936-1941
Elder Elias Sarbcr
1942-2005
Elder Michael
Pitney 2005-Present
The Providence cemetery is one of two
Primitive Baptist cemeteries in
the area. The other being Island Cemetery in Kosciusko County. The
Island Cemetery
was established west of Milford on County Road 1050 by the Island
Primitive Baptist Church,
which was disbanded some years ago. Both cemeteries arc well kept but
time and weather have
taken their toll on the older stones. Vandalism has resulted in a
number of stones being broken
or missing. Stone inscriptions for Island Cemetery can be found in
"Kosciusko County,
Indiana Cemetery Records Vol. VII. Scott. Jefferson. Prairie &
Plain Townships" by Lester H.
Binnie. A copy is in the Elkhart County Genealogical Society Sailor
Library, Bristol. Indiana.
Stone inscriptions for Providence Primitive Baptist Cemetery can be
found in "Cemeteries of
Elkhart County, Indiana. Volume II, compiled by Elkhart County
Genealogical Society. Copies of
this book can be found in the Elkhart Public Library. Elkhart. Indiana
or the Elkhart County
Genealogical Society Sailor Library, Bristol, Indiana.
Primitive Baptists trace their
American origin to the early colonies.
According to the Pitneys the Baptist groups from which the Primitive
Baptists emerged
came from England and migrated west through Pennsylvania. They also
went into the southern
states where a great
number of Primitive Baptist churches
arc located today. 1 The English
Baptists from which these Primitive Baptists emerged were often
referred to as Particular
Baptists. They held to a very strict form of Calvinistic doctrine. The
acrostic TULIP is often used
to describe the main doctrinal points. T: represents the Total
Depravity of man. U: is the
Unconditional Election of those God chooses to save from Hell. L:
represents the Limited
Atonement Christ's sacrifice on the cross provides for only the elect.
I: indicates that God's grace in
drawing the elect to salvation is Irresistible. P: stands for the
ability God gives the
elect to Persevere in God's saving grace lo their deaths and ultimate
glorification in Heaven.
In 1832 a group of these conservative
Baptists met at Black Rock,
Maryland and drew up a series of resolutions known as the "Black Rock
Address." This came to
be the standard that would distinguish Primitive Baptists, also to be
known as "Old School
Baptists" or "Hard Shell Baptists."
Several things the Pitneys mentioned
that would distinguish their
church as Primitive Baptist as differentiated from other Baptist groups
would include an
emphasis on the Sovereign Grace of God in a souls salvation, baptism of
believers by immersion,
no Sunday School
(children attend church with their
parents), and no musical instruments
are used in the services.
Providence Primitive Baptist Church
formerly belonged to the Mount
Salem Association of Primitive Baptist Churches from its organization
in 1869 until the
Association disbanded around 2004. Other churches that belonged to the
Association included
Shiloh from Elkhart (formerly located at Wolf and 7th Street in
Elkhart, now disbanded).
Pilgrims Rest from Etna Green. Tippecanoe south of Bremen. Ft. Wayne
Primitive Baptist, and
Raisin River from Michigan. Providence Church had been a member of the
Paint Creek
Association from 1853 to 1867 and was a member of the Mississinewa
Association for one year in
1868.
When asked about the associations
Mrs. Pitney writes: "Primitive
Baptist Associations are still held in some areas. They were
established to meet and
fellowship with others of like faith and order and renew and
re-establish old friendships in our own
faith. They held no
authority over individual churches
but were a wonderful tool for
discussions, both spiritually and to determine the welfare of brethren
in other places. Usually these
meetings lasted 3 days. Friday through Sunday, with much praying,
singing and preaching.
Visiting brethren stayed in the homes of members of the host
association, giving more time for just
plain fellowship with old and new friends. There were often 4 lo 6 (not
always) churches in
each association and these associations were all over the United
Slates."
Some personalities who are associated
with Primitive Baptist Churches
would include: Abraham Lincoln, who wav the scxion for Little Pigeon
Church near
Lincoln City. Indiana: Thomas Jefferson; Former Speaker of Ihe House of
Representatives. Sam
Rayburn:
Elder James Compton who was a clock
maker for the White House: and Elder Gordon L.
Watson from Wabash who was a city planner for Huntington. Indiana.
Original transcribed and published in
the Michiana Searcher a Quarterly of the Elkhart County Genealogical
Society re-transcribed for posting here at Genealogy Trails by Barb Z.
