Baptist History Homepage

Introduction

Welcome to the BAPTIST HISTORY HOMEPAGE: A Source for Original Baptist Documents!

      This Website was begun over five years ago and the response has been pleasing. When I began this project I did not know how to open a site, so my son did it for me. He also showed me how to code the essays and how to post items. When I began posting some Circular Letters, I did a google search and only got one response to "Baptist Circular Letters" — a British site.

     There is lots of Baptist history available but much of it was limited to special library collections before the Internet became so accessible. I have over this past year expanded and have some very good information on the site; many of these documents have had limited distribution. I have located information in various places; I have often used the Southern Baptist Seminary Library in Louisville, which has a "gold mine" of Baptist history.

     There are now nearly a thousand documents on the site. They are an eclectic assortment; their quality is uneven — some are well-written articles while others are less so. Some are very important, some not so important. I have left the documents "as they are" except where I use [ ] to show a change or at the end of the article I indicate a change of the title or that I've added a title to a document that had no title. The grammar and spelling of the original are retained. I give the page numbers for the source so that you may check it out if necessary [I began doing this in 2005 and all items are not paginated yet]. These Baptist Documents are interesting to me and I hope many will be to you too.

     As you will notice, I have also included some older Baptist history books that aren't generally located on other Internet sites.

     The items posted here are "public domain" material because they are too old to be covered by the copyright laws or were never copyrighted. Sometimes people post material to their websites from other websites and claim it is copyrighted, but when it is public domain material they can't officially do that. None of these is copyrighted, though if anyone should use this material somewhere else on the Internet it will be appreciated if credit to this site is given. Essays I have written are not copyrighted; the same courtesy of acknowledgement is appreciated.

     I graduated from Campbellsville (KY) College (now University) with a BA in History/English and received the MA in history from Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee. I pastored more than twenty-two years and have worked in pharmaceutical sales. I am presently retired and teach the young adults' SS class at First Baptist Church, Independence, Kentucky — Ronald Crisp, Pastor. I have been interested in Baptist history for many years and have been collecting Baptist historical items for some time.

     My wife, Linda, and I are both from Boone County, Kentucky but shortly after we married we moved away; a little more than a decade ago we returned home (and are living in the house she was born in). We have five children, fifteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. I began working on the early history of our county's Baptists about ten years ago. This was done on a part-time basis. I had intended to write a book about our county's early Baptists, but it's easier and much less expensive to use the Internet.

     Thanks for visitng the site; come back often to view additional items being posted and if you have comments I will appreciate hearing from you. The most recently posted documents are here.

James R. Duvall
2375 Hathaway Road
Union, KY 41091
859.384.7848
jrduvall@fastmail.fm

      The Editor

Slightly revised October, 2007

A website that may interest you:

First Baptist Church, Independence, Kentucky


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