First Baptist Manlius

We know more about Elder Morton than about most of our early Elders because of his Seminary Record. “Charles Morton, born in Augusta, New York on June 10, 1789. He made the journey from Fredonia to Hamilton, a distance of 260 miles, on foot. He entered the Seminary in March, 1825, graduated in 1827.”

Charles Morton was the sixth of the part-time pastors to lead the Manlius Baptists. On February 21, 1827, the Church voted to engage Brother Charles Morton "to preach with us" for nine months from the first of June next (or until March 1, 1828). Brother Morton was still a seminary student at the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institute (Colgate University), but was to complete his studies in 1827. He was to be a member of the sixth graduation class of the Institute in Hamilton. The Church also asked Brother Morton to "provide preaching for us the whole of the time until June next (1827) and we pay him what he has to pay." This meant that Brother Morton would hire other students to preach in Manlius when he could not. Brother Morton would pay them and be reimbursed by the Church. From March until June, 1827, the pulpit was supplied by Brother Morton and his colleagues from Hamilton and perhaps by Brother Pearce and Elder Nichols. (In August, 1827, Brothers Morton, Jones, Pearce and Elder Nichols were our messengers to the Madison Baptist Association Meeting.)

New York State was settling rapidly. When a nucleus of a village was formed, one of the major decisions, after homes, taverns and schoolhouses were built, was to build a church for each of the major denominations. A large number of trained ministers were needed and to meet that need several institutions for the education and training of ministers sprang up in Central New York:

• 1812 Hamilton College (Presbyterian)- Clinton, NY
• 1818 Auburn Theological Seminary (Presbyterian)- Auburn, NY
• 1819 Hamilton Literary and Theological Institute
• (Colgate University)- (Baptist)-Hamilton, NY
• 1822 Geneva College-(Hobart) (Episcopal)- Geneva NY
• 1850 Rochester Theological Seminary (Baptist)-Rochester, NY
• 1856 St. Lawrence University-(Universalists)- Canton, NY

Baptist Churches in Central New York in the early years sought supply pastors (unordained students) and pastors (graduates) from the Seminary in Hamilton because of its location. Manlius was approximately 28 miles from Hamilton (as the crow flies). It was close enough so that a horse could be ridden from there to Manlius. Several students filled in when the Manlius Church lacked a pastor, and others were called here as permanent pastors.

When Brother and Mrs. Susan Morton were in Manlius during the months until he became the full time pastor, they stayed with Brother Selden (for 14 shillings a week) and also with Brother Jones. At a Church meeting on August 4, 1827, Brother Morton was called to Ordination, which was to be on October 11, 1827, and was also voted a member of the Church by letter. A Committee was appointed to secure the Presbyterian Meeting House for the Ordination and also stable room for the horses. Churches from Pompey Center, Delphi, Cazenovia (First and Second), Fabius, Hamilton (First), Eaton (Second) and Manlius (Fayetteville) were invited to participate. A Committee was voted to answer the Council on behalf of the Church. On October 11, 1827, the Church Council met according to appointment. The Council was organized with Elder Leonard, moderator, and Elder Smitzer (a future pastor of our Church), Clerk. Questions were proposed to the candidate by the Moderator. The Council adjourned one hour. The Council returned and proceeded to Ordination. Apparently the candidate qualified. The Moderator then preached a sermon from Isaiah 6:1-3, offered a consecration prayer, and Elder Smitzer gave the charge and a concluding prayer. The last hymn was sung, and the candidate, now Elder Morton, was allowed to give the benediction. (On May 2, 1829, almost two years later, the Church received a communication from Deacon Jones, who reported to the Church that Mr. Goodrich was owed $2.62 for conducting the singing for the Ordination. Mr. Goodrich was paid.)

According to information given in the obituary of Martha Ketchum Armstrong (Fayetteville Bulletin, July 4, 1924), the Manlius Baptists were regularly meeting for two years (1827-1828) in her father’s (Ezra Grinnell Ketchum) barn until the new church could be erected. The barn was the first frame barn raised in the Town of Pompey.

Two years had passed since the last mention of building a church was mentioned in the minutes of the Church, when on December 1, 1827, the Church, now being led by a full time ordained pastor Elder Morton, got serious and voted to build a meeting house in or near the village of Manlius within the ensuing year. Samuel Sherman and Abijah Yelveston were appointed a Committee to select a suitable place for said house (of worship), learn the terms of the owner and report at the next meeting of the Society.

The next Church meeting was scheduled for December 8, 1827. Because of bad weather attendance was low and the meeting was adjourned to December 12, 1827, at three o'clock. The Site Committee reported that they had examined several spots in and near the village of Manlius and that "they think there are none more suitable than four village lots lying on the north side of the Seneca Turnpike Road west of Azariah Smith's Brick Store extending 89 1/10 feet on the Turnpike and 60 feet deep, with the privilege of a 14 foot lane in the rear of the same. The said lots are by the owner given to said Society at the rate of $5.00 a foot front in exchange for pews at auction." The lots were owned by Slyvanus S. Tousley and wife and Azariah Smith and wife.

A plan for the meeting house was submitted by Azariah Smith and Sheldon Graves, "a house 40 feet front and rear, 48 feet deep, 24 feet posts, galleries all round with 48 slips (pews) on the lower floor. Two front doors and without a steeple." The report of the Site Committee and the plans of Azariah Smith and Sheldon Graves were accepted by vote.

Elder Charles Morton, William Fillmore, Sheldon Graves, Azariah Smith and John Fleming were chosen a Committee to circulate a subscription for building said house with the understanding that each subscriber may have the privilege of buying pews at auction for the amount of his subscription.

The Building Subscription read as follows: "To enable the Trustees of the Manlius and Pompey Baptist Society to build a meeting house in Manlius Village on the Site between A. Smith's Brick Building and R. Gilmor's Shop about the size 40 by 48 feet without a Steeple, the Subscribers severally promise to pay to the said Trustees or their Successors in office the sums set to their names. Subscriptions payable in materials to be paid by 11 April next (April 11, 1828). Subscriptions payable in Cash one-fourth on the first day of April next (April 1, 1828) and the residue in three equal semi-annual installments from that time, and whenever the said house is completed the subscribers agree to give their notes for the sums unpaid; and it is understood that the Pews or Slips shall be sold at public auction and that for all subscriptions paid or secured to be paid, the Subscribers are to be allowed in their purchase of a Pew or Slip. December 12, 1827.” On December 26, 1827, Azariah Smith, Sheldon Graves and John Hatch were voted a Committee to superintend and contract for the building of the meeting house.

The Church has a record of the names of the individuals and their plans to help pay for the lot and church building whether in cash , materials or services. For example, David Squires donated $1.00 worth of labor, Willoby Millard gave $50.00 worth of hemlock lumber, and Abner Duell gave $10.00 worth of chairs to be made in his woodworking shop. Fifty contributors and their gifts were named.

There were unfortunately no entries in the minutes for 1828 concerning the building of the new church. Any discussions in the Board of Trustees or in the Church Meetings involving building, financial, personal or legal problems were not recorded.

The business of the Church at the Annual Meeting on December 8, 1828, was the first entry in the new Minute Book for 1828, which recorded annual meetings, business meetings and Trustee meetings. Elias Stilwell was the Moderator, Moses Eells and James Sisson were elected as new Trustees, and Azariah Smith was chosen Clerk to replace Thomas I. Pilgrim, "removed from the Society." This explains why no information was recorded from December 26, 1827 to December 8, 1828.

At a Trustees Meeting on January 23, 1829, in the Conference Room of the completed new Meeting House, Azariah Smith, Clerk of the Church, presented a seal which he had procured. It was approved by the Trustees and voted to be the seal of the Society. It was described as having engraved around the edge "Pompey and Manlius 1822" and in the center "Baptist Society." The fate of the seal is unknown.

Drafts for the deeds of the site of the meeting house from Sylvanus S. Tousley and wife and from Azariah Smith and wife were presented and examined. The Church voted to accept the same. The deeds bearing the date January 1, 1829, were then executed by the said Smith and Tousley.

At the same meeting the Trustees also voted that the Clerk execute under the common seal and deliver to said Tousley a writing agreeing that the Trustees will not build any building on the 12 foot front and rear of the meeting house lot, nor keep wood or other lumber permanently stored there. A writing was executed accordingly and delivered to said Tousley.

Blanks for deeds of Pews were also presented and examined. The Trustees voted their approval. When the pews were sold the Clerk was to execute the same and deliver them to the purchasers.

The Trustees further voted to adopt as a regulation of the meeting house, that the pews therein shall not be altered or injured and shall remain open and free for any person to occupy when the same are not occupied by the owner, his family, or others, at the owner's request; but whenever the owner directs that any person shall sit therein, any person occupying without leave should immediately remove (themselves). They also voted that the pews should be numbered as in the annexed diagram and that pew No. 7 be reserved at the sale and be appropriated for the use of the minister of the Society. (The diagram of the pews has been reproduced and included at the end of Chapt 3.) They also voted to call the lower room "The Baptist Conference Room."

The pews were to be sold at auction on January 26, 1829, at 10 o'clock A.M., William Fillmore auctioneer, at the meeting house. The amounts bid for the pews ranged from $30.00 to $119.00. Contrary to present preferences, the most expensive seats were closest to the front of the Church. Several families combined their resources to buy a single pew. The accounts of the Building Committee were settled. The whole cost of the lots and meeting house was $2730.00. The sale of pews brought in $2702.00.

In the First Baptist Church of Manlius collection of historical papers and pictures, there is one of the original Pew Deeds for Pew #22. It was granted to Asa Rowe on January 26, 1829, for the sum of $50.00 (to have and to hold as Asa Rowe and his heirs and assign forever.). The deed was signed by A. Smith, Clerk, and sealed with the official seal of the Church. (On February 14, 1827, Asa Rowe sold his pew to Lauriston Fish for $20.00.)

It is not known when the pews ceased to "belong" to those who purchased them and became "public" Church property. There was no mention of the resale of pews or what was done for new families who needed pews. Brother Smith, obviously, had no need for 16 pews (one-third of the seating capacity.) It seems likely that most of the pews soon became public property. In 1912 the old pews were removed and replaced with new oak ones.

Now the Church had a home and a Board of Trustees in charge of its upkeep, both physically and monetarily. In the years to follow the Board of Trustees were kept busy maintaining the Church and keeping it supplied with candles, candlesticks, and firewood. They hired custodians to open the house, to sweep the floors, to "take charge of the keys," and to kindle the fires for the Sabbath and for the larger congregational meetings. For a time the Trustees were also in charge of calling ministers.

At the Annual Meeting of the Society on December 5, 1829, two Trustees were chosen: James Sisson, to succeed himself, and Roger Stilwell. Azariah Smith and S. Graves presented their last accounts for expenses for the new building, $27.45 and $1.38 respectively. They were examined and found correct and the Trustees were directed to circulate a subscription to raise the money. This was the last entry of Azariah Smith as Clerk. James Sisson became Clerk pro tem.

One man stands apart from the others in the effort to build the Church. He was Azariah Smith. Although the Baptist Church was not built as early as he would have liked, when the Church finally made up its mind to act, he was in the forefront of the effort. The Church was built partly on property he owned. With Sheldon Graves he submitted the plans for the building. He was a member of the Committee appointed to raise money by subscription , and was with Sheldon Graves and John Hatch a Committee to superintend and contract for the building of the meeting house. At the auction he purchased 16 of the 48 pews, and apparently lent the Church money to proceed with the building until the pews were paid for.. In addition, he was Church Clerk during 1829. He did all this even though he was not a member of the Church.

It was not reported in Baptist Minutes but historian E.E. Clemons reports that after the raising of the frame of the new church structure, the workers formed in a row on

the east plate and a suspicious looking bottle was passed from one to the other commencing at the south end of the row, (and) the last one, after making some remarks, threw the bottle against the adjacent brick building (Azariah Smith's Brick Store) breaking it into a thousand pieces.

There are no available pictures of the Church as it was in 1828, but Henry C. VanShaack, in his History of Manlius Village, describes the Church as he saw it as a young man of 26 years in 1828 and later after many improvements in 1868 when he was 66 years old. His early impressions are re-printed here. His later impression will be related later in this history. The major improvements as made to the building will be described.

From History of Manlius Village by Henry C. VanShaack

As first built it was a plain, cheerless, Quaker-looking, two story frame structure, without exterior architectural pretension or interior adornment. The light was admitted through a double row of old fashioned, rectangular windows all around the four sides of the edifice. There was no bell or steeple, and it had scarcely anything about it but its size to indicate that it was a house of worship. Its original internal construction and finish fully corresponded with its cold and forbidding external appearance. There was a plain heavy gallery all around the four interior sides of the building, reaching back and behind the pulpit, so that those sitting in that part of the gallery could overlook the preacher's manuscript, and see whether he was preaching an old sermon. On entering the auditorium you were obliged to face the whole congregation; and on going into the pew you had to turn clear around in order to face the pulpit and minister. This arrangement was calculated to make modest people go to church in season, so as not to disturb the meeting, although I am not aware that it had that effect.

At a February 2, 1828, Church Meeting Elder John Nichols was given a letter of recommendation to the Baptist Church in Mexico, NY, but if he went it was for a short time as he died on July 6, 1828 in Pompey at the age of 89. At the same meeting the Church authorized Brothers Pilgrim, Jones and Fleming to visit Elder Morton to learn the terms on which he would preach another year. Elder Morton agreed to stay a second year for $250.00.

While in the early years of the Church, the Manlius area itself could have been considered part of the Mission Field, a remarkable change had taken place and now the area had become populated and somewhat developed. The Churches were well-established and could now consider mission work elsewhere in the less developed areas of the United States or overseas. It was obvious that Elder Baker was extremely interested in missionary work in the western part of New York State in the early 1800s. Adoniram Judson, formerly a Congregational minister, became a Baptist and in 1813 was working in Burma with support from the Baptists in the United States.

The women of the Church were brought together in a Missionary Society with the help of Elder Peck in the early 1800s, but there was no mention of their activities in the Church Records. However, on November 1, 1828, the Church met for a Covenant Meeting. After the Brothers and the Sisters had expressed their minds in relation to their feelings and the cause they had professed, the Moderator, Elder Morton, made a proposal for the Church to form a Missionary Society for both men and women, an auxiliary to the Baptist Convention. There was a Constitution for the Society to serve as a guide for its activities in the Church. Elder Morton made the following motion: “Being impressed with the importance of disseminating the glorious Gospel among the destitute and scattered inhabitants of our own continent, embracing numerous tribes of Indians, who have been too long neglected and remembering that ‘Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,’ and also the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how he said ‘It is more blessed to give than receive,’ and being assembled agreeable to previous appointment, on this first day of November in the year of our Lord 1828, we do cheerfully resolve, that the Baptist Church of Christ in Pompey and Manlius, be a Missionary Society Auxiliary to the Baptist Missionary Convention of the State of New York.” Rules were attached. The first rule was that the object of the Society was to assist the Baptist Missionary Convention in sending the Gospel to the destitute. The second rule stated that it was the duty of all of the members of the Church who feel willing to do anything for the spread of the Gospel, to subscribe to this Constitution and annex to their several names, the sums that they will pay annually into the funds of the Society. The other rules concerned the governing of the Society. The articles were adopted by the six members present and also by the sisters.

There was only one more recorded meeting of the Society and that was held August 1, 1829. Elder Peck was supposed to be present to deliver a discourse on the printing of the Bible in the Burman (Burmese) language but did not appear (previous commitment). After the members had paid the sums set to their names as a Society, the Moderator, Elder Morton, himself, made some remarks about the Burman Bible. A contribution was taken and $7.00 collected. (We have an idea of the number of people in the congregation in 1829. The Baptist Convention recommended to the Church that they should raise 18 cents from each member and the local Baptist Church calculated that the amount would be about $14.00, making a membership of 78 people.)

Elder Morton also was very busy in helping with the planning and building of the new church in 1828. On July 15, 1828 Sister Susan Morton, wife of Elder Morton, presented her letter and was received into the fellowship of the Church. In November 1829 Elder Morton was hired for a third year of preaching. In 1830 he lost his full time status as he requested permission to spend one-quarter of his time in the Jamesville Church if called to do so. The Church agreed on condition that Elder Morton supply the preaching for the time he would be away. The Church was to hire a Colgate student to serve in the pulpit during Elder Morton's absences. (There was no record that Elder Morton was called to Jamesville.)

In 1826, in western New York, William Morgan, who had joined the order of Free Masonry, published a book professing to expose the secrets of Free Masonry, a violation of a solemn oath. Indignation among Masons was intense. Mr. Morgan disappeared never to be seen again. Rumors had it that the Masons put him in a boat and sent him over Niagara Falls. Many people believed the rumors and as a result anti-Masonic sentiment swept the country. At its peak an anti-Masonic national ticket ran in the Andrew Jackson-Henry Clay election of 1832 and actually carried one state and received seven electoral votes.

As a result of this anti-Masonic fever, on Nov. 11, 1829, the Church and Society met "agreeable to an appointment." After other business was transacted the Church adopted the following resolution:
Resolved, that in the opinion of this Church it is the duty of all our brethren who are Free-Masons to dissolve all connection with the Masonic Fraternity and hold themselves no longer bound by any ties of allegiance to the Masonic Institution or by its obligations, laws, usages or customs and that they give to the Church material evidence of the same.
Resolved, that in our opinion, Masonic brethren ought not to be required to disclose any of the secrets of Free-Masonry or to verbally avow any opinion of its character or tendency.
Resolved, that we will endeavor to practice all Christian forbearance towards our Masonic Brethren but that in case they cannot be induced to take the steps above described, it will finally be our duty to withdraw the hand of fellowship from them.

The Masonic problem was not mentioned again nor were there any reports of Masons being ousted from the Church for non-compliance with the Church's resolution. This is probably because the Manlius Military Lodge 93 was closed within the year on Dec. 25, 1830, by the unusual act of bricking up the entrance to the lodge rooms. The Lodge remained inactive and the rooms blocked until March 25, 1851, when the anti-Masonic sentiment had subsided. The rooms were opened and the Masonic Lodge resumed its activities.

On March 31, 1827, the Church voted to give Brother Benjamin Pearce, who joined the Church by letter on July 31, 1825, a traveling letter and on March 1, 1828, a letter of recognition. In a June 5, 1830, meeting of the Church, Brother Stillwell thought it would be expedient to do something about licensing Brother Pearce to preach in this Church. A Committee was established to converse with Brother Pearce on this matter, to get information from other places where he had served and to invite ministers and others from these places to meet with our Church and share what information they might have, so that the Church could act with propriety.

The date set was the 25th day of June, 1830. The Church met as scheduled but necessary information in relation to Brother Pearce was not received, and the meeting

was postponed. Although not reported in the minutes, the meeting must have been held later with satisfactory results because Brother Pearce was acknowledged to have "formally received from us a license to preach the Gospel."

No sooner was Brother Pearce licensed to preach when a calamity at least partly of his own making, overtook him, causing him to lose that coveted license and to leave the Church. On August 27, 1830, at a special Church meeting a complaint was presented against Brother Pearce for trading with Brother Sweet of the Delphi Church a horse which Brother Pearce allegedly knew suffered from ringhorn (a problem with the horse's hoof) and was lame as a result, thereby deceiving him. Proof of the charges was said to be substantiated by a transcript of the sworn testimony from Esquire Litchfield's docket in Pompey Hill. Jeremiah Fox says he was present when the parties exchanged horses. The defendant (Pearce) said he would ride the plaintiff's (Sweet) mare and if he liked to ride it he would exchange. The plaintiff asked the defendant what was the matter with his horse, and the defendant said he had a stone in his shoe, was not so lame as when the stone was taken out. The defendant said he expected that was the cause of the horse's lameness; he knew of no other cause. One witness for the defendant named John Reed did say that the defendant stopped at his father's, discovered a stone in the shoe of his horse and removed it with difficulty. Brother Sweet in addition to his earlier testimony told the Church that Brother Pearce was told by a Mr. Barber that his horse had a ringhorn.

The Church members, after hearing and prayerfully examining the testimony before them, concluded that they were "constrained to believe Brother Pearce guilty of putting off a horse which he had a good reason to think had a ringhorn, thus deceiving and wronging Brother Sweet, and also bringing a wound in the cause of Christ, which cannot easily be healed." As a punishment and to set things right, they required that Brother Pearce:

1. Go to Delphi where the crime was committed and in a public meeting on the Sabbath confess that he did deceive and wrong Brother Sweet.
2.  Go to Pompey Hill, where the offense was made public by the examination and decision of an arbitrarian, and there do the same.
3. Surrender the license he formally received from us to preach the Gospel.
4. All this so that our minds may be relieved of a great burden, the stain wiped from his own character, and that the deep wound which the cause has received may be bound up and healed. (Whether Brother Pearce did all of the things requested of him at the August 27, 1830, meeting, we do not know.)

On September 7, 1830, the Church showed off its new building when it hosted the Fall Meeting of the Madison Baptist Association. Brothers Stilwell and Filmore were to be the Committee to regulate and seat people in the house and Brothers Ward and Sisson a Committee to provide for the horses. Willoby Millard and John White were the delegates from the Manlius Church. The Church voted to spend $1.25 to help defray the cost of printing the minutes.

Apparently dissatisfied with the findings of the Church, Brother Pearce or a friend requested a Council in hopes of a more favorable conclusion. On October 11, 1830, at ten of the clock, the Church met and a motion was made and passed to have a Council in behalf of Brother Pearce on November 9, 1830, at ten of the clock in the forenoon with the Churches from Pompey, Manlius, Delphi, Cazenovia and Woodstock asked to send their ministers and one or two select members. Fabius was added at Brother Pearce's request. All of the Churches agreed to participate and the names are listed in the minutes. Twenty people came. Brother Lewis Leonard from Cazenovia Village Baptist Church was Moderator and Elder John Smitzer (later to become pastor of the Manlius and Pompey Baptist Church and Society) was Clerk. The Council heard the complaints against Brother Pearce of committing fraud in exchanging a horse with Brother Sweet of the Church in Delphi. The Council heard the records of the Church in the matter, listened to Brother Sweet's statement, and heard the defense of Brother Pearce, and a witness of Brother Pearce who said that the horse had not been lame to their knowledge until the horse got the stone in his shoe. If Brother Pearce hoped for a more lenient judgment from the Council his hopes were dashed. The Council prayerfully examined the subject and was unanimously of the opinion that there is much in the testimony that renders the honesty of Brother Pearce in his dealing with Brother Sweet very doubtful; yet the Council would hope that in the exercise of charity, from the consideration that the horse was not lame till after the stone referred to in the testimony was found in the shoe, that Brother Pearce did not mean willfully to deceive Brother Sweet; therefore, upon a review of the whole, the Council recommends to the Church that they require Brother Pearce to publicly acknowledge before the Church and Congregation that he had given a reason for the public to suspect his honesty, wounded the feelings of his brethren, and the cause of Christ, and that he give up his license to preach, and that his restoration as a brother be suspended until he complies with the above. Voted that the Council be dissolved. Prayer by Brother Breed. John Smitzer, Clerk; Lewis Leonard, Moderator.

On December 21, 1830, the Church met agreeable to an appointment to discuss the recommendation of the Council in respect to Brother Pearce.
Resolved, the result of the Council be accepted in relation to Brother Pearce.
Resolved, his confession be satisfactory which was as follows: "Upon taking a retrospect of the bargain made between me and Brother Sweet of Delphi, together with the manner of my subsequent treatment of the subject, I am persuaded that I have given occasion to those who are acquainted with the circumstances to doubt my good intentions, thereby laying a stumbling block in the way of the world, wounding the cause of Christ, and feelings of my brethren, for which I am heartily sorry and do most sincerely beg the forgiveness of my brethren and friends and crave an interest in these petitions at the throne of Grace that God may blot out my sins and deliver me from temptation in the future." Benjamin Pearce.

February 5, 1831, at a meeting of the Church, a request from the Baptist Church in Woodstock was presented requesting the transfer of Benjamin Pearce to membership from this Church to theirs and the request was granted. We do not know how Brother Pearce fared in the future. He is not mentioned again in the Minutes of the Pompey and Manlius Baptist Church and Society.

In 1831 negotiations with the Church, the possibility of Elder Morton preaching half-time with the Fayetteville Baptists was discussed. The Church agreed to pay Elder Morton $350.00 for preaching in our Church, $300.00 for half-time preaching. However, he would have to supply the Manlius Church with preaching in his absence. Elder Morton did spend half of his time in the Fayetteville Church. There was no record of who preached in the Manlius Church in his absence.

In a history of the Fayetteville Baptist Church it was stated that, "Through the efforts of Mr. Harvey Edwards, (a new convert who began to awaken interest in the Baptist work in Fayetteville), the services of Charles Morton, pastor of the Baptist Church in Manlius N.Y., were now secured half the time and under the blessing of God, much good was accomplished by his labor in this place. A revival was enjoyed and the Church was strengthened and encouraged."

The most extraordinary event of Elder Morton's ministry was not mentioned in any of the Church records. An unknown author wrote the History of the Manlius Church for the Onondaga Association Minutes of the Sept. 3-4, 1861, meeting and included the story of a remarkable revival in Manlius that started in the Manlius Baptist Church in March of 1831 and spread throughout the village. The author's account of the event is as follows:
“After entering this house, a general prosperity attended the labors of Brother Morton, but nothing of special interest occurred until the winter of 1830-1831, when he became greatly distressed; other Churches were revived and multiplied but his was not. He visited places where the Lord was working gloriously, and returned only to weep and lament that all was so dark and dead at home. At length he entreated of his brethren to meet and fast and pray. This they agreed to do on the Friday preceding their Covenant Meeting in March. God, as if to prepare the way, took to Himself a lovely youth, a daughter of one of the members a few days previous; thus humbling the father before Him until He put his spirit upon him and sent him from house to house, confessing and exhorting with great power. This he did all the day previous to the fast day, and came into the prayer meeting in the evening, and confessed his sins, and exhorted his brethren to look to Jesus, who was willing to help them.

On the following day, they were all filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit, and so great was the power of God upon Bro. Morton, in his consciousness of the divine presence, and of his own vileness, that he lay for a long time on his face in front of his pulpit, the Spirit in him making intercessions with groanings that could not be uttered. Wonderful events followed. The entire village was moved. The factories were stopped

during the following week, all kinds of business were suspended, meetings were held in all the churches, messengers were sent after Elder. N. J. Gilbert of Syracuse, Elder Lewis Leonard of Cazenovia, and Elder John Smitzer of Delphi, with instructions to say to each, ‘The Lord is in Manlius, and you must not fail to come.’ They all came and saw the grace of God, and were glad, and exhorted the people with purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord, and many, very many obtained mercy of the Lord, in that day.”

Since there was no mention of this revival in our Church minutes, or any record of a meeting on the Friday preceding the March Covenant meeting, the first reaction could rightly be one of skepticism. However, something extraordinary did happen on our Church which could only have been the result of some kind of revival in interest and spirit, and it was carefully recorded.
Record of Baptisms-Names and dates are recorded in the Church minutes.

In 1831, from March through December, sixty-eight men and women were baptized. The Church membership nearly doubled. Truly the Lord must have been in Manlius in those days.

The spirit of conversion apparently was not limited to Manlius. It was reported in a history of the Elbridge Baptist Church that the winter and spring of 1831 will long be remembered, not only by the children of God in Elbridge and vicinity, but throughout the whole United States, as a time of the special outpouring of the spirit in the conversion of souls. In Rochester, NY, then a city of 10,000 people with a reputation as one of the Erie Canal‘s most wicked cities, Charles Finney, known as “the Great Evangelist“ and as one of the best known and successful of all warriors for God in this period, was extremely successful at leading the movement. Twelve hundred people were said to have come to Christ. The revival spread to Hamilton College and villages and cities throughout the East. Some 50,000 converts were reported in this five months of the Rochester led revival.

On December 3, 1831, the case of Brother Nelson Camp was laid before the Church in relation to his preaching the Gospel, the fourth of recorded Church members to do so. The Church resolved that "we appoint next Wednesday evening at Elder Morton's for him to improve that the Church may the better be enabled to judge his qualifications for that important business." On March 11, 1833, he preached . Brother Camp later became ordained and had a long career as Elder in the area. Records available listed him as Elder in Baptist Churches in Phoenixville, Mexico, Onondaga, Tully (where he was called “the now venerable” Nelson Camp), Pompey, Canton and Memphis, the latter as late as 1861. There are likely other Churches in which he also served. In the Centennial

History of the Onondaga Baptist Association, he was mentioned in 1843 as being noted for effective preaching and Christian Consecration.

Except for the admonition to forsake Tavern Haunting, the first Covenant did not prohibit the drinking of alcoholic beverages. On December 31, 1831, the Church adopted the following resolution: “The Baptist Church of Christ in Pompey and Manlius, being convinced that the time has come when no professor of religion can make a habitual, common, or fashionable use of ardent spirits without very much abridging his usefulness and injuring the course of Christ and the cause of humanity; therefore, resolved that we must earnestly recommend to every member of this Church to entirely abstain from the use of ardent spirits except as a medicine, in case of body infirmity.”

Nothing was said against the use of tobacco by Church members, although its use was being decried by a writer in the Fayetteville Weekly Recorder as early as July 12, 1866. He viewed the use of tobacco as a vile, pernicious, and expensive habit. It was derogatory to the virtue of personal cleanliness, injurious to health and a perpetual drain upon the purse.” Some of its worst tendencies were “to engender debility, imbecility disease and premature death.” He hoped for the day when constant toppling, tobacco chewing, and even smoking could be eliminated from our land. (At this time tobacco was one of the more important crops grown by the area farmers.)

In 1832 a tragedy struck the First Baptist Church of Syracuse. Their pastor Elder Gilbert contracted cholera and died within two days. At his funeral service "Elder Charles Morton, standing in the pulpit, looked down on the lifeless form of his co-laborer in Christ, who but 42 hours earlier stood where he stood, and exclaimed with deepest emotion, "I hardly know what to say." Then he proceeded to the utterance of such thoughts as his deep sympathies would allow, from the words "to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

On October 21, 1832, a meeting of the Church was called to appoint delegates to attend a County Convention at the old Courthouse on Onondaga Hill to take into consideration the reorganization of the Onondaga Baptist Association formed in 1825. For the first time, in 1833, all the Baptist Churches in Onondaga County would be united in one association "now so well known and esteemed by the Baptists of the State of New York as evidenced by the establishing of the headquarters of the State organization at Syracuse and the election of one of our faithful workers, T. Otto, as its president." On September 7, 1833, the Manlius Church voted to ask for dismission from the Madison Association to join the Onondaga Association.

Some of the Church Members wished for changes in the Articles of Faith and the Covenant of the Church. They wanted them to be expressed in more proper terms. Elder Morton took pains to revise them and presented them to the Church for acceptance at a Covenant Meeting on November 3, 1832. The revised version was apparently not entirely satisfactory as a Committee was formed to examine the new version and make changes.

On January 1, 1833, the Church met in Covenant Meeting. It was a busy day with Brothers and Sisters telling of their feelings toward Jesus Christ, renewing the Covenant, and hearing new members relate their Christian experiences. In addition, Marcena Stone, the fifth Church member recorded to have done so, related his exercises to the Church with reference to preaching the Gospel. The Church voted for him to improve his gift on January 12, 1833. On March 16, 1833, he improved his gift again. The Congregation was becoming impressed with his ability to preach and resolved "to give Brother Stone the right to improve his gift in trying to preach, wherever God in his Providence may seem to direct." Brother Stone was not mentioned again in the Church minutes.

Although there was no mention of the desire of Elder Morton to leave in 1833, or for the Church to have him leave, at the Annual Meeting of December 8, 1832, the Trustees were charged to obtain a minister of the Gospel after Elder Morton's time expired in March of 1833. Elder Morton remained active as pastor until June, 1833. He was Moderator at the meeting in June, 1833, when the request of Elder and Mrs. Bellamy (our new pastor and wife) to join the Church was granted and they were given the right hand of fellowship. There was a problem concerning the full payment of Elder Morton's salary. This was not a new problem for the Church. How the problem was, if it was, solved was not recorded.