John Henry Yates (1828-1897) was born into slavery in Virginia. Although Virginia law forbade the teaching of slaves to read or write, the children of Yates’ master taught a young Yates how to read. The Bible was his favorite book. As a young man he “married” (marriage being informal for slaves, due to state laws)…
The last army of the Confederacy surrendered yesterday, and today Fort Randolph in Louisiana follows suit. Built in late 1864 to defend against expected Union advances in the state, Fort Randolph did not play a major role in the war. Also this day the CSS Missouri surrenders to the Union, the last ironclad to do…
Founded in 1638 under the leading of Roger Williams, the First Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island was the first Baptist congregation in the New World. In both religious and civic life, the early Baptists of Rhode Island, despite intense opposition from nearby colonial theocracies, chartered a course of freedom of conscience, religious liberty for…