The First Baptist Church of Northampton, Massachusetts burns today. While the building is not entirely destroyed, for the next eighteen months worship services are held in the Northampton Town Hall while the church meeting house undergoes repairs. Meanwhile, the Educational Association of Virginia is formed today in the basement of the First Baptist Church of…
In Union-occupied areas of Virginia, black Baptists are increasingly exercising their newfound freedom. George Corprew,a free black living in the Portsmouth area, this year donates land for what becomes the Divine Baptist Church in Princess Anne County. This month the church is established and Charles E. Hodges (1819-1910) is called as the congregation’s first pastor.…
One year after Thomas Nast’s first illustration of Santa Claus appears in Harpers Weekly, Christmas, a day that is not yet universally celebrated in America, is haltingly acknowledged throughout the North and South. In Washington, D.C., U.S. President Abraham Lincoln works today as usual, believing that taxpayers expect such of him. Lincoln’s activities today include…