Peddie Memorial - First Baptist Church

572 Broad Street
Newark, New Jersey 07102

1801 - Present

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Official Web Site

Newspaper Articles

May 22, 1904 - Rally of the Junior Christian Endeavor Union
July 14, 1907 - Peddie Church Closed To-Day

The First Baptist church was formed when part of the congregation of the Lyons Farms Baptist Church split on June 6, 1801. Permission to form this new church was granted by the Lyons Farms Baptist Church on July 24, 1800. Their first ceremony, on the day of the organization, was the baptismal of Joseph Smith, Abigail Hobdey, Reuben Kellum and Jemime Bruen, performed in the Passaic River. Services were held in an old private schoolhouse, "White School House", on the corner of Clinton Ave. and Spruce St. until 1805. (Many years later, long after the church moved, this building was burnt down by a vandal). In that year the church purchased the lot at the corner of Academy and Halsey streets measuring 87 x 100 feet for the purpose of building a "meeting house and burial ground".

The church building was erected in 1806 and dedicated on September 16, 1806. The building was enlarged in 1810, improved in 1841 with the addition of a vestibule and a Sunday school room. A new church was built and it was dedicated on May 23, 1869. This building was abandoned around the turn of the century and was used by the United States Post Office for a time.

The present structure was built in 1890 by a monetary gift from a Newark Merchant, T. B. Peddie. The interior of the church is round with the pews set in theatre style seating. The balcony goes around the entire church with seating in the three quarters in front of the alter. Each window on the lower floor is made of Tiffany glass. Griffins are present on the ends of the balcony. They once held a gas line that lit the interior of the church. Originally a statue of St. Peter stood on the roof but it was struck by lightning and never replaced.

From: Rider's Newark 1916

On the southeast corner of Broad and Fulton Streets is the handsome modern First Baptist Peddie Memorial Church, a massive brown stone structure, in the romanesque order, with a dome-life roof.

This is by lineal descent the successor of the First Baptist Church of Newark, organized 1801. The present edifice was erected through the generosity of Mr. T. B. Peddie, a Newark merchant and one time Mayor of the city, the cornerstone being laid in 1888.

 

Reverends Addresses Archive
Information

 

Reverend From To
Charles Lahatt February, 1802 July, 1806
Peter Thurston March, 1808 March, 1809
Daniel Sharp April, 1809 November, 1811
John Lamb April, 1812 April, 1813
David Jones January, 1814 November, 1821
Daniel Putnam April, 1822 May, 1824
Ebenezer Loomis December, 1826 June, 1827
C. P. Frey January, 1828 April, 1830
P. L. Platt April, 1830 April, 1831
Daniel Dodge August, 1832 February, 1839
William Sym April, 1839 May, 1843
H. V. Jones September, 1843 April, 1849
E. E. Cummings July, 1850 November, 1850
Henry C. Fish January, 1851 October 2, 1877 (Death)
Thomas Rambaut April, 1878 April, 1882
Edward Glenn Taylor November, 1882 December, 1885
Willard W. Boyd May, 1887 May, 1894
Charles H. Dodd May 1894 December, 1904
Thomas J. Villers April, 1906 May, 1913
M. Joseph Twomey 1914 1930
George Evens Dawkins 1931 1948
William F. Davison 1949 1958
A. King Boutwell 1959 1963
Horace H. Hunt 1963 1969
Richard R. King 1970 1984
Glenn R. Hatfield 1984 2000
Felix P. Tingson April, 2001 Unknown


Address From To
25 Academy Street c. Halsey Street 1805 1859
5 Academy Street 1860 1868
13 Academy Street (same location as above) May 23, 1869 1890
572 Broad Street May 11, 1890 Present

Archive Information (Last Known location)