Manahawkin Baptist Church

About this property

Manahawkin Baptist Church, also known as the Free Church of Manahawkin, is a historic church in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township in Ocean County, New Jersey. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 1973, for its significance in education, military history, and religion. The first church in the area was opened on August 24, 1758. According to local citizens, a house of worship was opened as early as 1745. A building was erected at this time and a tract of land given as a gift of the John Haywood family. They had settled in the area in 1743, after leaving their ancestral home in Coventry, England. At that time, it was the only church building in the area that became known as Ocean County. The first missionary, Reverend Thomas Thompson served the area from 1745 to 1751. He was assigned to Stafford Township by the "English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." A spirit of tolerance was evident in the early church, as it ministered to people of several Protestant faiths. In 1770, Captain Thomas Webb is reported to have visited the village, preached at the church, and formed a Baptist Society with nine members. In 1774, when the church called its first pastor, the Reverend H. Crossley, the congregation numbered 19. During the Revolutionary War, in the "Skirmish at Manahawken", between Captain Rueben Randolphs's Manahawkin Militia and John Beacon's "Band of Pine Pirates" or "Refugees", wounded members of the Manahawkin Militia were cared for in the church. Several veterans of the Revolution are buried in the cemetery surrounding the church along with local residents and shipwreck victims. Services were discontinued during the War and the Baptist Society was not reorganized until 1801. In 1805, the church baptized forty-four people and the membership increased to sixty-eight. On April 27, 1857, the church was incorporated under the laws of the state of New Jersey by the five trustees. By 1864, weakening walls prompted the appointment of a committee to start remodeling and rebuilding the structure. The rebuilt church with the original within it was completed under the leadership of Reverend A. H. Folwell. On July 10, 1867, during the pastorate of Reverend E.S. Browe, the dedication service was held. The cost of rebuilding and redecorating the church building cost 2,776 dollars. The records show that all but $200.00 had come from church members and interested friends. The centennial anniversary of the founding as a Baptist Society was held on August 25, 1870. The church building was the only school building in Stafford until after 1800 and the Bible was the only textbook. Reverend E.L. Stager became a pastor in February 1880 but died 2 years later at age 35. Following these events a series of ministers came and went, usually staying about a year. The first parsonage was built in 1882 near the church on Route 9.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

More in Ocean County

Historic places, battles, and census history across Ocean County.

More historic places in New Jersey

Browse all historic places in New Jersey.

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

New Jersey history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.