In 1755 some 1,100 Acadians came in exile to Hampton. They remained on their ships while negotiations ensued. Governor Dinwiddie thought that “it was unkind of the Governor of Nova Scotia to send such a number of people here without the least previous notice.” Eventually the Acadians were allowed to come ashore and the good people of Hampton cared for them until Virginia gave money to send them on their way.
Next week a similar fate may befall the good people of Hampton when about the same number of Baptists come calling. Hopefully, the locals will not have to house and feed the messengers to the annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia nor will the Commonwealth have to appropriate funds to disperse them back to their homes.
Fred Anderson
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Virginia Baptists have not descended upon the Tidewater city for a long time. The General Association met in Hampton in 1850 and again in 1858; and after a century, the Baptist tribes came again in 1968 when the meeting was held at Liberty Baptist Church during the presidency of Julian Pentecost. A lot of tides have ebbed and flowed in the meantime.
It will be good to gather again in the city near Hampton Roads. The area is known for its warm hospitality, tempting seafood and Buckroe Beach, which once was the destination for many a church-wide picnic. Several of the Richmond churches in days gone by would send train loads of their members for a day at Buckroe. Old-timers still talk about “walking from Richmond to Buckroe,” meaning that they walked the aisles of the train cars, visiting and chatting with their friends.
“Hampton is one of the loveliest towns in the country. It is old without being ultra-conservative and modern without being crude.” So wrote the Religious Herald on March 19, 1908. “Hampton is very modest about it, but it has a good right to debate with Jamestown about being the oldest English settlement in America. Jamestown was set up two or three years ahead, but came to grief, so that it was temporarily abandoned. Before the trouble came the settlement at Hampton started, which has never been abandoned.”
Hampton Baptist Church
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Although messengers will be kept busy at the convention center away from the old center of town, it may be possible that messengers have some free hours before, during or after the BGAV annual meeting. One of the places to visit downtown is Hampton Baptist Church. It has a long and rich heritage and remains a vibrant community of faith.
The Hampton Baptist Church traces its earliest beginnings to the itinerant preaching of Elijah Baker. In the early 1770s Baker traveled from Southside Virginia into the Richmond area, preaching and planting churches. He was willing to plant and let others water. He kept moving down the Peninsula from Richmond on to Hampton; and all along the way, Baptist seedlings were planted in Henrico, New Kent, James City, York and Gloucester. In time, he crossed the Bay and became the father of Baptist work on the Eastern Shore, where monuments stand to his memory. Hampton experienced a Baptist witness by Elijah Baker.
Tradition is strong that a Baptist church was constituted in the town around 1791. The Religious Herald featured the Hampton Church in an article in 1908 which stated: “In the beginning meetings were held in private homes. In 1817 a little wooden building was constructed.” A man was sent up and down the streets of Hampton, ringing a bell to announce the time for worship at the Baptist church.
The world turned upside down for everyone in Hampton in 1861. Blanche Sydnor White’s history of the Hampton Church maintains that the citizenry was opposed to secession. “Once the die was cast in Richmond, Hampton’s militia companies went on active duty in the service of the state and the men prepared to evacuate their families. Being so close to powerful Fort Monroe, they wanted their loved ones as far from the enemy as they could be moved. By early June 1861 all but a few families were gone. The aged and infirm and those whose loyalty remained with the Union were all who stayed.”
Miss White told of the fate of George Adams, the local Baptist pastor. He continued to visit the remnant of his congregation and occasionally preached. “He was arrested by the Federals as a spy,” wrote Miss White, “and held on the ‘Rip Raps’ as a prisoner.” The town was burned by Confederate sympathizers and the Baptist church was destroyed. The Herald’s article stated: “After the war came another hard struggle, both for a preacher and a house of worship. But the people were equal to their misfortunes and in 1869 they had moved into a comfortable new building [and a] handsome brick edifice was built in 1883.” The historic old church house — long a local landmark — stands at 40 King’s Way.
While downtown, a Baptist visitor ought to pay a call at St. John’s Episcopal Church at 100 W. Queen’s Way. The cruciform-shaped building dates to 1720; and although partly burned in the fire of ’61, it was one of the few buildings which survived.
Another worthwhile destination is the Hampton University Museum with its spectacular collection of African-American art, traditional African art and artifacts and Native American artifacts. The museum also presents the history of the university, which dates to 1868 and is a testimony to the struggle of African-Americans to achieve an education. (To reach the museum from I-64, take Exit 267/Hampton University and follow the signs to the museum. It is open 8-5 and it is free.)
Fred Anderson is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies, located on the campus of the University of Richmond. He may be contacted at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.