The 

(Macedon) 

Old Baptist Church

Table of Contents for the Page

How the Old Baptist Church (Palmyra/Macedon) Came To Be

According to "The early history of Palmyra: a Thanksgiving sermon, delivered at Palmyra, N. Y., November 26, 1857" and a document booklet tilted, "P A L M Y R A, WAYNE COUNTY, NEW YORK, COMPILED  BY THE  WOMAN'S  SOCIETY  OF  THE WESTERN  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH MCMVII," the Baptist church was organized in the house of a veteran of the Revolutionary War named, Lemuel Spear, on May 29th, 1800. The small church began with nineteen members.

The Historical marker is on Quaker Road, in Macedon, New York, 0.6 miles west of Walworth Road, and on the right when traveling east.

43° 3.758′ N, 77° 15.828′ W

Image of Original Macedon Old Baptist Church Prior to 1835

The Macedon Old Baptist Church & School

The actual church (Image Labeled Below) was built in 1809 on Northwest corner of Quaker Rd. and Yellow Mills Road [Now called Walworth Rd. in that location].

According to "PIONEERS of MACEDON AND OTHER PAPERS OF THE MACEDON CENTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY COMPILED BY MARY LOUISE ELDREDGE-1912", "in the summer of 1836 the church was taken down, removed and rebuilt on its present site"

The reason the church was moved was because there were too many people with the size of the churched a recorded, "thirty-five by forty-five feet." It is rerecorded that people would travel 30 to 40 miles to attend the church every Sunday. That means people spent hours (if traveling by horse and buggy) to patriciate in worship at the Old Baptist Church.

The church was moved from Quaker and Walworth Road, to main street of Macedon, where the church was reconstructed and remains standing today.

Where the Old Baptist Church was built a school house. School House #6 to be specific. The title of number 6 due to the school house located in the 6th district of the town.

The school used the field stone foundation of the prior church to construct the wooden school house.

Today, the school house no longer stands, but again, it's foundation was used; this time to build a house where the backyard buts against the Old Baptist Cemetery.

Photo of the Macedon Old Baptist Church from the 1970s

Fredrick Douglass Comes to the Macedon Old Baptist Church

On August 15th, 1849, Fredrick Douglas, an African American speaker on the rights of the Colored People, spoke at the new Old Baptist church of Macedon. He is reported in the North Star as having hosted an Anti-Slavery lecture at the church.

After Fredrick Douglas passed in 1895, members of the Macedon Baptist recalled the event of the night he spoke to them in 1849.

A.M. Purdy, who attended the meeting, wrote, "I well remember Frederick Douglass and the first "talk" he gave to the people in the old Baptist church in Macedon, way back in the "Forties." It was an abolition meeting, with such worthies as Asa B. Smith, William R. Smith, Lindley Moore, and others present."

Purdy continued discussing how when Fredrick Douglas came to the church he held a modest demeanor.

"I well remember how hard they had to urge him to go on the platform to make that "maiden speech," how bashful and how slow and stammering he began; but, as he warmed up and gained confidence, his large eye began to sparkle, his voice grew strong and clear, and it was easily to be seen and understood that he was a "diamond in the rough," a sapling that would soon grow and expand into a mighty forest monarch..."

With the time era that Douglas came, it is almost definite he spoke for at least one individual now buried in The Old Baptist Cemetery.

How the Baptist Church Split

It didn't take long for the number of attendees to skyrocket in the small church. By 1835, more than eight-hundred members joined the Old Baptist religion In an article titled, WAY BACK WHEN IN WAYNE COUNTY: Macedon church traces its roots to 1800, "In 1803, a group split off and formed the Northfield (Perinton) congregation, which in 1806 split to form the First Baptist Church of Boyle or Penfield, and the Second Baptist Church of Boyle or Pittsford. In 1804, a group split to form the First Baptist Church of Williamson or Marion when the town was later formed."

First Baptist Church of Auburn

In 1808 in the Palmyra/Macedon area where the Baptist meetings were first held, the frame of a meeting of a meeting house and the new church for the Baptists was constructed. According to, PALMYRA, WAYNE COUNTY, NEW YORK, COMPILED  BY THE  WOMAN'S  SOCIETY  OF  THE WESTERN  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH MCMVII, "it was built on the main road between the Yellow Mill and Walworth and about forty rods north of the Quaker Road and on the west side of the road near the school house on the knoll. There, for thirty-two years, it was the representation of the Baptist element of the towns of Palmyra and Macedon and attained influence and strength." In 1815, a group split to form the First Baptist Church of Ontario (later Walworth) in West Walworth. In 1832, another group left to form the Second Baptist Church of Walworth.

Then in February of 1835, the Old Baptist church in Macedon divied. About half of the members left the church in Macedon to build a church as the First Baptist Church in Palmyra. The rest of the members remained at the church in Macedon. 

The First Church of Palmyra is about a four minute drive from the Old Baptist Cemetery and six minutes from the sight of Lemuel Spear's former home.

Photo of the Macedon Old Baptist Church on main street

The Macedon Old Baptist Church Today

According to the website of the Macedon Old Baptist church, "This frame Baptist Church was built sometime before 1849, with a full pediment and unusual angled window caps (perhaps added later). Windows on either side of the front entrance have rounded tops, but those on the sides are rectangular below with small circles above. Stain glass is a later edition." The Church remains in service and offers different activities inside such as quilting groups and yoga.

Original Macedon Old Baptist Church

Members of the Old Baptist Cemetery that were apart of the Baptist Church (Confirmed on documents listed below list & findagrave.com links attracted to names.)

Photo of the Macedon Old Baptist Church from the 1970s