The Sandwich First Baptist Church 1851
Text from the plaque
Eleven freedom-seekers from the American South formed the congregation of Sandwich First Baptist Church about 1840, calling themselves the Close Communion of Baptists. It was one of three founding churches of the Amherstburg Baptist Association (1841), a cross-border organization of black Baptists that is still active today. Until 1847, when they built a small log cabin, members of First Baptist worshipped in homes and outdoors. To build this church, they hewed lumber by hand and moulded bricks from Detroit River clay, firing them in a home-made kiln. The church was dedicated on August 1, 1851, the eighteenth anniversary of the passage of the Emancipation Act, which ended slavery throughout the British Empire.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
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The County of Essex
The City of Windsor
At 3652 Peter Street between
Prince Road and Watkins Street
N 42 17.510 W 83 04.802
Recorded September 2011. Check current access before visiting.
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