Our History
A Brief History
First Baptist Church of Norristown was founded in 1832. It is the third oldest church in Norristown. Our original building was located on the corner of Swede and Airy Streets across from the Court House. We moved to our current location at 445 Burnside Avenue in Eagleville in 1973. In 1845, the church purchased Treemount Cemetery for $600. The cemetery is located on Sandy Street in Norristown and many civil war veterans are buried there. It was the first integrated cemetery in the Philadelphia area in the 1800s.
First Baptist Church of Norristown played an integral part in the Underground Railroad during the Civil War era. In the 1840s and 1850s, First Baptist was the focal point of meetings held by the Anti-Slavery Society. In 1847, abolitionists such as Frederick Douglas spoke out against slavery at these meetings. Hateful mobs would gather outside the church during these meetings and people would throw stones, breaking church windows. On many occasions, congregation members would sleep all night at the church, fearing that the mobs might try to burn down the church as threatened.
Another interesting incident in the anti-slavery movement in which First Baptist Church participated was that of Henry "Box" Brown. He was a slave on a Richmond plantation who conceived a plan of securing his freedom by having himself boxed up and sent to Philadelphia as merchandise. With the aid of his friends, the plan was successfully carried out. After his arrival in Philadelphia, he was taken to Norristown where an anti-slavery meeting was being held at First Baptist Church. Henry Brown and his box were exhibited. From there, he took the Underground Railroad to Canada.
In 1850, the United States government passed the Fugitive Slave Law which meant that anyone who knew the whereabouts of a runaway slave was to turn them in to authorities to be returned to their plantation. Our church members wrote a formal letter to Congress and told them that in no way would we, as a church, honor their law. The exact wording of this letter was as follows:
Resolved that we as Christians, members of the Norristown Baptist church [renamed in 1910 to First Baptist Church of Norristown], do solemnly believe that the provisions of this bill enacted by Congress for the recovery of fugitive slaves are contradictory to the command of Jehovah. This command reads: "Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which escaped from his master unto thee." Resolved in commanding us to assist in re-enslaving the person who has escaped from slavery, it commands us not to do to others that which we would not do to ourselves and thus positively contradicts the Lord Jesus Christ. Resolved therefore that we will obey God rather than obey Congress.
This law was abandoned at the beginning of the Civil War.
First Baptist Church of Norristown was also home to Winfield Scott Hancock, a famous general who was born in 1824. His father, Benjamin Franklin Hancock, was instrumental in the founding of our church and was our first Sunday School Superintendent. Winfield Scott Hancock was a member of our Sunday School, attended schools in Norristown, and later graduated from West Point. He was the commander of I, II, III, and VI Corps at Gettysburg. He commanded the northern troops on Cemetery Ridge at the Battle of Pickett's Charge. He led his troops to victory and was wounded in the battle. This victory was the turning point of the Civil War, leading to Lee's surrender. In 1865, Hancock was assigned to supervise the execution of the Lincoln assassination conspirators. Also, in 1880, Winfield Scott Hancock ran for President and lost a close race to James Garfield.