Finding aid for the First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland Records
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Title: |
First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland Records |
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Repository: |
Western Reserve Historical Society
Phone: 216-721-5722
http://www.wrhs.org
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Creator: |
First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland |
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Dates: |
1846-1961 |
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Quantity: |
10.81 linear feet (10 containers, 7 oversize rolls, and 1 oversize folder) |
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Abstract: |
The First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1833 as the First Baptist Church of Cleveland.
In 1887 Idaka Memorial Baptist Church merged with First Baptist. In 1919 a group from First Baptist formed the Cleveland Heights
Baptist Church. The two congregations merged in 1928 to form the First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland, located in Cleveland
Heights. The collection consists of church histories, constitutions, minutes, membership information, resolutions, reports,
financial records, church bulletins, correspondence, information on the consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church,
records of church organizations, records of other churches, and architectural drawings.
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Identification: |
MS 4140 |
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Location: |
closed stacks |
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Language: |
The records are in English |
History of the First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland
The First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland, located at 3630 Fairmount Boulevard in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was founded
in 1833 as the First Baptist Church of Cleveland. The church was initially located at the corner of Seneca (West 3rd) and
Champlain streets. By 1855, the congregation had outgrown the original building so it purchased the Plymouth Building at the
northwest corner of Euclid Avenue and Erie (East 9th) Street. In 1887, the congregation of Idaka Chapel (founded in 1874)
merged with the First Baptist Church and the combined congregations built a new church on the corner of Prospect Avenue and
Kennard (East 46th) Street. Over the next thirty years, many members of the church moved to Cleveland Heights and in 1919,
twenty-five of them formed the Cleveland Heights Baptist Church which grew rapidly. In 1928, this latter church merged with
the First Baptist Church to form the First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland. The consolidated congregations built a new
church at 3630 Fairmount Boulevard the same year, a building still in use in 1987.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland
Scope and Content
The First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland Records, 1846-1961 and undated, consist of church histories, constitutions,
minutes, membership information, resolutions, reports, financial records, church bulletins, correspondence, information on
the consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, records of church organizations, records of other churches, and architectural
drawings.
This collection is useful for anyone interested in Baptists and Baptist churches in the Cleveland, Ohio, area in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The material would also be useful for anyone researching family history on particular
church members because the letters of dismission are indications that a family has relocated. The architectural drawings by
the firm of Walker and Weeks would be useful to anyone interested in architecture of the 1920s. Those studying the history
of religion in Cleveland and the Western Reserve will find this collection useful.
Statement of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in four series.
Series I: Church Records is arranged by document type and then chronologically.
Series II: Records of Church Organizations is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
Series III: Records of Other Churches is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
Series IV: Architectural Drawings is arranged by drawing number.
Restrictions on Access
None.
Related Material: Related Material
The researcher should also consult PG 414 First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland Photographs.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects:
Baptist churches.
Baptists -- Ohio -- Cleveland Heights.
Baptists -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Church records and registers -- Ohio -- Cleveland Heights.
Church records and registers -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Churches -- Ohio -- Cleveland Heights.
Churches -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
First Baptist Church (Cleveland, Ohio.)
Preferred Citation
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4140 First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland Records, Western Reserve Historical Society,
Cleveland, Ohio
Acquisition Information
First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland, 1982.
Processing Information
Processed by Richard Hite in 1987.
Detailed Description of The Collection
Series I: Church Records, 1846-1961; undated
Box 1 / Folder 1-3
Church history, 1883
Box 1 / Folder 4
Constitutions, 1867
Box 1 / Folder 5
Minutes, 1869-1961
Box 1 / Folder 6
Minutes, 1883-1897
Box 1 / Folder 7
Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1894-1895
Box 1 / Folder 8
Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1911-1914
Box 1 / Folder 9
Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1920-1927
Box 1 / Folder 10
Membership, list, 1846-1870
Box 1 / Folder 11
Membership, registers, 1888
Box 1 / Folder 12-13
Membership, directory, 1943
Box 1 / Folder 14
Membership, baptisms and inductions, 1870-1894
Box 1 / Folder 15-20
Membership, letters of dismission, arranged alphabetically by last name, ca. 1866-ca. 1924
Box 1 / Folder 21
Membership, groups of members, dates vary
Folder 107
Oversize Folder 1: Letter of dismission for Idaka Memorial Baptist Church to First Baptist Church, 1887
Box 1 / Folder 22-23
Membership, requests for letters of dismission, arranged alphabetically by last name, ca. 1866-ca. 1924
Box 1 / Folder 24
Membership, groups of members, dates vary
Box 2 / Folder 25
Membership, signatures of persons attending the 75th anniversary meeting of First Baptist Church, 1908
Box 2 / Folder 26
Membership, Gustavus A. Hyde, autobiography, 1910
Box 2 / Folder 27
Membership, miscellaneous, 1869-1894
Box 2 / Folder 28
Resolutions, 1868-1918
Box 2 / Folder 29-32
Annual reports, 1894-1931
Box 2 / Folder 33-42
Financial records, 1868-1943
Box 2 / Folder 43
Financial records, register of insurance expirations, 1897-1902
Box 3 / Folder 44-66
Church bulletins, 1904-1932
Box 4 / Folder 67
Church bulletins, special events, 1885-1942
Box 4 / Folder 68-70
Correspondence, 1866-1929
Box 4 / Folder 71
Correspondence book, 1886-1887
Box 4 / Folder 72
Consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, plans, 1927
Box 4 / Folder 72
Consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, resignations of First Baptist Church officers, 1928
Box 4 / Folder 73
Consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, Committee on Design, 1925-1927
Box 4 / Folder 74
Consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, Consolidation and Pulpit Committee, 1924-1927
Box 4 / Folder 75
Consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, Finance Committee, 1926-1928
Box 4 / Folder 76
Consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, Joint Committee of First Baptist Church of Cleveland and of the Cleveland
Heights Baptist Church, 1924-1927
Box 4 / Folder 77
Consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, correspondence, 1924-1927
Box 4 / Folder 78
Consolidation with Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, newspaper clippings, 1924-1929
Series II: Records of Church Organizations, 1869-1957; undated
Folder 107
Oversize Folder 1: Adult Bible Class, certificate of recognition, 1918
Box 4 / Folder 79
Board of Deacons, 1889-1928
Box 4 / Folder 79
Board of Missionary Cooperation of Northern Baptist Convention, 1929
Box 4 / Folder 79
Board of Promotion, 1923
Box 4 / Folder 80
Building Committee, Minutes, 1928
Box 4 / Folder 81
Building Committee, Reports, 1928-1957
Box 4 / Folder 82
Building Committee, Architectural contracts, 1903-1929
Box 4 / Folder 83
Building Committee, Specifications, F.S. Barnum and Company, washing and tinting of woodwork and walls, undated
Box 4 / Folder 84
Building Committee, Specifications, Walker and Weeks, Architects, general contract, 1928
Box 4 / Folder 85-86
Building Committee, Specifications, general contract revisions, 1928
Box 4 / Folder 87
Building Committee, Specifications, Walker and Weeks, Architects,
Cabinets;
Curbing, Walks, Steps, and Concrete Aprons;
Driveways, Drainage, and Parking Area;
Electric Contract;
Food Service Equipment;
Grading, Topsoiling, Preparing Planting Beds, and Large Tree Holes-Lawns;
Heating and Ventilating Contract; and
Iron and Bronze Work, 1928
Box 4 / Folder 88
Building Committee, Specifications,
Ornamental Metal Work;
Planting Lawn; and
Plumbing, 1928
Box 4 / Folder 89
Building Committee, Specifications,
Threshold, Trim, and Plinth Schedule, 1928
Box 4 / Folder 90
Building Committee, Specifications, list of architectural drawings, 1928
Box 4 / Folder 91
Building Committee, Specifications, correspondence, 1905-1956
Box 4 / Folder 92
Building Committee, Specifications, notes on building, undated
Box 4 / Folder 93
Choir, financial records, 1921-1928
Box 4 / Folder 94
Cleveland Judson Committee, undated
Box 4 / Folder 94
Committee of Correspondence, 1885
Box 4 / Folder 94
Committee of Discipline, 1887
Box 4 / Folder 94
Committee of Education, 1913-1914
Box 4 / Folder 94
Committee of Enrollment, undated
Box 4 / Folder 94
Fellowship Committee, undated
Box 4 / Folder 94
Finance Committee, 1921-1930
Box 4 / Folder 94
Historical Committee, 1920-1922
Box 4 / Folder 95
Ladies Society of First Baptist Church, records, 1902-1905
Box 4 / Folder 96
Membership Committee, 1913
Box 4 / Folder 96
Merger Committee, 1927
Box 4 / Folder 96
Music Committee, undated
Box 4 / Folder 96
Nominating Committee, 1928
Box 4 / Folder 97
Ohio Baptist Education Society, 1904-1908
Box 4 / Folder 98
Social Committee, 1913
Box 4 / Folder 98
Sunday School, 1874-1888
Box 4 / Folder 98
Systematic Benevolence Committee, 1913
Box 4 / Folder 98
Women's Council of the Cleveland Baptist Association, 1921
Box 4 / Folder 98
Women's Society, undated
Box 5 / Folder 99
Young People's Missionary Society, records, 1881-1887
Box 5 / Folder 100
Young People's Union, records, 1909-1918
Box 5 / Folder 101
Unidentified committees, 1869-1921
Series III: Records of Other Churches, 1882-1927; undated
Box 5 / Folder 102
Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, records, 1924-1927
Box 5 / Folder 103
Cleveland Heights Baptist Church, bulletins, 1924-1927
Box 5 / Folder 104
Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, conference minutes, 1906
Box 5 / Folder 105
Idaka Memorial Baptist Church, records, including membership transfers, treasurer's reports, activity reports, and correspondence, 1882-1886
Box 5 / Folder 106
Idaka Memorial Baptist Church, Women's Missionary Society, minutes, 1883-1893
Series IV: Architectural Drawings, 1928
Box 6
Architectural drawings, numbers 401-480 and 502-534, 1928
Box 7
Architectural drawings, 535-599, 1928
Box 8
Architectural drawings, 601-637;
Rivet grip drawings numbers 799-1 - 799-12;
Allen-Marble Company drawings, numbers 1062-1074; and
Unnumbered drawings, 1928
Box 9
Koblitz drawings, numbers 403-530 (incomplete); and
Ballantine drawings, numbers 1-22, 1928
Box 10
Koblitz drawings, numbers 402-471 (incomplete), 1928
Tube 1-7
Architectural drawings, unarranged, 1928