Stelton Baptist Church, Edison
{{Short description|Historic site in Middlesex County, New Jersey, US}}
File:Stelton Baptist Church, Edison, NJ.jpg
The Stelton Baptist Church is in the Stelton section of Edison, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is the second oldest Baptist Church in New Jersey and the tenth oldest in the United States.{{cite book |last=Jorgensen |first=Charles W. |title=History of the Stelton Baptist Church |year=1964 |publisher=Stelton Baptist Church }}{{cite web |url=http://www.edisonnj.org/historic/plaques/histplaq2.asp |title=Stelton Baptist Church |access-date=2007-08-26|publisher=Edison, New Jersey |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070823115555/http://www.edisonnj.org/historic/plaques/histplaq2.asp |archive-date = 2007-08-23}}
History
File:Stelton Baptist Church cemetery, Edison, NJ - area view.jpg
The congregation was formed in spring 1689, and among its original members was the Stelle family, after whom the Stelton section of Edison, New Jersey is named. Until 1875, the church was known as the First Baptist Church of Piscataway.{{cite book |last=Weir |first=David A. |title=Early New England: A Covenanted Society |year= 2005|isbn=0-8028-1352-6 }} The land occupied by the church and cemetery at Stelton was purchased in April 1731. The first church was erected in 1748, and that building was taken down and rebuilt in 1825. This building was destroyed by a fire on January 1, 1851.{{cite book |last=Spies |first=Stacy E. |title=Edison |year=2001 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=0-7385-0549-8 }} In 1870, portions of Piscataway, New Jersey and Woodbridge, New Jersey were used to form Raritan, New Jersey. The site of the church later became Edison, New Jersey.{{cite book |last=Wall|first=John P. |title=History of Middlesex County, New Jersey |year=1921| url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmiddles01pick}} The building which took its place was destroyed in a fire in 1924. The present building was erected in 1925.
The cemetery contains hundreds of early burials, including Andrew Drake.{{cite book |last=Sarapin |first=Janice Kohl |title=Old Burial Grounds of New Jersey |year=2002 |publisher=Rutgers University Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uDfIJt5RFWgC&pg=PP1 |isbn=0-8135-2111-4 }}
The first female pastor of the congregation, the Rev. Kathleen Tice, was installed in 1999. After 10 years of service at the congregation, Pastor Tice retired during the summer of 2010.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Find a Grave cemetery|1971785}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110708064100/http://steltonbaptistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/10/special-visitors-come-to-commemorate.html Stelton Baptist Church] at Blogspot
{{Edison, New Jersey}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|40.517047|-74.406964|region:US_type:landmark|display=title}}
Category:Baptist churches in New Jersey
Category:Cemeteries in Middlesex County, New Jersey
Category:Churches in Middlesex County, New Jersey