Heath — Heath Baptist Church

Extracted from "History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, Volume II," by Louis H. Everts, 1879.

      The Heath Baptist Churchwas organized Sept. 9, 1801, but the record of its history has been so imperfectly kept that no satisfactory account can be here given. Among the early members were Stephen Barker, Vernon Gleason, Sampson Spaulding, David Eddy, Joseph Barker, Moses Eldred, Aaron Gleason, David Streeter, Daniel Lyon, Isaac Chapin, John Pease, John Barber, Frasier Maxwell, Alexander P. Maxwell, Stephen Gerry, Joshua Warner, Cassius Harrington, Ebenezer Eddy, James Bond, John Barber, Asa Marsh, Thompson Smith, Jesse Gale, David Lake, and Isaac Davis. In 1830 the church had 100 members, but they constantly decreased until but half a dozen are left, and the organization is no longer strictly kept up. The meeting-house was erected in the eastern part of the town, on the farm of William Fisk (at present owned by Fred. Tanner), but was moved to the hamlet of Heath years ago, and now stands there in a dilapidated condition, and lately has been altogether unoccupied.
      Among the clergy who have served this church are remembered the Revs. Bemus, Montague, Long, Smith, Hibbard, Carpenter, Barker, Wetherill, Bruce, Davenport, Wilson, Hall, Lamb, Austin, Robinson, Nelson, Branch, McCulloch, Case, Howe, Fisk, Chandler, Frary, Remington, Stearns, Lamb, Chapman, Converse, Ball, Pease, and Smith in 1873, The Rev. George Benton, a Baptist minister, was a native of Heath.
      In 1825 the Unitarians organized a society, and for a short time had preaching by the Revs. Bailey, Huntington, Colman, Field, and Willard. The organization never was strong, and long since became extinct.



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