Founding | John Closson | The Church Speaks | Church Bell | Church Organ | FDR Dedication
The Founding
Scotia was a typical country hamlet in the early 1830's when a village blacksmith by the name of John Closson invited a Schenectady Baptist minister to visit his home and preach to a group of villagers who were without a church. Rev. Abram Dunn Gillette complied and on January 19, 1832, wrote in his diary: "A Blacksmith - Clawson - invited me to preach in Scotia, a small village across the Mohawk. I went to Mr. C's house and preached to about twenty in the rooms and fifty in the door yard." This really was the start of the founding of our church. Eight years later, on June 20, 1840, the First Baptist Church of Glenville was formally organized and three days after that it was received into membership in the Saratoga Baptist Association which met in Broadalbin. Present at that meeting to represent the infant church were Wilson Howe, clerk, and two deacons, Abraham Marselius and John Closson.
There is no record of exactly when a church was built, but most probably it was soon after land was deeded to the congregation by Theodore W. Sanders of Scotia - the exact site occupied by our present church. For the sum of one dollar, Sanders acknowledged in an indenture at Schenectady County Court of November 15, 1842 that the land was "released and quit claimed" to the church under certain conditions. These conditions were that "the said premises shall be used as a Baptist church and cemetery, a parsonage and for general church purposes." Otherwise, the property would revert to Sanders or his heirs.
Our first church was of "planks laid flat, one atop another, and spiked together and was painted white." That was its only description, but we can just surmise that its exterior was of the board-and-batten wood sides typical of that period and probably was large enough to accommodate about 100 people. About the time of the Civil War, the plank walls began to shift, causing the building to lean far out of plumb. Association minutes suggest it was the appearance of the building as much as structural defects and the need of a larger building for a growing congregation which hurried construction of our present structure in 1872.
The founding father for First Baptist is John Closson. His name stands out as the driving force in our early church history. Neil B. Reynolds, church historian (1940s), pointed out many years ago, "If we look for a single founder of this church, it is probably the blacksmith Closson, whose house stood only a few rods east of the present church on Mohawk Avenue." John Closson's signature appears on documents, indentures, and legal notices of elections of deacons ... from the very beginning right on through the 1870s. He served the church at the beginning, mostly as deacon but also as clerk, when its building was the western extremity of Scotia and even after the new brick church (the present building) was erected. He died August 28, 1881. His grave is in our Maple Shade Cemetery on Vley Road, marked only by a small footstone bearing the initials "J.C."
Our present brick church, if it could speak, might tell many interesting tales along our history walk. Let's imagine what she would say . . .
"I have heard it said, that long before I was born, the congregation was becoming aware of the shortcomings of my ancestor, that small wooden white planked church which first saw the light of day in the very early 1840s. I've been told that not enough light came into the narrow windows, that the pews were too upright and hard to sit on, it was very warm in the summer and awfully cold in the winter, there was no baptistery or Sunday School rooms, and sometimes there wasn't enough room if more that 50 people showed up to worship. When they built it, this was the last building on the west end of Scotia and it would be up near Sacandaga Road before you reached the hamlet of Reeseville, I've heard that there were revivals in that first church, that sometimes the Baptists invited Methodists and Presbyterians to take part. There were social gatherings and everybody had fun. But, as I say, there came a time when that little church didn't fill the bill. In 1866, they repaired the church and installed a baptistery and lecture room, but that still wasn't enough. More and more people, especially young ones, were coming to church and they needed more room. This is where I came in."
"I am told that an important church meeting was held on the 6th of March 1871, in which it was decided to go forward and build a new church 'if we can get enough money to pay for it.' And so the Reverend Jacob Gray brought me into the world. A charter member of this church, he combined preaching with church building and had a good reputation with the latter. Deacon Marselius, I am told, was paid to go to Neward Valley and Broadalbin to inspect work that he had done. The one at Newark Valley, I am told, is my twin. So, I came into this world quite gradually - from the summer of 1871 to the spring of 1872. My main body was q whopping 40 feet by 60 feet and 20 feet high, as specified by Brothers Caw and Bechtel. My birth was celebrated not only by the church members, but the whole of the village. Most of them came to my dedication on the 24th of April 1872. It was a great occasion. Services were held morning, afternoon and evening. As young as I was, I felt terribly important and very pleased. As time went on and I grew older, not only did the village begin to get bigger but so did the congregation which seemed to have more and more use for me every day. I noticed, particularly, that the many new families brought in more children and my poor downstairs could hardly hold them all for Sunday school. It helped in 1905 when I got a new addition to my altar, along with a new pipe organ, kitchen and schoolrooms - but it just wasn't enough. Now, I know how that poor little church before me felt in the 1860s!"
"Again, the people of this church came to my rescue. It was in 1928 that they firmly avowed to give me some breathing room, enough for those beautiful children who come each week to Bible classes, there young people who like to recreate in a gymnasium, and the older folks who could use that same big room for lots of church events. So by the spring of 1929, they gave me a new education building and gymnasium. I love being a church and a wonderful place to seek our almighty Lord and I truly love all my friends who visit me each day and all those dear ones who have entered His Kingdom"
"Oh, just for the record, I thought I'd tell you that back in 1872 when I was built I cost $8,663 to build and furnish, my structure cost $7,300 while my furnishings were $1,363. I guess back then it was a lot of money, especially when they only had raised $3,500 to that point, but in today's reflection, I was a great buy."
High about the sanctuary in the belfry of the church hangs our glorious iron bell. Inscribed on the bell are the words: "Troy Bell Foundry - Jones and Co. - Troy, NY, 1872'. Since the date coincides with the year the new brick church was dedicated, we assume it was placed in the belfry when the church was built. The bell is about three feet high and of similar diameter at the open end. It is attached to a wooden wheel five feet in diameter. There are two huge metal clappers - one on the inside swinging free and the other attached to the belfry floor to strike the outer edge of the bell rim.
The bell was rung each Sunday and on special occasions for 84 years by a strong pull on a rope connected with the inside clapper. The "working end" of the rope is located on a lower landing of the first flight of steps leading up into the belfry. The wood flooring there has two slight depressions in the spot where the bell-ringer stood while pulling the rope. However, with the introduction of a tower amplification system, employing the use of carillon recordings and electronics, the stand-by task of ringing "the bell" was discontinued in January 1956. Since it hasn't been rung for years, we must have it properly inspected prior to its next "ring."
The organ at First Baptist Church was dedicated at a special service on January 25, 1905. It was built into a newly-enlarged portion at the rear of the church building, which gave more Sunday room space downstairs and a more spacious choir loft and side rooms off the sanctuary. The Andrew Carnegie Foundation contributed $625.00 toward the organ fund, representing half the amount to be raised for its purchase and installation. This organ replaced an old organ, which had imitation pipes. There was no electric pump when the organ was first installed, although this was taken care of not long after. Many volunteers were sought before the electric blower. It was their job to pump the organ manually from the back of the chancel. The organ chimes were installed shortly after World War II as a gift of Mrs. Ada Williams, a music teacher, who died in 1944. Actually, it was her son who made the $1,000 bequest from the estate because he had heard her often express the wish that the church organ have auxiliary chimes.
FDR Dedicates Education Building
By happenstance, our brand new education building was dedicated by none other than New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, destined in a few years to become the only United States president elected to four terms of office. It wasn't part of the agenda when Roosevelt consented to come to Scotia to review a parade and speak over radio station WGY at the conclusion of an upstate civic event on September 9, 1929. The parade took place in the village of Scotia and the reviewing stand happened to be directly across from the First Baptist Church of Scotia. The occasion was a gigantic floral parade, starting in Rome, NY and ending in Scotia, to formally celebrate the building of the Great Western Gateway Bridge. It was sponsored by the Mohawk Valley Towns Association, of which Scotia Mayor Alvin C. Spitzer was president. It mattered not that the bridge was open in December 1925 and formally dedicated by then Gov. Alfred E. Smith the following June. It was merely the association's way of prolonging its gratitude for a modern span, which helped immeasurably the traffic along NY Route 5.
A succession of unforeseeable circumstances that day dictated that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would pay a special visit to Scotia Baptist. There was a steady downpour all along the route, and that changed prearranged plans. The governor, who arrived a bit late with his party from Albany, was supposed to review the parade from a stand already built in front of the new Masonic Temple across from the church, then be driven down to Collins Park where he was to give a radio address from a well-lighted, festooned platform. Four churches in Scotia were to serve meals to the parades and villagers. The persistent rain changed all that. It was decided by parade officials to forego the park function and to get right to the meals, because it was getting late, dark and everyone was hungry. Because Scotia Baptist was so near the reviewing stand, it was also decided to have the governor not only have his meal on the stage of the church's new gymnasium but also to give his radio message from there!
Roosevelt, stricken with polio the summer of 1921, the year after he had been an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for vice president, was barely able to walk with heavy leg braces and was given support by his aides as they entered the church through a side entrance next to the Colonial Ice Cream plant (now long demolished). He also was helped up two steps leading to the stage where a long table had been hurriedly set for the honored guest and other officials. After he had been seated, the stage curtains were drawn and just over 300 persons jammed in the hall, stood and applauded as FDR acknowledged their greeting. A large banner, which read "Welcome, Governor Roosevelt!" hung from a railing on the balcony to his right. Someone must have told the governor that the education building was only recently opened, as during his radio speech, he commented that the new facility had much to be admired and added that, "I give it my official blessing as you state's chief executive ... if you think that will give it added stature." The main subject of his talk was his administration's program to improve the lot of the agricultural sections of the state, but for many years afterward there were stalwart Scotia Baptists who maintained that the best part of his speech was the "dedication of our new building."
