The Baptist Society of Lacon was organized in February, 1855, under the ministrations of Elder I. L. Mahan, of Connecticut, who, guided by Divine influences, selected Lacon as a field for his operations.
At first meetings were held in various places. It was nearly a month before a Baptist Society was formed, and it was not until January 4, 1856, that they decided to erect a church. Before this, however, unsuccessful attempts had been made to collect money by subscriptions to procure a building suitable for Divine worship. THe originators and founders of the Baptist Church consisted of the following, eight in number: L. Holland, B. T. Baldwin, Lucius G. Thompson, James McWhitney, Jane McWhitney, Esther A. Bauham, I. L. Mahan, H. Jane Mahow.
The latter part of the year 1857, by untiring diligence and hard labor, nearly $4,500 was raised, and with this the Society determined to erect an edifice and consecrate it to the good work, trusting in a Divine Providence for aid to complete it.
The first pastor of the Church was Rev. I. L. Mahan, who succeeded in increasing the membership "a hundred fold." During his two years pastorage the number of members increased from eight to twenty souls.
During the first two years eight of the members were expelled, and three died. Notwithstanding, the Church was in a very good condition when Rev. Mr. Gray was called, after the resignation of Elder Mahan. Since then Rev. Mr. Thompson, Rev. A. P. Graves, Rev. J. P. Agenbroad and Rev. D. Shields have supplied the pulpit. SInce the first steps that were taken in teh foundation of this Society it clearly shows that the overruling hand of Providence prospered these few people, and made the Church what it now is.
Extracted from Records of the Olden Time
| Bureau Putnam La Salle | |||
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| Peoria | Woodford | ||
