About Vincent Baptist Church

       A Welsh Baptist congregation, after holding prayer meetings in homes since 1720, and after growing to 50 members, built a local log meetinghouse in 1737 next to the present church.  In October 1771, the community had become an independent  church.  In 1812, a stone building was built and in 1852 and 1928 it was expanded.  Baptisms were held all year long in Pickering Creek across the road for more than two decades.

       In 1894, it was noted that about 200  unmarked graves were in the cemetery.  The graves were eventually marked with marble unlettered stones. 

       The cemetery today is hallowed ground, a sacred place of history.  Revolutionary War soldiers from the Yellow Springs Continental Hospital have been laid to rest there, as well as many Civil  War soldiers.  Many of these soldiers were influential in winning our independence from the British.  Early members of the church as well as recent church members are buried there.  Some of the stones are so weathered, the lettering is no longer visible.  Yet some of the earliest are still clear enough to be read.

       It is assumed that Civil War soldiers took refuge at the church and in the community.  George Washington most  likely passed through the area.  Some have even speculated that the church was part of the Underground Railroad.  These are yet to be proven, but what an amazing history this little church on the side of the road holds and is yet to be discovered.

 

- Reference:  “Vincent Church and Graveyard, Who Slumbers Here?”