Paul Palmer: Foundations
by Dr. Darrell Holley (adapted by Jeremy Craft)
The month of February marks a heritage month at the Helwys Society Forum. We want to honor some key figures who have had an important impact on the General/Free Will Baptist tradition. Although many men of great influence abound, four will be our focus: Paul Palmer, John L. Welch, L. C. Johnson, and F. Leroy Forlines. We begin our month with a profile on Paul Palmer [1]. Though Palmer did not found the General Baptist movement, he played a significant role in establishing its roots in America.
Beginnings
Paul Palmer’s birthplace or birth date are so far unknown, perhaps in England, perhaps in Virginia. Likewise, his background and education are unclear. As a Baptist, he could not have been a student at any college in the entire English-speaking world, but he must have had interest in education: he owned a considerable collection of books. In short, Palmer was a man of considerable self-education (if not formal schooling) and considerable native abilities. (By 1729, Palmer would own almost a thousand acres in North Carolina. He would also be trained as a surveyor and was appointed surveyor of Albemarle County).
In any case, in the late spring of 1717, Palmer was certainly living in York County, Virginia, but soon moved to North Carolina sometime thereafter. In March 1719, Palmer married a thirty-three-year-old woman, who was already twice widowed: Joanna Taylor Jeffreys Peterson. Mrs. Peterson was a woman of some prominence, the step-daughter of the General Baptist Benjamin Laker, and of some wealth.
When he arrived in Carolina in 1719, he promptly joined the local Quaker meeting. However, he remained a Quaker only until 1722 when he asked for a certificate of dismissal from the meeting. By this time he must have been a General Baptist. But where he learned of General Baptist views is unknown. Perhaps it was through his in-laws. Perhaps it was through General Baptists in Virginia. Indeed, perhaps he was from a General Baptist family in England and only joined the Quakers because they were the only Dissenter congregation available. As for now, we can only speculate.
However he became a General Baptist, Palmer did so with vigor. Indeed, this is a characteristic of all his life. Whatever his hand found to do, he did it with all his might. He gave himself to reading and studying General Baptist theology evidently. (When his daughter died, her house contained a library of thirty books, quite a fine library for the Carolina frontier.) When or by whom he was baptized and later ordained is unknown so far, but by the mid-1720s Paul Palmer was a General Baptist elder, traveling regularly throughout the Perquimans area of North Carolina preaching and baptizing.
In 1727, he “settled” a congregation in Chowan County, forming the first General Baptist or Free Will Baptist congregation in North Carolina. Years later, this church (and others) would remain after several other General Baptist churches had capitulated to Calvinism. It was from these remaining works that almost all Free Will Baptist churches in the southeastern United States would ultimately rise.
General Baptist Growth: North Carolina and Beyond
Soon Palmer’s work was achieving great success. Several prominent members of the Church of England turned Baptist and joined this new movement. By October, 1729, a second congregation had been started and a young man named William Burgess was ordained to lead it. That same month, the governor complained to the Anglican bishop of London about Palmer’s nefarious activities. Palmer, he said, was holding daily meetings and making hundreds of converts all over the area. As a result of Palmer’s activity the Baptists were flourishing. The governor pleaded that he was powerless to prevent this tide of religious enthusiasm which was sweeping the province as a result of Palmer’s preaching.
Palmer would not ordain merely any adult male member of his congregations but sought for qualified candidates. Needing more ordained ministers and evidently finding few men properly qualified among his many converts, in the fall of 1729 he wrote to John Comer, the minister at the Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island, who had attended Harvard and Yale before becoming a Baptist. That congregation, formed in 1644, was a combined General and Particular congregation and was led by the twenty-five-year-old Comer [2].
By this time the remaining two General Baptist churches in Virginia and the two churches in North Carolina had already formed a yearly meeting or association. How their connection blossomed is unknown, but it is quite likely the New England congregations sent fraternal letters to the Virginia-North Carolina conference. Comer could not be of much help to Palmer. He did send one minister. The two also began correspondents.
Palmer eventually learned of other Free Will Baptist churches beyond North Carolina and Virginia, and determined to avail himself of them. He decided to visit the New England churches in person. He evidently visited churches in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Upon his return, he visited churches in New Jersey and perhaps Virginia and Maryland too.
However, after returning to North Carolina, he continued his work which eventually went into the Roanoke River valley of North Carolina and into Maryland and South Carolina. Numerous Free Will Baptist congregations were being formed in North Carolina. By 1738 several more towns had been settled, and Palmer endeavored to reach New Bern and Edenton. The colony was growing, and Palmer wanted the Free Will Baptist work to progress as well.
Setbacks and Persecutions
Not all went well, of course. He preached the funeral of his only son Samuel, who died in November, 1739, at the age of eighteen. There was also persecution. In the spring of 1740, Palmer returned to Maryland, where he incurred the wrath of the local magistrate. However, when the case was called in March, 1742, Palmer did not appear. By that time he was dead. Like his birthplace and birth date, the circumstances of his death are so far unknown. His wife Joanna lived until 1747, when she died at the age of sixty-one. She was survived by her daughter Martha Ann, who settled in Edenton. To this day, there is much that still unknown about Palmer’s life and ministry.
Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, the work of Paul Palmer did not go from success to success after his death. Within twenty years of his death the Free Will Baptist movement which had reached upwards of twenty churches had been decimated by Calvinist Baptist missionaries to a low of four churches. However, these lasting churches would lay the foundation for the future.
So Why Is Palmer Important?
Three reasons: importance, influence, and example.
First, his importance to the origin and growth of Free Will Baptists in America cannot be over-rated. The General Baptist churches of New England and the Middle Colonies, the prosperity and education of which Palmer so much admired, eventually either died or capitulated to Calvinism or other views. It is from the churches started by Palmer that virtually the entire work of Free Will Baptists in the American Southeast has grown. Though they suffered tremendously, a remnant survived to serve as witness to Palmer’s monumental work.
Second, his influence on early American religious history was profound. Few ministers lived in the colony. Thousands of people were without any Christian minister to care for their needs. Furthermore, no Gospel witness was present among them. Palmer asserted himself to fulfill such tasks. His determination to spread the Gospel, combined with his wealth and resources which he used for expanding his ministry, would have allowed him to have some degree of influence in the colony that most people would not have been privileged to.
Third, he is a good model. His personal piety, his hard work, his self-preparation and self-education, his desire for theological precision, his missionary zeal in preaching “in season and out of season,” his bold resistance to the enemies of the Gospel, his eagerness “to spend and be spent” for the spread of the Gospel, his dedication to old Baptist principles, his hopes for progress in the new towns of America, his warm friendships with brethren wherever he found them—in all these ways, Paul Palmer recommends himself as a model for imitation.
Conclusion
Set before us is the life of a man who persevered despite great obstacles. Though Palmer was unschooled (as far as we know), he was a learned fellow. Though society showed distain for his Baptist doctrine, his fervor for the Gospel captivated many people, even persuading some to become General Baptist. Though no outside funds were available, he used both his own wealth and resources to establish new churches.
His zeal is remarkable. In a day where men of integrity and perseverance are scant, Paul Palmer’s story is refreshing. His life is to be commended to all Christians. Though much of his story remains untold, as long as there are churches preaching General/Free Will Baptist doctrines, Palmer’s legacy will live on.
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[1] The following article has been adapted considerably. Permission has been given by the author to format this article as necessary to suit the purposes of the Helwys Society Forum. Please note that the introduction, conclusion, headings, and certain transitional phrases were not in the original article, but were added to help reading ease. For the original pamphlet, see Darrell Holley, Without a Monument: The Life of Elder Paul Palmer, published by Welch College, Nashville, Tennessee.
[2] The term general applies to the belief in a universal offer of Christ’s atonement, whereas the term particular applies to God’s atonement was only intended for His elect.
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Further Resources:
Davidson, William F. The Free Will Baptist in History. Nashville: Randall House Publications, 2001.
Paschal, George Washington. History of North Carolina Baptist. General Board: North Carolina Baptist State Convention, 1930.
Stevenson, George. “Paul Palmer,” in the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. University of North Carolina Press: Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 1994.
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About the Author: Darrell Holley is a native of Pensacola, Florida. He serves on the faculty of Welch College in the English Department. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Pensacola Christian College and completed both his Master and Doctoral Degree from Florida State University. He has an extensive interest in General/Free Will Baptist history.
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