Is Washington NH the first Seventh-day Adventist church?

[Kevin H]

Washington NH is known as the first Seventh-day Adventist church, and it may be, but there is at least one other that might be in the running for the title. 

Lincklaen Center NY, a small hamlet between Norwich and Cortland NY. It was a Seventh-day Baptist community. A number of people ended up accepting the Millerite message, and the Seventh-day Baptists eventually kicked them out. Thus the community had a non-Millerite Seventh-day Baptist community and a Millerite Seventh-day Baptist community.  The Millerites got a lot and built a church. It is unclear the dates compared to Washington NH. But these were Sabbath Keepers who accepted the Millerite message.  Were there other Seventh-day Baptist groups that may have produced similar congregations as Lincklaen Center?

This has also been an influential part of our church as it gave us both the evangelist Glenn Coon as well as Roger Coon from the White Estate. 

[phkrause]

Interesting thoughts Kevin. Have you done some research at all on this?? Also interesting is the fact that the SD Baptists that accepted Millers message, did they than accept Sunday instead of Sabbath?? Because if I'm not mistaken they had not accepted Sabbath as of yet? (the Millerites that is)

[Kevin H]

The Lincklean Center community continued to keep the Sabbath. Many of the families were several generations of Sabbath Keepers. The Coon family's ancestor who immigrated from Europe to America in the 1700s was already a Sabbath keeper and the family started out in a Seventh-day Baptist community in New England before moving to the Seventh-day Baptist community of Lincklean Center NY. 

More research needs to be done, but while this church consisted of Sabbath keeping Millerites, they may not have learned about the official Seventh-day Adventist community until the 1880s.  

I learned about the church from visits that Glenn Coon had to Union Springs, as well as from Roger Coon. For several years the church was closed and maintained by the Coon family. Right after campmeeting in 1977 Glenn Coon had a group come down to paint and fix up the church then turned it back over to the conference. I've preached there a couple of times, and when I'd come home over my Grandma's last years; since their services started at 3PM, Grandma would be too tired to ride with me to Binghamton or Oneonta for the morning, but I'd come home and find her ready to go to Lincklean Center. 

Sadly, at this past campmmeting I learned that the conference has placed the church on the market to sell. I told them some of the history, so they are going to reconsider. Also, I wrote them saying that if they really want to give up the church to contact the Coon Family to see if they want to again take it over. I hope that the conference does not sell it, or that it gets taken over by Adventist Heritage Ministry, or even of other Advents can join together to protect this historic church. I wish that I was simply able to take over and protect it and keep an Adventist connection. They are still holding church services (don't know if it is still in the afternoon) A friend of mine preached there the Sabbath after Campmeeting. 

Anyone reading this, pray for and if you can do more for the protection of this treasure. 

[Kevin H]

John MaCoone, Sr., who was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland around 1625. MaCoone migrated to the American colonies where he was a member of the first Seventh Day Baptist church in Rhode Island. He died in East Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1705. He was a Seventh-day Baptist and settled into a Seventh-day Baptist community in Rhode Island So the Coon Family kept the Sabbath since at least the 1800s. The MaCoon eventually became Coon and decedents eventually moved and settled into the Seventh-day Baptist community of Lincklaen Center NY. Then as I said, the Coon family among others accepted Millerism and were kicked out of the Seventh0day Baptist church. They built their own church and continued to worship on the Sabbath and held to their Millerite beliefs. It appears that it was around the 1880s that this little, long time Sabbath keeping group of Millerites learned about the Seventh-day Adventist church and became a formal part of the Seventh-day Adventist church. But this is a group of long time Sabbath Keeping Millerites and may be representative of other Seventh-day Baptist or other Sabbath Keeping Communities that accepted Miller's message. And this group of Sabbath Keeping Millerites from Lincklaen Center NY did eventually become a part of the Seventh-day Adventist church. This is a history that we must not forget!!!

[phkrause]

That's really history!! Thanks for sharing.

[Kevin H]

Thank you. I hope we don't loose this history. I've been sharing this with the conference, and with Adventist heritage ministry,  especially since they had put the property on the market. I wish I had the money to buy it. I would help out if either the Coon family would take over again or if others could come together to chip in. 

This property was originally bought by the Seventh-day Baptists who were disfellowshipped for becoming Millerites. The Coon family leading out and pastoring this church when it was an independent Sabbath Keeping Millerite church then when in the 1880s they learned about and joined with the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, the conference sent the pastor, Charles S. Coon to the ministerial course in Battle Creek, and he continued to pastor the Lincklaen Center Church; and started holding evangelistic meetings in other communities.  So technically they were not a "Seventh-day Adventist" church until the 1880s, but they were Sabbath keeping Millerites for a long time, and represents about 400 years or more of Sabbath keeping, and accepting Miller's message.  

[Kevin H]

Oops, I see that in an above post I typed that the Lincklaen Center Seventh-day Adventist church has a Sabbath Keeping tradition from the 1800s, I meant to type the 1600s, about 400 years of Sabbath Keeping. Please keep this matter in prayer and maybe in contact with and contributions to the New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventist towards the Lincklaen Center church, and or to Adventist Heritage ministries. 

[Kevin H]

Sadly, the New York Conference ended up selling the Lincklaen Center church. I am so frustrated that they let this part of our church's and national/religious history go. I hope the new owners don't tear it down. I wish I did not spend my life paying student loans so that I might have been able to buy it, or form a group to buy it. I wonder what it takes to get a building on a historic regestry. 

The two churches (the old Seventh-Day Baptist Church, and the now no longer, Seventh-day Adventist church) is rich in the history of the Advent movement and represents at least 400 years of Sabbath keeping. 

Any suggestions as to what we can do to try to save this history???

While there is not much left to the town itself except for the two churches (and the church members moved into a larger town near by) these two church buildings share the heritage of Sabbath keeping history. How there were Seventh-Day Baptist communities throughout the east coast. And how this specific Seventh-Day Baptist community ended up splitting due to some of the members accepting the preaching of William Miller; first for decades being a church of Sabbath keeping Millerites, then in the 1880s, upon learning about the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, they made contact and became a Seventh-day Adventist church. 

Eventually, as the church got small, it closed down, however the Coon family (who built it, ran it as the Sabbath Keeping Millerites, then the Seventh-day Adventists) took care to preserve the old empty church. Then nearly 50 years ago took several of us after campmeeting where we really got the church back into working order and there were enough Seventh-day Adventists in the area to attend; however, most tended to have their regular morning church, and so Lincklaen Center's services were in the afternoon. Sabbath school at 3 PM and Church at 5 PM. 

When I was home this worked out well as my Grandma was finding it harder to wake up as early as I did to go to church (either Oneonta or Binghamton). But when I got home, I usually found Grandma dressed and asking to go to Lincklaen Center. She both loved the beautiful ride in the countryside, and the beautiful church itself, and a chance to attend church. I don't know when, but a while back they changed the church service to the usual morning service with the other churches, and the community is too small to support a regular church holding services at the time of the other area churches. 

When I was in Loma Linda, and for a while working day shift, I longed for a church service in the afternoon, and would dream of Lincklaen Center's services. 

Any advice? We need to do something to save this cherished piece of not only Seventh-day Adventist and Millerite History, but American Religious History.