3100 Bell Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63106
ph: 314-533-8003
secretar
The First Baptist Church Story
First Baptist Church traces its origins to the First African Baptist Church, organized in 1817.
First African Baptist Church was the first Protestant congregation established for African Americans in St. Louis. All of the city's Black Baptist churches developed from it. The church grew out of Sunday School and religious services organized in 1817 by two Baptist missionaries: Reverend John Mason Peck (1789-1876) and Reverend James Welch.
John Berry Meachum (1789-1854), a former slave who brought freedom for himself and his family, assisted Peck with the school and religious services. In 1822, African-American worshippers formed a separate branch of the church under the direction of Meachum, then a layman. In 1825, after he was ordained a minister, Meachum founded the First African Baptist Church and became its first pastor. A brick church building was erected at the same address in 1827. Membership then numbered about 220, of whom 200 were slaves.
Shortly after the church was built, Meachum and Peck opened a day school at the church under the disguise of a Sunday school. This under-cover operation, called "Candle Tallow School," charged a monthly tuition of one dollar for those who could afford to pay. No one, including slaves, was ever turned away.
Meachum also owned a barrel factory and steamboats, one of which was equipped with a library. Between 1826 and 1836, Meachum purchased approximately twenty slaves. He employed them in his factory until they earned a trade and saved enough money to buy their freedom. He remained pastor of First African Baptist Church until his death in 1854. He is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery.
First African Baptist Church, now First Baptist Church, moved to 14th and Clark streets in 1848, and in 1917, moved to its present address at 3100 Bell Avenue. The church later purchased the adjacent four family flat and converted it into an educational building. The church was burned to the ground in 1940 and was reconstructed on the same site within 13 months.
John Mason PeckFounder
John Berry Meachum1st African American Pastor
3100 Bell Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63106
ph: 314-533-8003
secretar