Howertons Baptist Church - Church History

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Howertons Baptist Church
Church History

The history of Howertons Baptist Church begins with Old Piscataway Church. Old Piscataway was planted by Elder John Waller, constituted 13 Mar 1774 with eleven members and the first pastor was Elder James Greenwood. Old Piscataway experienced phenomenal growth and soon reached 650 members scattered over a large area. In 1792 Elder Greenwood and members looked about for a suitable location for an additional meeting house. They chose a spot where several farms joined at a road fork near John Howerton's Tavern. They purchased from Thomas Clark and Benjamin Fisher one acre of land on which Howertons Baptist Church was later to stand. A portion of the land, Thomas Clark had previously purchased from Isaac Jordon. On this land they built, on the mound where the cemetery is now located, the Bestland Meeting House (probably named from the area in which it was located being called "Bestlands"; although, the village of Bestland, was located about 3 or 4 miles south of Howertons Ordinary. We are told that Howertons belonged to both Old Piscataway and the newer Bestland church. The new building was an unplastered frame structure with a dirt floor and without provision for heat and with a gallery for colored people. A log fire was kept burning in the churchyard to which those who became uncomfortably cold might resort during services. During service Rev. Howard W. Montague became exasperated with so many men going outside to the fire and has been quoted as stating: "I see some men are going out to warm themselves. If they had washed their feet and put on clean socks before coming to services, their feet would not have gotten cold."
We have been unable to determine the exact date the church began to be formally called "Howertons", but, it is known that for at least two years (1796 and 1797) it was called Bestlands Meeting House by the Dover Association (which included the Baptist churches in the area north of the James River to Chesapeake Bay and from Manakin through Fredericksburg to the Potomac River).
The Bestland Meeting House was renamed Howertons Baptist Church sometime between the 1797 Dover Association meeting and 1825. The earliest documented reference to the church as "Howertons" that has been found was included in a letter dated 24 Sep 1825 from Miss Winefred Howerton of Pleasant Green Plantation, Essex County, Virginia to Mrs. Charlotte Howerton of Halifax County, Virginia.
Present-day Howertons Baptist Church meets in a two-story red brick building - some say this is the third similar building and others maintain it is the fifth to serve the congregation. Some of the furniture, which has been well maintained, appears to be from a much earlier time and lends a certain additional dignity to the church. A separate educational building is located behind the sanctuary. A sign in the churchyard indicates the church was established in 1856. The Old Piscataway and Bestland (known as "Howerton") Churches had functioned as a single church and that in 1856 it was decided to be best for those meeting as Bestland to form a new and separate church. That new church, officially named Howertons, consisted of 86 members. After the Civil War some of the congregation withdrew and formed Oak Grove Baptist Church.

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