Minutes of the Maternal Association connected with the Baptist Tabernacle.
“Train up a child in the way he should go”
[Religion]. Constitution and Minutes of the Maternal Association Connected with the Baptist Tabernacle. 1839-1848.
Square 8vo.; ex-library copy, with recent bookplate affixed to the front pastedown; some foxing throughout; discreet stationer’s label affixed to front pastedown; three-quarter marbled paper-covered boards; brown leather spine; remnants of leather corners, and adhesive on the bottom left hand corner; spine worn; stamped in gilt; rubbed and edgeworn. In a specially made cloth slipcase.
Boxed together with:
Two Autograph Annual Reports, unsigned; 1848 and n.d. (but past 1848).
A notebook which records the manuscript Constitution, annual reports, and meeting minutes for the Maternal Association of the Baptist Tabernacle in New York City; including an elaborately scripted titled page and a statement of formation which reads, “A meeting of Ladies was held in the Lecture Room of the Baptist Tabernacle on Monday the 18th of March AD. 1839 for the purpose of forming a ‘Maternal Association.’ 16 Ladies present. Mrs. W. Winterton requested to conduct the meeting, Mrs. R. Colgate to act as Secry for the afternoon.” The Association wished to cultivate and maintain the religious welfare of the members’ children, to inspire them to live their lives adhering to their message.
A Preamble and eleven Articles follow; the Preamble explains that the members of the Association follow the command, “Train up a child in the way he should go,” and they aim to “pursue such measures as may be best calculated to aid in the discharge of the great duties of the maternal relation.” Sixty-two pages of meeting minutes and reports are included, from 1839 through 1848; at the rear of the book are four pages of members’ names and the number of children they have; one page listing conversions from the years 1839-1848; one page of births from 1839-1842; half a page of children’s deaths from 1840-1847, and half a page of member’s deaths from 1842-1846.
The officers chosen at the first meeting were Mrs. William Colgate, as Director, Mrs. William Winterton, as Secretary, and Mrs. B. Colgate, as Treasurer. Meeting minutes date 1839 through 1848, and two loose “Annuall” reports date from 1848 and later. The undated report appears to be drafts; the handwriting is less neat, and there are penciled corrections throughout; a leaf of notes, explains that sickness and a decline in membership has handicapped productivity and reinforces the gloomy message of the later report, “Meeting you again on this the anniversary of our association we must by leave to offer an apology rather than present a forward report.”
The Association planned to meet once a month, and would hold an annual meeting each March; members were expected to contribute to a collection at the meetings. According to the Preamble of their Constitution, members aimed to educate themselves about child rearing, through appropriate religious reading material and prayer. “In obedience to the command, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go,’ we the subscribers, do agree to associate together, for the purpose of adopting & pursuing such measures as may be best calculated to in the discharge of the great duties of the maternal relation.” Women were also encouraged to bring appropriately aged children to meetings that would directly benefit them.
The Constitution stresses the importance of prayer, explaining, “It is recommended to every member, to pray daily for the children, and, if practicable with them; to accompany her prayers with reading the scriptures; and in obedience to the command, ‘Bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,’ prayerfully & perseveringly to restrain them from every course that would naturally lead to pride, vanity or worldly-mindedness.” The Constitution also recommends that the Association members observe each of their children’s birthdays in “fasting and prayer.”
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