Martha and Erastus Graves, my great, great, great grandparents were among the early members of the First Baptist Church of Christ in Sardinia.
Both were baptized on April 16, 1826. The meeting house was erected by the Baptist Church and Society in Sardinia and was open for religious services on Wednesday, January 27, 1830 a few years after their baptism.
The entries recorded in the church minutes give a glimpse of Erastus’ personality. The following example, dated October 24, 1840, is just one of many entries recorded in the church minutes with regard to Erastus and his religious dealings:
Voted that the clerk inform Bro. Graves In writing, that the church have the following items of complaint against him.
1. For general neglect of covenant obligations, and
2. For violating the Christian Sabbath.
Over the next 18 years, his cycle of interaction with the church includes a misdemeanor, his confession and repentance, and then his forgiveness by the church; then the cycle repeats itself until he was excommunicated in 1857. By May 1858, his membership was restored and he was “dismissed” by letter to attend another Baptist church.
His oldest son, Joseph Franklin Graves was married to Delia Goodrich. Both “Frank” and “Delia” grew up in Sardinia and both were members of the Baptist church. Frank was baptized on May 1, 1842 and Fidelia was baptized the same year. However, both were later excommunicated, Fidelia on February 18, 1846 and Frank on March 1, 1855. In 1845 Frank was rebuked by the church “for attending balls, wishing himself out of the church, and indulging in profanity.” The following year, in February 1846, a “complaint was brought against Sisters Fidelia & Maria Goodrich for attending a dancing school . . . “
Another son, Waters Graves, my great great grandfather, was baptized on May 30, 1858, about the same time Erastus' membership was reinstated. However, Waters, unlike his father and his older brother, Frank, seemed to be on good terms with the Baptist church; in fact, he was appointed as a Deacon for the church on July 2, 1864. His wife Sally assisted him in his duties of the church when the church council “. . . appointed Br. Waters Graves & wife to visit Sister Nancy Childs . . .”
Martha, also called “Keziah,” was the younger sister of Waters. Like her older brother Frank, she was baptized in 1842 and enjoyed dancing; however, she, like her brother, was excommunicated from the Baptist church on December 5, 1846: “Covt. Meeting at which a complaint was presented by H. Bowen against Keziah Graves for attending Balls and dancing Schools etc. & the brethren being satisfied with the labour with her & believing there to be no hope of reclaiming her.”
What I learned from these records, is that I had some ancestors who didn't always live the standards of the church they attended and that the church had a very strict set of guidelines. It was kind of funny to find out that "dancing" was so appalling and how different life is today.
