Please Note: These historical documents may or may not represent the current position of Free Will Baptists on any given issue. Many files are Adobe Acrobat (pdf) files. They are quite large and may take a long time to download. For ease of viewing, download only the files in which you are interested and read them at your leisure.
The late Damon C. Dodd, former executive secretary of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, recounts a sprawling narrative of the history and development of Free Will Baptists, from European roots to development in the colonies, to the modern movement. Note: This volume is copyrighted by the Executive Office of the National Association of Free Will Baptists. It may be downloaded for personal study or research but may not be reprinted or reformatted for sale or distribution, either in print or on the web.
Our Heritage: Free Will Baptist History
An excerpt from the volume, A Free Will Baptist Handbook
By Matthew J. Pinson
A Brief History of the Liberal Baptist People in England and America
By Elders G.W. Million and G.A. Barrett
Free Baptist Cyclopaedia, Illustrated, 1889
Compiled by G.A. Burgess and J.T. Ward
This significant work primarily details the lives and organization of early Randall Free Will Baptists. However, it also contains a number of entries regarding denominational history in the South, usually under state names. Compiled over a two-year period, this illustrated book published in 1889, remains one of the most significant sources of Freewill Baptist history.
Free Will Baptists in Georgia
By Matthew J. Pinson
A brief overview of the roots of the denomination in the state produced for New Georgia Encyclopedia.
A History of Free Will Baptists
By G.W. Million
A History of Original Free Will Baptists
By Michael Pelt
History of the Free Will Baptists of North Carolina
By Elders T.F. Harrison and J.M. Barfield
A History of the Cape Fear Conference of Original Free Will Baptists
(1855-2010)
Compiled and Written by the Cape Fear Conference History Committee: Gary F. Barefoot, Alan K. Lamm, Michael R. Pelt, Ricky J. Warren
History of North Carolina Baptists, Volume 1
By George Washington Paschal
Note: Paschal refers specifically to the early development of the Free Will Baptists of North Carolina in chapters 8-10.
Origins of the Free Will Baptist Church of North Carolina
Elder Rufus K. (R.K.) Hearn was a leading minister of the Free Will Baptist General Conference of North Carolina during the mid- to late-1800s. Long time pastor of the Gum Swamp Free Will Baptist Church, he also served as the editor of The Free Will Baptist, longest-running Free Will Baptist periodical. In this article, published sometime during the 1860s, Hearn traces the shadowy history of the early Free Will Baptist Movement in North Carolina.
Without a Monument: The Life of Elder Paul Palmer
By Darrell Holley
The History of Tennessee Free Will Baptists
By Robert E. Picirilli