Cobb Divinity School (also known as Bates Theological Seminary or the Free Will Baptist Bible School) was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

theological institute A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for Christian ministry with theological ed ...

. Founded in 1840, it was a

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

affiliated with several Free Baptist institutions throughout its history. Cobb was part of

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

in Lewiston,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

from 1870 until 1908 when it merged with the college's Religion Department. The school created one of the first models for a

Bible school A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for Christian ministry with theological edu ...

in the United States. The school had a close relationship with the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

with many Baptist theology students and faculty going back and forth between the schools.

History

The

divinity school A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

was founded by the Free Will Baptists in Parsonsfield, Maine in 1840 as a library department and graduate bible school of the Parsonsfield Seminary with Moses Smart serving as the first leader of the school. From 1842 to 1844, the divinity school was located in Dracut,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. In 1844, the divinity school moved again to Whitestown, New York and became part of the

Whitestown Seminary The Oneida Institute was a short-lived (1827–1843) but highly influential school that was a national leader in the emerging abolitionist movement. It was the most radical school in the country, the first at which black men were just as welcome ...

, where it was known as the Free Baptist Biblical School. From 1854 to 1870, the divinity school was located in

New Hampton, New Hampshire New Hampton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,377 at the 2020 census. A winter sports resort area, New Hampton is home to George Duncan State Forest and to the New Hampton School, a private prepara ...

, and affiliated with the

New Hampton Institute New Hampton School is an independent college preparatory high school in New Hampton, New Hampshire, United States. It has 305 students from over 30 states and 22 countries. The average class size is eleven, and the student-faculty ratio is five ...

. The school and its library were removed to Lewiston in 1870 and became a graduate school (known as Bates Theological Seminary until 1888) of Bates College. In 1888, it was renamed Cobb Divinity School in honor of Jonathan Leavitt Haskell Cobb (1824-1897), a prominent businessman at the

Bates Mill The Bates Mill is a textile factory company founded in 1850 and located at 35 Canal Street in Lewiston, Maine. The mill served as Maine's largest employer through the 1860s, and early profits from the mill provided much of the initial capital for ...

in Lewiston who had donated $25,000 to the Divinity School at Bates. In 1891, President of Bates College Oren B. Cheney amended the school's charter requiring that Bates' president and a majority of the trustees be Free Will Baptists. Following Cheney's retirement, the amendment was revoked in 1907 at the request of his successor, President George C. Chase, and the board of trustees. In 1907, the

Maine Legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Augus ...

amended the college's charter removing the requirement for the president and majority of the trustees to be Free Will Baptists, thereby allowing the school to qualify for Carnegie Foundation funding of professor's pensions.Paul Monroe, ''A Cyclopedia of Education'' (Published by Gale Research Co., 1911) Item notes: v.1

pg. 331 Cobb Divinity School was disbanded in 1908, with much of its curricula and faculty and library becoming the Bates College Religion Department. In 1911, the Northern Free Will Baptist Conference merged with the Northern Baptist Conference, now known as the

American Baptist Churches USA The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainl ...

. Bates remained nominally affiliated with the Baptist tradition until 1970 when the college catalogue no longer described the school as a "Christian college".

Images

File:Cobb Divinity School faculty photo.jpg, Cobb Divinity School faculty, ca. 1895, featuring Professors John Fullonton, Alfred W. Anthony, Purinton, Howe, and

Benjamin F. Hayes Benjamin Francis Hayes (1830-1906) was a Free Will Baptist pastor, author, principal of the Lapham Institute, and early professor at Bates College in Maine. Benjamin Hayes was born in New Gloucester, Maine in 1830 to Mary (Harmon) Hayes and Rev. ...

File:Cobb Divinity School; Roger Williams Hall.jpg, Cobb Divinity School building from 1895-1908. Currently Roger Williams Hall on the campus of Bates College File:Oneida Institute, Whitestown, New York.png, School buildings which were located in New York on the former

Oneida Institute The Oneida Institute was a short-lived (1827–1843) but highly influential school that was a national leader in the emerging abolitionist movement. It was the most radical school in the country, the first at which black men were just as welcome ...

campus in Whitesboro, New York

Notable people

* Alfred W. Anthony (1885), pastor, professor, and author * George H. Ball (1847), pastor, teacher of President

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

and First Lady

Lucretia Garfield Lucretia Garfield ('' née'' Rudolph; April 19, 1832 – March 13, 1918) was the first lady of the United States from March to September 1881, as the wife of James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States. Born in Garrettsville, Oh ...

* John Jay Butler, Arminian theologian, professor at Cobb and Hillsdale * George Colby Chase, second president of Bates College * Oren B. Cheney (1846),

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, founder of Bates College *

Lewis Penick Clinton Lewis Penick Clinton (also known as Louis Penick Clinton and Prince Somayou Zea Clayou) (born 1865 or 1866) was a Prince of the Bassa people in West Africa (Liberia) and later an African American missionary and lecturer.The Literary Digest, Volu ...

(1897), African Bassa prince, missionary in Liberia * George T. Day (1847), pastor, writer at the Morning Star, professor at Bates *

Ransom Dunn Rev. Ransom Dunn, D.D. (July 7, 1818 – November 9, 1900) (nickname: "the Grand Old Man of Hillsdale") was an American minister and theologian, prominent in the early Free Will Baptist movement in New England. He was President of Rio Grande Coll ...

(1840), President of Rio Grande College and Hillsdale College, teacher of President

* John Fullonton (1849), Professor and Dean at Cobb Divinity School *

Frank Sandford Frank Weston Sandford (October 2, 1862 – March 4, 1948)Shirley Nelson, ''Fair Clear and Terrible: The Story of Shiloh, Maine'' (Latham, New York: British American Publishing, 1989), 27. A second edition (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016) includes r ...

, preacher, founder of "The Kingdom"

References

*Anthony, Alfred Williams, ''Bates College and Its Background'', (Philadelphia: Judson Press, 1936).

External links

Cobb Divinity School records at Edmund S. Muskie Archives & Special Collections Library, Bates College
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927185310/http://www.littleivies.com/2006/04/cobb-divinity-school-bates-college.html Info about the Divinity Schoolbr>Bates Religion DepartmentFormer Cobb Divinity School Building 1870-1894Former Cobb Divinity School Building 1894-1908
{{authority control 1908 disestablishments in Maine Bates College Defunct private universities and colleges in Maine Educational institutions established in 1840 Free Will Baptist schools Seminaries and theological colleges in Maine Seminaries and theological colleges affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA Educational institutions disestablished in 1908 1840 establishments in Maine Universities and colleges in Oneida County, New York

History

Images

Notable people

See also

References

External links