John Myles, also known as John Miles, (c. 1621–1683) was the founder of

Swansea, Massachusetts Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts. It is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, just west of Fall River, south of Boston, and southeast of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 17,144 at the 2020 cens ...

, and the founder of the earliest recorded Baptist churches in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

(UK) and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

(US). John Myles was born in Wales around 1621 and was educated at

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He then went to London where he visited the Glasshouse church, an early

Particular Baptist Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith w ...

(

Reformed Baptist Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith ...

) congregation. Myles then returned to

Ilston Ilston ( cy, Llanilltud Gwyr) is the name of a village and a local government community in Swansea, southwest Wales. Ilston has its own community council. Description The population of the community in the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 538 and 5 ...

in Wales, where he served as a minister from 1649 to 1662 and he served as a "tryer" for ministers under

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's government. After the restoration of the monarchy and requirement for all ministers to adhere to the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

, Myles left England for the

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...

in the 1660s. Myles took the historic

Ilston Book The Ilston Book is the earliest record of a Baptist church in Wales. It is named after the location of a Baptist meeting place near the ruins of the old Trinity well, the site of a pre-Reformation chapel, at Ilston Beck in Gower near Swansea. Fo ...

to North America with him, and it is now located at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. In America Myles worked with the Congregationalist state church in Rehoboth before his group was told to leave the town for its Baptist views, and Myles and his congregation (largely from Ilston, Wales) then founded the town of Swansea and

First Baptist Church in Swansea The First Baptist Church and Society is a historic Baptist church in Swansea, Massachusetts. The congregation, founded in 1663, is the oldest Baptist congregation in Massachusetts and one of the oldest in the United States. The congregation w ...

. Swansea was named after a town in their homeland in Wales. Myles served as pastor for twenty years. During

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

, Myles pastored the First Baptist Church in Boston while fleeing from the Indians.

References

17th-century Baptist ministers from the United States 17th-century Welsh Baptist ministers People of colonial Massachusetts Welsh emigrants to the United States Massachusetts colonial-era clergy People from Swansea, Massachusetts {{US-Christian-clergy-stub