Upper King and Queen Baptist Church

OB-22

When this church was constituted in 1774, the Baptist denomination in Virginia was rapidly expanding despite restrictions imposed on dissenters from the established Church of England. The congregation grew after the Revolutionary War under the leadership of pastor Theodorick Noel. Pastors Robert Baylor Semple (1813-1827) and Andrew Broaddus I (1827-1848), both baptized here, were influential leaders and writers who ranked among the nation’s most prominent Baptist clergymen. By 1861, when the present sanctuary was dedicated, the church had more than 600 members, about half White and half Black. After the Civil War, Black members departed and formed First Mount Olive Baptist Church.

Department of Historic Resources, 2025

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Minute Book of Upper King & Queen Baptist Church, 1774-1816, 1815-1836, 1855-1897. History of Upper Essex Baptist Church, 1772-1997. Garnett Ryland, The Baptists of Virginia, 1699-1926 (Richmond: The Virginia Baptist Board of Missions and Education, 1955). William A. Wall, “History of Upper King and Queen Baptist Church” (n.d.). E. Brooks Holifield, “Andrew Broaddus (4 November 1770-1 December 1848),” Dictionary of Virginia Biography, vol. 2 (Richmond: Library of Virginia, 2001): 239-240. William L. Lumpkin, “Writers of Early Virginia Baptist History: Robert Baylor Semple,” Virginia Baptist Register, no. 15 (1976): 695-705. William S. Simpson, Virginia Baptist Ministers, 1760–1790: A Biographical Survey (various volumes, self-published).