Stephen Gano (December 25, 1762 – August 18, 1828) was a physician and early pastor of the

First Baptist Church in America The First Baptist Church in America is the First Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island, also known as the First Baptist Meetinghouse. It is the oldest Baptist church congregation in the United States, founded in 1638 by Roger Williams in Pro ...

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 ...

Early life and Revolutionary War service

Stephen Gano was the third son born to Rev.

John Gano John Gano (July 22, 1727– August 10, 1804) was a Baptist minister, soldier, and Revolutionary War chaplain who allegedly baptized his friend, General George Washington."Religion: Washington's Baptism" ''Time Magazine'', September 5, 1932 http: ...

, a prominent Baptist evangelist, and Sarah Stites. Gano was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

while his father was pastoring Gold Street Baptist Church (

First Baptist Church in the City of New York The First Baptist Church in the City of New York is a Baptist church based in a sanctuary built in 1890–93 at the intersection of Broadway and West 79th Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. The church is affiliated with t ...

). Stephen Gano planned on attending

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 ...

where his uncle, James Manning, was President, but the Revolutionary War prevented him from enrolling. So at the age of thirteen Gano went to study medicine with his uncle, Dr. Stites. At age 17 in 1779 Gano served briefly as a surgeon's mate in the American army, then resigned to become a surgeon's mate on a privateer. Shipwrecked, marooned, and then taken prisoner by the British, he was confined in leg irons on a prison ship for some time. His father had previously joined the military as a chaplain, and a Gano family legend holds that John Gano baptized George Washington. No historian or biographer of Washington accepts this tale. He was admitted as an honorary member of the New York

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

on July 4, 1784.

Career in medicine and ministry

After the Revolution, Stephen Gano practiced medicine in

Orangetown, New York Orangetown is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located in the southeastern part of the county. It is northwest of New York City, north of New Jersey, east of the town of Ramapo, south of the town of Clarkstown, and west of th ...

and in 1782 married Cornelia Vavasour, daughter of a British officer in New York City. In 1783 he had a

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

and turned to the ministry, and in 1786 he was ordained in the Gold Street Church by his uncle, Dr. Manning, and other clergy. He served as a Pastor of the Baptist Church at Hillsdale, NY and then Hudson, NY. In Hudson, his wife died leaving Gano with several young children, and in 1789 he married Polly, daughter of Colonel Tallmadge in

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. They had several more children. Gano then served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

to the Old Northwest Territory and is credited with establishing a church at Columbia, Ohio, near present-day Cincinnati, the first Baptist church in the territory. In 1792, Dr. Gano became the pastor of the

in Providence, Rhode Island where he remained until his death. Many revivals took place throughout his tenure at the church with expanding church membership and baptisms. In 1797 Polly died, and in 1799 he married Mary Brown, daughter of Professor Joseph Brown, of Brown University, but Mary died in December 1800. Next Gano married Mrs. Joanna Latting, of

Hillsdale, New York Hillsdale is a town in Columbia County, New York, near Hudson, New York and Great Barrington, Massachusetts. State Routes 22 and 23 intersect near the town center, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town has several r ...

, but they separated permanently in 1803 when she accused him of being a worshiper of the Devil because he was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

.J. Stanley Lemons, ''FIRST: The History of the First Baptist Church in America'' (Providence, 2001), p. 28. Dr. Gano received the honorary degree of

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from Brown University in 1800 and was an Overseer of Brown University from 1794 until his death. He also served on the Providence School Committee for many years. Gano published several of his sermons and other writings. Gano Street in Providence takes its name from Gano's surname.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gano, Stephen People of the Province of New York 19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States Physicians in the American Revolution Huguenot participants in the American Revolution Brown University people 1762 births 1828 deaths People from Orangetown, New York Baptists from New York (state) 18th-century Baptist ministers from the United States

Early life and Revolutionary War service

Career in medicine and ministry

See also

References