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

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

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

. Founded in 1840, it was a

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists or Free Baptists are a group originating from General Baptists that emphasizes the teaching of free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the General Baptists in 17th century England. In 1702, Paul Palm ...

graduate school Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

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

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, 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 ...

in Lewiston,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 or theological seminary, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for Christian minis ...

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

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, 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 college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and 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 Dracut is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the town's population was 32,617, making it the second most populous town in Massachusetts with an open town meeting system of governance. The town cove ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. In 1844, the divinity school moved again to Whitestown,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and became part of the Whitestown Seminary, 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.Guide to the Freewill Baptist records, 1797-1970, n.d. , MC091. (Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library at Bates College in Maine) http://abacus.bates.edu/muskie-archives/EADFindingAids/MC091.html. 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 fo ...

in Lewiston who had donated $25,000 to the Divinity School at Bates. In 1891, President of Bates College

Oren B. Cheney Oren Burbank Cheney (December 10, 1816 – December 22, 1903) was an American politician, minister, and statesman who was a key figure in the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist movement in the United States during the later 19th cent ...

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 State Legislature is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. ...

amended the college's

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

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

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

s.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 Protestant and Baptist Christian denomination. It is a reorganization from 1907 of the Triennial Convention. The Triennial Convention was renamed as the Northern Baptist Convention in ...

. 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 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 Presbyterianism, Presbyterian school in Whitesboro, New York, United States, that was a national leader in the emerging Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist movement. Existing from 1827 to 18 ...

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 1881 until his death in September that year after being shot two months earlier. A preacher, lawyer, and Civi ...

and First Lady

Lucretia Garfield Lucretia Garfield ( Rudolph; April 19, 1832 – March 14, 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, Ohio, Gar ...

* John Jay Butler,

Arminian Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the Christian theology, theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remo ...

theologian, professor at Cobb and Hillsdale *

George Colby Chase George Colby Chase (March 15, 1844 - May 27, 1919) was an American intellectual and professor of English who served as the second Lane Hall, President of Bates College succeeding its founder, Oren Burbank Cheney, from March 1894 to November 1919. ...

, second president of Bates College *

(1846),

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

, founder of Bates College * Lewis Penick Clinton (1897), African Bassa prince, missionary in Liberia * George T. Day (1847), pastor, writer at the

Morning Star Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to: Astronomy * Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise ** See also Venus in culture * Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...

, professor at Bates * Ransom Dunn (1840), President of Rio Grande College and Hillsdale College, teacher of President

* John Fullonton (1849), Professor and Dean at Cobb Divinity School * Frank Sandford, 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 Universities and colleges 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