06/05/2026
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚
OTD in 1768 John “Swearing Jack” Waller, Lewis Craig, James Chiles, James Reed, and William Marsh were arrested in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on the charge of “preaching the gospel contrary to law.” The prosecuting attorney declared, “These cannot meet a man upon the road, but they must ram a text of scripture down his throat!”
This forgotten story from Baptist history happened in colonial Virginia. It all started three years earlier when Lewis Craig converted under the powerful preaching of Baptist evangelist Samuel Harris. So full of the joy of salvation, Craig was soon indicted by a grand jury "for holding unlawful conventicles, and preaching the Gospel contrary to law." During a break in the proceeding, he found the jury outside in a tavern. Craig declared to them, “When I was about this courtyard, in all kinds of vanity, folly and vice, you took no notice of me but when I have forsaken all the vices, and am warning men to forsake, and repent of their sins, you bring me to the bar as a transgressor. How is all this?'" Apparently, Craig was set free after this first encounter.
One of the men listening to all this was John Waller. He was such a profane man, he was nicknamed “Swearing Jack.” Seeing the change in Craig and hearing the gospel, Waller was struck with conviction. For some time, Waller struggled until he finally surrendered to the drawing of the Holy Spirit. He was subsequently baptized by James Reed, a local Baptist pastor.
So, on June 4, 1768, Waller, Craig, Reed, along with James Chiles, and William Marsh were in Spotsylvania County holding religious services and preaching the gospel. The local sheriff promptly arrested them on the charge of disturbing the peace. Anglicanism was the official religion of Virginia and no one was supposed to preach without their permission. Appearing in court two days later, the prosecutor declared, “May it please your worships, these men are great disturbers of the peace. These cannot meet a man upon the road, but they must ram a text of scripture down his throat!”
John Waller spoke for the defense “so ingeniously” that the court did not know what to do with these men. The judge offered to release them if they promised not to preach for one year. They all refused! Therefore, the five men were sent to the Fredericksburg jail. Like Paul and Silas, on the way to the jail, they began singing hymns and praising the Lord.
These five Baptist preachers would transform the Fredericksburg prison into a church house. Taking turns preaching through the grates, they gave the Bread of Life to the large crowds who came to listen. When the opposition tried to silence them by singing obscene barroom songs, the men just preached louder. Historian Robert Baylor Simple declared, “Many heard indeed, upon whom the word was in power and demonstration.”
For 43 days these men languished in jail. Finally, they were released with no restrictions on their activities. Semple wrote, “Thanking God that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ and His gospel, day and night, and indeed almost every day and night, they held meetings in their own and adjacent neighborhoods. The spread of the Gospel and Baptist principles was equal to all their exertions.”
While John “Swearing Jack” Waller, Lewis Craig, James Chiles, James Reed, and William Marsh were the first Baptist preachers to be imprisoned in colonial Virginia, they would not be the last. Over the next few years, dozens of other men would suffer similar fates. Yet the Baptists could not be silenced. There is a reason there are so many Baptist churches in places like Virginia and Kentucky. It is because of the labors of men like Waller, Craig, Chiles, Reed, and Marsh. May their faithfulness inspire us to greater service for our Lord and Savior Jesus.
