Old School Baptist Church records now online

WARWICK — What was lost is now found - and on the web - thanks to a collaborative project between the Warwick Historical Society and Albert Wisner Public Library.
The original record books of the Old School Baptist Church had disappeared for several decades, but were returned recently to the society's archive by a church clerk, to whom they had been entrusted.
The first book, which begins in 1764, was carefully photographed under the direction of archivist Cathryn Anders by volunteer Vicki Braidotti, who then painstakingly edited the several hundred images.
The final step was to load the files into the library's new digital collections portal.
Researcher Sue Simonich, a descendant of Elder James Benedict, will begin transcribing the handwritten text next year.
The files may be viewed by going to albertwisner-montage.auto-graphics.com, then doing search for the words "record book of the Baptist church."
For help with viewing the files, email sgardner@rcls.org.