FREE-WILL BAPTIST CHURCH. A
society of this denomination was organized in Croton, about 1855. Among
those prominently connected with it were Thomas
Blake and family, the Carrs, James and
Douglass Ray, David and Joshua Pierce, Almond, John and David Miller, and
their families. The first preacher was Elder William Ray. Among those
who afterwards officiated were Elders Manning,
Bumpus, Ring, Morford, Harvey and Clary. John Kelty was also an
ordained elder at one time, and preached occasionally. In the prosperous
days of this society the congregation was quite large
Twentieth
Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County, 1908, page 109
