In colonial America, the seeds of the Revolutionary War were about to sprout! Up in Boston, the colonists were agitated over some actions of the British Crown. The Boston Tea Party would come the next year, soon to be followed by "the shot heard around the world" and the outbreak of war.

The year was 1772, and a band of Baptists out in the "Forks of the Yadkin" wanted to start a church. The proper title was long but very descriptive: "The Regular Baptist Church in North Carolina, Rowan County, in the forks of the Yadkin."

The birth of the church came during what a Moravian missionary by the name of Soelle described as a "spiritual stir" in the neighborhood," according to David L. Gilbreath, Eatons' pastor. There were 10 charter members, but within two years, the membership totaled 107.

The formation of the church was significant in terms of geography, the development of the N.C. colony and the westward expansion of Baptists from down east to the Piedmont and on to the mountains.

It is believed that Eatons is the oldest Baptist church in North Carolina west of Lexington, where Jersey Church, established in the 1750s, is located. Jersey Church was of the Charleston, S.C., tradition with a focus on organization, an educated ministry and a structured type of worship. John Gano is most often identified with the Charleston tradition and was pastor at Jersey for a short time.

This is in contrast to the Sandy Creek tradition, founded by Shubal Stearns in 1755, which stressed an uneducated ministry, no organization except the Sandy Creek Association which Stearns started and controlled, and highly emotional, evangelistic-type services.

(A unique thing in early Baptist history is that Stearns and Gano respected one another. Gano was invited to preach several days at Sandy Creek, although the styles and traditions of the two men were very different. In his history of N.C. Baptists, G.W. Paschal indicates the preaching mission by Gano was successful.)

In ancient times, the cornerstone of a building was an indispensable part of the structure because from it all dimensions of the building emerged. The cornerstone was just that; it set the direction for the whole building. If it were improperly placed, the integrity of the whole building was in jeopardy.

For many years now, the cornerstone of a Baptist church house is more symbolic and decorative than anything else. It is usually the last thing set -- not the first -- after the building has been completed.

The cornerstone of Eatons Church is most informative because of the many references on it: "Dutchman Creek Church, 1772-1788; Eatons Baptist Church, organized 1790, rebuilt 1848, remodeled 1885, remodeled 1900, rebuilt 1925."

The first congregation came to a painful end, weakened by an internal dispute over the propriety of the Revolutionary War. The pastor opposed the war as improper rebellion against the British Crown, but most of the church members favored the war.

The first building ã a meeting house made of hand-hewn logs from the nearby forests with holes left for windows (without glass) and split logs for pews ã stood at the northeast corner of the lawn of the present parsonage.

Throughout his ministry, Pastor William Cook and Dutchman Creek Church were thoroughly missionary, according to the church history. (This was 20 years before William Carey issued the call for world missions, more than 40 years before the Triennial Convention was formed and nearly 60 years before the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina was organized.)

John Gano preached in the area and baptized 34 converts between March and October of 1774. At one point, brothers of Daniel Boone were members of the congregation.

Other meeting places were established by Dutchman Creek to meet the needs of the people as conveniently as possible. These were: The Forks, Boone's Ford, Deep Creek, Timber Ridge and Mulberry Fields. The Dutchman Creek Meeting House seems to have been the church's usual place of meeting and identifies it as the mother church, according to Pastor Gilbreath.

Weakened by the controversy (and no doubt the war itself), the congregation dwindled and ceased to function between 1787 and 1790. It was resurrected and probably given the name of the family which donated the land for the present site and cemetery.

William Petty and Andrew Baker, both ministers, met with eight men and nine women in December 1790 to constitute a Regular Baptist Church at the old site.

Eatons Church has assisted in the organization of six churches: Providence (1805), Courtney (1835), Union Hill (1851), Cedar Creek (1872), Farmington (1879) and Ijames (1896).

The first meeting of Yadkin Association was held with Eatons Church, according to Ron Harrison, director of missions for South Yadkin Association which was formed from Yadkin Association. Eatons Church is now affiliated with South Yadkin Association.

Harrison brought greetings and best wishes to the congregation on Oct. 5 during the 225th anniversary celebration. He was one of the preachers for the revival which started that evening in the church.

Eatons Church began supporting the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina in 1831, the first year after it was organized. A "Sabbath School" was organized in 1845 -- the year the Southern Baptist Convention was formed -- and a Woman's Missionary Union was organized in 1911. (The N.C. women's missionary organization was formed in 1886 and the national group in 1888.)

During the 225th anniversary celebration, Biblical Recorder Editor R.G. Puckett delivered the sermon. Pastor Gilbreath commented that Eatons Church and Dutchman Creek Church produced a church which is "very historic, with a very rich heritage, holding forth the light of Christ."

The present sanctuary of Eatons Church is located on a beautiful, well-landscaped knoll overlooking the original site of the log building and the cemetery where the church started in 1772.