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Maryland Historical Society
Library of Maryland History
201 W. Monument Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-685-3750
Fax: 410-385-2105
E-mail: library @mdhs.org
Buy the Book
Maryland
History In Prints: 1752-1900
by Laura Rice |
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![[image]](http://www.mdhs.org/Library/Images/RiceOnline/Access/Imagea012.jpg) |
View on Jone's Falls, Baltimore. Representing the first Baptismal
Rites performed there by the Revd. James Osbourn, Septr. 13th 1818
Drawn by S. Smith, Engraved by J. Hill
Printed by G. Smith
1819
Aquatint |
In September 1818, the Reverend James Osbourn baptized recent converts
in the waters of the Jones Falls. Most of the participants in the
ceremony appear to be women, who constituted the majority of followers
in the early-nineteenth-century evangelical movement. For them, the conversion
experience, an intense examination of the self followed by reassurance
of divine forgiveness, was a personal contract with God. Fulfilling
the obligations of that contract gave women the chance to play a greater
role in public life. Women who led private lives close to home began
speaking at prayer meetings, forming charitable and reform associations,
teaching, and performing missionary work. They took on a symbolic
role as moral guardians of the nation through their devotion to religion.
By exercising her influence on her children and the adults around her,
each woman ensured the moral character of the new republic.
Evangelical sects relied on singing and fiery exhortations to inspire
a deep emotional response from converts, many of whom reacted by tearing
their clothes, shouting, and weeping. Because of their colorful,
eccentric character, religious gatherings also attracted curious onlookers.
Among the crowd gathered here to observe baptism rites are Mayor George
Stiles, the figure closest to the tree at center, and Miss Mary A. Nicholson,
the small girl next to him.
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![[image]](http://www.mdhs.org/Library/Images/RiceOnline/Full/Imagef012.jpg)
