Winter Baptism in the Frozen Waters of Lagrande Creek
Over a hundred congregants braved icy, frigid conditions for a mass baptismal ceremony.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
One hundred and six colored converts were immersed in the freezing waters of Lagrande creek today by Rev. Taylor, of the Second Baptist church, a passage-way to the middle of the stream having been cut through the ice. Many converts after the baptism went through the crowd of spectators, shouting and singing, their clothing being frozen stiff.
“Many converts after the baptism went through the crowd of spectators, shouting and singing, their clothing being frozen stiff.”
Baptismal services are a cornerstone of many spiritual communities in the Pacific Northwest, though the brutal physical endurance required here speaks to the intensity of faith during the 1894 mid-winter season. The site of these baptisms, a rural creek, has long since been subsumed by the urban and suburban sprawl of the Seattle metropolitan area.
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