Bible Societies

The first Bible Society of this country was founded at Philadelphia in 1808. It was quickly followed by others at Hartford, Boston, New York and Princeton. May 11, 1816, the American Bible Society was organized at New York by a convention of representatives from thirty-five smaller societies, which felt the need of united and centralized effort. Nearly every denomination, except the Roman Catholic, was represented. Sectarian jealousy and party prejudice were laid aside in order to insure combined endeavors in promoting “a wider circulation of the Holy Scriptures without note or comment.” The American Foreign Bible Society was established in 1836 by the Baptist denomination, which withdrew from the American Society because of some disagreement. The total i ues of the American Bible Society from 1816 to 1900 have been 65,962, 505.