Church documents returned after theft
Historic writings stolen in October were found outdoors; reward paid
Historic documents that record the beginnings of the First Baptist Church of Sonora, organized in November 1857, were reported stolen six weeks ago from The Journey Church in East Sonora and have been returned in exchange for $1,000 in reward money, a pastor and an attorney’s wife said Monday.
“We received several documents shoved under our office door,” Mary Smith, wife of Jamestown attorney Charles B. Smith, said in a phone interview. “There was a letter attached, along with a map, as a way to find the person who left the documents. They didn’t have a cell phone, so they left a map instead.”
The Smiths and The Journey Church have declined to identify the individual who reported finding the documents due to a confidentiality agreement offered when the attorney and church made reward offers in October.
The historical records included handwritten charter and membership record books for The Journey Church’s predecessor, the First Baptist Church of Sonora. They were in a safe that was stolen sometime between Oct. 11 and 12 from the pastor’s office at The Journey Church at 14225 Mono Way.
“The person did not find the safe,” Mary Smith said Monday. “The person found the documents scattered up and down Mono Way up near where the church is. The person found the documents about two weeks before the person contacted us.”
Mary Smith shared photos of the documents, including a page with the handwritten words “First Baptist Church Sonora” and “Organised Nov. 22nd 1857” at the top.
“I absolutely believe the documents were
outside for a substantial period of time,” Mary Smith said. “They have some water damage and evidence of being out in the sun, and there was road grit in between some of the pages.”
Mary Smith said the person who found the documents had heard about the reward money, as well as the offer of a confidential consultation under protection of attorney-client privilege. The person was not sure how to return the documents without getting in trouble, she said, and he struggled with that decision for a time.
The documents were returned last week, “stained and weather-worn but apparently complete,” Pastor Randy Ehle with The Journey Church said in a press release dated Saturday.
Ehle said he realized the day that the historic church records were returned on Saturday was a day before the 163rd anniversary of First Baptist Church of Sonora’s founding, which, according to the now-recovered records, was Nov. 22, 1857.
“We were able to celebrate that yesterday during the service,” Ehle said Monday in a phone inter
view. “We held up one of the books and said we should sing happy birthday.”
The person who received the $1,000 in reward money texted the Smiths on Friday that the reward money was spent to help the community. Mary Smith said Monday she could not disclose any more details.
“The reward paid out was $1,000,” Mary Smith said, “$500 from the church, via a grant, and $500 from the law office of Charles B. Smith.”
In October, Ehle shared an image of the first page of the First Baptist Church of Sonora’s first historical record book, which was among the historic records in the stolen safe. In flowing handwritten ink, the page began:
Sonora, Nov 22nd 1857 Pursuant to notice a meeting was held at the House of C.L. Street in Sonora at 3 oclock P.M. the above date, by the friends favorable to the organization of a Baptist Church, to take into consideration the expediency and practicibility of said object.
That date is recognized as the day the First Baptist Church of Sonora was formally organized, with a Rev. C. King as pastor.
Street, a local attorney, eventually lived in the red
mansion on Snell Street across from St. James Episcopal Church, also known as the Red Church, which was built in 1859. He was a prominent figure in the organization and funding of the new First Baptist Church of Sonora.
Services were initially held at the Tuolumne County courthouse.
Church historians say William Sugg, the former slave freed in Sonora who built what is today known as the Sugg House on Theall Street, helped build the First Baptist Church. In 1860, the First Baptist Church began meeting in a building at Elkin and North Stewart streets that today is occupied by the Aronos Research Womens Club.
County historians note that Rev. Andrew Judson Sturtevant served as pastor of the church from February 1880 to January 1884. He lived at 61 Snell Street and left the church due to “bickering and petty problems among the congregation.”
In 1936, the church was suffering low attendance and recorded its lowest offering from the congregation on record, “7 cents! Congregation disbanded, selling the property at Elkin & Stewart to the Aronos Club for $750.”
The church reconstituted in 1959, and met for a time at Hope Lane and Jackson Street. Church leaders purchased property in East Sonora in the 1960s and built the current church building at 14225 Mono Way.
Mary Smith said she learned about the October burglary and the missing historic records from social media. She said a contact of hers, Andrea Anderson, who produces a podcast called “Queens of the Mines, True Tales of California Gold Rush Women,” was devastated to hear the church’s historic handwritten records were missing.
Mary Smith said that’s what spurred her to approach her husband, who decided to get involved and offer the first reward for return of the church records. The Journey Church matched the reward with a donation from the Sonora Area Foundation.
A note pushed under the door at the Smiths’ office in Jamestown early last week came with a small bundle of papers, described other documents, and explained how to contact the finder, Ehle said.
The Smiths called Ehle to confirm the papers were real and began making arrangements to retrieve the remaining documents and
pay out the reward.
“I have to confess,” Ehle said, “I had all but given up on ever seeing those historical records again. I think for me, this is another reminder that God answers prayer, and that he cares even about things that may not seem to have eternal significance. I always need that reminder.”
Friday afternoon, Ehle sat with the Smiths and looked through the box of documents that had been returned. In the box were two ledger books from the 1850s and the 1890s, recording the beginning of what is believed to be the second-oldest church in the area; a scrapbook with photos, news clippings, and stories from the church’s first 130 years; and an early copy of its articles of incorporation.
Charles B. Smith told Ehle the person who found the historic documents said that he wouldn’t have bothered with the reward under other circumstances, but felt that the money would allow him to help other people with all that’s happening in the community now.
The First Baptist Church of Sonora moved to its present location at 14425 Mono Way in East Sonora in 1968 and began operating under the name The Journey in 2011.
The Journey Church is affiliated with Growing Healthy Churches and American Baptist Churches USA. Services are streamed live on Facebook @Thejourneychurchsonora at 10:30 a.m. Sundays.
Ehle and other church staff are planning a Christmas Eve bonfire and caroling event. For more information, contact Ehle at (209) 532-4681 or pastor@ welcometothejourney.org.