2025 Cemetery Walk: Sarah Warren Carpenter and the First Warrenville Baptist Church

Sarah Warren Carpenter was the third daughter of Daniel and Nancy Warren. She and her seven sisters and one brother, Julius, came west to Illinois from New York in 1833.

As a young girl back in New York, Sarah loved learning. She started teaching school when she was barely thirteen years old, some of her students were even older than she was! She was shaped by her devotion to education and her faith. While she was teaching, she attended a Methodist Revival Church, and felt called to dedicate her life to Christ. That faith sustained her through joys and many sorrows.

When her family moved to Illinois, she taught in one of the first schools in Chicago. It was in Chicago that she met her husband, Abel Carpenter. Abel was a man of deep faith as well, and after their marriage in 1836, they settled here in Warrenville where her brother was busy shaping the new settlement. Her husband’s family, the Carpenters were also very involved with their church out east before they migrated west. Together, they helped organize and establish the Warrenville Baptist Church, the first church in this community. For the next fifty years, Abel and Sarah devoted themselves to the life of that congregation. They counseled their neighbors, led prayer meetings, and even welcomed preachers into their home when they were visiting on their circuit around Midwest churches. Abel traveled often as a delegate to Baptist Association meetings, representing Warrenville, while Sarah worked with other women to raise funds and care for those in need.

First Warrenville Baptist Church on Batavia Road, where the current Fire Station stands

They were very proud of the church building, which in 1857 was built on Third Street, now called Batavia Road, but their faith did not stop at the church doors. Sarah and Abel both believed deeply in the cause of abolition, and their family supported efforts to end slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. When war broke out, their eldest son, Ashley, volunteered to fight for the Union cause. His loss after only a few months of service nearly broke Sarah, but her faith, and the church they had built, helped her carry on. She never stopped wearing his likeness around her neck.

Ashley Carpenter, Warrenville’s first Civil War casualty

The Warrenville Baptist Church became a cornerstone of town’s spiritual life, and it was one of her greatest joys to see it grow. She also took a lot of joy from working alongside her family in the church, including her sister Philinda Fowler and her daughter Sarah Carpenter Walker. Many of the women in the church were involved with fundraising and in 1871 Sarah was appointed treasurer of the church, the first woman officer in the Warrenville Baptist Church, a role she was proud to hold. Sarah and Abel poured their lives into it because they believed a strong church could nurture a strong community. Even after Abel passed away in 1882, Sarah held to that truth. She spent her final years with her daughter’s family in Aurora, but her heart always remained here, in Warrenville, and with the church that she and Abel helped to build so many years ago. Sarah Warren Carpenter passed away on January 10, 1897, and was laid to rest here in Warrenville with much of her family. Although the beautiful first Baptist Church burnt down, it was rebuilt and still remains an important part of this wonderful community.

Marty Rogers portraying Sarah Warren Carpenter in our 2025 Cemetery Walk