John Gano

John Gano (July 22, 1727– August 10, 1804) was a Baptist minister, soldier, patriot, and Revolutionary War chaplain who allegedly baptized his friend, General George Washington. He was also notable for his bravery at the Battle of White Plains and crossing the Delaware River with General Washington. Gano later served as the first chaplain of the Kentucky Legislature in 1798. He was the founder of the Gano political family, which included several generations of politicians and military officers. Biography Early life Gano was raised as a Presbyterian. His father was a descendant of French Calvinists (Huguenots) and his mother of English Baptists. After a powerful conversion experience, John Gano eventually became a Calvinist Baptist as a young man after a period of intense study. Gano left the family farm to study at Princeton University (then the College of New Jersey) but left before graduating. Gano was ordained as pastor of the Scotch Plains, New Jersey, Baptist Church on May 29, 1754. In 1760, he became the founding pastor of what later became the First Baptist Church in the City of New York. Gano served as pastor of the New York Church until 1787, however, he made long itinerant trips evangelizing throughout the thirteen colonies, asserting I... had a right to proclaim free grace wherever I went. Gano travelled throughout the South, Middle Atlantic States, and New England, sometimes being away from home for as long as two years. In 1764, Gano joined several others as an original fellow or trustee for the chartering of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (the former name for Brown University, originally a Baptist school).