History of the Dighton Community Church
Seth Talbot, another member of the family, was captain of the Bristol Country companies. Colonel John Hathaway, who was in command of another one of the companies, is said to have also been a member of the church of the Lowe Four Corners.
Hodijah Baylies, one of the members of the distinguished Baylies family of the church and Dighton, graduated from Harvard College. In the War of the Revolution he was a Major in the Continental Army. He was aid-de-camp to Major General Lincoln from the years 1777 to 1781 and in 1782 to General Washington. He was with Washington during the siege of Charleston and also at the capture of York Town. His service continued into first term as president. As a reward for his service, Washington in 1789 appointed Hodijah Baylies collector of the port of Dighton which then included all of Bristol County west of New Bedford. He served as collector for twenty years, renowned for his fine courage and for his many acts of kindness to the townspeople.
During the years just before the fighting began at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, two representatives were elected to attend the Provincial Congress which met at Salem, Charlestown, or Cambridge. They were Col. Elnathan Walker from the Buck Plain Meeting House and Dr. William Baylies for the church of the Lower Four Corners, the present community church.
Dr. William Baylies, a 1760 Harvard graduate, was a man of fine mental endowments and held many positions requiring high intelligence and sound judgment.
He was a member of the Provincial Congress in 1775. During the Revolution he was often in the councils of the state. In 1784 while in the Senate, he was appointed Registrar of Probate for Bristol County and a judge of the Common Plea. He was a member of the State Convention that ratified the Constitution and was an elector of the president and vice-president.