Governor William J. Northen awarded this bell to First Baptist Church to honor the first church built in Fitzgerald, a Colony City settled in the summer of 1895 by 2,700 Union veterans and many Georgians. Northen, an outstanding Baptist layman, graduated from Mercer University at age 18, served as president of the Georgia Baptist Convention for 14 years, was president of the Southern Baptist Convention during 1899-1901, and was a Mercer trustee for 44 years. First Baptist Church was constituted by 34 charter members on December 15, 1895. Its members first met in a furniture store, then built their first church, a 32 by 60 feet perpendicular slab building, during the winter of 1896-97. In 1898, with 300 members, the church built a new frame building with a tower for the bell. In 1912 the congregation laid a cornerstone for a brick building where the church grew and prospered until 1972, when it moved into this complex. In 1974 President Jimmy Carter, then governor, rededicated the bell.