High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Obadiah Holmes was an early Rhode Island clergyman and a victim of religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was pivotal in the establishment of the Baptist church in America. Obadiah Holmes was the son of Robert Hulme and Katherine Johnson. He was born circa 1606/7 at Reddish, Cheshire/Lancashire, England, baptized on 18 March 1609/10 at Didsbury, Lancashire, England. He married Katherine Hyde on 20 November 1630 at Collegiate Church, Manchester, Lancashire, England. He died on 15 October 1682 at Newport, Newport, RI.