John Martin of Bangor, in writing and illustrating a journal in 1864 that recounted his life's experiences, drew the First Baptist Church on Center Street in Bangor where he and his wife, Clara Cary Martin, attended church together after they were married in 1850.

Martin wrote, "My wife of course went to my church so called although it was my church from circumstances and not from my persuasion in religions sentiments."

He wrote in the journal that he went to the market to buy potatoes on July 9, 1864, and took a sheet of paper with him so he could sketch the church. The temperature was about 100, he wrote, so he sat under a tree and marked the shape and size of all parts of the building, then went home and made the sketch in ink. It is on page 349 of the journal.

He wrote that it was "one of the most venerable as well as modern buildings in this city."