[1] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_ (edition, 1848), p. 454.
Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1801-1802, p. 836.
[2] _Ibid._, pp. 397, 577, 620. Compare with edition 1813, Vol. II,
pp. 504, 509, 515.
[3] See Ramsey's _History of South Carolina_, Vol. I, p. 158, note 19,
p. 159; Steven's _History of Georgia_, Vol. I, pp. 255-256; Gibbes'
_Documentary History of American Revolution_ (South Carolina), Vol. I,
pp. 235-236 and 158-159; Furman's _History Charleston Baptist
Association_, p. 77; Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793,
pp. 445, 474, 477, 541; _State Papers, Indian Affairs_, Vol. I, pp.
15, 32, 35, 36; Lossing's _Field Book of Revolution_, Vol. II, p. 484;
article on Henry Lee in Appleton's _Cyclopedia_, Vol. X, p. 487;
_Light Horse Harry_ in Larner's _History of Ready Reference_, Vol. V,
pp. 32-74-5; _American Cyclopedia_, Vol. II, p. 378; N. W. Jones'
_History of Georgia_, Vol. II, pp. 136-138; _Abraham Marshall_ in
Cathcart's _Baptist Encyclopedia_, Vol. II, p. 349.
[4] George and John Galphin, brothers, are mentioned in _State Papers,
Indian Affairs_, Vol. I, pp. 32, 35, 36, 158, 159. Thomas Galphin is
referred to in Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp.
540-541. Milledge Galphin, according to Act of Congress, passed August
14, 1848, and statement of United States for 1850, set forth in
Lossing's _Field Book of the American Revolution_, Vol. II, p. 484,
received in settlement of his claim against the United States as heir
of George Galphin, $200,000.
[5] For date of fall of Savannah, Dec. 29, 1778, Sir Archibald
Campbell in Appleton's _Cyclopedia of American Biography_, Vol. I, p.
511, and for troubles at Silver Bluff, South Carolina, see Rippon's
_Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, p. 477, and compare with pp.
473-480 and 332-337. For conditions necessitating the exile of Silver
Bluff Church, see letter of Wm. H. Drayton, written from Hammond's
place near Augusta, Georgia, August 30, 1775, to the Council of Safety
in Gibbes' _Documentary History of the American Revolution_ (South
Carolina), Vol. I, p. 162, and for distance from Silver Bluff see
letter of Rev. Wm. Tennett, p. 236, and compare with note in Lossing's
_Field Book of the American Revolution_, Vol. II, 484. See also Rev.
Tennett's letter of September 7, 1775, for movement of men at Silver
Bluff and surrounding country. Gibbes' _Documentary History of the
American Revolution_ (South Carolina), Vol. I, pp. 245-246.
[6] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1791, p. 336, compare with
1790-1793, pp. 476-477.
[7] See Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_ for 1793, pp. 540-541.
Compare with 1790-1793, pp. 544-545.
[8] Lossing's _Field Book_, p. 484; Steven's _Georgia_, Vol. II, pp.
255-256, etc., as above in note 3.
[9] Gibbes' _Documentary History American Revolution_, Vol. I, pp.
235-236; Furman's _History Charleston Baptist Association_, p. 77, and
compare letters of George and John Galphin in _State Papers, Indian
Affairs_, Vol. I, pp. 15, 35, 36, and G. No. 2, p. 32.
[10] Ramsey's _History of South Carolina_, Vol. I, p. 158.
[11] Steven's _History of Georgia_, Vol. II, pp. 255-256; article on
Henry Lee, Appleton's _American Cyclopedia_, Vol. X, p. 487.
[12] But who was "Elder Palmer," the man who planted the first of this
series of churches? David George states that he was a powerful
preacher, and that he was pastor of a church some distance from Silver
Bluff. We are satisfied that the church alluded to was not in South
Carolina, nor in Georgia, nor were the members of the church in
question, nor its pastor, of African descent. It is our opinion that
"Elder Palmer" was no less a distinguished person than Wait Palmer,
the founder of the First Baptist Church of Stonington, Connecticut. It
was possible that he should be the cause of this remarkable beginning
of Negro Baptist churches in the United States, for he was living and
active during and prior to the Revolutionary period, and long before.
Wait Palmer, of Stonington, Connecticut, moreover, was, as his
biographer states, "an actor in the great New Light, or Separatist
movement," and in this capacity he "preached often in destitute
regions." Benedict testifies that "he became a famous pioneer in
Virginia and North Carolina." But what is more, Mrs. Marshall, the
mother of Abraham Marshall, of Kiokee, Georgia, was a sister of Shubal
Sterns, and Shubal Sterns was baptized and ordained to the work of the
ministry by Wait Palmer, at Tolland, Connecticut, in the spring of
1751. It was but natural that, in his zeal to preach Christ in
destitute regions, Palmer would visit this Connecticut family and
preach the gospel to any who might desire to hear it.
If it should be thought by some that no man would, in the
circumstances, have gone on a preaching tour from Connecticut to South
Carolina, it may be well to recall the fact that Rev. Abraham Marshall
covered the ground in question, in the year 1786, travelling both ways
on horseback, preaching nearly every day during the three months he
was away from home. But Palmer was now in the South and not in the
North, as Benedict states. No other Palmer, known to Baptists, fits
the case like this friend of Shubal Stearns. We shall continue to
assign to him the credit of the first Negro Baptist Church in America,
until we can find another "Elder Palmer," whose claim is absolutely
certain. See Rippon, _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp.
475-476; Catheart's _Baptist Encyclopedia_, II, 882.
[13] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, edition 1790-1793, pp.
473-480, and compare article, Sir Archibald Campbell, in Appleton's
_Cyclopedia of American Biography_, Vol. I, p. 511.
[14] See Bill's letter of March 12, and one of March 14, 1776; also
March 26, 1776, printed in Gibbes' _Documentary History of the
American Revolution_ (South Carolina), Vol. I, pp. 266-273. Compare
with letter in Vol. II, p. 62. See also Dunmore's Emancipation
Proclamation issued in November, 1775, in Joseph T. Wilson's
_Emancipation_, pp. 36-37.
[15] _Cyclopedia American Biography_, Vol. I, p. 511. Compare with
Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, edition 1790-1793, pp. 332-333.
[16] Cathcart's _Encyclopedia_, Vol. II, p. 749, and compare article
of John Houston in Appleton's _Cyclopedia of American Biography_, Vol.
III, p. 273.
[17] Appleton's _Cyclopedia of American Biography_, Vol. IV, p. 219.
Compare Vol. III, p. 273. See article, Savannah in Appleton's
_American Cyclopedia_, Vol. III, p. 646.
[18] See Drayton's letter in Gibbes' _Documentary History of American
Revolution_ (South Carolina), Vol. I, p. 162, and for distance from
Silver Bluff compare letter of Tennett, p. 235, note in Lossing's
_Field Book of Revolution_, Vol. II, p. 484.
[19] Gibbes' _Documentary History of the American Revolution_ (South
Carolina), Vol. I, pp. 235-236, letter of Tennett, of September 7,
1775.
[20] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1770-1773, pp. 332-337.
[21] _Ibid._, 1790-1793, p. 344.
[22] White's _History of Georgia_, pp. 246-247; Jones, Vol. II, p.
137.
[23] _State Papers, Indian Affairs_, Vol. I, G. No. 2, p. 32.
[24] See Jonathan Odell, Appleton's _Cyclopedia of American
Biography_, Vol. IV, p. 556; Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_,
1790-1793, p. 481; Bill's _History of the Canadian Baptists_, pp. 26,
176, 653, 657. Compare with Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_ for
1798-1800, p. 336.
[25] Sabine's _American Loyalists_, Vol. I, p. 127. Compare pp.
122-123.
[26] G. W. Hervey, _Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands_, p.
596. Compare article on Sierra Leone in Appleton's _American
Cyclopedia_, Vol. XV, p. 32; also article on Nova Scotia, Vol. XII,
pp. 524-525; See Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp.
481-483. See also article on Sierra Leone in _The Earth and its
Inhabitants_--Africa--Vol. III, p. 207.
[27] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp. 481-484.
[28] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp. 473, 544-545;
1791, p. 336; 1793, pp. 540-541.
[29] Joseph T. Wilson's _Emancipation_, pp. 36-38; Dunmore's
Emancipation Proclamation issued 1775.
[30] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1793, pp. 540-541.
[31] _Ibid._, 1791, p. 336.
[32] White's _Historical Collections of Georgia_, p. 316.
[33] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_, p. 170.
[34] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1798-1801, p. 367. Compare
263.
[35] _Ibid._, p. 263.
[36] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, p. 476.
[37] Benedict's _History_ (edition 1848), p. 723.
[38] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_ (edition 1813), Vol. II, p.
193.
[39] Article on Augusta, Georgia, First Baptist Church of, Cathcart's
_Baptist Encyclopedia_, Vol. I, p. 49.
[40] James M. Simm's _First Colored Baptist Church in North America_,
p. 57.
[41] _Ibid._, pp. 58-59.
[42] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_, edition 1813, Vol. II, p.
193, quoted from Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_.
[43] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1791, p. 336.
[44] White's _Historical Collections of Georgia_, p. 316; Benedict's
_History of the Baptists_ (edition 1848), p. 740. Compare with
Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1793, p. 545. Benedict's _History
of the Baptists_, edition 1848, p. 727, note 5, shows no white
minister was present except Abraham Marshall, and he says here he
"assisted in the constitution of the church, and the ordination of the
minister."
[45] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_ (edition 1813), Vol. II, p.
193.
[46] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1791, p. 332.
[47] Hervey's _Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands_, pp.
611-612; Cox's _History of the British Baptist Missionary Society_,
1792-1842, p. 12. Phillipo, _Jamaica, Past and Present_; E. K. Love's
_History First African Baptist Church_, p. 35; Brown, _Propagation of
Christianity among Heathen_, Vol. II, p. 94.
[48] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1791, p. 336, and compare
Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1790-1793, pp. 476, 481-483.
[49] _Ibid._, 1791, p. 344.
[50] _Ibid._, 1791, p. 336.
[51] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_ (edition 1813), Vol. II, p.
206.
[52] James M. Simm's _The First Colored Baptist Church in North
America_, p. 15.
[53] "Andrew Bryan, and his brother Sampson, who was converted about a
year after Andrew was, were twice imprisoned and they with about fifty
others, without much ceremony, were severely whipped. Andrew was
inhumanly cut and bled abundantly; but while under their lashes he
held up his hands and told his persecutors that he rejoiced not only
to be whipped but would _freely suffer death_ for the cause of
Christ." _Baptist Home Missions in America_, 1832-1882, Jubilee
Volume, p. 388.
[54] Benedict's _History of the Baptists_, edition 1848, p. 170.
Compare with p. 723.
[55] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1793, p. 545.
[56] Rippon's _Annual Baptist Register_, 1793-1801, p. 367. Compare
with Clark's letter, 1790-1793, p. 540.