Richard DeBaptiste

Richard DeBaptiste (November 11, 1831 – April 21, 1901) was a Baptist minister in Chicago, Illinois. Before the abolition of slavery, he was an abolitionist and worked with his close relative, George DeBaptiste in the Underground Railroad, mainly in Detroit, Michigan. His ministry took him to Ohio, and in 1863, to Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago. He was a leader in the local and national Baptist community. He also was a journalist, serving as editor or correspondent to various newspapers and journals.

Early life Richard DeBaptiste was born free in Fredericksburg, Virginia on November 11, 1831, to free people of color William and Eliza DeBaptiste. He was educated in secret, first by a black man and then by a Scots-Irish man who had been a teacher in Scotland. and had been born on the island of St. Kitt's. His uncle, George DeBaptiste, fought for the US in the War of 1812. Richard had two brothers, George and Benjamin, who both took part in the American Civil War (1861–1865).

Move to Detroit, Michigan In 1846, There he continued his education under Richard Dillingham, a Quaker; and Reverend Samuel H. Davis, pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Detroit.

After moving to Chicago, DeBaptiste also worked with noted abolitionists John and Mary Jones.

Detroit and Mount Pleasant DeBaptiste had converted to the Baptist religion in 1852 at the Second Baptist Church in Detroit under Reverends William P. Newman and D. G. Lett. He was immediately active at that church and taught at the Sunday School. Later he became ordained as a Baptist preacher.

DeBaptiste married Georgiana Brische of Cincinnati, Ohio in October 1855. She was the daughter of James and Louisa Brischo. The couple lived in Detroit until 1858, when they moved to Mount Pleasant, Hamilton County, Ohio. They had three children together. Georgiana died November 2, 1872. Their daughter, Georgia Mabel DeBaptiste (born November 24, 1867), became a noted journalist.

The widower DeBaptiste married again on July 13, 1885. His second wife, Mary E. Grant, died of tuberculosis, then often a fatal illness, in April 1886.

DeBaptiste held numerous leadership positions in local and national Baptist organizations. He was elected corresponding secretary of the Wood River Association, serving from 1856 to 1887. He was elected recording secretary of the Northwestern and Southern Baptist convention in 1865 in St. Louis, Missouri. At the 1866 annual meeting, he was elected corresponding secretary. He was elected president of the consolidated American Baptist Missionary convention in Nashville, Tennessee in 1867 and reelected for the following four years, including in 1870 at Wilmington, North Carolina, although he did not attend. In 1870, he was elected president of the Baptist Free Mission Society, a white organization, at their meeting in Cincinnati. Also in 1870, he was elected corresponding secretary of the American Baptist National Convention, which met August 25–29 in St. Louis.

He worked closely with Illinois' first black state legislator, John W. E. Thomas. He was also president of the Cook County Building and Loan Association of Chicago, an African-American group organized to promote black business. he was co-editor with Reverend G. C. Booth at the Chicago Conservator. From September 1884 to December 1885, he was editor of the Western Herald. He was corresponding editor of Reverend H. H. White's Monitor, based in St. Louis, Missouri, and was corresponding editor of Reverend R. L. Perry's National Monitor out of Brooklyn.

He died April 21, 1901, in Chicago.