Richard Furman

Richard Furman (October 9, 1755 – August 25, 1825) was an American Baptist leader from Charleston, South Carolina. He was elected in 1814 as the first president of the Triennial Convention (now American Baptist Churches USA). He later served as the first president of the South Carolina State Baptist Convention.

Early years

Furman was born in Esopus, New York. He was raised in Charleston, South Carolina, in a family of evangelical Calvinists. He had little formal education, but was taught mathematics and sciences by his father and taught himself several languages including Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Through his self-directed studies, he also gained extensive knowledge of history, theology, and medicine. Furman accepted the Baptist faith in 1771 aged 16, and began to preach at that early age. He was ordained as pastor of High Hills church two years later.

During the American War of Independence (1775–1783), Furman volunteered to serve in the colonial army, but was persuaded that his talents could better be used as a speaker in gaining support for the cause. On the fall of Charleston to British forces in 1780, General Charles Cornwallis announced a £1,000 bounty for his capture, and he was forced to flee the state. As moderator of the Charleston Baptist association, he arranged for funding for the education of young ministers and for funding of missionary activity in the state. Furman was a founder of the Charleston Bible Society and the Religious Tract Society.

Marriage and family

Furman married Elizabeth Haynsworth in November 1772, and they had four children before her death in 1787: a son who died at birth, Rachel, Wood, and Richard (died in infancy).

In May 1789 Furman married Dorothea Burn, and this marriage produced thirteen children: Richard, Samuel, John Gano (died in infancy), Josiah, Charles Manning, Maria Dorothea, Henry Hart, Sarah Susanne, John Gano (2nd), Thomas Fuller, James Clement, Anne Eliza, and William. His son James Clement Furman (1809–1891), also a Baptist minister, was Furman University's first president.

Views on slavery

As a young man he opposed slavery, but later he became a slave owner and came to support the practice on both economic and moral grounds.