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“F” is for Furman, Richard (1755-1825)

“F” is for Furman, Richard (1755-1825), Minister, educator. A native of New York, Furman’s family moved to South Carolina and settled in St. Thomas Parish. He was educated at home and mastered both Latin and Greek. In 1770, the family moved to the High Hills of the Santee. There, Furman was converted in 1771, embracing the evangelistic Calvinism of Separate Baptists. He was ordained in 1774 and served as the pastor of the High Hills Baptist Church (1774-1787) and Charleston Baptist Church (1787-1825). An ardent champion of religious liberty, Furman helped set the stage for the disestablishment of the Church of England in South Carolina. Richard Furman greatly influenced the development of the Baptist denomination and was a founder and president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, the first statewide Baptist organization in the United States.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.