Today’s New York Times publishes an editorial suggesting that the time has come, for the sake of the nation, that the four denominations that split prior to the war, reunite. The four denominations in question are: Old-School Presbyertians New-School Presbyterians Methodists Baptists The article treats the organizations in aggregate, as well as offering some comments…
Established in 1841, the First Colored Baptist Church of Nashville consisted of slave members of the white-led First Baptist Church. From that point until the Civil War, the church functioned under the legally-required supervision of white Baptist leaders. Nelson G. Merry, a former mulatto slave, served as the church’s first pastor. With Merry as pastor…
Born a slave in Virginia in 1802, Wilkes B. Flagg learned the blacksmith trade in Georgia. His owners also allowed him to learn to read and write. With extra money earned from blacksmithing, Flagg purchased his freedom and that of his family. By 1850, Flagg had become a Baptist minister while he continued his blacksmithing.…