Richard
Furman was my 5x great-grandfather on my daddy’s side. If you’re from the south,
and especially if you have any Baptist in you, his name may ring a bell. Furman
University in Greenville, SC was named for him. My mama’s sister graduated from
there in the 1950’s.
As far as I
can tell, Richard Furman was the Billy Graham of his day. The Baptists were
just getting started as a denomination then: they had their first national gathering
to organize in 1814 in Philadelphia. Reverend Furman, who was by then the
pastor of the already rich and powerful first Baptist Church of Charleston, was
elected president at that first meeting.
But Richard
Furman was rich and powerful in his own right as well. He owned at least four
plantations, with many enslaved people on each and every one. In fact, he
regularly preached from the pulpit that slavery was “ordained by God.” That worked
out well for him, I guess.
And one more
thing: Furman’s first wife, Elizabeth, died shortly before he accepted the position
at First Baptist of Charleston in 1787. In 1789, at the age of 35, he married
again. His second wife was Dorothea, who was 15 years old when they wed. She
bore thirteen children before she died at the age of 45. He called her “Dolly;”
she called him Mr. Furman until the very end.
I don’t yet
know what all this long-ago history means to me. I somehow carry it at a
cellular level, despite the ministers closer to me on the family tree, who
tried to do the right thing. The first step is for me to learn
this history and to face it head-on.
I wonder
when Furman University will be ready to do the same.
