Just One of 'Em

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.