Columbia Star

1963        Celebrating 60 Years      2023

Black History Month and early churches of Richland County



Christianity among African Americans in Richland County dates back to November 30, 1765 when the Congaree Baptist Church was organized in Lower Richland County. The church charter members included numerous slaves owned by neighboring planters. The pastor was Reverend Joseph Reese. Two African American churches emerged from Congaree Baptist Church of Gadsden.

The first was New Light Beulah constituted April 26, 1806. This church was the same as Beulah Baptist Church which had upwards of 200 white members who ceased attending by December of 1867 leaving a totally black congregation. This congregation changed it name to New Light Beulah Baptist Church and was pastored by Reverend William Weston Adams, one of three former slaves ordained November 11, 1865 by Reverend James Lawrence Reynolds, the former pastor of Beulah Baptist Church. Reverend Reynolds resigned from Beulah Baptist in December of 1865 and accepted the pastorate of First Baptist Church of Columbia. This same Reverend Reynolds had served as the president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention twice before 1865 and was a professor at the South Carolina College. It was removed in 1873 when black students started attending.

The second African American Church to come out of Congaree Baptist Church was Red Hill Baptist of Gadsden. This church was composed of more than 500 former slaves who organized themselves into a church in 1868. Red Hill called Brother Jonas Ancrum a former slave of John Clarkson in Eastover. Reverend learned to read and write while in slavery. He led Red Hill Baptist Church until he died on February 24, 1877. Churches birthed from Red Hill include Mt. Zion Baptist of Eastover, Mt. Nebo Baptist of Eastover, and Pleasant Grove Baptist of Gadsden.

Columbia’s First Baptist Church was organized in 1809 with most of the church council being from Congaree Baptist Church. Columbia First Baptist likewise had a large number of African American members. One of those members was Celia Mann who was baptized in 1837. She along with other black members started withdrawing from First Baptist in 1864 and informally organized in 1865. Leaders of this informal congregation were Brother Samuel H. Johnson and Frank Dobbins. On March 3, 1866, this group was formally constituted into Calvary Baptist Church. Brothers Samuel H. Johnson and Frank Dobbins were candidates for pastor. Reverend Johnson was elected pastor, but shortly thereafter members supporting Reverend Dobbins withdrew and organized First African Baptist Church between late April and early May of 1866. First African later joined the Zion Association of Georgia and changed the name to Zion Baptist Church. Despite Reverend Dobbins being called pastor of Zion Baptist Church, his son, Deacon Henry Dobbins, remained with Calvary Baptist and served as the church’s first clerk and Sunday School superintendent because he could both read and write.

The second church to evolve from Calvary Baptist Church was Nazareth Baptist constituted December 14, 1877. Nazareth’s first pastor was Reverend Virgil Parker of Orangeburg, a Benedict Institute student. Nazareth was not the mother church of Second Nazareth organized around 1903. Second Nazareth’s founder was Reverend Ralph Myers, a son of the New Light Beulah Baptist Church of Lower Richland County.

Second Calvary Baptist Church was organized in 1889 after a dispute arose over whether to accept Reverend Albert Prince Dunbar back after having pursued additional education in theology from Virginia Union University in Richmond Virginia. Second Calvary temporarily secured Brother David Cooper and then called Reverend A.P. Dunbar.

Richland County’s first African American Presbyterian Church came out of First Presbyterian Church of Columbia in 1860. First Presbyterian had been organized in 1795 with a few slaves making up its membership. Prior to 1860, a Sunday School was organized for the Black members of First Presbyterian, however, Reverend George Whitfield Ladson organized the church and served as pastor until 1864. Ladson continued with students from the seminary as supply pastors until the church was granted independence in 1878. Reverend Mack C. Johnson, a Howard University graduate, was called as pastor.

St. Luke Episcopal Church, another early black church, was constituted in an informal setting from Trinity Cathedral in 1871. Reverend Benjamin B. Babbitt, white, was the first pastor and professor at the South Carolina College in 1873, the same year that the church was formally organized. This church was considered the home of Columbia’s black elite and included earlier wardens, Christopher Haynesworth and E. N. Wallace.Warden Haynesworth’s daughter, Zenobia married former Senator Swails son, Floring ,on December 16, 1897. Most of the earlier members of St. Luke were wealthy and had lighter complexions. This writer’s great grandfather Abram Roberts and his family were members of this church.

Bethel AME Church organized October 23, 1865, was a daughter of Washington Street and Main Street (formerly Marion Street) Methodist Churches. This church was constituted with more than 900 members. The first pastor was Reverend Aesop Smith. Church deed records also indicate that Reverend Simon Miller was briefly pastor. During reconstruction many of Bethel’s members ran for and were elected city, county, state, and federal officials. State Senator William Beverly Nash was not a member but he visited the church very often. Pastor William H. Brown was the first black Richland County superintendent of education. Bethel AME was responsible for the property used to construct Howard School. A very disruptive dispute over church property received national attention and very seriously challenged the structure of the African Methodist Church. The court decision split the church and resulted in the organizing of Sidney Park CME Church.

Sidney Park CME Church was organized in 1887. Charter members of Sidney Park CME included dismissed trustees from Bethel AME Church. They included S.B. Wallace, Lewis L. Brown (former city council member), A. Wise, A. Coultry, and Thomas Bacon. Sidney Park CME grew to more than 1,500 members by 1900.

Several blocks away, Wesley Methodist Episcopal Mission was started by Reverend J. C. Emerson in 1869. After formal organization in 1870, Reverend V. H. Bulkley was called as the first pastor. Reverend J. E. Lowery was called as Wesley’s second pastor. Henry Cordoza, the third pastor, was related to South Carolina’s Secretary of State and Treasurer Reverend Francis Cordoza. Wesley’s first known superintendent of Sunday School was Professor J. D. Whitaker. The best-known Sunday School superintendent was Brother Samuel Isaac Leevy, a transplant from Kershaw County.

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