Brantly, William T., Jr., D.D., son of the Dr. W. T. Brantly of sainted memory, was born in Beau- fort, S.C

Baptist Church History

3/18/23  · Daily Baptist Encyclopedia Posted by Jim Curran

Brantly, William T., Jr., D.D., son of the Dr. W. T. Brantly of sainted memory, was born in Beau- fort, S.C. He removed with his father, at the ageof nine years, to Philadelphia, where, in 1826, the father became the pastor of the First Baptist church. Under a careful home culture, supple- mented by the training of the best schools, young Brantly was prepared to enter college at an early age. While thus preparing, in 1834, he was bap- tized into the fellowship of the First church of Philadelphia, the baptism being in the Delaware River; and in 1838 he was licensed by the same – church to preach. Having entered Brown Univer- sity, he graduated with distinction in 1840. The same year he was invited to the pastorate of the First Baptist church of Augusta, Ga., which posi- tion he accepted and held with marked success for eight years, during which time the membership was doubled, and the house enlarged to accommo- date the increasing congregation. Dr. Brantly’s varied culture and polished scholarship attracted to his ministrations an unusual number of the more intelligent of the community, and soon the authori- ties of the University of Georgia were anxious to secure his services as one of its faculty of instrue- tion. Accordingly, in 1848 he was elected Professor of Belles-Lettres and Evidences of Christianity and History in that institution, a position which he filled with distinguished ability until 1856. In 1853 he was elected pastor of the First Baptist church, Philadelphia, but declined the invitation.In 1856 he was invited to the pastorate of the Taber- — nacle church in the same city, and anxious to be engaged again in the active and, to him, congenial duties of pastoral life, he accepted the position. He continued to serve the Tabernacle church for five years, during which time he had the pleasure of seeing the membership greatly increase in num- ber and efficiency. In 1861, Dr. Brantly was in- vited to take charge of the Second Baptist church at Atlanta, Ga., where he remained, with the ex- ception of an interruption arising from the troubles of the war, until 1871, in which year he became the pastor of the Seventh Baptist church, Baltimore, Md., succeeding the honored Dr. R. Fuller, when he and a large number of the members of that church withdrew to constitute the present HKutaw Place church. Dr. Brantly still remains pastor of the Seventh church, and is eminently successful in his ministrations. As a preacher, he is earnest, graceful, and instructive; as a pastor, genial, loy- ing, and companionable, and ever a welcome guest in the homes of his people. No one feels a warmer interest in all the denominational movements of the day than he ; while for educational institutions and their instructors he cherishes that ardent and unwavering attachment which stamps him, as by nature, one of the guild. He is an overseer of the Columbian University, and no one is more heartily welcomed to its meetings for business and its com- mencement exercises than himself. The University of Georgia in 1854 conferred on him the honorary degree of D.D. From the Baptist Encyclopedia by William Cathcart