Campbell, Rev. William J., was born in 1812, and was, until he reached manhood, the servant of Mr. Paulding.

Baptist Church History – Facebook Bill Brinkworth

9/21/23 3h  · Daily Baptist Encyclopedia Post by Jim Curran

Campbell, Rev. William J., was born in 1812, and was, until he reached manhood, the servant of Mr. Paulding. As the body-servant of his master he traveled extensively, and gathered general in- formation. which was valuable to him as a preacher and pastor. He was baptized by Andrew Marshall, and became a member of the First Colored Baptist church in Savannah ; was elected a deacon, and in a few years after this was licensed to preach. An- drew Marshall took a great interest in him, and when he left home on a collecting mission in the North, Wm. J. Campbell was placed in charge of the church. Andrew Marshall never returned, having died in Virginia. Wm. J. Campbell be- came pastor about the year 1856. He entered with energy upon the work of completing the brick building on Franklin Square. He secured means for this purpose at home and abroad. It was fin- ished and opened for worship during the war, and the dedication sermon was delivered by Rev. S. Landrum. It is a very neat and large church edi- fice. Mr. Campbell regarded its dedication to God as sacred. At the close of the war, when other colored churches were opened for political purposes, this was kept closed against all such assemblies. The church became very large. A few years ago a difficulty arose, which resulted in the pastor and deacons, with 700 members, retiring from the build- ing, but claiming still to be the church. After this Mr. Campbell and his friends worshiped in a hall of the Beech Institute. Mr. Campbell was fully African, quite black, about five feet eight inches high. He died on the 10th of October, 1880, aged sixty-eight. He left a wife, but no children. His funeral was attended by twelve or fifteen hundred people from the First Bryan Baptist church, Rev. U. L. Houston pastor. He had the respect of the people of Savannah, and especially of the white population. The pas- torates of Andrew Bryan, Andrew Marshall, and Wm. J. Campbell over the same church, virtually, extended from 1775 to 1880, a period of 105 years.From the Baptist Encyclopedia by William CathcartSketch and grave photo from Findagrave. Church photo taken by me (Jim