History
George Liele was a slave whose unusual talent and leadership ability was recognized by both black and white people. He converted about 1774, was baptized, and received into the membership of the Baptist church (white) in Burke County, of which Rev. Matthew Moore was pastor. His master, Mr. Henry Sharpe, who was a deacon in this church, permitted George Liele to visit the neighboring plantations along the Savannah River and preach to the slaves. On one of his visits to Brampton, a plantation owned by Mr. Jonathan Bryan, four slaves became converted, were baptized and became the nucleus of the first black missionary Baptist church. These slaves were Andrew Bryan, his wife Hannah, Kate Hogg and Hagar Simpson. This was George Liele's last recorded visit. Andrew Bryan was also talented, and with permission of Mr. Bryan, began to visit the plantations along the river as far as Yamacraw, preaching to black and white person who gathered to hear him. Mr. Edward Davis (white) permitted the worshipers to erect a rough wooden building on his land in Yamacraw.
Rev. Thomas Burton and Rev. Abraham Marshall (white) became interested in the growing group of worshipers and on January 20, 1788, visited the services. Rev. Marshall baptized 45 converts and ordained Andrew Bryan to the ministry will full authority to preach the gospel and administer the ordinances of the Baptist church. On this same date, he organized the group into what one day would be named the First Bryan Baptist Church, and installed Andrew Bryan as the first pastor. The church continued to hold services, often under adverse and painful conditions, at Brampton and in the temporary building in Yamacraw. Meanwhile, Rev. Bryan was able to secure his freedom from Mr. Bryan for a minimal sum and thereby devoted his time exclusively to his ministry. A third meeting place was provided by Mr. Thomas Gibbons who gave a lot to Andrew Bryan for this purpose. The lot was situated on Mill Street, running to Indian Street Lane. A temporary building was erected there. This lot was conveyed June 1, 1790, to "Free Andrew." The main United States Post Office is now located on this site. With the help of the members and white friends who were sympathetic to the efforts of the church, Rev. Bryan was able to purchase the lot upon which the church now stands for "thirty pounds sterling" (approximately $150.00), and erected a church, making this site the oldest parcel of real estate owned continuously by black people in the United States. This site is described as lot No. 7, Middle Oglethorpe Ward, 95 feet front, and 132 and a half feet deep. The deeds are dated September 4, 1793.
The First Bryan Baptist Church was incorporated by the State of Georgia in 1866, and appears for the first time in the Records of Deeds of Chatham County, September 4, 1793. Rev. Bryan pastored the church until his death in 1812. Andrew C. Marshall became the pastor in 1815.
During the period between 1788 and 1832, the first Sunday School for blacks was organized at this church in 1826 by Mr. Lowell Mason, who also organized the first Sunday School in Savannah, at the Independent Presbyterian Church. He was the first superintendent and was assisted by Messrs. George Coe, John Lewis and James Barr, all members of the Independent Presbyterian Church. This Sunday School was very successful and remained under supervision until December, 1835 when the Presbyterian Church turned it over to First Bryan. It is still in operation.
In 1832, a controversy over doctrine caused the First African Baptist congregation at Bryan Street to split. Some members left, taking with them the name of First African Baptist Church. In 1859, the members of this new congregation (most of whom were slaves) built their current church building on Franklin Square. [2] The congregation became confused and finally hopelessly divided on doctrinal matters and as a result, Rev. Marshall and a large group of members left the mother church in 1832 and moved to Franklin Square where they occupied a building secured from a white congregation, and organized the First African Baptist Church. The remainder of the members stayed on the original site and continued to worship under the leadership of the deacons until 1833.
From 1833 until 1861 First Bryan had six pastors and existed under trying conditions. In 1861, Rev. Ulysses L. Houston became pastor and First Bryan began to prosper and has continued to make phenomenal progress. [3]
Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation
Before the Civil War, and its aftermath, First Bryan's pastor and several church members played integral roles in the emancipation of blacks in Savannah. James Merilus Simms, a trustee and ordained minister of First Bryan, went to Richmond, Virginia in 1862 and returned to Savannah with the preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to share with Savannah's black leadership and population. As a result of his efforts, black Savannah held a celebration dinner with Rev. Ulysses L. Houston giving the invocation and James Porter, the main address on January 1, 1863. Edward Wicks, church clerk for fifty years (1870-1920), was a Union soldier during the Civil War (24th Regiment-U.S. Colored Troops). Ulysses L. Houston and James Merilus Simms, the pastor and trustee respectively, of First Bryan served in the Reconstruction legislature of Georgia from 1869-1871 (they were initially expelled in 1868). [4]
By January 12, 1865, in the Green-Meldrim Mansion, Ulysses L. Houston, pastor, Third African Baptist; Alexander Harris, Deacon and ordained minister, Third African Baptist, and eighteen black ministers from First African Baptist, Second Baptist, Andrew Methodist Chapel, Bishop W. J. Gaines, James Lynch, founder of the Georgia AME Church, and James Porter met with General William T. Sherman, Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, General Oliver Otis Howard, Director Freedmen's Bureau, to discuss the future of former slaves in Savannah. Today, Field Order No. 15 is known in American history as "Forty Acres And A Mule". As a result of this Order, Rev. U. L. Houston led 1,000 blacks to Skidaway Island, where they farmed and raised crops until 1866, when white citizens regained the land.
Current building
August 18, 1873, the congregation, in conference, decided to tear down the building built by Rev. Andrew Bryan and erect a new and modernized edifice for worship. The draft of the plan made by John B. Hogg (white), a civil engineer and city surveyor, free of charge, was shown to the congregation. The plan was accepted on September 29, 1873 at the last communion in the old building. Pictures were made, copies of which were sold for one dollar to help with the building fund.
The cornerstone for the building (present edifice) was laid on October 13, 1873, by the Grand Lodge of Colored Masons in the State of Georgia, attended by two subordinate Lodges. The cornerstone contains a cooper box presented by the Sunday School at a cost of twenty-two dollars. In the box are artifacts given by the members (jewelry, coins, etc.) and receipts, newspaper clippings and other church records.
The labor on the building was done exclusively by black mechanics under the supervision of the architect. The style of architecture is almost pure Corinthian and is similar in design to that of Wesley Chapel in London, England, and the Trinity Methodist Church in Savannah, the plans for which were also made by Mr. Hogg and completed in 1850.
The outer dimensions of the building are: length, 75 feet; breadth, 56 feet; height from the foundation to the peak of the roof, 45 feet; with a belfry above containing a bell. A spacious gallery occupies three sides, with the lower audience room provides a seating capacity of 1,500 persons. On the inside, the distance from the floor to the ceiling is 26 feet. The cost of this building was about $30,000, not including furnishings. A pipe organ was purchased from the Independent Presbyterian Church at a cost of $1,350. This organ was built by H. Knauff Company of Philadelphia in 1856 and was bought by the Presbyterian Church. It was damaged by fire in 1889, and was sold to First Bryan in the early 1890s. It is not in use now but remains as a beautiful showpiece in the sanctuary. Plans are now underway to restore this instrument. The building was completed, and on the evening of January 20, 1888, one hundred years after the organization of this first black Baptist congregation, special services marking this occasion was held for the first time. In this same year the first history of this congregation was written by Rev. James Merilus Simms, an office and member of the church. The history was published by J. B. Lippencott and Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In October 1940, the Yamacraw community became Yamacraw Village when the cornerstone was laid for this well known Federal Housing Project. Over the hears, First Bryan Baptist Church continues to provide spiritual and financial resources to uplift the families in the Yamacraw Village community. In 1956, the Education Building was dedicated. This building contains classrooms, offices and an assembly hall named for Dr. M. P. Sessoms, who served as superintendent for many years, and under whose leadership the Church School was highly organized and functioned effectively as a Christian education center.
The present edifices, built in 1873, still exists at 575 W. Bryan St. Savannah, GA. Both the edifice and educational center are testaments of the faithfulness of God. The site, buildings and furnishings are estimated to be approximately one and a half million dollars. This church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. [1] Tours of the church are available upon request.
