History

Long before the American Revolution, Baptists, then called dissenters, were preaching in this village where the Anglican (Episcopal) Church was established faith.

The Baptist Church of Beaufort was a "branch" of Euhaw Baptist Church on the mainland when Rev. Henry Holcomb became the first resident mission pastor in 1795. Holcombe later organized Savannah First Baptist, then accepted the influential pulpit of Philadelphia First Baptist. There, in 1814, he hosted a national gathering of mission-minded men who formed the first Baptist congress in the land, the Triennial Convention.

Thomas Jefferson was president when we formally constituted as The Baptist Church of Beaufort in 1804. An early convert was the pastor's cousin, attorney William B. Johnson, who changed careers and stepped onto the Baptist scene. He helped start Furman Academy (University) and Southern Seminary, in addition to several important South Carolina churches. For 27 years he was president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, the first organized state convention. Not only was Johnson the only man present at both the founding of the Triennial Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention, he was the only man to serve as president of both. W. B. Johnson, baptized in Beaufort, is considered the architect of the 1845 Southern Baptist Convention.