United States, Georgia, Chatham County, Savannah, 32.08354, -81.09983Simms, James M. (James Meriles)1888James Simms, Georgia state legislator, pastor and church officer, writes the centennial history of the First Byran African Baptist Church in Savannah, in an effort to claim the title of first African American Baptist Church in North America away from the First African Baptist Church of Savannah, Ga. Beneath the story of church quarrels is a historical record of the struggles associated with establishing, running and expanding a church for African Americans during the period from 1788 to 1888. The book reports on the Church's condition in 1888 and provides biographical sketches of its pastors.Title from electronic title page.Includes bibliographical references (p. [48]).This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digitization project's database, Documenting the American South. It is a part of the collection The Church in the Southern Black community.Text in both HTML and SGML formats.Funding from the Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition supported the electronic publication of this title.engTranscribed from: The first Colored Baptist church in North America : constituted at Savannah, Georgia, January 20, A.D. 1788 : with biographical sketches of the pastors / written for the church by Rev. James M. Simms. Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott Co., 1888. 264 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project)http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/African American Baptists--Georgia--Savannah--HistoryAfrican American churches--Georgia--Savannah--HistoryAfrican Americans--Georgia--ReligionSavannah (Ga.)--Church historyAfrican American clergy--BiographyBaptists--Georgia--Savannah--HistoryFirst African Baptist Church (Savannah, Ga.)--HistoryFirst Bryan Baptist Church (Savannah, Ga.)--HistoryFirst Colored Baptist Church (Savannah, Ga.)--HistoryGeorgia--Church historyThe first Colored Baptist church in North America : constituted at Savannah, Georgia, January 20, A.D. 1788 : with biographical sketches of the pastors / written for the church by Rev. James M. Simms.Text