George Washington Baines (December 29, 1809 – December 28, 1882) was an American politician, Baptist preacher, journalist, slaveowner, and educator. He was a co-founder and the third president of Baylor University, while the university was located in Independence, Texas, during the American Civil War.
He was the maternal great-grandfather of the 36th U.S. president, Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Early life
Baines was born near the Atlantic Ocean in either Chowan County,[1] or Perquimans County, North Carolina,[2] on December 29, 1809, to Thomas Baines, a Baptist minister, and Mary (née McCoy) Baines. Baines was the eldest of ten children. The Baines family moved to Georgia in 1817, and then in 1818 to a farm near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he spent most of his childhood.[3][4] Baines entered the University of Alabama, later leaving due to poor health in 1836.[1] He paid his expenses by cutting and rafting timber.[5]
Career
Baptist ministry beginnings
In 1832, he had a conversion experience[clarification needed] in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, under the T.J. Fisher ministry.[6] He was baptized in Salem Baptist Church at the age of 25, and in 1834 he became licensed to preach by the Philadelphia Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa County.[7] He was ordained by the Grant's Creek Baptist Church on August 7, 1836. His father was among the signers of his preaching license and certificate of ordination.[2]
Political career in Arkansas
In 1837, he settled in Carroll County, Arkansas, moving in an effort to recuperate from his recurring dyspepsia.[4] He lived along Crooked Creek, about two miles southwest of present-day Harrison, Arkansas, the area today lies in Boone County. He soon after resumed his religious calling and helped to establish three churches, where he then preached. During this time, he was a missionary for the Baptist Home Mission Society of New York. In 1842, Baines was elected as a Democrat to the Arkansas House of Representatives, representing Carroll County from November 7, 1842, to February 4, 1843. As a representative, Baines was a member of several select committees, including one to create Newton County.[1][8] He was expelled by his church in Arkansas when it was seized by "hard shell Baptists" whose main point of disagreement with Baines was the concept of predestination.[9]
Move to Louisiana
Baines baptized more than 100 people in Arkansas, where he lived for seven years, before moving to Mount Lebanon, Louisiana, with his family in July 1844.[10] He was a pastor at the Rehoboth Baptist Church in Mt. Lebanon[5] and was called as the first pastor of the Minden Baptist Church in Minden, Louisiana. He simultaneously pastored at Minden, Mt. Lebanon, Homer, and Saline. Baines was also the superintendent of schools in Bienville Parish.[3] He was responsible for organizing the Louisiana Baptist Convention in 1848.[9]
Later life in Texas
Baines moved to Huntsville, Texas, with his family in 1850. In Huntsville, he was the pastor[11] and personal minister for Sam Houston.[12] He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Baylor University from 1851 until 1859.[13] Baines, working almost singlehandedly, established the Texas Baptist in 1855 in Anderson, Texas. He arranged the printing of the paper with R. A. Van Horn, publisher of Anderson's Central Texian. A former Baylor University professor, J. B. Stiteler, joined Baines as assistant editor.[14] Baines became the first editor of the first Baptist newspaper in Texas, the Texas Baptist, while a member of the Board of Baylor. After Rufus Columbus Burleson departed the presidency of Baylor University for Waco University, Baines was appointed president by the Board, until they could find a suitable replacement for Burleson and during the Civil War.[13] On July 27, 1861, Baines was awarded with an honorary Master of Arts degree by Baylor University.[4] After his first year as president, the trustees found it difficult to find anyone to lead the financially-plagued university, and asked Baines to continue as president.[13] Health issues forced him to resign from the position. Shortly after leaving Baylor he moved to Fairfield, Texas, where his wife and youngest son died.[4]
He devoted his life as a Christian leader; even with his chronic dyspepsia, he was a field agent of the Baptist State Convention for several years. After the death of his second wife in January 1882, he lived with his daughter Anna in Belton, Texas. Baines died on December 28, 1882, of malaria, a day before his 73rd birthday. At the time he was a pastor at Salado.[4]
Political and social views
Baines was a member of the Democratic Party when he was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives between 1842 and 1843. He introduced resolutions asking the United States Congress to turn over "refuse lands" and worked to adopt the paper ballot and end voice voting.[1]
Slavery
Baines was an owner of slaves, along with the other three founders of Baylor University. In the 1850 census, Baines is recorded as the owner of two slaves when he was the pastor of a church in Huntsville. In the 1860 census, when he was a pastor in Anderson at the time, Baines is recorded as the owner of eight slaves.[13]
^Arkansas Biennial Report of the Secretary of State John W. Crockett, Tunnah & Pittard, 1903, Fourth Legislature Held November 7, 1842-February 4, 1843, pg. 123-124
