The action that founded the Furman Institution was taken by the Baptist State Convention of South Carolina late in the year 1825. It is, therefore, the oldest of the Baptist institutions of the South. From that date to the present time it has been under the direct control of the Baptist denomination as organized in the State Convention. Dr. Richard Furman, for whom it was named, was the first President of the Triennial Convention and the founder and first President of the South Carolina State Convention. - Preface.