Andrew Bryan
Georgia African-American Baptist Minister

      Andrew Bryan was born a slave in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Andrew Bryan (1737-1812) became a Christian and a Baptist leader, helping to establish the colony’s first African-American Baptist church in Savannah, Georgia.

      After being transported to Savannah by his owner Jonathan Bryan, Bryan became a Christian under the preaching of an African-American minister named George Liele. Bryan assumed leadership of Liele’s congregation after Liele left for Jamaica.

      Andrew’s brother, Sampson, was also converted as a Christian and helped his brother preach despite beatings and imprisonment they both received.

      Eventually Bryan bought his and his family’s freedom and continued to see his church grow. Even after his death, at the age of 75 in 1812, his work still bore fruit, and the membership in First African Baptist Church had grown to 2,795 by 1831.

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[From the New Georgia Encyclopedia, via the Georgia Historical Society On-line. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.] .

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