Richard furman biography
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Richard Furman papers
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Collection
Identifier: MSS-0549
No requestable containers
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of photocopies of various documents bygd Richard Furman including letters, news clippings, written class work, and poetry bygd Margaret A.E. Furman. Several of the letters are to the former President of the University of Alabama, Basil Manly, during the mid 1850s concerning various subjects. There fryst vatten also a letter concerning his opinion on race relations dated December 24, 1867. The collection also contains poetry written bygd his wife, Margaret A.E. Furman, between 1845 and 1862 the year she died. Also
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Richard Furman
Richard Furman (9 October 1755 – 25 August 1825) was a Baptist leader from Charleston, South Carolina, United States. He was elected in 1814 as the first president of the Triennial Convention, the first nationwide Baptist association. Later he was the first president of the South Carolina State Baptist Convention.[1]
Early years
[edit]Furman was born in Esopus, New York.[2] He was raised in Charleston, South Carolina in a family of evangelical Calvinists. He had little formal education, but was taught mathematics and sciences by his father and taught himself several languages including Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Through his self-directed studies he also gained extensive knowledge of history, theology, and medicine. Furman accepted the Baptist faith in 1771 aged 16, and began to preach at that early age. He was ordained as pastor of High Hills church two years later. During the American War of Independence (1775–1783) Furman volunteered
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If Dr. Richard Furman had listened to one of his high school teachers, he would have given up on his dream of being a doctor. As he struggled in chemistry his senior year amid a newly implemented testing system, his professor advised him against taking the pre-med track in college.
Instead, the Mercer University alumnus followed the advice of another teacher, who took him aside and told him not to abandon his goal. He earned high marks in two science courses at Mercer that summer and knew he was on his way. He went on to become a cardiothoracic surgeon and co-found World Medical Mission, the medical ministry of Samaritan’s Purse.
Building a foundation at Mercer
Dr. Furman, a 1962 graduate of Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, grew up in Rome and worked at a Clayton summer camp for three summers. About 80% of the staff there attended Mercer, so that was the only place he applied for college.
“I didn’t even go to visit the school. That’s where I knew