Hosea Holcombe
Encyclopedia
Hosea Lot Holcombe was Alabama
's first church historian, as noted on his marker in Bessemer, Alabama
.
He was a Baptist
evangelist and missionary, who moved from the Carolinas to Alabama in 1818.
He was President of the Alabama Baptist Convention from 1833 to 1838.
Asked to write a history of the church, he traveled throughout the state collecting material for his History of Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Alabama, published in 1840 a year before his death.
Lot Holcombe was born near Cross Keys, Union District, South Carolina on July 20, 1780, and assumed his father's name of Hosea when his father died in 1789.
He married his first cousin, Cassandra Jackson, on June 7, 1801.
He was licensed to preach, and was ordained as a Baptist minister about 1805.
Holcombe was influenced to dedicate his life to evangelistic leadership of the Baptists by the Rev. Luther Rice
, whom he met in 1816.
In 1818 he moved to Jefferson County, Alabama
where he joined Cannon Baptist Church in old Jonesboro.
He served as pastor of Ruhama Baptist Church 1819-1821, and subsequently was pastor of several other churches, some of which he helped establish.
He was pastor of the Rock Creek Baptist Church between 1822 and 1828, while also preaching at other churches during the same period.
Holcombe was one of the founders of the Alabama Baptist State Convention in 1823, and was its president from 1833 to 1838.
He deplored factional struggles between the Alabama Baptists, and insisted on the need to maintain doctrinal purity.
In the preface to his book, he notes that he was requested to undertake the work by the Alabama Baptist State Convention in 1834, and urged to continue over the ensuing years in which he traveled 4,000 or 5,000 miles and wrote about 600 letters to obtain material.
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
's first church historian, as noted on his marker in Bessemer, Alabama
Bessemer, Alabama
Bessemer is a city outside of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States eight miles west of Hoover. The population was 29,672 at the 2000 Census, but by the 2009 U.S...
.
He was a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
evangelist and missionary, who moved from the Carolinas to Alabama in 1818.
He was President of the Alabama Baptist Convention from 1833 to 1838.
Asked to write a history of the church, he traveled throughout the state collecting material for his History of Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Alabama, published in 1840 a year before his death.
Lot Holcombe was born near Cross Keys, Union District, South Carolina on July 20, 1780, and assumed his father's name of Hosea when his father died in 1789.
He married his first cousin, Cassandra Jackson, on June 7, 1801.
He was licensed to preach, and was ordained as a Baptist minister about 1805.
Holcombe was influenced to dedicate his life to evangelistic leadership of the Baptists by the Rev. Luther Rice
Luther Rice
Luther Rice , was a Baptist minister and missionary to India, who helped form a missionary-sending body that became the modern Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention...
, whom he met in 1816.
In 1818 he moved to Jefferson County, Alabama
Jefferson County, Alabama
Jefferson County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, with its county seat being located in Birmingham.As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Jefferson County was 658,466...
where he joined Cannon Baptist Church in old Jonesboro.
He served as pastor of Ruhama Baptist Church 1819-1821, and subsequently was pastor of several other churches, some of which he helped establish.
He was pastor of the Rock Creek Baptist Church between 1822 and 1828, while also preaching at other churches during the same period.
Holcombe was one of the founders of the Alabama Baptist State Convention in 1823, and was its president from 1833 to 1838.
He deplored factional struggles between the Alabama Baptists, and insisted on the need to maintain doctrinal purity.
In the preface to his book, he notes that he was requested to undertake the work by the Alabama Baptist State Convention in 1834, and urged to continue over the ensuing years in which he traveled 4,000 or 5,000 miles and wrote about 600 letters to obtain material.