Samuel Augustus Hayden (1839–1918) was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

pastor, denominational leader and newspaper publisher. Hayden was born in

Washington Parish, Louisiana Washington Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de Washington'') is a parish located in the interior southeast corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana, one of the Florida Parishes. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,168. Its parish seat is Fr ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on April 7, 1839. He was the son of Allen and Nancy McLendon Hayden. S. A. Hayden married Mary Guion Relya on July 2, 1868 and five children were born to them. After service in the army of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

, he served as a pastor and teacher in Louisiana. He came to Texas in 1874. He pastored churches in Paris, Galveston, and Dallas. He purchased the newspaper ''Texas Baptist'' from

Robert Cooke Buckner The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

in 1883. Thereafter Hayden became a chief proponent of consolidating the five regional bodies, the two newspapers, and the two schools of Baptists in Texas. The consolidation of Baptist bodies was effected in 1886, with the formation of the

Baptist General Convention of Texas The Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) is the oldest surviving Baptist convention in the state of Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist World Alliance. In 2009, the BGCT began to also go by the name ...

. After this consolidation, Hayden purchased the other newspaper, J. B. Link's ''Texas Baptist Herald'', and changed the name to ''Texas Baptist and Herald''.

J. Frank Norris John Franklyn Norris (September 18, 1877 – August 20, 1952) was a Baptist preacher and controversial Christian fundamentalist. Biography J. Frank Norris was born in Dadeville in Tallapoosa County in eastern Alabama, but the family shortly ...

bought the paper in 1907 and it was no longer published after 1908. Hayden and his paper played a major part in a controversy among Texas Baptists at the end of the 19th century. Hayden and others became convinced of financial mismanagement on the part of the corresponding secretary of the Convention and other improprieties associated with the missions board. Through his newspaper he waged war on those activities he thought improper. Hayden was denied a seat as a delegate at the 1897 State Convention, and was eventually expelled from it. This controversy led to the formation of the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas (see Baptist Missionary Association). This association was formed against the advice of Hayden, who wanted to continue the fight within the Convention. Hayden sued over his unseating, which resulted in two hung juries and two victories. Though the victories were appealed, the court actions ended in 1905, when J. B. Cranfill made an out of court settlement and paid $300 to Hayden. Samuel Augustus Hayden died in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

on October 10, 1918.

References

*''A Texas Baptist Power Struggle: The Hayden Controversy'', Joseph E. Early, Jr., University of North Texas Press, 2005; *''Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists, Vol. 1'', Broadman Press, 1958 Baptist ministers from the United States 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) 1839 births 1918 deaths {{US-reli-bio-stub