November 10, 1999
B.H. Carroll
___By Alan Lefever
___Generations of Texas Baptists have been the beneficiaries of Benajah Harvey Carroll's titanic struggle with his faith.
___Although raised in a deeply religious home in Mississippi, Carroll remained skeptical of Christianity. At 13, after answering questions concerning the Scriptures from members of his congregation, Carroll was baptized. He quickly realized, however, he had not been converted and asked that his name be removed from the church rolls; the church refused.
___In 1858, Carroll's family moved to Burleson County, Texas. He enrolled as a student
B.H .CARROLL
Photo: Texas Baptist Historical Collection
at Baylor University in Independence the next year. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Carroll left Baylor to join the Texas Rangers, never completing his formal education. Carroll returned to the family home in 1861, marrying a young woman in the community. When the time came for Carroll to return to the Rangers, his wife refused to go, saying she did not love him. Carroll sued for divorce on the grounds of adultery in 1863.
___During this period, Carroll transferred from his Ranger post to the Confederate Army. At the Battle of Mansfield, La., April 8, 1864, Carroll received a near-fatal wound and returned to the family home to recuperate. In 1865, while attending a camp meeting, Carroll had a true conversion experience. He surrendered to preach, and by 1870 was pastor of First Baptist Church in Waco.
___Carroll quickly became well known for his preaching skill and leadership ability, not only locally and statewide, but at the national level as well. His skill as a communicator allowed him--a frontier pastor on the outer boundary of the convention--to rise to prominence.
___Carroll's greatest achievement came with the founding of Southwestern Seminary. As early as 1873, Carroll was giving instruction to ministerial students. Famed missionary William Bagby often recalled his time with Carroll by saying: "Yes, Dr. Carroll and I founded the seminary. He was the faculty, and I was the student body." By 1880, Carroll was leading an "embryonic theological seminary" in connection with Waco University.
___On Aug. 31, 1905, at a meeting of the Baylor board of trustees of which he was chairman, Carroll shared with the board a "vision" of the need for a theological school to educate ministers in the Southwest. In the emotion of the moment following Carroll's presentation, the trustees approved the resolution without even consulting the university's president.
___As the seminary began to establish itself among Texas Baptists, they realized it was in the best interests of both Baylor and the seminary for the institutions to separate. In 1907, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, at Carroll's urging, voted to incorporate the seminary as a separate institution. At the second meeting of the board of trustees, the name was changed from Baylor Seminary to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
___Periods of poor health characterized the final years of Carroll's life. He died at age 70 Nov. 11, 1914.
___Texas Baptist leaders and Baptist newspapers around the country eulogized him. Though Carroll was gone, his influence would continue through his books, his former students and his seminary.
___Alan Lefever is director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection
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