Samuel David Ferguson was born in
Charleston, South Carolina, on January 1, 1842. He moved with his family to Liberia when he was six years old. He was ordained a deacon on December 28, 1865, and a priest on March 15, 1868. He was consecrated as bishop on June 24, 1885, (
Saint John the Baptist's Feast Day) at
Grace Church, New York, becoming the first member of the
House of Bishops of African descent. He married Mary Leonora Montgomery. As
Missionary Bishop of Liberia, he founded what is now
Cuttington University. Ferguson also established the
Bromley Mission School. One of his protégés,
Raphael Morgan, became an Episcopal priest in the United States but ultimately converted to the Russian Orthodox Church. Ferguson remained in Liberia until his death in
Monrovia in 1916. ==See also==