On February 4, 1843, the first issue of The Alabama Baptist was printed in
Marion, Alabama. The Association of Brethren appeared on the masthead as the owners and editors. The association was composed of
Milo Parker Jewett,
James H. DeVotie, Gen. Edwin Davis “E.D.” King and
Julia Tarrant Barron. All were active members of
Siloam Baptist Church in Marion and were financially able to secure the paper's future. That autumn, convention messengers adopted a resolution calling The Alabama Baptist the organ through which convention officers would communicate with the churches, and Baptists finally had a voice. The resolution “urgently” recommended the paper be placed in every Baptist home in the state, and it “warmly” commended the “energy and liberality” of those who started the paper. But the 1843 report of the Committee on Periodicals of the State Convention made it clear that the convention had no liabilities for what the independent paper published. A few historians over the years have suggested that a paper called
The Family Visitor was a precursor to
The Alabama Baptist newspaper, but no written accounts have survived to support this claim. Alabama Baptist State Convention annuals from 1833 through 1863 make no reference to
The Family Visitor being a denominational publication. == Editors==