FRANKLIN — In a sense, the issue of the Baptist and Reflector that you are currently reading has been 190 years in the making.
Established in 1835, the newspaper ranks among the longest-running publications in the nation.
Here’s a look at the B&R’s historic milestones:
1833 – The first Tennessee Baptist Convention is formed.
January 1, 1835 – THE BAPTIST newspaper is born in Nashville under the direction of pastor R.B.C. Howell, who sees the major limitation of church growth as lack of communication.
1842 – The TBC dissolves and forms into the Baptist General Association of Tennessee.
1848 – Controversial evangelist and writer James R. Graves becomes editor for 41 years. THE BAPTIST, often referred to as Tennessee Baptist, becomes a stage for Landmarkism (the belief that the Baptist church is the one true church), calling out “imposter” pastors by name, with pages loaded with opinion columns.
1861–1865 – Outbreak of the Civil War. The paper does not publish for several months during the war.
1874 – The present-day Tennessee Baptist Convention is formed.
August 1889 – THE BAPTIST merges with American Baptist Reflector of Chattanooga, where Edgar E. Folk is editor, to become Baptist and Reflector. Folk becomes the first editor of the paper to be a Tennessee native.
1895 – Edgar Folk brings other state paper editors together to form the Southern Baptist Press Association, which becomes the Association of State Baptist Publications.
1917 – The era of long editorial tenures ends temporarily after Folk’s death. Three editors follow with short tenures: Albert Bond, Murphy R. Cooper, and Hight C. Moore (who serves as a temporary “caretaker”).
January 1921 – The Tennessee Baptist Convention purchases the newspaper from Murphy Cooper for $15,000. Jesse D. Moore becomes editor.
1925 – Under editor John D. Freeman, the B&R provides coverage of “the Scopes Monkey Trial” held in Dayton. The trial revolves around the inclusion of evolution being taught in public schools.
1935 – Editor Oury Wilburn Taylor celebrates the paper’s 100-year anniversary by publishing a 64-page edition of the B&R that recognizes “100 years of service to our people.”
1950 – Richard N. Owen begins his 18-year stint as editor of the B&R and guides the paper through a time of financial hardships.
1974 – Eura Lannom becomes the first female to serve as interim editor of the Baptist and Reflector.
2015 – The Baptist and Reflector homepage, baptistandreflector.org, is launched with its own URL. For the previous 17 years, dating back to its original launch in 1998, the B&R webpage had been housed on the TBMB page.
The B&R has had 17 editors in its 190-year history. Here are the men and women who served and their years of tenure:
- R.B.C. Howell, 1835-47
- James Graves, 1848-89
- Edgar Folk, 1889-1917
- Albert Bond, 1917-1920
- M.R. Cooper, 1920-21
- Hight Moore, 1921
- Jesse Moore, 1921-25
- Oscar Bryan, 1925
- John Freeman, 1925-33
- Oury Wilburn Taylor, 1933-50
- Richard Owen, 1950-68
- James A Lester, 1968-73
- Eura Lannom, 1974-76 (interim)
- Alvin Shackleford, 1976-87
- Wm. Fletcher Allen, 1987-98
- Lonnie Wilkey, 1998-2024
- Chris Turner, 2025-present
Note: Information for the timeline on page 9 and the list above was taken from Telling the Truth in Love: A Brief History of the Baptist and Reflector from 1835 by former B&R editor Wm. Fletcher Allen, and a 2020 B&R article entitled “Looking Back: The Origin, Editors and Staying Power of the ‘News Journal of Tennessee Baptists’” by Art Toalston.
