George Washington Baines

==Early life==
Baines was born near the Atlantic Ocean in either [[Chowan County, North Carolina|Chowan County]],<ref name=Ark/> or [[Perquimans County, North Carolina]],<ref name=Ballard>{{Cite web|last=Ballard|first=D. La Pierre|title=The Reverend George Washington Baines, Pioneer Texas Baptist Preacher, and President of Baylor University|url=https://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/freestone/bios/gwbaines.txt|website=US GenWeb Archives|date=March 4, 2006|access-date=May 21, 2020|archive-date=December 4, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204021334/http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/freestone/bios/gwbaines.txt|url-status=dead}}</ref> on December 29, 1809, to Thomas Baines, a Baptist minister, and Mary (''[[née]]'' McCoy) Baines. Baines was the eldest of ten children and was raised in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and [[Alabama]] where he spent most of his childhood. His family moved to a farm near [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama]], in 1818.<ref name=TSHA>{{Cite web|title=Baines, George Washington, Sr.|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fba14|last=Summerlin|first=Travis L.|date=June 12, 2010|work=The [[Handbook of Texas]] Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=May 20, 2020}}</ref> Baines entered the [[University of Alabama]], later leaving due to poor health in 1836.<ref name=Ark/>