George Washington Baines

===Baptist ministry beginnings===
[[File:George washington baines house 2008.jpg|thumb|The [[George Washington Baines House|G. W. Baines House]]]]
In 1832, he had a conversion experience{{clarification needed|date=November 2023}} in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, under the T.J. Fisher ministry.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Early|first=Joseph Everett|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EpLknrGtI7gC&pg=PA50 |title=A Texas Baptist History Sourcebook: A Companion to McBeth's Texas Baptists|date=2004|publisher=University of North Texas Press|isbn=978-1-57441-176-8|language=en}}{{page needed|date=January 2024}}</ref> He was baptized in Salem Baptist Church at the age of 25, and in 1834 he became licensed to preach by the Philadelphia Baptist Church of [[Tuscaloosa County, Alabama|Tuscaloosa County]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vZkoiIPkq4C&pg=PA159 |title=Boone Co, AR|date=1998|publisher=Turner Publishing Company|isbn=978-1-56311-423-6|language=en}}</ref> He was ordained by the Grant's Creek Baptist Church on August 7, 1836. His father was among the signers of his preaching license and certificate of ordination.<ref name=Ballard/>