Sampey Family History & Genealogy

Served in the itinerant ministry for 13 years, riding the circuits in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. Was Methodist but became Baptist. Purchases home in Ramer Alabama. Preached to Negro baptists. There was no hotel or Inn in the village and strangers were directed to stay at "parson Sampeys house at the head of the street" Conducted worship in the family just before breakfast and just after supper. usually read 15-20 verses of scripture and then brief prayer. Had a farm of 500 acres just north of Ramer. Raised ewe lambs. Had a small tanyard and half interest in one of the village stores. Purchased a steam cotton gin and grist mill. Died at age of 59

John Richard Sampey was one of the most significant figures in Southern Baptist life in the early part of the Twentieth Century. During his career he served as a pastor, a seminary professor, a seminary president, the chairman of the International Sunday School Lesson Committee, and the President of the Southern Baptist Convention.

John R. Sampey was born in Fort Deposit, Alabama to James L. and Louisa Cochran Sampey. James Sampey, a farmer by trade, served as an itinerant Methodist preacher until he and his wife converted to Baptist principles when John was very young. During Reconstruction, the elder Sampey began preaching to a congregation of African-American Baptists, and John would often sit behind him as he preached. Since Alabama's public education system only supplied three months worth of education each year, John's parents paid for an additional six months of education, thereby providing him with better educational opportunities than many children in the post-bellum south. When he was fourteen, Sampey became a Christian after feeling much distress over his own sinfulness. In 1870, Sampey's church licensed him to preach, and shortly thereafter he attended Howard College and earned his A. B. in three years.

In 1882, Sampey attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and studied under James P. Boyce, John A. Broadus, and Basil Manly, Jr. He earned the degree of full graduate in three years and was intending to serve as a missionary to Mexico, but upon the completion of his degree the seminary faculty requested that he join them as an assistant instructor in Greek, Hebrew, and Homiletics. Sampey later conceded his Greek class to his former student A. T. Robertson and concentrated his efforts on teaching Old Testament and Hebrew, thus becoming the most influential Southern Baptist Old Testament scholar of his time. Sampey published works in a variety of areas, writing not only about the Old Testament, but also publishing a history of the seminary, a history of the International Sunday School Lesson Committee, and a work on the ethical teachings of Jesus. He continually taught at the Seminary for fifty-seven years.

Sampey began pastoring immediately after graduating seminary and pastored multiple churches during his life. His preaching skills, however, were not merely confined to the churches where he served, since he was often in high demand as a revival preacher. In later life, He preached nearly every week on the Baptist Hour radio show in Louisville. He served three terms as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, from 1935-1938, and his influence extended beyond Baptist life through his working on the International Sunday School Lesson Committee for forty-six years both as a member and as chairman.

Sampey spent thirteen of the last years of his life as the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He assumed the presidency during the Great Depression after the death of his colleague E. Y. Mullins, and guided the seminary through an exceedingly difficult financial situation that threatened its existence. In 1938, an endowed chair of Old Testament was named after Sampey in honor of his scholarship and dedication to Southern Seminary. He resigned the presidency of Southern Seminary in 1942, yet he continued to teach Hebrew for another year before his full retirement. After three years of retirement, John Richard Sampey departed to be with his Savior on August 8, 1946.