There is still another case, in which the order of things is reversed,
and this the most remarkable in the history of the South. In 1798
there appeared in southwest Mississippi a colored Baptist preacher,
Joseph Willis, a mulatto, who being duly licensed was very zealous to
exercise his gift as a minister. In 1804 he crossed the Mississippi
River and began a work into which he put a half century of earnest
endeavor. After preaching at Vermillion and Plaquemine Brule for eight
years, amidst hardships and bitter persecutions, unaided and alone,
and sacrificing a small fortune in the struggle, he was able, with the
aid of visiting ministers, to constitute the first Baptist Church at
Bayou Chicot. Other churches, the fruits of his labors, soon sprang
into being, and in 1818 the Louisiana Baptist Association was
constituted, with these churches as a nucleus. Joseph Willis was
pastor of the church at Bayou Chicot for a number of years. As
moderator of the Louisiana Baptist Association he was honored and
respected--indeed, beloved and spoken of as "Father Willis." That a
Negro should have the honor of giving to Louisiana its first mixed
Baptist church and of being the pastor of that church--that a Negro
was the first moderator of Louisiana's first white Baptist
association,[4] and rendered the denomination fifty years of service,
causes us greatly to marvel in these days of race division and race
antipathy.