Eugene J. Carter was born a slave in Butler Springs, Alabama on November 20, 1861. As a young boy, he was moved to Snow Hill, Ala. where he was licensed to preach in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (A. M. E. Z.). Carter served as pastor in A. M. E. Z. churches in North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Alabama. In December 1903, Carter was baptized into the First Baptist Church in Selma, Ala. by Rev. W. T. Coleman. Within one week of conversion, Carter was ordained and designated a state missionary. Much of Carter's motivation for conversion from Methodism to Baptism stemmed from his doctrinal disagreement with the A. M. E. Z. church over the issue of baptism.

Karen Ruffle