The Alachua and West Florida Baptist Associations were begun in 1847. These two associations with the Florida Baptist Association were the organizing entities that formed The Baptist Convention of the State of Florida in 1854.

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In the 1849 West Florida Baptist Association minutes there are fifteen churches listed as members. These churches had a total of 464 members and had baptized 65 people during that church year. They had dismissed 43 by letter, 22 were "excluded" and three restored.

By the time of the Civil War the association had 19 churches with 870 members. In 1863 they baptized 91, examined four and restored three. The association has had churches in Jackson, Washington, Holmes, Gadsden, and Walton Counties in Florida. They have also had churches from Henry, Geneva, and Houston Counties in Alabama. The associational territory covered an area from Abbeville, Alabama, to Panama City, Florida. There were also churches from DeFuniak Springs to Quincy.

In 1855 the association concluded that in Franklin, Calhoun, Walton, and Holmes Counties there was a population of over 7,000 souls and "very few Baptists." They were hearing a missions call and moved to respond.

In 1856 the association had only twelve ordained ministers and in the 1860 minutes of the association they lamented that their territory was 100 miles by 150 miles with few ministers to serve the area.

One of the most famous families associated with the West Florida Baptist Association was the Mercer family. Silas Mercer was born in North Carolina in 1745. He and his wife had eight children, five sons and two daughters. One of the sons was Jesse Mercer (1769-1854) of West Florida Baptist Association fame.

Hermon was the third son of Silas Mercer and married three times, only to see each wife die. His third wife was "a lady of great purity and a large life-time estate." After her death he was ordained to the ministry in about 1837. Due to asthma he moved from the Albany, Georgia area to Saint Andrews Bay, Florida. He continued to preach until his death in 1854. He had served as a lieutenant and as captain in the War of 1812.

Joshua Mercer served as pastor in the Florida and West Florida Associations and as moderator of the West Florida Baptist Association from 1850 to 1859.

The current West Florida Association has sixteen churches and two missions.

Jerry Windsor is secretary— treasurer of the FBHS and a professor at Baptist College of Florida. This is the fifth in a series of 25 vignettes highlighting FBSC beginnings.