Henry Cunningham (1759 – March 29, 1842) was a formerly enslaved African-American Baptist minister who was the first minister of the Second African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Their former home, at 117–119 Houston Street in Savannah, is considered the oldest building constructed for a person of color in that city.
Life and career
Cunningham was born in 1759. He served as the first minister of the Second African Baptist Church in Greene Square, Savannah, Georgia, between 1802 and 1833. He established the church with 25 other Baptists.
In 1810,Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District – Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011), p. 31 he had built today's home at 117–119 Houston Street in Savannah, today known as the Henry Cunningham House.
Death Cunningham died in 1842, aged 82 or 83. His wife, Betsey, preceded him in death by four years. They are both interred in Laurel Grove Cemetery South in Savannah,National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination Form, February 15, 1978 having been removed from their initial resting place, a Negro burial ground near Whitefield Square.
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