As the Georgia Baptist association grew, there was competition among congregations to claim lines to founding core members and be declared the first church in the state. In 1888 at the Georgia Convention, claims were examined as to primacy of First African Baptist of Savannah and the First Bryan Baptist Church. The convention declared that First African Baptist of Savannah was the banner church, due largely to Marshall's leadership during the difficult years of the 1830s, which held his congregation together under the name of the original church.