Emmanuel King Love was born into slavery near Marion, in Perry County, Arkansas on July 27, 1850. In 1872, Love entered Augusta Institute in Augusta, Georgia. Love was an academic success, leading all of his classes at the time of his graduation in 1877. Love was ordained to the Baptist ministry on December 12, 1875. Between the years 1877 and 1879, Love was a missionary in the state of Georgia. He held a joint appointment between the American Baptist Home Missionary Society and the Georgia Mission Board.

On October 1, 1885, Love was appointed to the pastorate at the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, the nation's oldest continuously active African American Baptist Church. He was a popular and respected pastor, and would hold this position until his death in 1900. During Love's pastorate, the First African Baptist Church was probably the largest African American Baptist Church in the world.

Emmanuel King Love died on April 24, 1900.

Karen Ruffle