Samuel David Ferguson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1842. His family emigrated to Liberia six years later where he attended mission schools. Appointed a teacher in 1862, he began his studies for the ministry. He was ordained deacon in 1865 and a priest two years later. He served as assistant minister and later as rector of St. Mark’s in Harper, Liberia. Consecrated in 1885 as the Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas and its adjacent territory, the diocese later being changed to that of Liberia and West Africa, Ferguson was the first Black Bishop of Liberia and the first Black member of the House of Bishops. As the fourth Bishop of Liberia, Ferguson made a significant impact on the spiritual and educational growth of the Church in Liberia and on the country itself.

Ferguson had a special interest in Liberian education, establishing the Julia C. Emery School and countless other schools in local villages. In 1889, he established Cuttington College to give the youth of Liberia the skills to meet the physical and spiritual needs of a growing nation. With the aid of a $5,000 gift from Robert F. Cutting, the treasurer of the Board of Missions, Ferguson purchased 100 acres of land, hired an all-Liberian staff, and built Epiphany Hall, the school's first permanent structure. The school's departments included theological, agricultural, and industrial education. Despite being closed for nearly twenty years during a devastating civil war, Cuttington College still exists to fulfill Bishop Ferguson's vision.