Richard Baker Furman, great-grandson of Richard Furman (1755-1825), was born on September 7, 1866 to John Howard Furman and Susan (Miller) Furman. They lived at Cornhill plantation, located in the Privateer section of Sumter County, S.C. Furman graduated from The Citadel (1866) and the Medical College of South Carolina (1889), and did postgraduate study at New York Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital (1893). He joined his father’s medical practice, making house calls by horse and buggy. Furman built his office next to the home he built for his bride, and continued there, practicing medicine for over sixty years. He was also an accomplished artist, poet, and writer of dialect sketches.

Furman married Katherine Lide (1882-1965) in 1905 and they had one daughter, Katherine (1906-1934). Furman died in Sumter, S.C. on February 22, 1958.