Isaac Gray Woolsey–physician, surgeon, and Baptist layman–has been serving as a quartermaster in the Confederate Army. Today, he resigns that position and begins organizing Company C, Eighth Tennessee Confederate cavalry. The regiment is soon assigned to Gen. N.B. Forrest’s division. As his obituary recounts:
With his command he participated in all the battles in which this brilliant commander was engaged down to the battle of Chickamauga, when, Sept. 19, 1863, he was wounded in his right arm while repelling an advance of the Union army in an attempt to make a right flank on Gen. Cheatham;s division. During all this time he promptly and gallantly discharged every duty assigned him, acting by detail as surgeon and assistant surgeon of the regiment a part of the time during his connection with it.
Due to his wound, Woolsey resigns his commission as captain and settles in Locust Grove, Henry County, Georgia, to practice medicine. While maintaining his medical practice, the doctor in 1864 is ordained as a Baptist minister by the Liberty Baptist Church in Gordon County, thus beginning a long bivocational post-war career that includes pastoring, medicine, farming and business interests.
From 1864 to 1891, Woolsey pastors a succession of churches, in many years officiates as the clerk of the Flint River Baptist Association, and for five years serves as moderate of the association.
Woolsey and his family are known for their hospitality.
The Woolsey family used their home to accommodate travelers. At that time, drummers (another name for salesmen) would come in their buggies and stay at the hotel until they had worked all the surrounding countryside. They would ride all day and come in to a supper of beans, corn, tomatoes, fried chicken, ham, pie, cake and pitchers of butter milk and sweet milk cooled in a cooler down the well.
Yet Woolsey is not without his detractors. In 1874, a fellow Flint River Baptist levels accusations against Woolsey regarding his Confederate war service. The association mediates the conflict and reaches the following conclusions:
The parties at issue—Dr. I G Woolsey and Rev H T Dicken, together with the Committees from Macedonia and Indian Creek Churches,–have agreed to submit all the matters of difficulty to the Brethren appointed by the Association, and to abide their decision as final, the Committee proceeded to hear the allegations against Dr. Woolsey, in which the results of a business arbitration came before us, as well as denunciations of Dr. Woolsey as being a Bush Whacker [guerrilla fighter], horse thief and OUTLAW during the late war, and as being an imposter as a Doctor. After a full hearing of the case from H T Dicken, Dr. Woolsey, and a number of brethren present, together with reading a large number of certificates, the Committee unanimously agreed to the following decisions:
We think that the arbitrators acted faithfully in their decisions, and that Dr. Woolsey has, with Christian fidelity, kept his sworn obligations to abide it.
We think, also that he has triumphantly defended him against the charges involving his war record, and showed by undoubted testimony, not only an honorable war record, but also of unblemished character from boyhood. The testimony offered to the contrary appeared to us to be of a negative and doubtful character. We feel that we can take him to our hearts as a Christian brother and Minister of the gospel, and commend him to the public as such. According to the testimony he has acted throughout strictly in self-defense, and never as an aggressor.
We think that H T Dicken failed to keep his sworn pledge to abide the decision of the arbitrators of a settlement of the difficulty as understood at the time. The testimony shows that he has been the aggressor, denouncing Dr. Woolsey as an imposter, Bush Whacker, horse thief, a perjured man, &C; and in order to sustain these denunciations resorted to unchristian measures to procure certificates by applying to men who were themselves (according to testimony) Bush Whackers, and opposed to the regular Confederate Army , with which Dr. Woolsey was connected. It occurs to us that it would have been more Christian like, when hearing evil reports against his brother, for him, (H.T.D.) to have informed Brother Woolsey, and have heard his defense instead of publishing them abroad and sending and writing to another State to procure certificates from Dr. Woolsey’s enemies.
We find, also, that H T Dicken denounced Dr. Woolsey as being an imposter in the Ministry. This denunciation was proved by documentary and verbal testimony; and yet he (H. T. D.) denied having thus denounced him in contradiction of six or eight reliable witnesses.
Under all the circumstances, and with the testimony before us, the very least we can conscientiously advise H. T. Dicken is
1st. That he should be reconciled to Bro. Woolsey, and cease denouncing him.
2nd. That he should make a full acknowledgment to Macedonia Church for the wrong which he has done for denouncing a brother with taking gospel steps in the premises, and without hearing his defense; and should make acknowledgements for the injury to the cause on account of his unchristian course.
In relation to the difficulties between the churches, we think, after a full hearing, that the brethren of both churches have been sincere in what they have done, and have shown a desire to be right, and where in they erred it has been in the absence of intentional wrong. We therefore advise them to bury, forever, the difficulties in the case.
We advise Macedonia Church to require of H. T. Dicken a full acknowledgement of wrong perpetrated against Dr. Woolsey, by denouncing him without hearing his defense; and to require of him a promise to cease such denunciation. If he (H. T. D.) refuses to do this, we advise the Church to withdraw fellowship from him.
The allegation from Indian Creek Church, presented to us, against the character of H. T. Dicken, are of such a grave character that we advise Indian Creek to put Macedonia in possession of the facts, if the proof is abundant and fully reliable; otherwise we advise the church to withdraw them.
We close this document by saying that the committee is in entire agreement, in every particular in this report, and humbly pray that the Lord may bless our labors, to the good of all concerned, and to the glory of His name.
For Southerners, the war, in short, seemingly does not end with the cessation of hostilities with the North, as evidenced in regional tensions, conflicts and personal grievances that in this instance are aired within a Baptist association.
Sources: “Rev. Dr. I.G. Woolsey’s Death Causes Sorrow,” Atlanta Journal, September 16, 1902 (link); Author, Memoirs of Georgia, Vol. II, Atlanta: The Southern Historical Association, 1895, pp. 657-659 (link); Carolyn C. Cary, Historic Fayette County: An Illustrated History, Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, 2009, pp. 24-25 (link); “Proceedings and Reports of a Special Committee Investigation Appointed by the First River Association,” December 2, 1874 (link)
