The Civil War disrupts educational institutions in Southern Baptist life. As the new school year approaches, Baptist colleges face severe shortages of students, many of whom are now enrolled in the Confederate Army. Yet the educational crisis is present beyond Baptist life. Throughout the South, public and private schools have witnessed an exodus of teachers…
In the pages of the Tennessee Baptist, Baptist pastor A. C. Dayton offers a parable of a “patriotic, self-sacrificing Tennessee plantation mistress” (who were actually relatively few in Baptist congregations) and applies the story to churched women: We overheard a conversation some few weeks since, which threw light upon the character of our fair countrywomen.…
John H. Corn, born in Indiana in 1831 and now living in Illinois, enlists in Company A, Fortieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He and wife Paulina attend the local Missionary Baptist Church, where Paulina is a member but John perhaps never joins. During six months of service, John serves the Union army in Missouri and Kentucky,…