One year after Thomas Nast’s first illustration of Santa Claus appears in Harpers Weekly, Christmas, a day that is not yet universally celebrated in America, is haltingly acknowledged throughout the North and South. In Washington, D.C., U.S. President Abraham Lincoln works today as usual, believing that taxpayers expect such of him. Lincoln’s activities today include…
Beyond the war’s battlefields and among the personal lives of Baptist soldiers and civilians lurk tens of thousands of Baptist stories. Little noticed as most of these stories are, many offer insights into Baptist life that stretch far beyond any one individual. One such representative story is that of Baptist Finnick, an 18-year old former…
As the war moves into its third winter, the state of Virginia, home to Richmond, the capital city of the Confederacy, struggles all the more. The Virginia General Assembly is in session in Richmond today, the fifth day of the 1863-1864 session. Jeremiah Bell Jeter, pastor of the city’s Grace Street Baptist Church and ardent…