John R. Bowles, born June 13, 1826 in Lynchburg, Virginia, is a free black and a Baptist minister. As a young man, Bowles settled near Chillicothe in Ross County, Ohio, marrying Sarah Jane Bryant in 1848. There the couple grew their family, in addition to participating in the Underground Railroad. At thirty years of age,…
Today in the hotly-contested border state of Kentucky, a Confederate cavalry force led by Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, captures Paducah, Kentucky with little resistance. The raid is an effort to capture Union supplies; Paducah is a considerable prize. Meanwhile, the Union garrison, having retreated upon learning of the rebels’ approach, is garrisoned in the…
Personal morality is an overriding concern of white Southern Baptists. While black slavery is holy and biblical and killing abolitionists is God’s work, woe to a Southern Baptist church member — whether on the home front or in the Confederate Army — who dances, plays cards, goes to the theater, enjoys other worldly amusements or…