William Calmes Buck: The Civil War

(Continuing posts about William Calmes Buck)

Although in his 70s during the Civil War, Wm. C. Buck served as a travelling chaplain, at his own expense,  to various Confederate Army sites and hospitals.  At first, his son, Silas, traveled with him but Silas soon joined the 12^th Mississippi Cavalry. 

During the Civil War, Wm. C. Buck wrote, published and distributed two pamphlets:

• “Are You a Backslider?”
• “Confession, A Fundamental Doctrine of the Gospel Economy”.

“Are You a Backslider” was a tract published for the army.  It begins with a question:  “Did you once profess allegiance to Christ, assume to be a Christian and unite yourself to the people of God in church relation?”  and closes with “… let me entreat you to read it prayerfully and carefully.”

“Confession, A Fundamental Doctrine of the Gospel Economy” was printed about the same time as “Backslider” and begins with a statement:  “All agree that faith is an essential doctrine of the gospel; but few seem to regard confession as holding so prominent a position in the great economy of grace.”  In his typical approach, Wm. C. Buck defines terms, refers to original Greek words and invokes various scriptures.  In closing, he asks “Have you honored the law of God by an ingenuous and prayerful confession of your sins to him who only can forgive?”

After the war ended, the Mississippi Baptist State Convention established the Confederate Orphans’ Home of Mississippi to care for the orphans of Confederate soldiers.  On November 10, 1864, Wm. C. Buck wrote to his sons from Lauderdale Springs:

I shall likely be stationed here for some time as the missionary to the Hospital or a Chaplain to Genl Superintendent of the Mis. Orphans Home.  The Bap. State Convention, which met at Crawfordsville lately resolved to raise $6000000 for the establishment of an Orphans Home for the children of the soldiers of this State.  They are about to purchase the Lauderdale Springs property for that purpose, and they have elected me to be Chaplain and Gen. Superintendent.  If they succeed in making the purchase, I shall immediately bring your sister over and settle there.  All however is as yet uncertain as to the purchase.

The Rev. T. C. Teasdale was appointed to raise funds for the Orphans Home.  He was able to secure enough money to purchase Lauderdale Springs which had been a hotel prior to the war.  Wm. C. Buck was temporarily placed in charge of the Home and children began to arrive.  Later, Professor Simeon Sebastian Cranberry of Mississippi College became permanent superintendent.

William Calmes Buck (1790-1872)

Following a brief introductory post, this is the first more detailed post in a series about William Calmes Buck, my 3G Grandfather.

William Calmes Buck was born on August 23, 1790 in Shenandoah County, Virginia near what is now the town of Front Royal.  In spite of having only a basic formal education, he became a prominent Baptist minister, editor, author and denominational leader serving in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.  Self-taught, he became fluent in Latin, Greek and Hebrew and was known as “Dr. Buck” at Baylor University where he was a lecturer in his later years.

Wm. C. Buck (as he typically signed his name) wrote that his father was an “extensive farmer”.  His grandparents, Charles and Letitia (Sorrel) Buck were among the early settlers of the Shenandoah Valley and had owned about 3000 acres of land.  The Bucks were Baptist and donated land for the Water Lick Baptist Church and a cemetery.  The original Water Lick Church no longer exists but the cemetery is referred to as the Buck Cemetery 

Water Lick Baptist Church was organized on April 15, 1787.  It was about seven miles from Front Royal and about a half mile from the Buck homestead.  It was a one room church made of logs and said to have comfortable seats, and a high pulpit.  Between the Buck homestead and the church was a log house in which Wm. C. Buck lived for a time after his first marriage.

Buck wrote that he was "baptized by Rev. Benjamine Daws on the North branch of the Shenandoah, on the fourth Sabbath in April, 24th day, 1808." He was ordained in Shenandoah County, Virginia.  "The day that I was licensed was the 22nd of August 1812, and the next day I was just 22 years of age.  From that time I have devoted myself to the work of the ministry."

William Calmes Buck was a 1^st Lieutenant in the Second regiment of the Virginia Milita in the War of 1812.  He preached his first sermon in uniform.  After the War of 1812, he returned to Water Lick Church as pastor.

(... more to follow)