George Tucker Stainback (April 4, 1829 in

Brunswick County, Virginia Brunswick County is a United States county located on the southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. This rural county is known as one of the claimants to be the namesake of Brunswick stew. Brunswick County was created in 1720 from parts ...

– June 28, 1902 at

Dyersburg, Tennessee Dyersburg is a city and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States. It is located in northwest Tennessee, northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 16,164 at the 2020 census, down 5.72% from the 2010 census. ...

) was an American

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister; he served as a chaplain in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, and in 1877 presided over the funeral of Confederate general

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was a prominent Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealt ...

Early life and education

Stainback was the son of George W. and Lucretia T. (née Eppes) Stainback who had married in 1818 and moved to

Limestone County, Alabama Limestone County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 103,570. Its county seat is Athens. The county is named after Limestone Creek. Limestone County is included in the Huntsville, AL Metro ...

, and then, in 1835, to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. Stainback attended the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, earning his A.B. (1854) and A.M (1856), D.D. (1855) degrees. In 1855-6 he was assistant professor of Latin and Greek.

Ministry

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Stainback served as a chaplain in the

Confederate army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. He maintained his ministry in

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterwa ...

, for 13 years before moving to

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

, in 1872. From 1874-1878 he was First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Memphis, but then returned to Columbus, Mississippi, in 1879. He was noted for having a profound impact on former Confederate general

shortly after the latter's conversion in 1875; Stainback later visited Forrest as he lay dying, and presided over Forrest's funeral services in 1877. During the general's eulogy, Stainback declared: "Lieutenant-General Nathan Bedford Forrest, though dead, yet speaketh. His acts have photographed themselves upon the hearts of thousands, and will speak there forever."

Masonry

Stainback also served as a Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Mississippi, and Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge in Tennessee.

Personal life

Stainback married Clara B. Grady on October 19, 1854. Following Grady's death on December 5, 1864, he wedded Mary Gibson of Columbus, Mississippi, on January 4, 1871. He had seven children. Stainback died in 1902 in Dyersberg, Tennessee, and was buried in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stainback, George Tucker Classical scholars of the University of Mississippi Confederate States Army chaplains 1829 births 1902 deaths 19th-century American clergy