Noble Leslie DeVotie (January 24, 1838 – February 12, 1861) was a Baptist minister,

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

chaplain, and the lead founder of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a national fraternity. Noble Leslie DeVotie Marker

Early life

Noble Leslie DeVotie was born on January 24, 1838, in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

.Linda J. Kennedy, Mary Jane Galer, ''Historic Linwood Cemetery'', Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2004, p. 9

/ref> His father, Dr.

James H. DeVotie James H. DeVotie (1814–1891) was a Baptist minister in the American South. Born in Oneida County, New York, he was a pastor in South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. He was a co-founder of Howard College in Marion, Alabama, l ...

, was the pastor of Siloam Baptist Church in

Marion, Alabama Marion is a city in, and the county seat of, Perry County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 3,686, up 4.8% over 2000. First known as Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed for a hero of the American Revolut ...

and later the First Baptist Church of

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

. His mother was Margaret Noble DeVotie. He had a brother, Howard DeVotie. DeVotie was baptized in the Baptist faith by his father at Siloam Baptist Church when he was eleven years old. DeVotie first attended Howard College, later known as

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

, before transferring to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

. He graduated in 1856. While there, he co-founded Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the age of eighteen. He then studied Christian Theology at the Princeton Theological Seminary in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

for three years.

Career

He was ordained as a Baptist pastor in

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About ...

in November 1859. He served as pastor at the (now demolished) First Baptist Church of Selma, built in 1850 and located on the corner of Church Street and Alabama Avenue.Selma, Alabama: Historic Churches of Selma Prior to 1925
p. 21 In the lead up to 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 ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

became the President-Elect and the secession crisis occurred, he joined the

Confederate States 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 ...

as a chaplain. Many of his young male congregants had joined the CSA. He was stationed at

Fort Morgan Fort Morgan can apply to any one of several places in the United States: *Fort Morgan (Alabama), a fort at the mouth of Mobile Bay *Fort Morgan, Alabama, a nearby community *Fort Morgan (Colorado), a frontier military post located in present-day Fo ...

near Mobile, where he pastored many of his former congregants. He also pastored the Independent Blues and Governor's Guards, two Confederate companies from Selma.

Death

He drowned on February 12, 1861. As he was about to board a steamer at Fort Morgan, he made a misstep and drowned. He was buried at Linwood Cemetery in

.Linwood Cemetery: Notable residents
/ref> His funeral was conducted by Isaac T. Tichenor,Daniel J. McDonough, Kenneth W. Noe, ''Politics and Culture of the Civil War Era: Essays in Honor of Robert W. Johannsen'', Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania: Susquehanna University Press, 2006, p. 24

/ref> with a sermon by

Basil Manly, Sr. Basil Manly Sr. (January 28, 1798 – December 21, 1868) was an American planter, preacher and chaplain best known as the author of the Alabama Resolutions, which formed part of the argument for creation of the Southern Baptist Convention on p ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devotie, Noble Leslie 1838 births 1861 deaths People from Tuscaloosa, Alabama People from Selma, Alabama University of Alabama alumni Princeton Theological Seminary alumni Sigma Alpha Epsilon founders People of Alabama in the American Civil War Confederate States Army chaplains 19th-century American clergy