Two Presbyterian Presidents

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-1863), best-known as a Confederate general (he was also a Presbyterian deacon), was married twice during his life. His first marriage in 1853 was to Elinor "Ellie" Junkin (1825-1854), daughter of the Rev. George Junkin (1790-1868). Rev. Junkin performed the marriage ceremony, and the couple lived with him until the following year when Ellie Junkin gave birth to a stillborn child, and she died thereafter following complications from the childbirth. 

Rev. Junkin was a Presbyterian minister, but also served as president of Lafayette College, Miami (Ohio) University and, at the time of the events noted above, Washington College (now named Washington & Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia. Today, he is buried at the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery in Lexington. He was the author of a number of fascinating works, such his account of the trial of Albert Barnes, for which Rev. Junkin served as the prosecutor; treatises on justification and sanctification; a defense of the Lord's Day; a commentary on Hebrews; and others. He was featured briefly in the movie Gods and Generals (2003), which noted his opposition to Southern secession, another topics of his writings. His biographer was his own brother, David Xavier Junkin (1808-1880).

Stonewall Jackson continued to live with Rev. Junkin after Ellie's death until the time he began to court the lady who became his second wife, Mary Anna Morrison (1831-1915). She was also the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Robert Hall Morrison, Sr. (1798-1889). He studied at Princeton, established the North Carolina Telegram, the first religious gazette in the South; ministered for 65 years; and served as the first president of Davidson College, in Davidson, North Carolina. He also opposed secession, but remained loyal to the South during the War. 

These Presbyterian clergymen and their writings are available to study at Log College Press. Be sure to check out our growing database of authors and their works, as well as our LCP publications and secondary resources at the Bookstore page.