Samuel Doak

Samuel Doak (1749–1830) was an American Presbyterian clergyman, Calvinist educator, and a former slave owner in the early movement in the United States for the abolition of slavery.

Portrait painting of Samuel Doak Sr

Early life

Samuel Doak was born August 1, 1749, in Augusta County, Virginia, to Scotch-Irish immigrants Samuel and Jane (Mitchell) Doak.[1] He grew up on a frontier farm and began his education with Robert Alexander, who later founded the Academy of Liberty Hall (now Washington and Lee University). After attending an academy in Maryland, he entered the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), from which he graduated two years later in 1775. Doak married Esther Houston Montgomery of Augusta County in October 1775.[2]

Career

Doak taught at Hampden-Sydney College in the spring of 1776. There he studied theology under president Samuel Stanhope Smith, and completed his theological training in 1777 at Liberty Hall. He assumed his first pastorate in Abingdon, Virginia, and also began to "ride circuit" in eastern Tennessee.

In 1778 Doak settled in Tennessee in Sullivan County and was ordained a Presbyterian minister. Moving to the Holston valley in Tennessee, Doak assumed the Presbytery's charge to serve the congregation of the Fork Church, now known as New Bethel Presbyterian Church.

In 1780, Doak relocated from Sullivan County and to the western section Washington County near present-day Limestone, Tennessee, where he formed where he founded Salem Presbyterian Church, built a home, and constructed a school.

Doak, during this same time in 1780, regularly preached to settlers at the Big Spring at Greeneville, Tennessee in present-day Greene County. Later in 1783, Mt. Bethel Presbyterian Church (now First Presbyterian Church) was formed with Hezekiah Balch being the first settled minister.

The school that Doak had constructed at his Salem Presbyterian Church during 1780 was later chartered as St. Martin's Academy in 1783. St. Martin's Academy expanded in 1795 as Washington College.

Doak served as president of Washington College (1795-1818) before turning it over to his oldest son, John Whitfield Doak. Esther Doak had died in 1807, and in 1818 he moved with his second wife, Margaretta Houston McEwen, to Tusculum Academy (later Tusculum College) and taught there with his son Samuel W. Doak until his death on December 12, 1830. He is buried at Salem Church.

Doak was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree for his tireless efforts at promoting Presbyterianism and education. He was generally known as "the Presbyterian Bishop."

After becoming convinced of the iniquity of slavery, he freed his own slaves in 1818. Afterwards, for the rest of his life, Doak advocated immediate abolition. He was referred to as being "the apostle of learning and religion in the West."

1780 prayer at Sycamore Shoals

Doak is attributed with delivering the following lengthy sermon and prayer at Sycamore Shoals, September 26, 1780 to the mustering of the Patriot Overmountain Men prior to the Battle of Kings Mountain:

My countrymen, you are about to set out on an expedition which is full of hardships and dangers, but one in which the Almighty will attend you. The Mother Country has her hand upon you, these American colonies, and takes that for which our fathers planted their homes in the wilderness - OUR LIBERTY. Taxation without representation and the quartering of soldiers in the homes of our people without their consent are evidence that the crown of England would take from its American Subjects the last vestige of Freedom. Your brethren across the mountains are crying like Macedonia unto your help. God forbid that you should refuse to hear and answer their call - but the call of your brethren is not all. The enemy is marching hither to destroy your homes. Brave men, you are not unacquainted with battle. Your hands have already been taught to war and your fingers to fight. You have wrested these beautiful valleys of the Holston and Watauga from the savage hand. Will you tarry now until the other enemy carries fire and sword to your very doors? No, it shall not be. Go forth then in the strength of your manhood to the aid of your brethren, the defense of your liberty and the protection of your homes. And may the God of Justice be with you and give you victory.
Let us pray. Almighty and gracious God! Thou hast been the refuge and strength of Thy people in all ages. In time of sorest need we have learned to come to Thee - our Rock and our Fortress. Thou knowest the dangers and snares that surround us on march and in battle. Thou knowest the dangers that constantly threaten the humble, but well beloved homes, which Thy servants have left behind them. Oh, in Thine infinite mercy, save us from the cruel hand of the savage, and of tyrant. Save the unprotected homes while fathers and husbands and sons are far away fighting for freedom and helping the oppressed. Thou, who promised to protect the sparrow in its flight, keep ceaseless watch, by day and by night, over our loved ones. The helpless women and little children, we commit to Thy care. Thou wilt not leave them or forsake them in times of loneliness and anxiety and terror. Oh, God of Battle, arise in Thy might. Avenge the slaughter of Thy people. Confound those who plot for our destruction. Crown this mighty effort with victory, and smite those who exalt themselves against liberty and justice and truth. Help us as good soldiers to wield the SWORD OF THE LORD AND GIDEON. AMEN.[3]

The assembled Overmountain Men then later departed Sycamore Shoals (located in present-day Elizabethton, Tennessee and headed southeast over Roan Mountain and afterwards meeting up other Patriot frontiersmen to battle against Loyalist troops commanded by British Maj. Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina.

Legacy

Three schools in Greene County are named for Samuel Doak:

  • Doak Elementary School, located less than a mile away from his two-story home
  • Chuckey-Doak Middle School, estimated at a mile away
  • Chuckey-Doak High School, directly behind the middle school

The Doak House Museum is a non-profit, educational institution, established as a museum in 1975.[4]

References
  1. tusculum (2013-10-24). "Samuel Doak :: Tusculum University". Office of the President. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  2. Gerhardt, E. Alvin (8 October 2017). "Samuel Doak". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  3. Pat Alderman, "Samuel Doak's Famous Sermon and Prayer," One Heroic Hour at King's Mountain (Overmountain Press, 1968), p. 21.
  4. The Doak House Museum, accessed 2014-01-02.
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