Samuel Doak (1749–1830) was an AmericanPresbyterian clergyman,Calvinist educator, and a formerslave owner in the early movement in the United States for theabolition of slavery.
Samuel Doak was born August 1, 1749, inAugusta County,Virginia, toScotch-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 (nowWashington and Lee University). After attending an academy in Maryland, he entered theCollege of New Jersey (nowPrinceton), from which he graduated two years later in 1775. Doak married Esther Houston Montgomery of Augusta County in October 1775.[2]
Doak taught atHampden-Sydney College in the spring of 1776. There he studied theology under presidentSamuel Stanhope Smith, and completed his theological training in 1777 atLiberty Hall. He assumed his first pastorate inAbingdon, Virginia, and also began to "ride circuit" in eastern Tennessee.
In 1778 Doak settled in Tennessee inSullivan County and was ordained a Presbyterian minister. Moving to theHolston valley inTennessee, Doak assumed the Presbytery's charge to serve the congregation of the Fork Church, now known asNew Bethel Presbyterian Church.
In 1780, Doak relocated from Sullivan County and to the western section Washington County near present-dayLimestone, Tennessee, where he formed where he foundedSalem Presbyterian Church, built a home, and constructed a school.
Doak, during this same time in 1780, regularly preached to settlers at the Big Spring atGreeneville, Tennessee in present-dayGreene County. Later in 1783, Mt. Bethel Presbyterian Church (nowFirst Presbyterian Church) was formed withHezekiah 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 asWashington 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 (laterTusculum 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 aDoctor of Divinity degree for his tireless efforts at promoting Presbyterianism and education. He was generally known as "the Presbyterian Bishop."
After becoming convinced of theiniquity ofslavery, 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."
Three schools in Greene County are named for Samuel Doak:
The Doak House Museum is a non-profit, educational institution, established as a museum in 1975.[3]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Doak, Samuel".New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.| International | |
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