Samuel White Small – Captain (Chaplain), United States Army

Samuel White Small was born at Knoxville, Tennessee, on 3 July 1851.  He served for a time as a secretary to then-Senator Andrew Johnson.  He was also a newspaper reporter before being converted to the church.  During the Spanish-American War, he served as Captain (Chaplain) of the 3rd United States Volunteer Engineers and subsequently as Chaplain-in-Chief of the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish-American War.  He died on 21 November 1932 in Atlanta, Georgia, and was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.

A popular writer for the Atlanta Constitution, Samuel White Small was converted from a life of dissipation at a Sam Jones Meeting which he was assigned to cover for that newspaper (here pictured at age thirty-seven in 1888). He immediately distributed a message over Atlanta inviting all to the steps of Atlanta City Hall where most a most important news item would be announced. There he told of his conversion and of his dedication to sobriety and gospel service.

He became very popular with Sam as a co-evangelist. Sam Small was asked (around 1927, when he was seventy-six) to write a mission statement and statement of faith for the new college being built by Bob Jones, Sr. (who then was thirty-nine). Though some have pressed for the inclusion of Dispensationalism,  not a word has been changed from Sam Small’s inscription , written, immediately, upon Bob Jones Sr.’s request, on the back of an envelope. Hundreds of times a year, that Creed is repeated in the Chapel and Worship services of Bob Jones University.

Washington, D.C., [Thursday] November 29, 1877.—I came over the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad last night from Raleigh to Weldon, where we crossed the [Roanoke] river by a ferry as the bridges were down. I met Sam W. Small [Samuel White Small] on the train. “Old Si” of the Atlanta Constitution, the leading paper of the South.

He was Andrew Johnson’s private secretary, while Senator [1875], and now has Johnson’s private papers. He was 27 years of age, and intelligent, active and quite a self-satisfied young man. (He afterwards became a famous revivalist.)

SMALL, SAMUEL W

• CAPT CHAPLAIN 3RD U S VOL ENGR
• VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown
• DATE OF DEATH: 11/21/1931
• DATE OF INTERMENT: 11/25/1931
• BURIED AT: SECTION SOUTH  SITE 4177-A
  ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard