McVoy, Alexander Diego
4/11/1905
May 7, 1832 - April 11, 1905 |
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| The Reverend Alexander Diego McVoy, son of Diego and Hannah Nicoll McVoy, was born at Elizabeth City, New Jersey on May 7, 1832, and died in San Antonio, Texas on April 11, 1905. Soon after his birth his parents returned to Mobile, Alabama, where they had previously resided, and there the son spent his boyhood and youth. In 1851 he entered the Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., and graduated with the A. M. degree in 1856. After graduation he returned to Mobile, and spent part of 1859 abroad, visiting England, Scotland, Wales, and France. His life-work was that of a teacher and president of female colleges. He began his teaching career at Barton Academy in Mobile and continued until 1860. In 1855, while a student in college, he was licensed to preach, and for three years he filled the pulpits in Pickensville and Carrollton. These churches were in the Alabama Conference, of which he was a member. He entered the Confederate Army as chaplain of the Thirty-eighth Alabama Regiment. Twenty-nine years in the work of education, two years as chaplain in the Confederate Army, and seven in the pastorate in the Alabama and Louisiana Conferences, cover the period allotted to this noble servant of God. Two years prior to his death he took a superannuate relation in the Louisiana Conference, where he had held membership since 1888. He was married to Miss Anna Cannon DuBose, of Columbus, Mississippi in 1867. They were the parents of seven children, two of whom became preachers of the Gospel of Christ. Reverend A. D. McVoy was a Christian gentleman, an educational leader in the Southern Methodist Church schools, worthy of the positions he filled. Truly competent for such work, he devoted the best years and energy of his long life to it. The fruit of his toil is the heritage of many splendid Christian women who will cherish his memory, and who will keep fresh and green in their lives a tender affection for the instructor who did so much for them. Little did he care for the honors of each or its emoluments in themselves. Only as those contributed to the noble work and end unto which the Holy Ghost called him were they worthy of a place in his consideration and affection. A fine scholar, a splendid student, a great teacher, and a most attractive preacher, he put his life with no reserve upon the altar of God and the church he loved, trusting in Jesus Christ for guidance, protection and the measure of success he coveted unto the glory and praise of His name. The responsibilities of his laborious life were accepted in good faith, discharged in the fear of God, while he walked in the integrity of a spotless spirit. In the section where he wrought, the educational work he did for the church is a factor to be taken into account when the history of that period is written (beginning immediately after the Civil War). That was the most difficult period to handle in the history of the South, and the men who did it deserve the unqualified gratitude of this generation. Our glorified brother was one of them. He learned the spirit of heroism in the camp, in the hospital, on the battlefield; and when the shock of the bloody struggle was over, his lesson served him well for the task Providence placed in his hands. His faith in God, his religious experience, his mental endowment, and his educational qualifications, put him forward as one of the men equipped for that difficult field of service. He entered it and bravely finished the task, after which he quickly went to his reward. His body sleeps in the cemetery in Mansfield, Louisiana beside the wife who so heroically supported him through the years of his toil. When such a man as Reverend A. D. McVoy passes to his reward, |
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| Source: Journal Louisiana Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; 1905; Pages 61-62; By J. H. Scruggs | |
