Thomas Sandford Dunaway was a member of an old Virginia Baptist family which produced capable and effective clergy and laity. Their family seat was in Lancaster County in “the Neck,” but their influence was far-flung and long lasting.
Tom Dunaway, “the younger,” attended the Baptist school, Richmond College, and went North for theological training at Crozer. He held pastorates on the Eastern Shore, at Martinsburg, W. Va., and “down in the Blackwater” at Smithfield.
Fred Anderson
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In the First World War, he preached “to the boys” in France. He treasured the Baptist General Association of Virginia and was its “statistical secretary,” compiling the numbers which appeared in the annuals. Everything indicated that “the younger” Dunaway was on track for a stellar ministerial career.
In December 1920 at age 48, he was stricken with “a peculiar form of paralysis” which transformed the energetic man into an invalid. In those days there was little recourse for him other than to become a permanent resident of Richmond’s Memorial Hospital, located downtown on Broad Street. His hospital room became a regular place of visitation for his many Baptist friends. By his own estimation (and remember he was a statistician) he had 10,000 visitors in the first three and a half years of what would become a long confinement.
Among the visitors was Blanche Sydnor White, the executive secretary of Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia. She brought research materials to Dunaway’s hospital room so that he could write the landmark biography of Henrietta Hall Shuck, the celebrated missionary to China. Pioneering for Jesus was produced from a hospital bed!
In May 1924, Dunaway made the trip “home” to Smithfield, where he had been pastor of the Baptist church since 1906. The Smithfield Times splashed across its front page, “Dr. Dunaway Reaches Congregations’ Heart.” The paper declared that no “statesman, politician or any other individual” ever brought “the peace, joy and happiness to the citizens of Smithfield” as did the return of Dunaway to the town.
The visit required a herculean effort on the part of the “invalid preacher” and his friends. An automobile was fitted for the trip. He rested at the home of a friend on Friday; and the guest room was covered in “beauty roses,” which as pastor he had introduced to the town. On Saturday his host threw open the doors and there was a steady stream of visitors to greet the preacher. It was estimated that 500 people — white and black — came calling.
The highlight of the weekend was Dunaway’s appearance and sermon at his church. He could not stand at the pulpit of Smithfield Baptist Church, but his “hospital chair” was placed at the front. The church was packed “to overflowing.” The local newspaper reported that “with wonderful self-control” he mastered his emotions and delivered a sermon which “was undoubtedly the greatest he has ever delivered … [and] a lasting testimonial of true devotion to his Creator and undying love for the people who love him as one of their family.”
Dunaway preached on “The Cup Which My Father Hath Given Me,” using John 18:11: “The cup … shall I not drink it?” The Religious Herald printed the sermon in its entirety and suggestions were made for it to be placed in pamphlet form.
“Christ uses an interesting figure of speech,” said the preacher, “when He speaks of the sorrows of life as a cup to be drained. I have my cup, as you very well know; we need not dwell on that. Each one of you, also, has his cup. It may be, especially in the case of the young, that as yet your cup in not filled, nor is it as bitter as it may be later; but at some time in your life your cup will reach its full measure, and will be exceedingly bitter. It may be, particularly in the case of you older ones, that even now your cup is running over, and is very bitter. Perhaps your cup is more bitter than mine.”
The preacher used Christ as the great example of accepting “even cheerfully” life’s cup “as a blessing from God.” “Christ Himself saw His sufferings in their true light. With His gaze fixed on the cross He said to His disciples, ‘The hour is come when the Son of Man shall be glorified.’ And to the Father He said, ‘Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son.’ When Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus, it was as if [Christ] said, ‘Simon, you look upon my approaching sufferings as an unmitigated evil, and in your misguided love, you would fain dash this cup from me; but it is pressed to my lips by the infinitely wise and loving Father; it is for the highest good and for the glory of God; don’t deny me this cup; let me drink it.’”
Ever evangelistic, Dunaway declared: “It is all very plain to us now that … if Christ had not died, we would be yet in our sins without God and having no hope in the world; Christianity would have been a failure; and Christ Himself would have been set at naught. We can see that it was by the cross that He has obtained a name that is above every name. But all this the Father saw beforehand. He loved the Son with an infinite love, and took no pleasure in His sufferings; but He saw that it was for the Son’s highest glory to drink this bitter cup … so He could not let this cup pass.
“Christ took this view of it after His prayer in Gethsemane. From that hour He was perfectly adjusted to the situation; He accepted His cup with absolute resignation and trust, knowing it was for the best. Then there stole into His heart a heavenly calm.
“In like manner, our sorrows may not at first seem to us to be blessings; but God knows, and God loves; the Father makes no mistakes. When some great, crushing sorrow comes into our lives, we must first have our own little Gethsemane — must fight the battle in our own hearts, and come to see the trial as God sees it; and when we do this, and quit rebelling in our hearts, then there comes to us a holy calm, as there came to the Master ….”
On his next birthday Tom Dunaway wrote these lines: “The life of Christ is the life worthwhile; in God will I be strong. Affliction I will face with a smile, and go through life with a song.” It was said of Tom that his “feet are on wheels but his soul moves on wings.” He remained in the hospital for some 12 years until his death in 1932.
Fred Anderson is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies, located on the campus of the University of Richmond. He may be contacted at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.