The announcement contained in the following special from Dyersburg, Tenn., June 21, will bring sadness to thousands of Cumberland Presbyterian hearts:

Rev. Geo. T. Stainback, one of the most noted and eloquent orators of the Southern pulpit, died at the residence of Dr. W. A. Fowlkes in the city at 8:30 o'clock to-night. He was universally beloved, and the news of his death will come as a personal bereavement to a large number of people in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, among whom he had labored for quite half a century in the ministry of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He was known as the old man eloquent. Dr. Stainback had filled many of the most prominent pulpits of his church with great acceptance, and was for a number of years after the war in charge of the Court Street Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Memphis, and received Gen. Bedford Forrest into the church during his pastorate. His wife and children were at his bedside, and many friends awaited anxiously from without the news from his sick chamber. Dr. Stainback was a Master Mason and at one time held the office of grand master of that order for the State of Mississippi, and was also once grand chaplain for the State of Tennessee. He will be buried with the honors of his order at Columbus, Miss., to-morrow afternoon; but the funeral services will be held at this place to-morrow morning, the sermon being preached by Rev. Hugh Spencer Williams, of Memphis.

Later information is to the effect that an immense company of sorrowing friends attended the funeral services in Dyersburg at 3:30 p.m., Sunday, the services having been postponed in order that friends of the deceased throughout the state might be present. The Masons, Odd Fellows and ex-Confederate soldiers participated in the services, and "the expression of sorrow on all countenances spoke the high esteem in which Dr. Stainback was held by the people" of Dyersburg. Besides the family, many friends accompanied the remains to Columbus, Miss.

When Dr. Stainback resigned at Dyersburg he came to Nashville for a prolonged visit, and was an almost daily and an altogether delightful caller at the editorial rooms of "The Cumberland Presbyterian;" and this announcement of his death is made with mingled feelings of grief and gratitude--grief for the loss of so useful and able a Cumberland Presbyterian minister and for separation from a helpful counselor, and gratitude that we ever enjoyed the boon of Dr. Stainback's friendship, possessing which no man can count himself poor. He was as true to his church, and as much in love with it, as any man we ever knew. He belonged to a generation of Cumberland Presbyterian preachers whose loyalty was born of sacrifice and conflict. Such men can never be so abundant that one as useful and capable as was he can be easily spared. In the pulpit his was the eloquence of earnestness, the irresistible oratory of the heart; and out of the pulpit everybody surrendered to his manifest interest in everybody. His life was without dissimulation; he abhorred that which is evil, and he obeyed the injunction to cleave to that which is good.

One of his latest and grandest pulpit addresses was before his comrades in a great Confederate reunion, when he effectually appealed to the grizzled veterans before him to be true to the flag of the Union and consecrated to the service of Christ. The scene is spoken of as little short of the sublime, when at the close of this noble address hundreds, weeping, crowded about him to promise the double allegiance which he had so eloquently counseled. During these last months of rest from a life of hitherto uninterrupted labor, Dr. Stainback has doubtless been conscious of the inevitable issue, but he guarded well behind the cheeriest of faces the melancholy secret of daily disease, drowning with laughter the voice of illness which in all of us clamors for sympathy, but which in his case not even his friends were permitted to heart; hence his death is almost as great a surprise to those of us who knew him well as it will be to those who saw him only occasionally and as the robust man he always seemed. He sleeps well because he labored well.

[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, July 3, 1902, page 12]

GEORGE TUCKER STAINBACK, D.D.
Dr. Stainback was born near Fredericksburg, Va., April 4, 1829. He moved to Memphis, Tenn., when quite a lad, and was connected with the press of Memphis when a young man. He professed religion in the old Court Street Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and "felt impressed" to preach the gospel, graduated from the University of Mississippi, and was licensed to preach and was ordained by the Oxford Presbytery when twenty five years of age. He was a pastor for nearly fifty years, serving congregations at Columbus, Miss., Huntstsville and Birmingham, Ala., McMinnville, Memphis, and Dyersburg, Tenn. He was a chaplain in the Confederate army throughout the war.
Dr. Stainback received Gen. Forrest into the Church at Memphis, and preached the funeral from the same altar. He was at one time Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons of Mississippi, and once Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Masons of Tennessee.
Nature was generous in her gifts with Comrade Stainback. He was intellectually strong, physically robust, ardent in his affections, broad in his sympathies. With a voice admirably adapted for speaking and singing, he was known as "The Old Man Eloquent." He was a genial, generous hearted man, and "everybody's friend." He was generous to a fault. His hospitality was proverbial, his home and his belongings were for the use of visitors, even strangers, as well as for himself and family.
Five years after severing his connection with the Church at Memphis he was called back there to preach the funeral of a very dear friend. After writing at length of the ser mon and eulogy, the editorial writer of the Memphis Appeal said: "Dr. Stainback will spend several days in Memphis, and perhaps the entire week, in visiting and receiving his friends. Some men never shake a hand without making an enemy. Dr. Stainback is of that other class, who never clasp a hand without making a friend. He is loved by the people of Memphis with an affection seldom lavished upon an individual. His transparent simplicity, the warmth of his genial nature, his great abilities, his piety and powers as an eloquent minister, have made him one of the most popular and conspicuous leaders of his denomination. He has occasionally lived in Memphis during the past forty years, and he was loved in boyhood and manhood. There is always Joy at his coming and sadness at his leaving."
At a memorial service held in McMinnville, in which all denominations took part, it was said of him: "Certainly Dr. Stainback belonged to the town. The town honored him, the town mourns for him."
The greatest event in his life, perhaps, was in the service held in the Tennessee Headquarters at the Louisville reunion in May, 1900. He said to the editor of the VETERAN that: he had been directed to hold religious service there. It seemed impossible to stop the din and confusion, but he said: "I will try." Mounting a table in the hall, he commanded attention and so electrified the multitude that in five minutes they were in tears. Hundreds, who were weeping, crowded about 283 Confederate Veteran June 1905 him to promise the double allegiance which he had so eloquently counseled. His tribute to Gen. Forrest was as fine as has ever been spoken or written. Sometime after that Louisville speech one of the veterans, after his return home, in Memphis, met the son of Dr. Stainback on the street one day and, putting his arms around him, exclaimed, "You've got the grandest daddy on earth," and then he told about the speech at Louisville, as magnetic as can be conceived by humankind.
Dr. Stainback was twice happily married. He died June 28, 1902, at Dyersburg, Tenn,, and was buried at Columbus, Miss. He sleeps well because he labored well.
[Source: Goodspeed's History of Shelby County, Tennessee]

[Source: Minutes of the Obion Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, September 19-20, 1902]

1854
G. T. Stainback, Oxford
Oxford Presbytery, (Miss.)
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1854, page 91]

1856
G. T. Stainback, Oxford
Oxford Presbytery, Miss.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1856, page 62]

1857
G. T. Stainback, Oxford
Oxford Presbytery, Miss.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1857, page 72]

1868
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Columbus, Miss.
Presbytery of New Hope
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1868, page 106]

1869
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Columbus, Miss.
New Hope Presbytery - Synod of Mississippi
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1869, page 85]

1870
G. T. Stainback, Columbus, Miss.
New Hope Presbytery - Synod of Mississippi
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1870, page 80]

1871
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Columbus, Mississippi
Presbytery of New Hope
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1871, page 80]

1872
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Columbus, Miss.
New Hope Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1872, page 125]

1873
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Huntsville, Ala.
Tennessee Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1873, page 101]

1874
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Huntsville, Ala.
Tennessee Presbytery
[information taken from 1873 report]
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1874, page 101]

1875
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Memphis, Tenn.
Memphis Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1875, page 81]

1876
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Memphis, Tenn.
Memphis Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1876, page 91]

1877
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Memphis, Tenn.
Memphis Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1877, page 86]

1878
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Memphis, Tenn.
Memphis Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1878, page 95]

1879
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Columbus, Miss.
Memphis Presbytery [used 1878 report]
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1879, page 90]

1880
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Columbus, Miss.
New Hope Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1880, page 118]

1881
G. T. Stainback, Columbus, Miss.
New Hope Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1881, page 90]

1882
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Columbus, Miss.
New Hope Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1882, page 120]

1883
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1883, page 128]

1884
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1884, page 117]

1885
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1885, page 132]

1886
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1886, page 161]

1887
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1887, page 158]

1888
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1888, page 170]

1889
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1889, page 178]

1890
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
Pastor - McMinnville Cumberland Presbyterian Church - McMinnville, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1890, pages 125 & 228]

1891
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
Pastor - McMinnville Cumberland Presbyterian Church - McMinnville, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1891, pages 139 & 244]

1892
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
Pastor - McMinnville Cumberland Presbyterian Church - McMinnville, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1892, pages 146 & 256]

1893
G. T. Stainback, D.D., McMinnville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery
Pastor - McMinnville Cumberland Presbyterian Church - McMinnville, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1893, pages 148 & 256]

1894
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Birmingham, Ala.
Springville Presbytery
Pastor - Birmingham Cumberland Presbyterian Church - Birmingham, Ala.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1894, pages 169 & 190]

1895
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Dyersburg, Tenn.
Obion Presbytery
Pastor - Dyersburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church - Dyersburg, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1895, pages 172 & 278]

1896
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Dyersburg, Tenn.
Obion Presbytery
Pastor - Dyersburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church - Dyersburg, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1896, pages 158 & 248]

1897
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Dyersburg, Tenn.
Obion Presbytery
Pastor - Dyersburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church - Dyersburg, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1897, pages 212 & 280]

1898
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Dyersburg, Tenn.
Obion Presbytery
Pastor - Dyersburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church - Dyersburg, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1898, pages 233 & 294]

1899
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Dyersburg, Tenn.
Obion Presbytery
Pastor - Dyersburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church - Dyersburg, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1899, pages 127a & 198a]

1900
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Dyersburg, Tenn.
Obion Presbytery
Pastor - Dyersburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church - Dyersburg, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1900, pages 148a & 213a]

1901
G. T. Stainback, D.D., Dyersburg, Tenn.
Obion Presbytery
Pastor - Dyersburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church - Dyersburg, Tenn.
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1901, pages 175a & 271a]

1902
G. T. Stainback, D.D., without charge, Nashville, Tenn.
Obion Presbytery
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1902, page 225a]

1903
Ordained Ministers Deceased
Name: G. T. Stainback, D.D.
Occupation: (charge)
Presbytery: Obion
Place of Residence: Dyersburg, Tenn.
Date: June 28, 1902
Age: 73
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1903, page 183a]