A name of distinction among Baptist clergymen, among leaders in social reforms and philanthropies, and among theologians of his denomination, is that of the Rev. Herbert Whiting Virgin, D. D., now of Jackson, Tennessee. His vigorous personality and mind have stimulated religious and moral enthusiasm in many cities and in numerous states, for his guidance has been sought by churches and educational institutions in Kentucky, in Louisiana and in Missouri, as well as in Tennessee. Before noting the successive steps of his broad and unusually efficient service, we shall first briefly outline the main facts of his birth and education, although it must here be said that Dr. Virgin is one of those rare men who never cease to study—who look to eternity itself as the infinitely splendid post-graduate opportunity of the soul.
Louisiana is the state of his birth. At Mandeville, in that common-wealth a summer home was maintained by Edwin Forrest Virgin, a wholesale seed merchant of New Orleans; here he came from time to time, with his wife, Helen Caruthers Virgin, a lady of South Carolina parentage; and here, in 1872, occurred the birth of their son, who was christened Herbert Whiting.
The public school system of New Orleans was that which provided the early foundations of Herbert Whiting Virgin’s education. From there he passed to Georgetown College. That step completed, he sought the class-rooms of the greatest Baptist institutions—the University of Chicago. There he pursued courses in theology and history—as well as the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary of Louisville, Kentucky. Thus equipped with the scholarly material fitting him for his chosen vocation, he was ready for his era of service, looking nevertheless to further study at later periods.
In 1895 Reverend Virgin began his pastoral work, locating at Nicholsville, Kentucky. With this ministerial responsibility he combined professorial duties in Jessamine Institute, where he taught graduate courses. This he continued for two and one-half years. When, at the end of that time, he was called to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to take charge of the First Baptist church of that place, he not only fulfilled the duties of his pastorate there, but organized three other Baptist churches in adjoining towns. This climate proved to be a difficult one for his young wife and child; he therefore removed, for their healths’ sake, to La Grange, Kentucky. He became the pastor of the DeHaven Baptist Memorial church at La Grange, and at the same time pursued theological studies in the Baptist Theological Seminary located in Louisville, Kentucky.
When four years had passed, Reverend Virgin left La Grange, Kentucky, to assume the spiritual leadership of the First Baptist church of Nevada, Missouri. After continuing there for nearly five years, he was called to the Benton Boulevard church of Kansas City.
In the meantime the name of Herbert Whiting Virgin had become more and more widely significant of clear-sighted sincerity and of vital strength in the work of his denomination and related lines of spiritual advancement. These qualities, in addition to his rich theological erudition, led to the conferring upon him, by two institutions, of the doctor’s degree which he now holds by double right. In 1908, Georgetown College of Georgetown, Kentucky, awarded him the degree of Doctor of Divinity; and in the same year he was similarly honored as Doctor of Divinity by Union University of Jackson, Tennessee.
Source: Hale, Will T, and Dixon L. Merritt. A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Company, 1913. Volume 5.
