James Robinson Graves

Graves, James Robinson. (Chester, Vermont, April 10, 1820--June 26, 1893, Memphis, Tennessee). Southern Baptist. Pastorate at Nashville, Tenn., 1845-1846; editor of The Tennessee Baptist, 1846-1893; founder and editor of the Southwestern Publishing Company, 1848-1862, 1867-1871, the Southern Baptist Sunday School Union, 1858-1868, and Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1873-1877. Founder of the "Landmark" movement among Southern Baptists; wrote several works defending his doctrinal views. Compiled The Southern Psalmist (Nashville, 1858, with J.M. Pendleton), The New Baptist Psalmist (Memphis, 1873), and The Little Seraph (Memphis, 1873). One of his few poetic efforts, the hymn "Jesus only--dark the cloud Hanging o'er Mount Tabor proud" appeared anonymously in The Southern Psalmist, but was subsequently attributed to "J.R.G." in The New Baptist Psalmist. See O.L. Hailey, J.R. Graves (n.p., 1929).

--David W. Music, DNAH Archives