1887-1930
The James Garvin Chastain Papers are located at the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. The Collection consists of diaries, a notebook of miscellaneous material, and an extensive scrapbook. The diaries cover the years 1887-1912 and 1925-1930, and detail Chastain’s daily activities. The early diaries document his life as a Southern Baptist missionary in Mexico. The notebook contains some loose papers including writings and anecdotes. The scrapbook includes clippings and reports of Chastain usually relating to mission activities in Mexico. The scrapbook covers the period from 1882-1950. This digital presentation includes the Chastain diaries and notebook.
James Garvin Chastain was born December 18, 1853 in Itawamba County, Mississippi. He was baptized December 21, 1873, and ordained as a Baptist minister June 17, 1875. He graduated from Mississippi College (1882) and received a Th.M. degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1888. On June 6, 1888, he was assigned by the Foreign Mission Board to work in Mexico. He worked there twenty-five years serving in Matehuala, Doctor Arroyo, Morelia, Guadalajara, and Durango. He traveled over the country preaching, teaching, and holding conferences. He served as Spanish editor of the Mission Publications for many years, writing letters for the religious papers in the United States. In 1913, the Mexican Revolution forced Chastain to leave the country. He spent the next four years doing enlistment work. In 1917, he accepted an appointment to do missionary work in Cuba where he served three years. He became Superintendent of the Spanish work of the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board in 1920. He retired in 1927 and died February 20, 1954 in Richton, Mississippi.
