{{Short description|President of Baylor University from 1864 to 1885}} {{Infobox Officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Reverend | name = William Carey Crane | image = William Carey Crane portrait.jpg | alt = A portrait of William Carey Crane | image_upright = 1.35 | office = President of Baylor University | term_start = 1864 | term_end = 1885 | predecessor = George Washington Baines | successor = Reddin Andrews | birth_date = {{birth date|1816|3|17}} | birth_place = {{nowrap|Richmond, Virginia}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1885|2|27|1816|3|17}} | alma_mater = Columbian College | death_place = Independence, Texas | caption = Portrait by Henry Arthur McArdle, 1903. }} '''William Carey Crane''' (March 17, 1816 – February 27, 1885) was an American Baptist minister, an educator, and the president of Baylor University from 1864 to 1885.<ref name="texas">{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcr06|title=Handbook of Texas Online|website=Texas State Historical Association|last1=Summerlin|first1=Travis L.|date=June 12, 2010}}</ref><ref name="boykin">Samuel Boykin, ''History of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia - Vol. 2 of 2'', The Baptist Standard Bearer, 2001, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BuZ8oukYIF8C&pg=PA149 pp. 149-151]</ref><ref name="baylor">[http://www.baylor.edu/about/index.php?id=89257 Baylor Presidency biography]</ref>
==Early life and education== William Carey Crane was born in Richmond, Virginia, on March 17, 1816.<ref name="texas"/><ref name="baylor"/> He attended the Mount Pleasant Classical Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts, and Virginia Baptist Seminary, now known as Richmond College.<ref name="texas"/><ref name="boykin"/> In 1883, he attended the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institute and Madison, now known as Colgate University.<ref name="texas"/><ref name="boykin"/> In 1836, he received a B.A. from Columbian College, now known as George Washington University, followed by an M.A. in 1839.<ref name="texas"/>
==Career== From 1837 to 1839, Crane taught in Talbotton, Georgia, and preached in Thomaston and Greenville.<ref name="texas"/><ref name="boykin"/> He also preached at Mercer University.<ref name="boykin"/> In 1838, he became a Baptist minister in Baltimore, Maryland.<ref name="texas"/> In 1839, he preached at the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.<ref name="boykin"/>
In the 1840s, he served as a pastor in Columbus, Vicksburg, and Yazoo City.<ref name="texas"/><ref name="boykin"/> In 1844, he was a professor at Union University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and he edited ''The Baptist'' with R. B. C. Howell for two years in Nashville.<ref name="boykin"/> He served as president of Mississippi Female College in Hernando from 1851 to 1857, Semple Broaddus College in Centre Hill, Mississippi from 1859 to 1860, and Mount Lebanon College in Louisiana from 1860 to 1863.<ref name="texas"/><ref name="boykin"/> He was co-editor of the ''Louisiana Baptist'' and president of the Louisiana Baptist State Convention.<ref name="boykin"/> He served as a pastor in Centre Hill, Coldwater, Oxford, Mississippi and New Connah, Tennessee.<ref name="boykin"/> He was also an editor of the ''Mississippi Baptist''.<ref name="texas"/> He was the cofounder and vice-president of the Mississippi State Historical Society.<ref name="texas"/> He served as the general agent of the American Tract Society for two years.<ref name="texas"/> From 1851 to 1863, he served as secretary of the Southern Baptist Convention and was its vice-president four times in the 1870s and 1880s.<ref name="texas"/><ref name="boykin"/>
In 1863, he served as pastor at the First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.<ref name="texas"/> From 1864 to 1885, he was the president of Baylor University.<ref name="texas"/> He served as the pastor of the Independence Baptist Church for eighteen years from 1864 to 1867, and again from 1869 to 1884.<ref name="texas"/> He was also active in the Texas Baptist State Convention.<ref name="texas"/><ref name="boykin"/> He was the first president of the Texas State Teachers Association and chairman of the founding committee for Sam Houston Normal Institute, now known as Sam Houston State University.<ref name="texas"/> He was also a member of the American Philological Association.<ref name="boykin"/>
===Baylor presidency=== In 1863, Baylor's trustees offered Crane the Baylor presidency with an annual salary of $3,000.<ref name=baylor /> During his tenure in office, he put considerable time into fundraising for Baylor, and also put his personal wealth, estimated at $7,000 to $10,000, into his attempts to strengthen the university and give it a permanent place in Independence.<ref name=baylor /> His attempts to garner financial support from Baptist organizations brought him into conflict with Rufus Burleson, then president of Waco University.<ref name=baylor /><ref name=baylorlib>{{cite web|title=William Carey Crane|url=http://www.baylor.edu/lib/index.php?id=78062|website=Baylor University Libraries|publisher=Baylor University|accessdate=6 February 2015}}</ref> This feud would last throughout Crane's term in office until his eventual death.<ref name=baylor /><ref name=baylorlib />
==Personal life== Crane was wed to three different women throughout his life.<ref name=baylorlib /> He married his first wife, Alcesta Flora Galusha, in 1838. After her death in 1840, he married Jane Louise Wright, who died in 1842. In 1845, he married Catharine Jane Shepherd.
Crane and Shepherd had nine children: six sons and three daughters.<ref name=baylorlib /><ref name=txcolwill>[https://baylorarchives.cuadra.com/cgi-bin/starfetch.exe?bUqo8NjsPVXKb4i6tuKnY38UHrbQG0EbPl7.ndjVYlpmbnCxvadp8Z0wjzfhiI5H.U8@Vr34CwQOayx9q2p.LgszVaLwvtrwGQ4GGDHOx1w/0001mr.xml William Carey Crane Papers] Accession #0068, The Texas Collection, Baylor University</ref> His son, Royston Campbell Crane of Sweetwater, was one of the original founders of the West Texas Historical Association and a mayor of Sweetwater, Texas.<ref name=txcolroy>[https://baylorarchives.cuadra.com/cgi-bin/starfetch.exe?idPP25vXAGtU@iXI2BmgjhtHBxJ8XtJAqBT2wkoLUj9FPK0lgKlNQxgzOc4XDfbRMEJIwSq9r5lQpS023911EeZkpaYtuobuGeqyYBZd62g/0001mz.xml Royston C. Crane Collection] Accession #0069, The Texas Collection, Baylor University</ref>
==Legacy and death== [[Image:William Carey Crane historical marker, Crane, TX DSCN1368.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Crane historical marker in his namesake city and county, Crane, Texas]] Crane died in office February 27, 1885. Crane County, Texas and Crane, Texas, are named for him.<ref name="texas"/>
The Baylor Institute of Faith and Learning maintains a Crane Scholars program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baylor Institute for Faith and Learning |url=https://ifl.web.baylor.edu/programs/crane-scholars-program-undergraduates |access-date=March 14, 2026}}</ref>
==Bibliography== *''Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas'' (1884)
==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{Commonscat-inline}} *{{Wikisource author-inline}}
{{Baylor University presidents}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, William Carey}} Category:1816 births Category:1885 deaths Category:Religious leaders from Richmond, Virginia Category:Colgate University alumni Category:Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni Category:Mercer University faculty Category:Baptists from Texas Category:Presidents of Baylor University Category:People from Independence, Texas Category:Baptists from Virginia Category:Baptists from New York (state)