Wilbon Harrison Daniel

Wilbon Harrison Daniel, professor of history at the University of Richmond from 1956 to 1992, died at his home in Richmond on Monday. He was 91. Born in Lynchburg, Va. and raised in Bedford, Daniel was the second of six children. He attended New London Academy, Lynchburg College, Vanderbilt and completed his Ph.D. at Duke University, where he wrote on Confederate army chaplains during the Civil War. A specialist in Southern church history, Daniel was also an ordained Baptist minister. He taught American history at Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Va., where he met the young biology teacher from North Carolina who would become his wife of 63 years, and at both Vanderbilt and Duke before coming to Richmond. At U of R, he taught Civil War and Reconstruction, as well as a variety of other American history courses and seminars. He published extensively in his field, as well as in a field he had loved since he was a boy: baseball. Daniel's books include a biography of his favorite childhood player, Jimmie Foxx, and a book with Scott Mayer on the beginnings of organized baseball in Richmond. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; their daughter, Anne Margaret and son-in-law, James Pethica of New York; his brothers, Bill and Carlyle; many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews, and forty years of students, for whom he remained always grateful. There will be a memorial service for Harrison on Friday, January 3 at 1 p.m. at River Road Church, Baptist, 8000 River Rd. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, or to the University of Richmond Spiders baseball team. Arrangements by woodyfuneralhome.com.