William Carey Crane was a noted church leader and educator from Virginia who received a B. A. and M. A. from George Washington University, taught in Georgia from 1837 to 1839, and was ordained a Baptist minister in 1838. He served as pastor of various leading churches and was president of two church colleges in Mississippi from 1851 to 1860. In 1863, he came to Confederate Texas as president of Baylor University, a position he held for 22 years. His work and use of his personal funds kept Baylor open while many of the state's 25 colleges were closed. In 1871, he became the first president of the Texas State Teachers Association and chairman of a committee to study public school reorganization.