Raccoon John Smith: Frontier Kentucky’s Most Famous Preacher by Elder John Sparks (review)

BOOK REV] EWS genealogical study ot the Spkilding family in Maryland ·, ind examines " what can be known or fairlv inferred"about her childhood in Kentuch' ( 11). Inferences abound in Pioneer Spirit, due in large part to the existence of only sixtysix letters written by Spalding. Doyle' s conjectures are usually well founded,however, because of her reliance upc,n the plentiful s asquier Fl orida State Universitv F. lderjohn Sparks. Raccoon/ obil Smith: Frontier Kent:, cky' s Most Famous Prearber.Lexington: Ihe University Press of Kentucky,2005. 504 pp. ISBN 0813123704 ( cloth), 545. All too often,the influential and interesting ch,iracter,;in Aniericitn liistory remain iii the shadowstheir lives all but forgotten. in Raccoon Job? l Smith, John Sparks labors dili - "'' fltij a, gently to recover the stc,ry ,) f one such person. 14)rced tc) wade through the waters of specula- Raccoon tion and the brambles jolinS']] 1[1] of thcological controver- Frinlier sy,Sparks, like any good KemurS historianor hound fur Mosi Famous thpit Inatterrelentless ly ]} ursues John Smith through the creeks aiid hcillows of nineteenth centurv Kentucky, offering his readers an insightful, though at times tiring, account. Itrhaps the greatest value of Sparks' s Study is that it is the first hiogr·aphy of Smith published since 1963, when Louis Cochr: inc offered his historical tiovel. This is surprising because. as Sp:Irks illustrates, Smith played a pivotal role in the religic ,Lis development of tile American frontier . Regardless of the congregation he served, the creed he ccintessed, or the critic he debated, Smith demanded the respect of friend : ind foc alike. In short, Sparks le,ives little question : is ti) Smith' s imporranee ili the wild religious al,d sc)cial world of the Kentuck' frontier. One of the prominent aspects of the frontier's religious histor\· was the discord experienced between ·, Ilill \ vithin denominations . Generally, Sp:irks charts a clear course througl these often confusing 77 BOOK REVIEWS debates, explaining the intricacies ot-doctrinal conflicts. Whether analyzing the disputes between Regular and Separate Baptists, tlic strivings tif specific cot, gregations , or SmEhlliveh· defcitses if the Christian traith. Sparks does : 0 with precision . He dcies,hinvever,occasionally rel,· on carie., tures tir rague descriptic,ns, such as when he classifies Ric: hard ' llicim: ts ·, is 1 " cruelly C:ilvinistic preacher"with little explanation (149).Ilut, in general, Sp,trks pro\' ides his redders Ivith . 1 t.tir · assessment of theolcigic,1 isslies. Tracing the preacher' s journey from skeptic to Calvinistic Baptist k) lessCalvinistic Baptist to disciple ( if Alexander Campbell, Sparks uses u wide i·: Iriety of prim,iry sources, including Yss(, ci;itional minutes, pers ,( Ct he Inay h,ive," " while ive cannot knciw with certainty," or the dizzying Dccurrences of" probably"and " perhaps ." Sparks' s use of secondary sources, however,leaves mc,k. On Jor, hink Banks.-Emancipation anit its / 1. 1term , itli in tbe Obio Ri:, er Mil/ c·,explores the live> of African Amerif :ins during the tr;iii: fi, rm: ition ot the Ohic, River Valle\· fron) the : intchelluni peritid t well as cetisus dat. i ; ind (, ther st: itistical evidence ,Bigh, irn ex] ilicates the complex Jnd changi!, g nature of..\ fricin AI, irriC, In Sc)cicty on both the northern and southern shcires tif tl, e Ohio River. Bigham argues that the differences between black lives iii the North ( lndia,), 1. Illinois. and Ohio)and the South ( Kentucky)u·cre not that gre:, t; indeed, the simil, iritics were more striking than the distincth,ns. In arguingthis PAnt quite persmisively, Bigham, like Joe \ ViIliam lri,tter, flirces schc, lars tc, reconceptualize the Olih) 1 11 the northern shore and sc,uthern shore. In the first section, the author broadly outlines African American life 78 () 111(} \'.\ I. I. Ei- 111%1 -() 1{' t- ...