Raccoon John Smith: Frontier Kentucky's Most Famous Preacher

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The most famous portrait of Raccoon John Smith, an engraving from a portrait painted of him probably sometime in the early 1830s. From The Life of Elder John Smith by John Augustus Williams (1870). The cover of the paperback Popular Library edition of Louis Cochran’s historical novel Raccoon John Smith. Portrait of Raccoon John Smith (1784–1868) at approximately sixty to sixty-five years of age. One can almost see the pain caused by his youngest son’s suffering and death in his eyes. Courtesy of the Bosworth Library, Lexington Theological Seminary. One of the two known photographs of Raccoon John Smith, taken in his extreme old age. Courtesy of the Bosworth Library, Lexington Theological Seminary. Nancy Hurt Smith (1792– 1861), second wife of Raccoon John. Portrait painted probably when she was in her fifties. Courtesy of the Bosworth Library, Lexington Theological Seminary. Alexander Campbell (1784–1868). Courtesy of the Bosworth Library, Lexington Theological Seminary. Thomas Campbell (1763–1854). Courtesy of Scott Harp, www. therestoration movement.com. Alexander Campbell in old age. Courtesy of the Bosworth Library, Lexington Theological Seminary. This bust of Thomas Campbell is said to have been cast from the old preacher’s “death mask.” Some say that it is Alexander Campbell’s “death mask” bust rather than Thomas’s. Courtesy of the Bosworth Library, Lexington Theological Seminary. Walter Scott (1796–1861). Courtesy of the Bosworth Library, Lexington Theological Seminary. Nathan Lewis Rice (1807– 1877), Alexander Campbell’s last opponent in formal public debate. Richard Hickman Menefee (1812– 1841), the brilliant, consumptive young eastern Kentucky statesman who was Raccoon John Smith’s last secular political idol. Courtesy of the Menifee County Court House, Frenchburg, Kentucky. Isaac T. Reneau (1805–1885), one of Raccoon John’s southern Kentucky converts and frequent correspondents. Reneau was a Disciple minister as well. Courtesy of the Bosworth Library, Lexington Theological Seminary. Interior of the restored John and Anna Townsend Smith cabin, now located on the property of the First Christian Church, Monticello, Kentucky. Photo by the author. The John and Anna Smith house in Horse Hollow near Parmleysville, Wayne County, Kentucky, before the front part of the log structure was disassembled and relocated in Monticello. Courtesy of the Bosworth Library, Lexington Theological Seminary. The restored John and Anna Smith cabin. Monticello’s First Christian Church is in the background. Photo by the author. A small eastern Kentucky spicewood thicket in early spring. Photo by the author. The forlorn knoll on which Lulbegrud Church once sat, on Prewitt Pike not far from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. The gravestone is that of Thomas Boone (1789–1855), who succeeded Raccoon John Smith to the pastorate there. Photo by the author. Mt. Pleasant, the plantation house built in 1802 by Jilson Payne (1767–1825), Raccoon John’s principal political mentor in North District Association. Photo by the author. The Payne/Prewitt cemetery at Mt. Pleasant, where Jilson and Dulcinea Payne are buried. Photo by the author. Prewitt Pike, between the old Lulbegrud churchyard and Mt. Pleasant. Photo by the author. Burning Springs United Baptist Church at Salyersville, Magoffin County, Kentucky, organized in 1810 by Elders Daniel Williams (1763–1820) and Samuel Hanna (1756– 1838). Photo by the author. South Fork Church (first known as “Poplar Meeting-House”) at Malone near West Liberty, Morgan County, Kentucky, organized by Daniel Williams in 1808. Photo by the author. The “Old Stone Church” (later Providence Baptist Church) on Howard’s Creek, Clark County, Kentucky, organized and pastored for many years by Elder Robert Elkin (1745–1822). Photo by the author. Kentucky Historical Society marker for Robert Elkin’s “Old Stone Church.” Photo by the author. White Oak Christian Church in Morgan County, Kentucky, one of eastern Kentucky’s earliest Disciples of Christ congregations. It was gathered by Joseph Nickell, according to tradition with help from Raccoon John Smith and under the influence of his preaching, in 1832. Photo by the author. (Above) The Christian Church at Hazel Green, Kentucky, organized originally by Daniel Williams as a...