John Mark Hicks

Peter Lowery (1810-1888). Peter Lowery (1810-1888), married to a free Cherokee named Ruth Mitchell, (1) became a member of the Nashville Christian Church in 1835, (2) purchased his own freedom in 1839 and eventually freed his mother, three brothers, and two sisters, (3) worked at Franklin College and was mentored by Tolbert Fanning in the […]

This is the report in Nashville’s Republican Banner (April 9, 1857), page 3. Destructive Fire!  CHURCH BURNED!–LOSS $25,000 The cry of fire was raised yesterday morning between 5 and 6 o’clock, by the discovery of flames issuing from a small Carpenter Shop in South Field, near the Depot of the Tenn. & Ala. R. R., […]

The Nashville Tennessean, in an article entitled “ALL DELIGHTED,” described the proceedings of the General Christian Missionary Convention’s 1892 annual meeting (October 21, 1892, p. 8). This was a highwater mark in the tension within the Stone-Campbell Movement (or, American Restoration Movement). The missionary societies held their convention in the capital of its opposition. There […]

In 1889, James A. Harding conducted an eight week meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.  A total of 123 would be immersed over the eight weeks. Here is the Daily American‘s account of the meeting (August 9, 1889). Successful Revival Rev. James A. Harding Pleading for Christ. The Tent Meeting in Edgefield and Its Progress Eighty-Seven Conversions and […]

During the summer of 1858 Tolbert Fanning, President of Franklin College and a leader in Middle Tennessee for over twenty-five years, toured the congregations surrounding Nashville. He recounts this tour in the September 1858 edition of the Gospel Advocate (“Prospects in Middle Tennessee,” pp. 257-263). He visited Hartsville and Bledsoe’s Creek congregations in Sumner county; Lebanon […]

1938-1939 were significant years for the Churches of Christ. In 1938 E. W. McMillan, one time chair of the Bible department at Abilene Christian College, began preaching for the Central Church of Christ in Nashville, TN and in January 1939 assumed the editorship of the Christian Leader which was now under new management (Clinton Davidson). The […]

My friend, Chris Cotten, along with Mac Ice, have a significant interest in the history of Nashville Churches of Christ. Both of their blogs have wonderful pieces on that history. Yesterday I read Chris’s piece on the “Nashville Establishment,” which identifies one aspect of the institutional growth of Churches of Christ in the middle of the 20th […]

One of David Lipscomb’s incessant emphases was that the poor were God’s special concern.  The Cholera Epidemic of 1873 provided an opportunity for the church to serve the sick, dying, and needy, especially among the poor which included the African-American community. In 1873 the population of Nashville was 25,865. Cholera first appeared in 1873 in […]

On the first Saturday and Sunday of May, Nashville experienced an unprecedented storm where we received 1/4 of our annual rainfall in two days. The resultant floods were devastating for many and crippling to the economy. One only need to look at the pictures and videos present on the internet to understand that this was Middle Tennessee’s worst disaster […]

Returning to some of my historical interests (which is probably not shared by many :-)), I have always been fascinated with Alexander Campbell’s take on the “spiritual system” as he called it, particularly demonology. Campbell presented a major addresson the topic of demonology to the Popular Lecture Club in Nashville, Tennessee on March 10, 1841 […]