LP-07-Lewis L. Pinkerton

Lewis L. Pinkerton

LEWIS L. PINKERTON was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, January 28th, 1812. His paternal grandparents were Irish; his maternal, German. In the winter of 1821, when Lewis was in his tenth year, his father settled in Brooke County, West Va., having previously moved from Maryland to Chester County, Penn., the place of his nativity. Ten years of the son’s life were spent among the romantic hills of West Virginia. Those years, as he says himself, were full of "incessant, hard, ill-requited toil;" but they were useful in developing in him the virtue, self-reliance, and fidelity to principle which have ever since characterized him.

He was trained in the Presbyterian faith, but becoming perplexed with the doctrine of "the Decrees" as taught in the "Shorter Catechism," and having carefully studied the Word of God, he was, in 1830, baptized under the personal ministry of Alexander Campbell. In 1831 he left West Virginia, and, after visiting several localities, settled in Trenton, Butler County, Ohio. Here he engaged in teaching a common school, and in the study and practice of medicine. He was married in 1833, and in 1835 attended a course of lectures in the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati. In 1836 he removed to Carthage, Ohio, then, and for some years later, the place of residence of the lamented Walter Scott. He continued to study and practice medicine till May, 1838, when he gave up his profession, in which he had been quite successful, and began to preach the Gospel.

He at once entered upon his new calling, with energy and success. During the years 1838, 1839, and 1840, he traveled almost constantly, preaching the glad tidings to thousands, and witnessing the baptism of a great number of converts. In 1841, he removed to Lexington, Ky., and took charge of the Church in that city. During the winter of the same year he attended a course of lectures in the Medical Department of Transylvania University, and received the degree of M. D. He resigned his connection with the Church in Lexington in the fall of 1843, and spent the remainder of that year, and the greater part of the next, in preaching and soliciting subscriptions for Bacon College, located at Harrodsburg, Ky. He removed to Midway, Ky., in the spring of 1845, where he caught a successful Female Academy, with only occasional and slight assistance, until the summer of 1851. Meantime he conceived the idea of a Female Orphan School, and communicated his plans to J. Ware Parish, a noble Christian gentleman, who at once took hold of the enterprise with the warmest zeal. In the winter of 1846-47 a charter was obtained from the Legislature of Kentucky, and the Orphan School located at Midway was put into successful operation. The establishment of this school may be regarded as one of the most important events in Dr. Pinkerton’s career. It was his own conception; and to him, more than to any other man, are the Disciples in Kentucky indebted for this magnificent monument of Christian liberality. From 1851 to 1860 he was principally engaged in preaching and teaching. The churches at Versailles, Paris, and Midway were those for which he labored most of this time, and at all these points he was eminently successful. In 1860 he removed to Harrodsburg, having been elected to the chair of Belles-Lettres and Political Science in Kentucky University. When the University was removed to Lexington, he removed also to that city, which is the place of his residence at this time. In February, 1866, he resigned his professorship in the University, and has since been preaching at various points. He delivered a course of lectures at Hiram the present year.

Besides being a successful preacher and teacher, the Doctor is one of the most accomplished writers in the ranks of the Disciples. In 1848 he edited and published the "Christian Mirror." In 1851 he was senior editor of the "Ecclesiastic Reformer." In 1853-54 he edited the Kentucky Department of the "Christian Age;" and, in 1844-45 the "New Era," a weekly newspaper, the organ of the Sons of Temperance in Kentucky.

During his life he has been offered the Presidency of several colleges, but has uniformly declined, because he never considered his scholarship equal to such a position. To use his own style, he is an educated man, but not a scholar. Nevertheless, his scholarship is quite respectable, such as a man of less modesty would regard sufficient for any of the places to which he has been called.

Both as a writer and speaker, his style is very original. His imagination is chaste, though somewhat tinged with an autumn sadness. His logical powers are above mediocrity, and his thoughts always fresh and vigorous. He is distinguished for great independence of character, and, on this account, his actions are not always well understood. He is thoroughly conscientious, and possesses, in a high degree, a generous, sympathetic, and forgiving nature.