LP-11-Lanceford Bramblet Wilkes

Lanceford Bramblet Wilkes

THE subject of this sketch was born in Maury County, Tennessee, on the 24th of March, 1824. His paternal ancestors were English. His father (Edmund), grandfather (John), and great-grandfather (Minor Wilkes), were natives of Virginia. His grandfather moved to Middle Tennessee in 1810, and settled in Maury County. His father was the youngest son of a large family, was born in Franklin County, Virginia, in 1797, and was married, in 1819, to C. H. Houston, second daughter of James, the son of Christopher C. Houston. The maternal grandfather was of Scotch descent, and a native of Iredel County, North Carolina. The maternal grandmother was the daughter of Daniel Bills, of Surrey County, North Carolina, and was of Irish descent. In the spring of 1829, when the son was five years of age, the father left the State of Tennessee, and located in what is now Miller County, Missouri. In that new and growing country, L. B. Wilkes spent his boyhood years. As there were few schools, and still fewer churches, within his reach at that time, his educational and church privileges were quite limited till he was twenty years of age. From 1844 to 1848 he spent the time in alternately teaching and attending the best schools accessible to him. During this time he attended an academy at Springfield, Missouri, and made considerable progress in the rudiments of an education.

It was only a short time before entering this academy that he first heard the Disciples preach. Those he heard were illiterate, and, as he thought, heretical in their religious views; and, to use his own language, he "despised them." But while attending the academy, he heard the Gospel preached in its fullness, simplicity, and beauty, by his relative, J. M. Wilkes, and J. H. Haden. Father Haden, as he was familiarly called, was one of the best and wisest of the preachers of that country. His preaching had a great influence on the mind of the subject of this notice, who, having heard the truth as it is in Jesus, believed, and was immersed in James River, near Springfield, Missouri, on the second Lord’s day in August, 1848, by J. M. Wilkes. In the spring of 1849 he entered Bethany College, West Virginia; but in the summer of the following year, at the urgent solicitation of Father Haden, from whom he received temporary aid, he returned to Missouri, and, in 1852, graduated at the State University, then under the presidency of the distinguished James Shannon. In 1853, at the request of the church at Hannibal, Missouri, he became its pastor; and, in February of the next year, he was married to Miss. R. K., youngest daughter of Lewis Bryan, of Palmyra, Missouri. In 1854 he formed a partnership with Dr. W. H. Hopson, in the management of "Palmyra Female Seminary;" and, in 1856, he was elected President of "Christian College," now presided over by J. K. Rogers. In 1860 he was again called to the church at Hannibal, Missouri, where he remained for five years, greatly beloved by the congregation for which he labored, and respected by all who knew him. In November, 1865, he located in Springfield, Illinois, which is his present field of labor.

Both as a preacher and teacher, Brother Wilkes has been successful. True, he has never been remarkable for holding "big meetings," and having great success in the evangelical field, though his successes even here have been by no means small; but he has been eminently successful in developing a permanent growth among the Disciples, wherever he has labored. He succeeds better as an instructor of the head, than as a mover of the heart. And yet he is capable of using very powerful persuasive influence, though he seldom resorts to this method, preferring rather to present his subject in the strongest light to the calm judgment, and await the desired result, which, if not so certain, is always more satisfactory when obtained. His mind is rigidly logical, and yields only to legitimate arguments. He has very strong and decided convictions, and although somewhat reserved in expressing himself on any mooted question, is, nevertheless, always perfectly willing to share the full responsibility of any position he may occupy, and, if necessary, will defend it in the face of all opposition. He is naturally, however, unostentatious, quiet in his general movements, and "seeks after those things which make for peace."

He is about six feet high, has light hair, blue eyes, a sallow complexion, and weighs about one hundred and sixty pounds. He is a close, laborious student, and this fact is clearly marked on his physical organization.