LEWIS E. CHRISTIAN

From the 1887 History of Vernon County, Missouri, p. 863-864:

Lewis E. Christian

(County School Commissioner, Nevada).

   Mr. Christian is a man who is entitled to more than ordinary credit for the position he occupies, both personally and officially, as one of Vernon county’s worthy citizens.  He was born in Shelby county, Mo., April 10, 1857, and there and in this county his entire life has been passed.  Franklin N. W. Christian, his father, came originally from Marion county, Mo., and as his calling followed the occupations of farming and teaching.  He became a resident of Vernon county in 1871, living here until his death in 1873.  The maiden name of his (Franklin’s) wife was Elizabeth Forsythe, a native of Pennsylvania, and daughter of Lewis and Margaret (Williams) Forsythe; the father of the latter, David Williams, was one of the three men who captured Maj. Andre during the Revolutionary War.  As has been intimated, Lewis Christian was reared in this county from about his fourteenth year, his younger days being spend [spent] principally in attendance at school – first at the public schools of Missouri[1], and later he attended Shelbina Collegiate Institute.  But in early life he had the benefit of a father’s careful instruction and thorough teaching – a privilege the value of which can be but feebly estimated.  After leaving school he engaged in teaching with good success, and in 1885-86, supplemented the education which he had already received by a course at the Southwest Baptist College, at Bolivar, Mo., where he prepared himself for a professional life.  In 1886 he was graduated from this institution and recently received the nomination for county school commissioner, on the Democratic ticket, on the twenty-ninth ballot, in a hotly contested race, --a flattering testimonial to his ability and fitness for the position.  It is a fact worthy of note that his strongest support was from the localities in which he was best known, notwithstanding the old proverb that a prophet is without honor in his own country.  Mr. Christian’s outlook for the future is most promising, and it requires no prophetical reasoning to predict for him a successful career in his present capacity.

[Transcribed by Becky Siple]

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