"Raccoon" John Smith

1784-1868

John Smith was born on October 15, 1784 in East Tennessee, in what is now known as Sullivan County. He has been called the Peter Cartwright and Lorenzo Dow of the Restoration Movement. He was truly a unique character, a product of the age in which he lived. Alexander Campbell is quoted as saying: "John Smith is the only man that I ever knew who would have been spoiled by a college education." He meant that the unique character would have been so greatly modified by an education that he could not have done the work that he did.

John Smith had very little schooling. He attended school four months in a log schoolhouse when he was but a lad. A little later he enrolled as a student in a private school. This school was so crude that it accomplished very little. The teacher was a drunkard and gave but little attention to his duties as a teacher. It is said that young Smith, to express his contempt for such a teacher, poured a shovel full of hot embers in the teacher's pocket while he sat before his pupils in a drunken stupor. This broke up the school, and Smith never enrolled any more as a student. These few months' schooling quickened his thirst for knowledge, though they furnished him but little opportunity for the acquisition of knowledge.

His parents were Calvinistic Baptists in faith and were rigid in their enforcement of their peculiar theories upon their children. As young Smith verged into manhood he became interested in the subject of religion. He sought the Lord after the custom of the Calvinistic theory. He anxiously waited for the Lord to call him; he truly expected him to call him as one of the elect. He freely and unconsciously imbibed the teaching of his father's creed. All the stories of conversion at that time were full of marvelous incident and spiritual adventure. John Smith listened to the narration of these stories and prayed that they might be made his own experience. His father died about this time, leaving John Smith to take charge of the family affairs. The death of his father and the responsibilities that now fell upon him caused him to more earnestly seek salvation. He tried in vain, it seemed to him, to "get religion." He next turned to reading the Bible, thinking that he might get some comfort from his distressed condition. I've had strong convictions that he was a sinner, and his struggles were painful indeed. Finally he was told that he had been "converted." He rejoiced to hear this and believed it; however, he had not had the marvelous experiences that commonly attended conversions of that kind. There was an element of doubt in his own mind. He was assured that this doubt was one of the tokens of God's mercy to him. He submitted his case to the Baptist Church, and the church unanimously passed on his conversion and he was immediately taken into the fold of the Baptist Church.

Soon after he became a member of the Baptist Church he had a strong desire to be a preacher. He worried no little about "a call to preach." He could not understand why he should have such a strong desire to preach and yet the Lord would not call him. He began to talk at prayer meeting, and the more he participated in the prayer-meeting work, the stronger grew his desire to preach. He continued talking at prayer meeting and at the houses of his neighbors. He was reprimanded for preaching "without a call." Finally he persuaded himself that he had received the "call to preach." He lost no time in getting into the work of a Baptist preacher.

He began reading the New Testament and pondering over the word of the Lord. He memorized much of the Scripture, which was a strange thing in that day. He read and studied the New Testament until, when he would arise to preach, he quoted freely from it. Some of his Baptist brethren who were preachers again reprimanded him for preaching so much of the Bible. It was a rare thing for preachers then to quote any of the Bible. The reprimand of his brethren distressed him, and he tried earnestly to satisfy his mind on the proposition. He presented the matter seriously to them in the following way: "Brethren, what shall I do? I must preach; I cannot preach if I do not study the New Testament." He was told that the Lord would give to him what he should say.

About this time he began reading the Christian Baptist, published by Alexander Campbell. From this he learned much and was led into a fuller appreciation of the New Testament teaching. Some time after this Alexander Campbell made a visit to Kentucky, where Smith was living. There was much discussion among the Kentucky Baptists as to whether Mr. Campbell knew anything about "experimental religion," or "heart felt religion." All agreed that Mr. Campbell was a learned man, but many doubted whether he was one of the "elect." So when Mr. Campbell came into Kentucky he was received with some hesitancy on the part of the Baptists. John Smith said that he could tell just what Mr. Campbell was if he could hear him once. He did hear Mr. Campbell. He sat and listened for two hours and thirty minutes, and the time seemed to him only thirty minutes. Some one asked Smith afterwards what he thought of Mr. Campbell if he was one of the elect or not. Smith replied: "I know nothing about the man; but, 'be he saint or devil, he has thrown more light on the Galatian letter and on the whole Scriptures than I have received in all the sermons that I have ever heard before." Through the help he received from Mr. Campbell and an earnest, prayerful rereading of the New Testament Scriptures, Smith saw that the Baptist Church was not the church of his Lord and that the theories which were preached by Baptists were not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He at once renounced the Baptist faith and embraced the faith of the gospel. It was a hard task to turn away from the religion of his mother and the fellowship and friendship of the Baptist brotherhood. it was quite a task to turn away from such a large and popular brotherhood as was the Baptist Church in Kentucky at that time and become identified with a despised and weak religious body, as were the true disciples at that time. However, he did not hesitate to make the sacrifice. He did it with joy in the newfound truth of the gospel.

He now devoted himself faithfully to the preaching of the gospel. He labored hard to get others to accept the truth, and his labors were not in vain. He was able to get entire congregations of the Baptist faith to turn away from their creed and theories and accept the Bible and work and worship as it directed. He was happy in this great work. He could preach the gospel with convincing power in a unique way. Few could withstand or resist the truth as presented by him. His unique way of handling a subject reached the hearts of the people of the rural sections of the country where he lived. He did a work among them that no other man could do. This he did without the promise or hope of any earthly reward or financial aid. He thus labored for the love of the truth and the salvation of souls. Perhaps John Smith is remembered more for his witticism and repartee than anything else. Many amusing incidents are related about his work. At one time he was preaching on the gospel and contrasting the different theories in religion with the gospel. He said that the gospel had this mark which was peculiar to it: "Whosoever does not believe it shall be damned." This could not be said of any of the theories of man. He put the different theories to the test, and showed that even those who believed in these theories did not claim that those who did not believe them would be "damned." At another time, after he had shown the absurdities of the mourner's bench theory of getting religion, he was asked: "What is the difference between your baptism and our mourner's bench?" He replied: "One is from heaven, the other is from the sawmill." He preached at Sparta, Tennessee, before a number of lawyers and judges. Afterwards he was asked if he was not very much embarrassed in the presence of such learned men. He replied: "Not in the least; for I have learned that judges and lawyers, so far as the Bible is concerned, are the most ignorant class of people in the world, except Doctors of Divinity." Again he said that he had spoken in the presence of all the great preachers of Kentucky, but, "I confess that the first time I ever preached before Alexander Campbell I did falter a little."

John Smith died on February 28, 1868, and was buried in Lexington, Kentucky, He died in the triumphs of the faith of the gospel. His sacrifice and service in the cause of Christ made him a hero in the service of God. Every young preacher can gain much information and inspiration from a study of the life of "Raccoon" John Smith.

--From Biographical Sketches of Gospel Preachers, H. Leo Boles, Pages 37 - 41  

Stained Glass At Cane Ridge,
Designating 1832 Union Of Christians & Disciples
B.W. Stone On Left & John Smith On Right
 Photo Taken By Scott Harp In 2000

John Smith, though not greatly educated was one of the most successful and beloved preachers of his day. It was Alexander Campbell, a dear friend to Smith, who once said that John was the only preacher that he had ever known that an education would hurt rather than help. 

Smith was greatly involved in the New Year's Day, 1832 union of the Disciples and Christians in Lexington, Kentucky. He preached the first unity sermon. In it he said, “Let us, then my brethren, be no longer Campbellites or Stoneites, New Lights or Old Lights, or any other kind of lights, but let us come to the Bible, and to the Bible alone, as the only book in the world that can give us all the light we need.”   With this mentality, representing Campbell and the Disciples, he shook the hand of Barton W. Stone, the representative of the Christians. The result was unity among churches of Christ. Smith traveled with John Rogers to tell the brotherhood of the joining of two great forces, and to continue preaching New Testament Christianity to the lost and dying world of their day. He baptized thousands into Christ. Only eternity will know of the great accomplished by this great ole' backwoods Tennessee preacher.

Audio Lectures

Chronology Of The Life Of Raccoon John Smith