Biographical Sketch of Claiborne Wright


Text from Haynes, Nathaniel S. History of the Disciples of Christ in Illinois 1819-1914, Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Company, 1915. Pages 637 - 638. This online edition © 1997, James L. McMillan.

Born: Indiana, 1819.
Died: Mason, Illinois, 1896.

Came from Johnson County, Indiana, in 1861, and settled on a farm two miles east of Mason. He was the first Christian minister to reside in Effingham County and pioneer preacher of a fine grade.

A poet friend wrote these lines, among others, about him:

"Claiborne Wright! a name through which we see
All that a minister of God should be--
A name itself significant, ‘round which
Our human virtues clustered rank and rich;
An ample soul perfected on a plan
That comprehended all the best in man,
And in the largeness of its vision saw
The beauty of eternal love and law.

"Against all wrong he waged a ceaseless war
And kept his soul as stainless as a star;
Along the awful highways of the world,
He bore the banner of the Lord unfurled,
Willing to follow--not afraid to lead
When duty called him, in the time of need;
No soldier of the cross--no braver knight
E'er donned the armor, when the cause was right."


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