“Raccoon” John Smith (1784-1868) stopped at an inn while traveling and preaching in Alabama. As the landlady began preparing his breakfast, they struck up a conversation. When she learned that he was from Kentucky, she asked him about the “strange sort of people” she heard about “up there in Kentucky called Campbellites” (The Life of Elder John Smith, Williams, p. 393).
“Yes, madam,” replied he, “there are some in my own neighborhood.”
“You have seen some of them then?” said she.
“Yes, madam, but they don’t like that name.”
“Well, how do they look?” said she. “Do tell me, sir” (ibid. p. 394).
The reason she was anxious to learn what these “Campbellites” were like was because of the stories she heard about them. As she explained to Smith, she was told about them taking anyone who wanted to join them and putting them under the water, sometimes even taking them by force and dragging them down to the water. She told of one legend in which the “Campbellites” chased a man for five miles, plunged him in the water, and then abandoned him to find his own way home. Upon hearing all this, Smith asked what she imagined these people would look like. She said they must have “a sort of wild, fierce, fanatical look about them” (ibid. p. 394). To this, he replied:
“Madam…look right at me, and you will see one! But don’t be afraid,” continued he, seeing her start, and then blush with confusion, “I am a civil Campbellite, and will not chase you into the water” (ibid. p. 394).
