1888 Biography of Rev. John Pinkney Everett (1826 - 1891), Union Parish Louisiana Submitted for the Union Parish Louisiana USGenWeb Archives by T. D. Hudson, 7/2007 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ ================================================================================== ================================================================================== 1888 Biography of Rev. John Pinkney Everett (1826 - 1891), Union Parish Louisiana From "A History of the Baptists of Louisiana From The Earliest Times to the Present", by Rev. W. E. Paxton, C. R. Barnes Publishing Co., St. Louis, 1888. ================================================================================== ================================================================================== [pages 580-582] ELDER JOHN PINKNEY EVERETT. -- Was born in Dallas County, Ala., March 20, 1826, and removed to Perry County the same year, where the family resided until 1847. In October of this year his mother died, and in a short time afterward his father, George Everett, with his eight children, moved west and settled in Union Parish, La., near the present town of Oakland, near the Arkansas line. George Everett was a preacher. He died from home, whither he had gone to fill an appointment, June, 1855. John was the eldest of thirteen children, and the care of the family devolved mainly upon him, in the absence of his father from home, and he was thus deprived of educational advantages; the extent of his opportunities being seven months in school, when he was sixteen years old. But good natural abilities and industrious self-culture have to some extent overcome these early disadvantages. He was converted very early, under the quiet influences of his father's pious home, but did not make a public profession until he was nineteen years old. In September, 1845, he was baptized by his father. In 1846 he volunteered and served twelve months in the war with Mexico. Here he learned much of the depravity of the human heart, and the corrupting influences of camp life. In December, 1851, he was married to Miss Buckley, from Tennessee, by whom he has had ten children, one of whom fell a victim to yellow fever in Memphis, in 1878. In 1849 the Baptist church at Spring Hill was constituted, with nineteen members. Among this number were his father, younger brother, two sisters, and himself. This church his father served until his death in 1855. In 1853, John P. Everett was ordained deacon in this church. Having purchased a good degree and much boldness in the faith as a deacon, he was licensed by the church in 1854 to exercise in public. In September, 1855, he was ordained to the ministry, and thus the mantle of the sainted father, who had died a short time before, he fell upon a worthy successor in the Gospel. The following presbytery officiated in his ordination, viz: S. J. Larkin, Elias George, S. B. Thomas, S. T. Cobb and S. J. Fuller. The meeting was protracted, and at the close he baptized eighteen persons. After the death of George Everett, Elder S. J. Larkin was called to fill out th eyear. But in October he was called to the vacancy. Distrusting himself, he declined, and Dr. Larkin continued to supply the church, with his assistance. In October, 1856, he was regularly installed as pastor of this church, and continued in this relation until October, 1876, during which time he baptized about five hundred into its fellowship. From this church was dismissed the material to aid in the constitution of three other churches, two of which he served as pastor. He preached to the church at New London, Ark., for several years, and baptized over one hundred into the fellowship, one of whom, Dr. G. Norsworthy, became an able minister. He also preached to the churches at Nillsboro and Eldorado, in the same State. When he took charge of the church at Hillsboro, which was immediately after the war, there were only about ten or twelve members, and the village was one of the wickedest places in South Arkansas. During the three years of his pastorate here he baptized between sixty and seventy persons, and the morals of the place had so improved that some of the business houses closed during the Saturday's meetings. The church at Spring Hill having united with the Liberty (Arkansas) Association, Elder Everett became a member of that body, and presided over it from 1867 to 1876. In December, 1876, he was called to the church at Shiloh, La., and removed with his family to that place. To this church he has given half his time; the rest has been divided between Zion Hill and Vienna. His ministry at these places has greatly prospered. For several years he has been the efficient President of the Executive Board of the State Convention. Elder Everett has made frequent contributions to our periodical literature, and is the author of an extended work on "Bible Types," which has been commended by some of the most judicious brethren in the South. ==================================================================================== NOTE: The first paragraph contains a technical error, for John P. Everett was the second-oldest son, not the oldest. His brother Thomas Massapy Everett was born about 1823. John P. Everett (20 Mar 1826 - 21 June 1891) was the son of George Everett and Jancy (or Gensy, some claim short for 'Virginia') Megginson. He died a few years after this biography was written. ########################################################