Rev. John Lightfoot Waller was born near Versailles, in Woodford county, Kentucky, November 23, 1809.

      He was brilliant, even in boyhood, was taught by private teachers and at the age of eighteen wrote “A Church Without a Creed,” which attracted much attention by reason of its great merit. After teaching in Jessamine county he came to Louisville in 1835 and began editing the Baptist Banner, later the Baptist Banner and Western Pioneer, and at present the Western Recorder. He was peerless as an editorial writer.

      In 1840 he was ordained and in 1841 became General Agent of the General Association of Baptists.

      In 1842 [he] held a most noble debate on Baptism with Nathan L. Rice.

      In 1843 he succeeded his father as pastor at Glen’s Creek Baptist Church, Woodford county.

      In 1845 he founded the Western Baptist Review, a high-grade monthly, now the Christian Repository, St. Louis, Mo.

      In 1849 he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Kentucky and ranked as its ablest debator [sic].

      In 1850 he resumed the editorship of the Baptist Banner and Western Pioneer.

      Few men ever made so deep an impression on the people of Kentucky. After a brief illness he died at his home in Louisville October 10, 1854.

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[From The Baptist Argus, October 28, 1897, p. 2; via Baylor U. digital documents. Transcribed and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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