A journal of the colporteur expedition of Gideon H. Lowe and Malkijah S. Vaughan on the Mississippi River, 1847 Dec. 10-1848 Mar. 13.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Housed in Small Collections Box 10.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Photocopy of a diary created by an unidentified person, which documents the colporteur voyage of Middle Tennesseans Gideon H. Lowe, Malkijah S. Vaughan (a Presbyterian or Cumberland Presbyterian minister) and Edmund W. Vaughan from Dec. 10, 1847 to Mar. 13, 1848. Colporteurs were essentially traveling salesmen who sought to sell and distribute Christian literature to the masses. This expedition left "Lowe's woodyard" on the Cumberland River, near Nashville and journeyed through Kentucky to the Ohio River, and then onward into the Mississippi River. He writes of the party's journey aboard their boat, the "Bethel," and makes frequent mention of weather, especially rain and snow, and river conditions, especially high water. Early in their journey, the Cumberland River in Kentucky is flooded, and they watch homes and buildings floating down the river. Their journey took them to communities, individual homes, and woodyards that were near the rivers in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas. The author writes with great emotion about their religious successes, and condemns much of the wickedness they see in the river towns, especially gambling and liquor. Some of the men preached, as well as distributing tracts, books, and Bibles. In some locales, they were welcomed with great interest from the local civilians. At other places, their temperance message was often viewed as a hostile one by those engaged in the liquor trade. The author writes of the effect of their preaching and ministry upon the persons on the river frontier, and observes their living, social, moral, and spiritual conditions. He frequently mentions persons of the Roman Catholic faith, and prays that their "blinded eyes be opened." In Feb., Edmund W. Vaughan is taken ill, and on Feb. 11, Talleyrand Vaughan joins the party. Edmund leaves to return to Tennessee. A few weeks later, the group meet a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, Rev. Bigham, who was probably from northeast Arkansas, and he accompanies them as well for most of the rest of their trip, until they begin their return home. The diarist often mentions that they stay or distribute tracts at woodyards, located at a number of points along their journey, but especially along the Mississippi River. He has great compassion for these men, who live in "shantees" in the deep of winter, who have minimal education, are very poor, and have great need of the gospel. Other individuals encountered along the way include Protestant ministers of various denominations, women, and a few immigrants from foreign countries. On Mar. 6, 1848, the Bethel took on water while pulled up at the edge of the bank, and most of their inventory was unsalvagable. They caught a steamboat north, which carried them as far as Smithland, Ky. where they transferred to the steamboat Commerce, concluding their journey back to Nashville on Mar. 13, 1848.

The diarest frequently mentions specific book titles and authors by name, as they distribute literature on their trip.

Cite as: A Journal of the Colporteur Expedition of Gideon H. Lowe and Malkijah S. Vaughan on the Mississippi River, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

Copyright status is undetermined. Nashville Public Library does not have intellectual property rights to these materials.

Source of acquisition unknown, possibly donated by Mrs. Robert Warner at an undetermined date in the late 20th century,Acc. RT-100.

Minimal information is known about the members of this expedition. Gideon Lowe was born in 1803, the son of Marvel and Mary (Harris) Lowe. He married Delana Dowlin on Feb. 13, 1822, and he died on July 30, 1853. It is not known where any of these events took place, although it is assumed it was somewhere in Middle Tennessee, probalby not far from Nashville. Malkijah Vaughan was born around 1797 and is listed as a Presbyterian minister in the 1850 Wilson County, Tenn. Federal census. In 1870, he is listed as a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. Talleyrand Vaughan was Malkijah's son, born around 1821, was a doctor, and later moved to Sumner County, Tenn. It is not known how or if Edmund W. Vaughan, who was sixty years old and a member of the Baptist church, is related to the other two Vaughan men. It is likewise unclear if this group were sent out by a specific church or denomination, or if perhaps they were a mixed group, possibly working on behalf of the American Tract Society. The latter possibility seems most likely, given internal evidence, as at least one man was Baptist and another Presbyterian, though possible family ties may have helped them set aside any doctrinal differences that they had.

In English

Unknown provenance.

Process;,2011;,Linda Barnickel;,removed from (obsolete category) Diaries Ephemera Subject Files.

No further accruals are expected.