Adam Paine

Adam Paine was a frontier preacher who came from Ohio to Illinois during the frontier period. He had served as a private in George Rogers Clark's army (1778-79) and thus was eligible for land in the area after the Revolutionary War. In the early 19th century he was known as an itinerant Dunkard preacher among the white settlers and a missionary to the Indians of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

He was a striking personality and was described as "tall and large with a high forehead, piercing black eyes, and a black beard which hung in clusters over his breast." It is said his beard was over two feet in length. He was said to possess a "wonderful voice and tremendous energy." He was not only an eloquent speaker, but a good singer!

In 1830, at a council of Indians, he spoke as the council was about ready to open. His plea for peace carried and the council rejected the proposal made by Black Hawk for a federation of war against the white settlers.

Later, Paine would go on to preach in the tiny village that was then Chicago. He died in 1832 while traveling in Kendall County where he was killed by Indians.

Source: A Mural History of the Church of the Brethren

The Brethren Encyclopedia