Marshall Keeble

Marshall Keeble
Born (1878-12-07)December 7, 1878
Rutherford County, Tennessee
Died April 20, 1968(1968-04-20) (aged 89)
Nashville, Tennessee
Education about 7th grade
Occupation Evangelist
Years active 1914-1968
Known for Preaching
Religion Christianity (Churches of Christ)
Spouse(s) Minnie Womack, 1896-1932
Laura Catherine Johnson, 1934-2007

Marshall Keeble (December 7, 1878 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee – April 20, 1968 in Nashville, Tennessee) was an African American preacher of the Churches of Christ, whose successful career notably bridged a racial divide in an important American religious movement prior to the American Civil Rights Movement. Keeble enjoyed an almost unrivalled position as an African-American subject of hagiographical biography by white contemporaries within the church of which Keeble was a member. A notable example of this is Roll Jordan Roll by fellow minister and longtime Keeble associate, J. E. Choate.

Family

Marshall Keeble was the son of Robert and Mittie Keeble, both of whom had been slaves. The family moved to Nashville about 1883. He attended school in Nashville, but did not progress beyond the seventh grade.[1]

Keeble's first marriage to Minnie Womack, a graduate of Fisk University High School, began in 1896. Their marriage lasted until her death on December 11, 1932. The couple produced five children, all of whom died in infancy, childhood, or early adulthood; all preceded Keeble in death.

Keeble married his second wife, Laura Catherine Johnson, on April 3, 1934. A long-time friend and fellow preacher, B. C. Goodpasture, officiated at the ceremony. Keeble died in 1968. Laura Keeble was born on August 6, 1898. She was baptized into Christ in 1913. She died at age 108 on March 5, 2007.

Career

Marshall Keeble began preaching in 1897 with the support and encouragement of his father-in-law, S.W. Womack and other preachers. About 1920, he met and became a lifelong friend of A. M. Burton, who provided funding for him. In 1942, he helped found and became the first president of Nashville Christian Institute.[2]

At the age of 83, Keeble became a world traveler. On his first journey (summer of 1962), he and Lucien Palmer toured Palestine, then proceeded on to Nigeria, where Keeble preached day and night to large audiences.[3] While in Nigeria, he was made an honorary chief of one tribe.[2] The second journey began in October 1962, which took Keeble, Palmer, and Houston Ezell all the way around the world. Their first stop was Nigeria, where Keeble engaged in training preachers and preparing for the construction of the Nigerian Christian Secondary School in Ukpom. The main administrative building at NCSS is named Keeble Hall in his honor. The Christians in Nigeria also pleaded with Keeble to start a hospital there, and he relayed the plea from pulpits back in America. Partly as a result, the Nigerian Christian Hospital was founded in 1965. From Nigeria, the three travelers went on to Ethiopia, India, Singapore, and Korea, among other places. Finally, they returned home via Hawaii and Los Angeles.[4]

In 1965, he was honored by Harding University with an honorary Doctor of Law degree.[2] Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement appointed him a Colonel Aide-de-Camp. He was the first African-American so honored in Tennessee history.[1] He preached his last sermon on April 17, 1968, three days before accidentally scalding himself to death in his bathtub. He was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery (Nashville, Tennessee).[2]

Legacy

It has been estimated that during his life, he baptized over 40,000 people around the world.[2]

Keeble was also primarily responsible for the establishment of several Christian schools, of which the primary surviving example is Southwestern Christian College. He also helped establish the Silver Point Christian Institute (now the West End Church of Christ Silver Point) in 1909.[5]

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 "Pioneer Preachers.com". Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Marshall Keeble | Church of Christ at Jackson Street". Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  3. ↑ For details about this first journey, see Mary Campbell, From Mule Back to Super Jet.
  4. ↑ The information in this paragraph comes from J. E. Choate, Roll Jordan Roll (Nashville: Gospel Advocate, 1968), 132-139.
  5. ↑ Mary Jean DeLozier, Putnam County, Tennessee, 1850–1970 (Cookeville, Tenn.: 1979), pp. 179-180.

Another semi-biographical account is His Hand and Heart: The Wit and Wisdom of Marshall Keeble by Willie Cato.

External links

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