It is to be regretted that of many of our eminent preachers we do not have detailed information. This is true of Lewis Everingham. However, he was educated in part at Mercer University and about the year 1838 he removed, with a wife and four children, from Marion County, Georgia to Blakely and became pastor of the church at that place, teaching school for the support of his family and that his pastorate was closed by his death in 1846. The committee on deceased ministers of the Bethel Association in their report, the next session said of him: "Lewis Everingham may be justly said to have been a man of God." Of a meek and quiet spirit, like his Master, and amiable almost to a fault, he would submit to be made the subject of imposition himself, rather than, in a single instance, to do an injury to another man. One of the highest commendations is, that those who knew him best loved him most. As a Christian, he was in private what he professed to be in public. Among his own neighbors--and here, perhaps, is the best test of his worth--he was not esteemed merely, but loved, and endeared to the affections of all. As a minister of the Gospel his heart glowed with a holy ardor for the salvation of sinners. His deepest regret on a dying bed was that he had not done more for his Master. His last sermon on earth was a funeral sermon, in which, as the brethren attest, he spoke with unusual fervor and force, as with the Holy Ghost shed down from above. In one short week after, he ceased from his labors, and now rests in the bosom of his Lord. As a testimony of her love, the church has erected a marble monument in his memory." Rev. T. Muses writes: "The church at Blakely was much blessed and strengthened under his administration. Mercer never sent out a more faithful minister than he was. He lived soberly, righteously and godly every day; was a man of strong mind and was regarded by all as a sound and able preacher. His influence in the section in which he lived was considerable, and in his still and quiet way he did a vast deal of good. He never murmured at the necessity of secular employment, but often said that it would afford the greatest pleasure if he were so situated as to give his whole time to the preaching of Christ and His crucified." Everingham, Lewis 18 Jan 1804 19 Nov 1845 "A Faithful Minister of the Gospel. As an humble tribute to the memory of their Brother and pastor. This tablet is erected by the church at Blakely, Ga." On right is Lucy A. Bowie.
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