My great grandfather, James Blankenship, was born in 1809 and died in 1870. From 1847 until 1870 he lived and labored, while not preaching, on his 40-acre farm, in this County (Monroe); and his field of evangelism was southern Indiana. He was identified with the Restoration Movement, as were his descendents. He was never a 'one-man pastor'. My mother, whom he partly reared, said that he preached as if he actually believed the Bible, which seemingly was true, for he immersed more than 5,000 souls into Christ. "Go, and do thou likewise."

Truth Magazine VIII: 5, p. 9 February 1964