William McKendree Lambdin

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about William McKendree Lambdin, right here in McLennan County. Born on January 16, 1811, in Virginia, William McKendree Lambdin came from the kind of family where faith wasn't just a Sunday matter. His father was a Methodist minister, and it's fair to say that calling ran deep in the blood.

In 1834, Lambdin married Phebe G. Lamb. They built a life together, until her death in 1849 left him a widower.

Then, in 1855, he married Susan A. Thompson, born in 1830, a woman who would outlive him by many years, her own story stretching all the way to 1910. Two years after that second marriage, the Lambdins packed up and moved to Texas, settling in Waco.

Now, Waco wasn't just a landing spot. It became the launchpad for a ministry that would carry Lambdin's name across a wide stretch of this state. He was ordained in the Methodist church, and he stepped into Texas life in 1857 as president of Waco Female College.

From there, the work kept expanding. He served churches in Bosqueville, Houston, and Waco, and from 1860 to 1864 he held the role of presiding elder of the Fort Worth district. That's a lot of ground to cover, a lot of souls to tend, a lot of roads traveled in those years.

And then, in 1867, on September the eleventh, William McKendree Lambdin died of yellow fever. A man who had crossed state lines to serve his church, who had led colleges and congregations and whole districts, brought low in the end not by any failure of faith or purpose, but by a fever that didn't care one bit about any of that. The marker stands.

The name holds.

What the marker says

(January 16, 1811 - September 11, 1867) A native of Virginia, William McKendree Lambdin was the son of a Methodist minister. In 1834, he married Phebe G. Lamb, and after her death in 1849 he married Susan A. Thompson (1830-1910) in 1855. Two years later, the Lambdins moved to Texas and settled in Waco. Ordained in the Methodist church, Lambdin began his ministry in Texas as president of Waco Female College in 1857. He later served churches in Bosqueville, Houston and Waco, and was presiding elder of the Fort Worth district from 1860 to 1864. He died of yellow fever in 1867. Recorded - 2001