Knowles Shaw

SHAW, Knowles.  b. New London (now Shandon) Butler County, Ohio, 13 October 1834; d. near McKinney, Texas, 7 June 1878. He was born into a family that came from Scotland. They were pioneers, moving westward to Rush County, Indiana, when he was a small child. The family life seems to have been hard. Shaw played the violin, given to him by his dying father, and became a convivial figure at social gatherings; but he also worked in a store, taught in a school, and learned a little Latin and Greek, though he was never well educated. He had a sudden conversion in 1852, and came under the influence of what was called ‘Campbellism’ (see Disciples of Christ hymnody*). He worked for a short time as a...