Bounds E M: - "Edward McKendree Bounds (August 15, 1835 - August 24, 1913) was an American author, lawyer, and member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South clergy. He is most known for his 11 novels, nine of which are about prayer. Before his death, only two of Bounds' books were published. Following his death, Rev. Claudius (Claude) Lysias Chilton, Jr., grandson of William Parish Chilton and a Bounds devotee, attempted to preserve and prepare Bounds' manuscript collection for publication. Homer W. Hodge had accomplished additional editing work by 1921. Edward McKendree Bounds was born in Shelbyville, Missouri, on August 15, 1835. Thomas Jefferson and Hester A. (née Purnell) Bounds raised him. It is speculated in the preface to E.M. Bounds on Prayer, published by Hendrickson Christian Classics Series more than 90 years after Bounds' death, that young Edward was named after the evangelist William McKendree, who planted churches in western Missouri and served as the fourth bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In a family of three sons and three girls, he was the sixth kid. Thomas Jefferson Bounds was one of Shelby County's first inhabitants. Thomas Bounds was the first Justice of the Peace before the County was formed. In April 1835, he was appointed County Clerk, and in December 1835, he was appointed County Commissioner."