History LIFE D WORDS BY BRAD KELLAR
TEACHING AND FINDING HISTORY Lewis Smith with Greenville Christian School dig into the past
Lewis Smith is busy enough in the present as he teaches multiple subjects at the Greenville Christian School while doubling as a well-known author .
However , it is the past which is the focus of much of his time . One of his six books is a story of one of the United States ’ Founding Fathers — Alexander Hamilton .
His most avid hobby has held his attention ever since he was a child . Smith is perhaps as close as Greenville gets to being the real life hero of “ Raiders of the Lost Ark .” He spends as much time as he can going on quests to dig up fossils and historical artifacts .
It all began innocently enough . When he was about 5 or 6 , he was playing in a pile of fill dirt a neighbor had dumped in their yard .
“ And I bulldozed up an arrowhead with my Tonka truck ,” he recalled . The rest , as they say , is history . Smith ’ s father was a collector of arrowheads and explained to his son the significance of what he had found , holding it for
Lewis until he became older and could truly appreciate it .
Smith ’ s family moved to the Campbell area when he was in the seventh grade . He loved to ride his bike to the bed of the South Sulphur River and spend time looking for more arrowheads . “ It got to be a real passion for me ,” he said . Smith and his father were written up in the Herald-Banner in the summer of 1978 when they found a complete mammoth tusk at a site near Neylandville .
By the time he graduated high school in 1977 , Smith had already collected about 1,200 arrowheads and spear points . “ Today I ’ ve got more than 9,000 ,” he said . Smith makes more visits to the River as often as he can . “ I ’ ve been able to find some really unique things over the years ,” he said . One of the more notable discoveries was the skull of a mosasaur , a prehistoric creature that once swam through the region . Smith said he found it while accompanied by some of his students .
GREENVILE LIFE 26 SPRING 2022