Z. S. (Zachariah Simpson) Hastings

Born on March 15, 1838, in Lawrence County, Indiana, Zachariah Simpson Hastings explained in his autobiography that his unusual double name came from two family names his parents wanted to honor. Writing in Effingham, Kansas, at Christmas 1911, he said he prepared his life story for his sons—Harry, Paul, Otho, and Milo—hoping it would be kept and handed down through the family.

His memoir opens with his birth, family background, and the strong religious beliefs of his parents, showing how closely faith and daily life were tied together in the world he grew up in. The book reads less like a polished literary performance and more like a plainspoken first-hand account, which gives it much of its charm.

Available today through Project Gutenberg, Autobiography of Z. S. Hastings survives as a personal window into nineteenth-century American life. Even in the opening pages, his voice feels personal and purposeful: he was not simply telling his own story, but trying to preserve memory for the generations that came after him.