DESHONG, REV. J. M. W., was born in the State of North Carolina, January 9, 1853. He and his parents were brought to Tennessee by their owners in 1859. In August, 1870, he professed faith in Jesus Christ, and joined the Colored Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He joined the Hopewell Presbytery, September 18, 1871, and was licensed to preach the gospel March 25, 1872, at Huntingdon, Tenn. He moved to Milan, Tenn., December 20, 1873, where he still resides with his mother and sister. He was ordained Elder at Huntingdon. He has filled some of the most important charges in his church. He has organized and built ten churches. He is Clerk of the Walton Presbytery, and also of the West Tennessee Synod. For ten successive years he has represented his Presbytery in the General Assembly. He is editor and publisher of the organ of his church--The Colored Cumberland Presbyterian--published at Fayetteville, Tenn. Elder Deshong is one of the leading ministers of his denomination in the United States. He is faithful and earnest; and as he grows in age, he grows in wisdom, and the work of his denomination is largely guided by his suggestions. He is still a single man, and is much respected and beloved by all who know him, because he is always on the side of right.
[Source: Afro-American Encyclopaedia, Nashville, Tenn.: Haley & Florida, 1895, page 593]