Smith County TN

Biography of T.W. Fitts

T. W. Fitts, a farmer and stock dealer of the Tenth District, was born March 4, 1832, in Smith County. He is the youngest of six children of Wootson and Tabitha (Winfrey) Fitts. The father was born in 1787, near Halifax, Virginia. He was lieutenant of a company in the war of 1812, was under command of Gen. Jackson at New Orleans; he came to Tennessee about 1822, and died near Eddyville, Ky., about 1850. The mother was born about 1787 near Petersburg, Va., and came to Tennessee after her marriage. Our subject had but limited educational advantages, but is … Read more

Biographical Sketch of G. Squires M.D.

G. Squires, M. D., was born in 1839, near Middleton, Smith County, one of eight children, four living, of John and Maria (Gulick) Squires, the former of Scotch-Irish origin, Born in Virginia about 1795, and the mother of like ancestry, born about 1804 in Smith County, Tenn. The father’s parents settled at the head of Plunkett Creek in Smith County about 1800, when he was a boy. He was a farmer and a soldier of the Mexican war, the long service in which, during its whole course, lift him in such feeble health that he died in a few years … Read more

Biography of Col. Randolph D.Casey

COL. RANDOLPH D. CASEY. To this gentleman belongs the distinction of having built the first house in Mountain Home. He entered the land where the town is now situated, and has President Buchanan’s signature to his land patent. Col. Casey was born in Smith County, Tennessee, on March 10, 1810, and is the son of Hiram Casey, who died in Hardeman County, Tennessee, in 1828, at the age of thirty-nine years. He was a Missionary Baptist minister and a man of worthy principles. The mother, Catharine De Priest, was born in Georgia. She came to Arkansas with the subject of … Read more

Biography of John Hailey

The well-known pioneer and statesman of Idaho from whom the town of Hailey takes its name, is now a resident of Bellevue, this state. He has been twice elected a delegate to congress from this territory, and is one of the best informed men in the state on national affairs. Mr. Hailey is a native of Smith County, Tennessee, born August 29, 1835, of Scottish ancestry and a descendant of a family long resident in the Old Dominion, his grandfather, Philip Hailey, and his father, John Hailey, having been both natives of Virginia. His father married Miss Nancy Baird, a … Read more

Biography of John M. Mason

John M. Mason, a well-known farmer of the Fifteenth District, was born October 22, 1819, in North Carolina, and came to Smith (now Dekalb) County in 1827. He was the seventh of thirteen children born to Wiley and Nancy (Bensy) Mason. The father was born January 31, 1785, in Virginia. He served in the war of 1812, and was mustered out at the close of the war at Norfolk, Virginia. He moved to Caswell County, N. C., and from there to Smith County in 1827. He was a man of considerable intelligence, well versed in the Bible, in which he … Read more

Biography of Capt. Samuel W. Greer

CAPT. SAMUEL W. GREER. Industry, frugality and honesty were the main principles instilled into the lives of their children by the parents of Capt. Samuel W. Greer. Who can doubt but these principles, which have been adopted by Mr. Greer throughout his career, have had much to do with his success? He was born in Rockingham County, N. C., July 28, 1828. The son of John and Mary Jane (Brown) Greer, natives also of the Old North State. The mother died in that State when our subject was but a boy and the father afterward married Miss Parthenia Tuer. In … Read more

Biography of Lodwick Vaden

Lodwick (Uncle Lodwick) Vaden was born in Smith County, Tennessee, on January 29, 1817. At this time he is 8 years of age, a hale, hearty old gentleman of wonderful vitality. He married Miss Nancy E. Dowdle when he was 23 years old, in the State of Mississippi. By this union ten children came to them, whose names are as follows: Miss Mary, married Alonzo De Spain, and are located in DeLeon, Comanche County; Woodson, married Miss Martin; Miss Sallie, married Piney Welch, a prominent well to do citizen of Hopkins County. Miss Judie is yet single and resides with … Read more

Biograpy Sketch of James H. Kitching

James H. Kitching, a prosperous farmer and stock dealer of Alexandria, was born May 28, 1840, in Smith County. He is the fourth of fourteen children of Thomas and Mary (Davis) Kitching. The father was born in Smith County in 1809, a son of James Kitchen who was a native of North Carolina. He immigrated to Tennessee at an early date stopping first at the top of Bledsoe’s Lick, Sumner County, afterward located in Smith County, near the head of Kitching Creek, which was named for him. He was one of the first settlers in that section where his life … Read more

Biography of John R. B. Lancaster

JOHN R. B. LANCASTER. This prominent pioneer of Stone County, Arkansas, owes his nativity to Smith County, Tennessee, his birth occurring ten miles from Carthage, February 20, 1831. His parents, John and Clarissa (Decker) Lancaster, were born in Tennessee, and came to Arkansas in March, 1844, locating in what is now Round Bottom, Stone County, where the father’s death occurred March 21, 1855, at the age of sixty-one years. and the mother’s in 1863, when she was a few years younger than her husband. The latter was a soldier of the War of 1812 under Jackson, and was probably a … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Will A. Vick

Will A. Vick, editor of Liberty Herald, born in 1864, at Liberty, is the eldest of three surviving children of William and Sarah A. (West) Vick. The father was born in 1824 in Smith (now Dekalb) County. He has been a merchant of Liberty since the age of nineteen. The mother was born in 1829 at Liberty, where she died in 1881. Our subject received his early education at the Masonic Academy of his native place, and later attended the Vanderbilt University, of Nashville. At the age of twenty he became a member of the firm of William Vick & … Read more