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Giles County, Tennessee
Smithson Biographies
HON. NOBLE SMITHSON was born December 7, 1841, near Nolensville, Williamson Co., Tenn., and resided in said county until 1853. He, with his parents, then removed to Lexington, Ala., and resided there until 1865, when he came to Pulaski, and has since continued to reside here. His father is the Rev. John G. Smithson, who was born in Virginia, in 1820, and who immigrated to Tennessee in 1830, and settled in Williamson County. He is a clergyman in the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and now resides near Pulaski. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Hezekiah Powell Smithson, a Virginian, and a soldier in the war of 1812. At one time he was sheriff of Pittsylvania County, Va. The great-grandfather of our subject was Francis Smithson, also a Virginian, who died in Maury County, Tenn. The family came from North-Cumberland County, Eng., to Virginia. The mother of our subject was Ann Vaughn Ladd, born in Williamson County, Tenn., in 1818, and was a daughter of Noble Ladd and Mary Burton Ladd. Her parents were natives, respectively, of Rockingham and Stokes Counties, N. C. She died near Pulaski, Tenn., July 20, 1886. Our subject's early life was spent on the farm. His father being in humble circumstances, he labored to aid him in the support of the family and received a good English education, and April 2, 1865, wedded Alice Patterson, of Giles County, and by this union has six children. He has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is now a Mason and Knight Templar. He is also a Knight of Honor and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a member of the Tennessee Historical Society and of the Bar Association of Tennessee. He is one of the leading lawyers of the State and in politics is Independent. He is an advocate of woman suffrage, and district attorney-general for the Eleventh Circuit, composed of the counties of Williamson, Maury, Marshall, Giles, Lawrence, Lewis and Hickman, from November, 1867, to September, 1870. He was elected to the Thirty-eighth General Assembly as State Senator, from the Fifteenth Senatorial District, composed of the counties of Giles, Lawrence, Wayne and Lewis, November 6, 1872, for the next two years, 1873-74. He was chairman of the judiciary committee and also chairman of a special joint committee to investigate the affairs of the Bank of Tennessee. He was one of the thirteen senators who voted for the public school law of 1873, under which the present system of popular education has grown to be so efficient and beneficial to the State. He was a delegate to the National Greenback Convention at Indianapolis in 1876, which nominated Peter Cooper for the presidency. He has a large practice in the local courts and the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and is a distinguished lawyer and an eminent citizen. (Goodspeed's History of Giles County, 1886)
REV. JOHN G. SMITHSON, a prominent farmer and stock-raiser was born in 1820 in Pittsylvania County Va., and is the son of Hezekiah and Henrietta Smithson natives of Virginia. They were married about 1810 in Virginia, and to this union were born eight children: Hezekiah, Eliza, Henrietta, Paten, John G., Nathaniel William and Henry C. The subject's father was a very prominent man in Virginia, and was sheriff of Pittsylvania County for many years. Our subject moved to Jefferson County, Tenn., in 1827 with his father, but afterward moved to Williamson County, Tenn., and received his education in the common schools of that county. In 1841 he was married to Ann V. Ladd, the daughter of Noble and Mary Ladd, natives of North Carolina. To Mr. and Mrs. Smithson were born fifteen children: Noble H., Mary H., Anne, Martha J., Rebecca J., Fountain D., John G., Paten C., Sarah E., Thornton L., William B., Isaac N., Alice D., Thomas F. and Henry C. In 1866 our subject purchased 350 acres where he is now residing. It consists of excellent land, three and a half miles west of Pulaski, all well improved and a part in cultivation. He has been a local Methodist Episcopal minister in this county since 1854. The Smithson family are all highly respected citizens, and the early members of the family were among the first settlers of Tennessee. Mr. Smithson owns a half-interest in the cotton and gristmills known as the Vale Mills, which are very famous all over the country. He is also a stockholder in a turnpike, and a Republican in politics. (Goodspeed's History of Giles County, 1886)
ISAAC NEWTON SMITHSON, of the firm of J. G. & N. Smithson, manufacturers of cotton goods, flour, meal, at the point known as Vale Mills in the Sixth District of Giles County, was born in 1858 in Alabama, and is a son of John G. and Ann V. Smithson, natives of Virginia, and Tennessee, respectively. Isaac received a liberal education in the Giles College, at Pulaski, and in early life assisted on the farm. He moved with his father to this State in 1866, and settled in Giles County. After completing his education at Giles College he was engaged as one of the teachers in that institution, and remained there one year. He then engaged in the book and stationery business until 1883, when he sold out his interest and moved to where he now resides at Vale Mills. The grades of flour manufactured by this firm are very fine, and their brand of flour known as "Excelsior" is extensively used in Middle Tennessee. September 10, 1884, Mr. Smithson led to the altar Louise C. Harrison, daughter of Col. Thomas J. and L. E. Harrison of Indiana. Our subject is Independent in political belief, and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mr. Smithson is a member of the K. of P., at Pulaski, and of English-Irish descent. (Goodspeed's History of Giles County, 1886)
WILLIAM BURR SMITHSON, who has been actively engaged in law practice at Pulaski for the past
forty-three years, enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the prominent and successful
attorneys of Giles county and has also been a factor in the public life of the community, having
represented his district in the state senate. His birth occurred at Lexington, Lauderdale county,
Alabama, on the 29th of April, 1857, his parents being John Greene and Ann Vaughn
(Ladd) Smithson, the former a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and an extensive agriculturist. Both parents were people of strong character and intellect. Their family numberedfifteen children, six daughters and nine sons, all of whom lived to be more than twenty-one years
of age and were perfect both physically and mentally.
William B. Smithson obtained his education in the common schools of Giles county, Tennessee,
and in Giles College of Pulaski, this state. He spent the period of his minority as a farmer boy, but
on reaching man's estate took up the study of law and in December, 1879, obtained a license to
practice. Through the intervening period to the present time, covering approximately forty-three
years, he has continuously followed his profession in Pulaski and has built up a most gratifying
clientage. He has always depended solely upon his merits, observing and applying the Golden
Rule in all business transactions, and as a member of the bar has gained not only material
prosperity but also the respect and confidence of the general public and of the profession as well.
His accumulations consist principally of real estate in Pulaski and Giles county, Tennessee,
including a very handsome residence on Third street in Pulaski.
On the 21st of November, 1882, at Spring Hill, Maury county, Tennessee, Mr. Smithson was united
in marriage to Miss Sallie Reese McLemore, daughter of Colonel Robert W. and Harriett Susan
(Figuers) McLemore. Mrs. Smithson, a representative of one of the oldest, wealthiest and most
prominent families of this state, is a woman of great intelligence and executive ability. She was
very beautiful and attractive as a young lady and is still remarkably well preserved.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Smithson has supported the democratic
party. From the 1st of January, 1897, to the 1st of January, 1899, he served as state senator of
the twenty-second senatorial district of Tennessee, composed of Giles, Lawrence and Wayne
counties, and made a most creditable record in the general assembly, giving thoughtful and
earnest consideration to all the vital questions which came up for settlement. Fraternally he is
prominent as a Knight of Pythias. He has held every office in Stonewall Lodge, No. 12, K. P., of
Pulaski, Tennessee, and has filled practically every office in the grand lodge of the Knights of
Pythias of Tennessee, serving as grand chancellor from May, 1896, until May, 1897. He has been
identified with the Methodist Episcopal church, South, since his early youth and for many years
has held membership on the official boards of the church at Pulaski. In the community in which
practically his entire life has been spent he is accorded distinction as a foremost attorney and
influential citizen.
(Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Vol. 2, John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1923, pp. 396-8)
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