G. N. ALBRIGHT, of the well known firm of Edwards & Albright, merchants and millers of Cedar Chapel, was born February 14, 1840, in North Carolina, where his parents also were born, raised and wedded. His father, James R., was a merchant in his early life, and afterward a farmer; was successful in both. For twenty years he was a magistrate. Previous to the war he was a Whig, and then a Democrat. He married Miss Sallie ALBRIGHT, by whom he had five sons and one daughter. Both were earnest and respected members of the Methodist Church. They lived to a good old age, and were laid to rest in their native State when their lives were spent.
Our subject, G. N., is of German-Irish descent; his ancestors came from Pennsylvania. He was raised on a farm, and received a liberal education. In 1861 he volunteered in Company F, of the Sixth North Carolina, Confederate troops. For about three years he served as second lieutenant. He received a serious wound at the battle of Fredericksburg, disabling him for seven months. At Rappahannock Station, Va., he was captured and held prisoner for eighteen months, being confined at various points — first at Johnson’s Island, then Point Lookout, Fort Delaware, Morris Island, Fort Pulaski — and back to Fort Delaware where he was released. For forty-two days he was fed on bread and water. This was the work of retaliation.
In 1865 he came to West Tennessee, which has since been his home. The same year he married Barbara E. THOMPSON, who died in 1877. She was the mother of two sons and three daughters and a devout member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1879 Mr. ALBRIGHT wedded Miss Mollie WALDEN, by whom he has one son. He belongs to the Presbyterian Church and Mrs. ALBRIGHT to the Methodist. For a number of years he was engaged in farming and operating a sawmill; in 1886 he embarked in the present business. He has been quite successful in life, owns 200 acres in Fayette County. He is an industrious upright man, a worthy citizen and a stanch Democrat.
Transcribed by David Donahue
Source: Goodspeed Pub. Co. History of Tennessee: From the Earliest Time to the Present ; Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Fayette and Hardeman Counties, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Original Observations, Reminiscences, Etc., Etc. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1887.