JOHN A. SMITH, farmer, was born in Bedford County, Tenn., October 27, 1855, son of Jasper N. and Sarah E. (Carrothers) Smith, and of English extraction. The father was horn in Bedford County, Tenn., November 7, 1828, and the mother was born in the same county December, 1839.
Our subject is first of eleven children born to this worthy couple. He was reared on the farm and received a fair education in the common schools. October 4, 1882, Miss Mattie Chambers, of Bedford County, Tenn., became his wife. She was born December 25, 1863, and by this union with Mr. Smith became the mother of two children: Jasper E. and Anna M. The Smith family originally came from North Carolina, and were among the very earliest settlers of the State of Tennessee. Our subject is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Baptist Church. Mrs. Smith is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
Transcribed by Kathryn Hopkins
Goodspeed Publishing Co. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford & Marshall Counties, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Reminescences [Sic], Observations, Etc., Etc. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1988.