DR. JOSEPH H. McGREW was born February 13, 1826, in Bedford County, Tenn., being the youngest of eleven children of William McGrew. The father was a native of Kentucky, and when young went to South Carolina, where he married Nancy Goodwin. In 1811 they came to Bedford County, where they lived and died, the father being a farmer. The father’s death occurred in 1852, and the mother’s in 1860.
Our subject was reared on a farm. When seventeen years of age he came to Shelbyville, and began the study of medicine in 1844. He attended lectures in Louisville in 1845-46, and in Philadelphia in 1846-47, graduating in March, 1847. He then returned to Shelbyville, and has since been engaged in the practice of medicine successfully. He was married, in 1851, to Letitia Cannon, who bore him two children: James H. and Samuel J. The wife died in 1857, and January 31, 1866, he was married to Mary B. Evans.
Himself and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. He is a member of the F. & A. M. and I. O. O. F. fraternities. Politically he is a firm Republican. Dr. McGrew is examining surgeon in the pension service, and ranks among the able practitioners of the county. He is now practicing with his younger son, Samuel J., who was born December 11, 1854. He (S. J.) studied medicine with his father. He attended lectures in the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1881, and has proven himself well-informed in his profession. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. Politically he is a Republican.
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.