James M. Skelton, merchant, was born in Dickson County, Tenn., December 23, 1834. His father was born in South Carolina, in 1806, and when two years old was brought to Dickson County by his parents. J. M. was the second of a family of ten children, of whom seven are living. He was reared on a farm with his parents to the age of twenty, when he engaged as a dry goods clerk till May, 1861, when he entered the Confederate Army in Company C, Eleventh Tennessee Volunteers, and remained in the service till the spring of 1864, when he resigned his position as third lieutenant on account of bad health. In 1865-66 he worked on the farm and then engaged in general merchandising at Omega, and continued the business four years there. In the fall of 1870 he went to Howell County, Mo., and vended merchandise till the fall of 1872, when he returned to Tennessee. In January, 1884, he again opened a general merchandise trade which has ever since successfully continued. He was married, February 15, 1865, to Miss Lenora Shelton, of Houston County. Six children have been born to this union, viz.: William A., Joseph J., James L., Morris T., Mary S. and Bettie Lou. Politically he is a firm Democrat. He is one of the prominent and highly respected citizens of Houston County.

Transcribed by Susan Knight Gore

Source: Goodspeed, Weston A, and John Wooldridge. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston Counties. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1886.