W. E. Lambeth, a merchant of Golddust, was born December 8, 1849, in Lebanon,
Tenn., being the youngest of three children born to James T. and Susan E.
Lambeth. The father was a Tennessean, born in 1809, and died in 1857, at
Lebanon, Tenn. The mother was born in Wilson County, in 1825, and is still
living in Lambethville, Crittenden Co., Ark. Our subject was raised at
Lebanon, Tenn., and remained there until 1858, when he went to Elizabethtown,
Ill., to attend school, remaining until 1861, when he went to Cave-In-Rock,
Ill., and with his brothers, James T., Jr., and Warren Lambeth, he engaged in
farming and speculating, until 1872, when he went to college at Poughkeepsie,
N. Y., remaining until 1873. Mr. Lambeth then invested with his brothers in
saw-mill property in Weston, Ky, and continued at this until 1875, when the
firm of Lambeth Bros. bought the boat “Tidal Waves,” and ran on the river from
Evansville, Ind., to Memphis, Tenn., and in 1878 they added the mercantile
business to their mill business at Weston, Crittenden Co., Ky. Our subject
remained in the store until 1879, when the firm bought the boat “Jennie
Julia,” and he went to steamboating, continuing also the other business until
1880. He was also interested in the lumber and commission business at St.
Louis, Mo. In 1884 he closed out his business at the above mentioned place
and took charge of a government boat about six months, and in the meantime had
his present house built, and opened a general store at Golddust, in May, 1884.
August 12, 1868, he was married to Mattie E. Graham, daughter of Joseph and
Mary J. Graham, of Harrisburg, Ill. No children have been born to this
marriage. Mr. Lambeth has led an active life, and has remarkable energy; he
has accumulated a nice property by his own efforts and business tact, and is
highly respected by those who know him.

Goodspeed’s Biographies of Lauderdale Co., TN