William H. Scott was born on the 26th of May, 1858, in Humphreys County, Tenn.,and is one of seven children, born to Benjamin T. and Lavisa J. (Foster) Scott, born in Davidson and Hickman Counties, Tenn., respectively. They were married in Humphreys county, where they resided until their deaths in 1879; the father’s March 28, and the mother’s March 26. Benjamin T. Scott served throughout the late was, in Forrest’s command. William H. Scott has always followed the life of a farmer, and resided on the home farm until 1884. In 1880 he married Asilee Shipp of Humphreys County, and by her is the father of a family of four interesting children: Harry D., Ula (deceased), Charles F. and Freddie. Mr Scott came to Obion County in 1884, and here owns a tract of well improved land near Union City. He is a Democrat.

William S. Scott, County Court Clerk of Obion County, Tenn., is a native of Williamson county, born on the 16th of December, 1823, son of William and Eunice (Reed) Scott, who were born in South and North Carolina, in 1786 and 1792, respectively. Thomas Scott, the first representative of the family in America, was a native of the Emerald Isle, and came to the “land of the free and the home of the brave” prior to the Revolutionary war. The family immigrated to Tennessee about 1806, and was one of the first families to settle in Williamson County; there Thomas Scott died about 1836. Our subject’s parents came to Obion county in November, 1830, and settled near where Union City now stands. The father died in 1848, and the mother in 1856. William S. Scott is the third of their nine children. He received a common school education, and remained on the farm until 1854, when he was elected tax collector for the county, and held that office for three years. He was then elected to the office of sheriff, which position he held four years. In 1861 he enlisted in Company A. Twelfth Regiment Kentucky Cavalry, Confederate States America, and served until the end of the war. He was a prisoner for four months at Camp Morton, Indianapolis, Ind. From 1865 to 1870 he tilled the soil, and in April of the latter year was elected county tax collector, filling the position very efficiently for four years. In 1878 he was elected county court clerk, and was re-elected in 1882, making one of the best officials the county has ever had. He is one of the leading men of the county, and has been a resident of the same for more than one-half century. He is a Democrat and his first presidential vote was cast for James Buchanan. He is also a Mason, and was married in 1861 to Mary E. Harris, a native of the county. They have four children: Samuel A., Sallie E., Robert L. and Mary E.   Mrs. Scott died in 1880, and in 1885 Mr. Scott married Mrs. M. C. Hill, who was born in Obion county, in 1845. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

John T. Senter, druggist, of Kenton, Tenn., was born in Gibson County, Tenn., May 24, 1862, son of William M. and Nancy J. (Pemberton) Senter, and is of Scotch-Irish lineage. The father and mother were born in Cumberland County, N. C., about 1833, and Middle Tennessee, about 1838, respectively. The family came to Gibson County in 1857. The father was a Confederate soldier, and now resides in Gibson County. His wife died in 1882. Our subject is the third of seven children. He was reared on a farm, and in 1879 entered the Jackson District High School, at Montezuma, Tenn., and there remained until 1883. From that time until 1885 he worked at telegraphy, and at the latter date accepted a position as traveling salesman for a grocery firm in St. Louis, working in that capacity until January, 1886. The month following he engaged in the drug and grocery business, in Kenton, and there now resides. On the 18th of October, 1883, he married Nannie H. Rodgers of Montezuma, Tenn., born in 1863. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Senter is a Democrat politically.

W. P. Simmons was born on the 5th of December, 1837, in Weakley County, Tenn., son of John Simmons, who was born in Middle Tennessee, about 1814. He lived there until nearly grown, then came to West Tennessee. He married Polly Crockett, who was born in 1815, and by her became the father of fifteen children. She died in 1857. John Simmons was twice married, and became the father of twenty-four children. At the age of nineteen W. P. Simmons left the paternal roof, and began depending on his own resources for a livelihood. He joined the Federal Army in the summer of 1862, serving in the Sixth Tennessee Cavalry, Company L. He was captured, in December, 1862, by Gen. Forrest, and was exchanged in 1863. After his return home, in 1865, he resumed farming , and has very successfully continued up to the present time, being worth about $5,000. October 11, 1877, he wedded Martha Nolen, who was born in 1839, and became the mother of nine children, two of whom are dead. Those living are Mary E. (Mrs. Dallas Johnson), Martha Jane, Robert S., Carlie W., D. H., William B. And Sarah Ella (Mrs. John Jackson).

Hon. T. R. Shearon was born in Tuscumbia, Colbert Co., Ala., April 4, 1825. His ancestors were among the first settlers of Maryland, and moved from that State to North Carolina, where our subject’s parents were born. He was reared on a farm, but the greater part of his time was spent in school. He was educated partially in Williamson County under Ed. Paschal, but finished his course at Yale College, taking the degree of A. B. in 1840. About 1857 he began practicing law in Troy continuing there until August , 1881, when he gave up his profession on account of failing health. He joined the Confederate Army in November, 1861, and was major of the Forty-seventh Tennessee Infantry, Company A. He is a man of the intellect and good education and in 1879 was elected to the State Senate. He is a Mason, Rising Sun Lodge, No. 88, and was for some time Deputy Grand Master of the Odd Fellows Lodge, being a member of Lodge No. 114, at Troy. He is a Democrat, and was married in September, 1849, to Mary J. Lowe, and by her became the father of five children: Mary S., Mrs. W. A. Bonner; Thomas, who is studying law at home; Lowe, editor of the Chico Bee, at Chico, Tex., and William and Marvel, who are at home.

James Graham Smith, a prominent lawyer of West Tennessee, was born in Chester District of South Carolina, September 18, 1828, son of Alexander Smith, a farmer of South Carolina, who was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1796, and immigrated to America in 1819. In 1836 he moved from Chester District, S. C., where he had located on coming to America, and came to Tipton County, Tenn., where he resided until his death in 1870. He was married to Esther Graham, who was born in South Carolina in 1797. She was a daughter of James Graham, who was a Revolutionary soldier under Francis Marion, and who died in Tipton County, Tenn., in 1837. Mrs. Smith died in the same county in 1864. Of her four children our subject is the eldest. He was educated at the old field schools and academies of Tipton County, and in 1850 went to Mississippi, and taught school there for some time, continuing the occupation there and elsewhere for about eight years. In May, 1853, he came to Troy, Tenn., and took charge of Westbrook Academy, and continued teaching at that place for five years. He began the study of law in 1853 under Judge S. W. Cochran, and was admitted to the Obion County bar in 1857, but did not begin the regular practice of his profession until June, 1859. Since that time he has been actively engaged, and now practices in Obion and the adjoining counties and the supreme court at Jackson, Tenn. Throughout this section of the State Mr. Smith is highly esteemed, not only for his professional ability, which is of a high order, but also for his personal integrity and worth. He is a Democrat, and his first presidential vote was cast for Pierce. Since 1865 he has been a member of the Masonic fraternity, Western Sun Lodge, No 88. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, and in 1854 united his fortune with that of Miss Sarah E. Allen, of Tipton County, Tenn., born in May 1834. They have six children: Mary Wallace, Fannie B., William A., Dora A., Luther A. And Fitz James. Both husband and wife are members of the Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church.

James B. Snow was born in Madison County, Tenn., March 19, 1825, the third of eight children of Levi R. And Abigail (Bodine) Snow, and is of German lineage. Levi Snow was born in North Carolina, February 25, 1792, and after attaining his majority came to Bedford County, Tenn., where he married, February 4, 1819. He lived successively in Madison, Henderson and Weakley (now Obion) Counties. In 1861 he moved to eastern Texas, where he died May 21, 1869. His wife was born on the French Broad River, in East Tennessee, September 24, 1803, and died on the farm of 900 acres, now owned by our subject, June 17, 1861. James B. Snow began doing for himself soon after attaining his twenty-first birthday, and was married in Fulton County, Ky., December 6, 1853, to Nancy A. Boaz, daughter of Shadrach Boaz. Mrs. Snow became the mother of ten children, six of whom are living: William H., born August 21 1854; Levi S., Born April 27, 1856; Mary E., born August 31, 1857; Nancy A., born January 3, 1859; Sarah E., born July 20, 1863; and Kosei, born July 1, 1867. Mr. Snow is a Democrat, and he and wife are members of the Primitive Baptist Church.

Stephen M. Stone was born in 1824, in Sumner County, Tenn.; son of Stephen and Mary (Loving) Stone. The father was a Virginian, and after coming to Tennessee, married Miss Loving. She died in Sumner, her native county, after bearing a family of fourteen children, four now living. The father then married a Mrs. Shippell, and also outlived her, dying in March, 1862 in Sumner County. At the breaking out of the war, Stephen M. Stone enlisted in Smith’s cavalry, remaining with the same a few months, then returned home and followed farming until 1863, when he came to Obion county, locating on his farm of 100 acres near Union City. In 1861 he married Sallie Moore, who was born in Sumner County, and by her became the father of six children – five sons and one daughter. Mr. and Stone and family are members of the Methodist Church.

William B. Stovall, editor of the Troy New Era was born on the 5th of February, 1858, son of William H. and Susan E. (Collier) Stovall, and is of English origin. His parents were born in Sumner County, Tenn., and Shelby County, Ky., in 1821 and 1836, respectively. They came to Obion county, in 1861. Our subject was educated in the McKenzie schools, and in the fall of 1882, entered the Valparaiso, Ind., Normal School, and graduated in 1884. In January, 1885, he was elected county superintendent of schools, of Obion County, and is now successfully filling the duties of that office. In June, 1885 he was one of the organizers of the Troy New Era, and upon establishment of the paper was made its editor. He is a Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Hancock. He is a Mason and one of the prominent and well respected young men of the county.