Thomas F. Witherspoon, cashier of the Farmer's & Traders's Bank
at Gallatin, was born in 1825, in Lexington, Ky., a son of Dr.
John R. and Sophia (Graham) Witherspoon. The father was of
Scotch origin, born in 1774 in Williamsburg District, S.C. He
was a second cousin of John Witherspoon, one of the signers of
the Declaration of Independence. Dr. John R. graduated in the
literary department of Princeton College, in 1794; soon
afterward attended the Transylvania University at Lexington,
Ky., and graduated as an M.D. He married near Lexington, where
he resided and practiced until 1826, when he moved to Green (now
Hale) County, Ala., where he died in 1852. During his residence
in Alabama he was a planter. His wife was born in 1792 in
Lincoln County, N.C., and died in 1866. She was a sister to
William A. Graham, who was a United States senator, governor of
North Carolina for two terms, Secretary of the Navy during
President Fillmore's administration, and was candidate in 1852
for Vice-president on the ticket with Gen. Winfield Scott. Our
subject was educated at Mobile, Ala., but owing to ill health
did not graduate. In 1851 he married Miss Catherine, daughter
of the noted divine, Rev. L. D. Hatch. Mrs. Witherspoon was
born in Newbern, N.C., in 1828. Their union resulted in the
birth of five children: Walter, a merchant of Gallatin; Fannie;
Thomas A., a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, now
holds a position in the Patent Office at Washington, D.C.;
Robert S., a salesman in Nashville, and Martha. In 1854 our
subject went to Mobile and engaged in the commission business. During the war he was in the
commissary department and after the restoration of peace located at Greensboro, Ala. In 1867 he
returned to Mobile, and the following year, with his family, went to California, where for five
years he was engaged as a planter. In 1873 he moved to Gallatin, and was immediately
employed as assistant cashier in the Sumner Deposit Bank, which position he retained until 1884,
when the Farmers' & Traders'
Bank was organized, and our subject became cashier. He is a
Democrat, and a member of the K. of H., a man of honor and
integrity, highly esteemed by all. Mrs. Witherspoon and three
children are members of the Presbyterian Church.