EDWARD ALBRIGHT, lawyer and editor of the Sumner County News at Gallatin, represents two of the old and respected family connections of Sumner County, Tennessee, the Albrights and the Gutheries, both of which have been established here well toward a century and have given to Tennessee men and women of sterling worth. The Albright family originated here with Thomas Albright, a native of North Carolina who removed from there to Kentucky, thence to Tennessee, and finally became a resident of Illinois, where he passed away. One of his sons is John W. Albright, the father of Edward, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War and a well-known farmer citizen of Sumner County. John W. Albright was born in Kentucky in 1843 and came to Sumner County, Tennessee, when a child. He was but a youth in his teens at the opening of the Civil War, nevertheless he spent four years fighting bravely for the Southern cause, and as a member of Company I of the Twenty-fourth Tennessee Regiment he served in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro and all of the principal engagements of the Tennessee campaigns, but was never wounded or captured. After the close of the war he returned to Sumner County and took up the vocation of farming, which he has since followed, residing on the farm which has been in the family since 1796. In fraternal associations he is a Mason and has served as master of his lodge. Politically he is a stanch Democrat, and in an official way has served as a justice of the peace. He wedded Caldonia Guthrie, who was born in Sumner County, Tennessee, in 1850 and is a daughter of James I. Guthrie, a native of North Carolina and one of the early settlers in Sumner County, Tennessee. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church. John W. and Caldonia (Guthrie) Albright have three children living, namely: Edward Albright of this review; Oscar Albright, who assists in the management of the home farm; and Clemmie, who is now Mrs. Luther Franklin and resides in Sumner County.
Edward Albright, a native of Sumner County, was born August 18, 1873. He was educated at Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, from which institution he was graduated in law in 1898. For eight years thereafter he was an active practitioner at the Gallatin bar and still continues in that line of professional labor, but since 1907, at which time he purchased the Sumner County News, he has given the major portion of his attention to the management of this publication and to his editorial duties in connection therewith. As a writer of considerable ability, he is exceptionally well qualified for this line of professional activity, and in this connection it may be mentioned that he is the author of Early History of Middle Tennessee, that is considered a work of much merit and has been well received. The Sumner County News was established in 1897, is a weekly publication and is now circulated to about 2,000 subscribers, being one of the most successful papers of Sumner County. Democratic in politics, under the able management of its editor it wields a strong influence in the political affairs of Sumner County, but while Mr. Albright thus gives stanch support to his Democratic friends he has never himself been a candidate for official honors. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and has been chancellor commander of his lodge for the last four years.
