Biographical Sketch of John T. Smith, Springfield, Greene County, MO

>From "History of Greene County, Missouri," St. Louis: Western
Historical Company, 1883.

**********************************************************************

The subject of this sketch was born May 23rd, 1797, in Franklin County,
Georgia, and is the son of John and Elizabeth (Morgan) Smith.  He was
educated at Willington College, South Carolina, from which institution
he graduated.  It was his fortune while attending college to have been
many times examined by the prince of statesmen John C. Calhoun.  He was
a schoolmate of Gen. McDuffie, who afterward became the colleague of 
Calhoun in the Senate of the United States.  Mr. Smith was a soldier of
the War of 1812, serving about six months.  Soon after that war closed
his parents emigrated to the part of Mississippi territory, which sub-
sequently became the State of Alabama, and located near Huntsville.  In
1818, Mr. Smith was elected magistrate and served eight years.  His
father gave him a tract of land and seven negroes, and he farmed until
1832, by which time he had made fifty thousand dollars.  In 1833 he 
moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and ran a large brewing establishment 
for three years, and then went into the wholesale grocery business,
which he followed until 1841, and in it, also, he made about fifty
thousand dollars.  He then went to Virginia and bought sixty-five slav-
es, and took them to Henry County, Tenn., where he carried on a mule
farm of three thousand acres, until 1852.  He then spent two years in
different States buying up land warrants, and in 1855 came to Spring-
field, Missouri.  He was married December 10th, 1816, to Elizabeth
Shotwell, by whom he had seven children, four boys and three girls, of
whom two girls are now living.  His first wife died in 1852, and in
July, 1867, he married Willea Dantyrell.  He joined the Methodist
church in Alabama, in 1815.  In early times he was a member of the Whig
and know Nothing parties.  His father came to the United States as a
British soldier, and was twice wounded, and taken prisoner in Virginia.
He was the first clerk of Madison County, Georgia, and served for 
twenty-seven years.  He died in 1818, and his wife in 1816.

====================================================================
     USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing
         free information on the Internet, data may be used by
         non-commercial entities, as long as this message
         remains on all copied material. These electronic
         pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit
         or for presentation by other persons or organizations.

         Persons or organizations desiring to use this material
         for purposes other than stated above must obtain the
         written consent of the file contributor.

         This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb
         Archives by: Joe Miller <mio@netins.net>
		      Penny Harrell <Incog3678@aol.com>

====================================================================