History of Smith County Tennessee United States of America

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Local History Notes:

Smith County was erected in 1799 from a part of Sumner County and was named in honor of Gen. Daniel Smith, a pioneer surveyor, secretary of the Southwest Territory and United States senator succeeding Andrew Jackson.

The early settlers were mostly from North Carolina and Virginia, some of them via East Tennessee. They raised cotton, corn, tobacco and hemp. Wm. Walton was the first settler, having located, probably in 1787, on what was afterwards the site of Carthage. Other early settlers were: Daniel Burford, Richard Alexander, Peter Turney, Wm. Saunders, Tilman Dixon, Micajah Duke, Wm. McDonald, Wm. Goodall, Armstead Flippin, Jas. Hodges, Geo. T. Wright, Arthur S. Hogan, the Gordons, Smiths and Fites.

On December 16, 1799, the first session of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions was held at the house of Tilman Dixon on the site of Dixon Springs. The following named magistrates were present and qualified: Garrett Fitzgerald, chairman; Wm. Alexander, Jas. Gwinn, Tilman Dixon, Thos. Harrison, Jas. Hibbetts, William Walton and Peter Turney. The last named was the father of Hopkins L. Turney and grandfather of Governor Peter Turney. The oath was administered by Moses Fisk, who was appointed clerk, pro tem. Amos Lacey was chosen constable. During its first years this court had its meetings sometimes at the house of Major Dixon and sometimes at Wm. Saunders', then at Fort Blount, then at Colonel Walton's. But in 1804, the county site was established at the place where Carthage now stands, which was laid out on the land of Col. Wm. Walton, who built the road, called after him, the Walton Road, from the junction of the Caney Fork and the Cumberland across the mountain, along which road he erected houses for the entertainment of travelers. The courthouse was completed in 1805, and in March, 1806, the court was held in it.

The Circuit Court held its first session, it is thought, in 1810, with Judge N. W. Williams, presiding. The Chancery Court held its first term in May, 1825, and was presided over by Judge John Catron, chief justice of the state, 1831-1835, and then member of the United States Supreme Court. Among the prominent members of its bar were: Robert L. Caruthers, elected governor in 1863, and his brother, Abraham Caruthers; Wm. B. Campbell, governor, 1851-1853; Wm. Cullom, Samuel M. Fite, James B. Moore, Jordan Stokes, John D. Goodall, Andrew McClain, A. A. Swope, E. L. Gardenhire, and Sam Turney.

Smith County furnished for the War of 1812, two companies whose captains were respectively, Robertson and James Walton; four companies for the war with Mexico, commanded by Capts. William Walton, L. P. McMurry, Don Allison, and John D. Goodall; and twelve companies for the Confederate Army.

Pioneer ministers were: David P. Timberlake, David Halliburton, John Page, Jesse Moreland, and John Maffit.

Important educational institutions were the Geneva Academy and the Female Academy.

Statistics of Smith County: Population of 1920, 17,134. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1923, $13,652,578. Area, 368 square miles. Number of farms, 2,908. Railway mileage, twenty-seven. Drained by the Cumberland and its tributary, the Caney Fork. Surface hilly and well covered with timber. Staple products are corn, wheat, oats, tobacco and hay. It is one of the best live stock counties in the state. Carthage, the county seat, is on the Cumberland River and the terminus of a branch of the Tennessee Central. It has a population of 920, has good schools and churches, a weekly newspaper, one bank, manufacturing and mercantile establishments. Large shipments of tobacco are made from Carthage. Dixon Springs is another prosperous town in the county. Scholastic population of county, 6,832; high schools, two; elementary schools, seventy-two.

From: Moore, John Trotwood. Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923. Vol. 1. Chicago, IL, USA: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.

Biographies:

Robert L. Caruthers, jurist, was born in Smith county, Tenn., in 1800. He was left an orphan at an early age, and worked hard to acquire the means for an education. He attended Greenville college, studied law in the office of Judge Samuel Powell, was admitted to the bar in 1823, and in September of the same year was elected clerk of the house of representatives of the general assembly of Tennessee. At the close of his term he practised his profession in Lebanon, Wilson county. In 1827 he was elected attorney-general for his circuit, serving until 1832, when he resigned. In 1835 he was the representative from Wilson county in the first general assembly held after the adoption of the new constitution. He served with distinction on the judiciary committee, and after the adjournment of the legislature made a compilation of the statutes of the state. In 1840 he was elected as a representative to the 27th Congress, succeeding John Bell. In 1852 he was appointed supreme judge to succeed Matthew Greene on his resignation. He was re-elected to the office by the legislature in 1853, and, on the adoption of the constitutional amendment, providing for election by the people, he was elected by them in 1854. In 1861 he was a delegate to the peace commission, and later served as a member of the provisional congress of the Confederate states. In 1863 he was elected governor, but the occupation of the state by the Federal forces prevented his induction into office. At the close of the war he formed a law partnership with Judge William F. Cooper at Nashville. A few years later he retired from practice, and became professor of law in Cumberland university, of whose board of trustees he had been president since 1842, which position he held until his death, Oct. 2, 1892.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Daniel Clardy, representative, was born in Smith county, Tenn., Aug. 30, 1828; son of John Collins and Elizabeth (Cayce) Clardy; grandson of Benjamin Clardy and of ??? and Elizabeth (Atkinson) Cayce; and paternally descended from French Huguenots, and maternally from the English. In 1831 he was taken by his parents to Christian county, Ky., where his preparatory education was acquired. He was graduated at Georgetown college in 1848, and in 1851 received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He practised medicine for nearly thirty years, abandoning his profession to devote his time to scientific agriculture and stock raising. In 1890 he was elected to represent Christian county in the constitutional convention, and in 1891 was named as a candidate for governor of Kentucky, but was defeated for the Democratic nomination by John Young Brown. He served as state commissioner at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. He was a Democratic representative from Kentucky in the 54th and 55th congresses, and at the expiration of his second term, voluntarily retired from public life.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Smith County Tennessee

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