My Genealogy Hound

J. F. Smith. The lives of noble men who have built up and fostered the interests of Arkansas are always read with pleasure, not only by their friends, but by a grateful people, who have watched its industrial, agricultural and moral development from year to year under the skillful management of those men who had the ingenuity and enterprise to cultivate its resources. Mr. Smith was born in Tennessee in the year 1834, and was the only child of William and Catherine (McCrimmon) Smith. His parents died when he was young, and at the age of seventeen he took his place in the world’s great struggle and sought to carve for himself a name in the temple of fame. His first venture was to find employment, which he succeeded in obtaining in a store near his native place, remaining here until the outbreak of the Civil War. He responded promptly to the call of his country and began to make preparations to enlist, and at the option of the company which was being formed in the town of his birth, was elected to the rank of first lieutenant, and at the organization of the regiment (Thirty-first Tennessee Infantry) was appointed major. During his war career he took part in the battles of Columbus (Ky.), Fort Pillow, Corinth (Miss.), Harrisburg (Miss.), and several others. When the army was reorganized he was detached, but immediately formed a company of cavalry and was elected colonel of the Second Mississippi Cavalry, to which the company had allied themselves. In this capacity Col. Smith remained until the end of the war, fighting for the cause he so gloriously undertook, with all his heart and soul, even up to the final bitter moment when defeat at last crushed his hopes and the stars and bars of the Confederacy lay trampled in the dust. In 1866 Col. Smith came to Arkansas and located at Marion. Here he purchased a small farm of thirty-four acres, from which he cleared the timber and put it under cultivation, and now. what better evidence of his determined will and tireless energy can be found than to look over his broad acres, numbering over 2,000, and view with admiration the 800 that he has placed under cultivation. Col. Smith was married in 1857 to Miss Paralee Derryberry, but death entered his home in February, 1861, and took from it his estimable wife, leaving one son, Lee, who resides at Marion and is engaged in farming. His second marriage occurred in 1863 to Miss Martha J. Gidden, by whom he has had five children: Emma (now the wife of Thomas Koser), Willie S., Frank G., Mary G. and Charles Edgar. Col. Smith’s plantation is without doubt one of the finest in Crittenden County, and the most of it he has placed under cultivation himself. In appearance he is a typical Southerner, of a tall and commanding figure, dark complexion, with prominent features and an eye that is piercing in its glance, and withal a courteous gentleman. As an army officer, Col. Smith stands without a peer in his rank, as his splendid record through the dark days of rebellion will show, when his courage and gallantry commanded the admiration of both friend and foe. Possessed in a strong degree with journalistic qualities, Col. Smith saw the need of a paper in Crittenden County, and was one of the leading promoters of the Marion Reform, which advocates those missions that will unquestionably be beneficial to both white and colored citizens. He held the office of mayor of Marion and during his administration made many improvements in the town, especially in laying the sidewalks, and was also one of the leading spirits in building schools for both white and colored children and the Methodist Church in Marion. He was also one of the principal advocates of prohibition in Marion, which was secured in 1885. During 1889 Col. Smith was levee commissioner, and an earnest advocate of levee protection. In his dealings with tenants on his plantation he is scrupulously exact that they shall have to the last penny their share, and as an evidence of the esteem in which he is held, some of his tenants have been with him since the war. In politics Col. Smith is one of the prominent men of his county, and in 1874 was sent to the State legislature. He is a director of the Memphis bridge now being built from a point in this county to Memphis, and in other affairs that tend to push forward the progress of Crittenden County he is always ready and generous with his assistance in every way possible. His name is an authority on many matters of public interest and he holds a place in the hearts of his fellow-citizens that will never be banished.