My Genealogy Hound

Thompson F. Smith, justice of the peace, was born in Washington County, Mo., on the 7th of February, 1828. He is the son of William C. and Jemima (Warner) Smith. His father moved from his native place, Fayette County, Ky., in his nineteenth year, and settled in Washington County, Mo., where he met and married his wife. They remained in this State until the year of 1841, when they were induced to remove farther west, and located in Arkansas, near Smithville. In 1846 a permanent home was established at what is now Black Rock, but what was then almost a barren prairie. Mr. William C. Smith was first justice of the peace in that county, and was afterward elected to the county judgeship, in 1854, by the Democratic party. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was a member of Johnson’s regiment. His contributions toward the church were liberal, he besides being a strong advocate in the erection and maintenance of schools. Mr. Smith’s mother died July 31, 1886, in the New Hope Baptist Church, one of the oldest churches in the county, of which she had been a member for thirty-nine years. To them were born fifteen children, of whom five are still living. Mr. Smith is their fifth child, and moved with his parents to Arkansas when in his fourteenth year. He attained his majority on the place where he now resides, and, after reaching that age, his first steps were toward improving the farm, and it is now his great satisfaction in being able to say that, since coming to this point, he has lived to see trees grow from mere shrubs to be over two and one-half feet in diameter. He has under cultivation about 100 acres of land, and is the owner of some 200, with orchards and buildings upon them. His new fruit evaporator is the only one in the county, and since he has been in possession of it, has evaporated over 3,000 pounds of fruit. Mr. Smith was married on the 1st of January, 1863, to Miss Letitia Moore, of this county, a daughter of Jackson Moore, one of the earliest settlers. They have had five children, four of whom are still living: James H., Charles B., Julia A. and William H. Mr. Smith is a member of the A. F. & A. M., of Rock Cave, this county. He has served as justice of the peace for seventeen years, and is the present justice of the peace and notary public. He fought in the late war, and held the rank of lieutenant in the Thirteenth Arkansas, Company D. He had command of Company D in the battle of Shiloh, and his lips give many a thrilling recital of narrow escapes during that period. Mr. Smith is an energetic citizen, a popular official, and a prominent figure in his county.