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Below is a family biography included in The History of Smith County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Capt. E. R. West was born in Smith County in 1826. He is by occupation a farmer, and one of seven children of Jesse and Elizabeth (Harper) West. The father was born, in Halifax County, Va., in 1795. With his parents, he came to Tennessee when a small boy, and located in Smith County, where for many years he was a prosperous farmer, and an extensive tobacco freighter as they were called in that day. He died in 1835. The mother was born about 1803 in Smith County, and died in 1866. Our subject received his education in the common schools of his native county. In 1849 he married Miss Sarah, daughter of Drury and Jane Cornwell, who was born in 1832 in Smith County, and died in 1854, leaving two children: Isaac Newton and Julia. Mr. West’s second union was with Narcissus, daughter of Isaiah and Jane Pyron, who was born in 1832 in Jackson County, Tenn. Two children have been born to this union: William L. and Luther B. In 1846 our subject enlisted in Capt. W. B. Walton’s company, First Tennessee Regiment Infantry Volunteers; was in active service for twelve months, took part in the battles of Monterey, Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. He was discharged in 1847. In 1861, when hostilities broke out between the North and South, Mr. West became one of the boys in gray. He organized Company H, Twenty-eighth Tennessee Regiment. He was elected captain, and did brave and gallant service at the battle of Fishing Creek, Ky., Shiloh and Chickamauga. Since the war he has been farming at his present place of residence, owning 414 acres of good land. He is also a tobacco dealer, shipping his produce to Nashville. He is highly respected for his honor and integrity. He is a Democrat, and cast his first vote for Zachary Taylor in 1848.

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This family biography is one of 62 biographies included in The History of Smith County, Tennessee published in 1887.  The History of Smith County was included within The History of Sumner, Smith, Macon & Trousdale Counties of Tennessee. View the complete description here: History of Sumner, Smith, Macon and Trousdale Counties of Tennessee

View additional Smith County, Tennessee family biographies here: Smith County, Tennessee

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