My Genealogy Hound

Judge J. N. Smith, county and probate judge for the county of Lonoke, was born in Shelby County, Tenn., September 5, 1850, and is the son of Benjamin V. and Evaline (Mahar) Smith, natives of North Carolina and Alabama, respectively. The Smiths inherit the blood of the sturdy races of the Scotch and Irish, and were among the first settlers of Raleigh, N. C. The maternal grandfather of Judge Smith was a worthy son of the Emerald Isle, and a man of great brilliancy and scholarly attainments. A family tradition fixes him as a son of an Irish lord, and when he was a young man, he left his home to become a seaman; and he was the lieutenant who led the crew to burn the “Philadelphia” in the harbor of Tripoli. Of a family of four sons and one daughter, Judge Smith is the second in order of birth. He grew to manhood at his pioneer home, assisting in the duties of the farm, and receiving only the limited advantages for an education that were allotted to the boys of that period, the only book being a “speller’’ and a pine knot to furnish the light. His parents came to Arkansas when he was but three years old, and took up their abode in what is now Lonoke (but at that time Prairie) County. Here they cleared and made a comfortable home, living along in the even tenor of their way until the war, when the good old father was called to the gate one evening by a Union soldier, under command of Col. Geiger of the Eighth Illinois, when he was foully and cruelly murdered by the Federal soldiers. After the death of his father, the management of the farm fell to young Smith, and though but a comparative youth, he conducted it admirably, and afterward became a teacher in the district schools of the county. At the first election held after the organization of Lonoke County, he was elected magistrate, and held this position for ten years consecutively. In 1886 he was elected county and probate judge, which office he is filling at the present writing. The Judge has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Iva Swaim, a native of Arkansas and a cousin of James P. Eagle, the present honorable Governor. Their marriage was solemnized October 22, 1877, and Mrs. Smith’s death occurred in July, 1878. Judge Smith was again married, in 1884, to Mrs. Eugenia Swaim, a native of Arkansas and the widow of W. D. Swaim. In 1886 the Judge moved to Lonoke, where he is now residing, but still owns the original homestead consisting of 400 acres of land, 200 of which are under cultivation. The A. F. & A. M. and K. of P. fraternities count him as one of their members, and he is also a member of and one of the original founders of the Wheel. The Judge and family worship at the Baptist Church, and they are well known and highly respected by all who know them.