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Below is a family biography included in The History of Lincoln County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1886.  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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RICHARD SMITH, merchant and farmer of the Twenty-fifth District, was born in Lincoln County, in 1827, and is one of nine children born to Richard and Elizabeth (Arwood) Smith. The father was born in North Carolina about 1779, received a very meager education, and was obliged to make his way in life without the benefit of that blessing. When twenty-one years of age he was married, and followed the occupation of a farmer till his career ended in 1852. The mother was born in North Carolina about 1784, and died in 1850. Our subject remained with his parents until he was twenty years of age, and received his education in the common schools. February 25, 1847, he was united in marriage to Eliza Faulkner, a daughter of William and Ellen Faulkner. Soon after his marriage our subject began farming as a tenant, and this continued for two years. He then entered the mercantile business at what is now Smithland, and is still engaged in that occupation. In 1862 he enlisted in Company A, Forty-fourth Tennessee, and entered the Army of the Cumberland as a drummer, where he remained about seven months, after which he returned home, and resumed his business. Although having very little of this world’s goods to start with, he is now in very comfortable circumstances, and is the owner of about 550 acres of good land. He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Masonic fraternity, also of the I. O. O. F. He and Mrs. Smith are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

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This family biography is one of 137 biographies included in The History of Lincoln County, Tennessee published in 1886.  The History of Lincoln County was included within The History of Giles, Lincoln, Franklin & Moore Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Giles, Lincoln, Franklin , Moore Counties of Tennessee

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