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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Tipton 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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Leroy Smith, farmer and mechanic of Tipton County, was born in Chester County, S. C., September 18, 1838, and is a son of John and Mary (Wiley) Smith, both natives of South Carolina, and both of Irish descent. The father was born in 1801, and died in South Carolina in 1886. The mother was a few years younger, and died when our subject was quite small. The father was a successful farmer, and a consistent member of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, contributing liberally to its support, and he was a life-long Democrat. Leroy Smith received a good education in his native State; then moved to Tipton County, and being a mechanic worked at his trade, and soon became an expert machinist. In the spring of 1861 he entered the Confederate Army, in Company C, Ninth Regiment, which made a part of Gen. Chatham’s division, and after serving two years as a private in the infantry, was transferred to the engineering department, where he remained until the war closed. He was with the Western army all of the time, and took part in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, Miss., and was severely wounded at Harrodsburg, Ky., captured, and held a prisoner three months, but at Greenville, on the Mississippi River, by a suggestion of Col. Buford, deceived the enemy and made his escape, liberating at the same time another prisoner, Gladney McWright. Mr. Smith then rejoined his old company that was in Middle Tennessee; he was in the retreat from Dalton to Atlanta; he had only one furlough of thirty days from the time he entered until the war closed and surrendered at Charlotte, N. C. and returned to his father’s home in South Carolina, in the spring of 1865, and the next winter moved to Tipton. October 6, 1870, he married Flora Sherrill, a native of Tipton County, born in 1851. Mr. Smith is a man of energy and fine executive ability. He is a Democrat, but does not take an active part in politics. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are prominent and devout members of the Presbyterian Church, and are among the most highly esteemed citizens of the county.

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This family biography is one of 91 biographies included in the book,  The History of Tipton County, Tennessee published in 1886 by Goodspeed.  The History of Tipton County was included within The History of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood, and Crockett Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood, and Crockett Counties, Tennessee

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

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