JAMES N. DRYDEN, a native of Tennessee, was born January 6, 1835, son of David and Malinda (Guest) Dryden, natives, respectively, of Tennessee and Georgia. The father was born in 1800 and was by occupation a farmer. The mother was born August 27, 1806, and is still living with our subject at the extreme old age of eighty. Our subject like the average country boy, assisted his father on the farm and attended the district school. At the age of twenty-one he began farming for himself on the farm where hs is now living. September 27, 1855, he married Nancy C. Stephenson, of this county, and this union resulted in the birth of four children. William J., Martha M. B., Lucinda E. M. and David O. Mr. Dryden is a very influential man in this section of the country. He is also a man of strong religious sentiments although he is not a member of any church. Mrs. Dryden is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, Mr. Dryden is a Republican.

The Goodspeed History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford, Marshall TN 1886