One of the prominent and highly respected citizens of Linden, Perry county, Tennessee, is James Edward Smith, cashier of the First National Bank of Linden, who has formed a wide acquaintance during his twelve years or more of residence there and who by his force, probity of character and honorable business methods has become recognized as a business man of worth and a citizen of high principles.

He was born near Wartrace, Bedford county, Tennessee, January 26, 1876, and represents a family that was established there full a century ago. After completing his educational studies in the Brandon Training School at Wartrace, Tennessee, he entered the Bedford County Bank at Wartrace, as bookkeeper, and from there he came to Linden, Tennessee, in 1899, to take up the duties of cashier in the Perry County Bank, of which he became also a stockholder and director. In 1912 the bank was reorganized as the First National Bank of Linden, in which Mr. Smith still continues to hold the responsible position of cashier. As a financier he is conservative, yet progressive, and is deeply interested in furthering the prosperity of his community. The First National Bank of Linden has a capital of $25,000, a surplus of $8,000, with deposits averaging $75,000, and has won a large confidence and patronage in this community. Mr. Smith also holds farming interests in Perry county.

The first of the family in Tennessee was James Edward Smith, the grandfather of our subject, who located in Bedford county. He was well educated and taught school there for many years,- but later in life turned his attention to farming. He married a Miss Stokes, who bore him four children, the eldest of whom was Jasper Newton Smith, the father of our subject. The grandfather and his brothers joined the emigration to California in 1849, but the former died on the way. His brothers continued on to California and located there. Jasper Newton Smith, born November 28, 1828, in Bedford county, Tennessee, remained in his native county, where he became a prominent and well-to-do farmer. He married Sarah Elizabeth Caruthers, also a native of Bedford county, and to their union were born twelve children, of which family James Edward Smith of this review is next to the youngest and is one of the eight children now living. Jasper Newton Smith passed away in Bedford county in March, 1912, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, and had been preceded in death many years by his wife, whose demise occurred in 1888. He was a Democrat in politics and served as a Confederate soldier during the Civil war. Both he and his wife were consistent members of the Baptist church.

James Edward Smith was married in 1900 to Miss Addie Starbuck, daughter of the late Daniel Starbuck. of Linden, Tennessee. They have five children, named: Leila, Elizabeth, Lena, James Edward, Jr., and Ben Daniel. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Christian church, and in political sentiment and allegiance Mr. Smith is a Democrat. He is prominently affiliated with the Masonic order as a member of Linden Lodge No. 210, Linden Chapter No. 156, Jackson Council, and of Tennessee Consistory No. 1, at Memphis, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite.

A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans: the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities. By Will T. Hale Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1913