Jonathan Kennon Smith papers, circa 1780s-2008

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Summary

Abstract:
This collection holds miscellaneous papers (192 items; dated 1649-1971) including originals and copies of letters, Bible records, pictures, and printed works relating to the history of the Pearson, Smith, and Thompson families who migrated from England to Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and finally to Arkansas; letters, legal papers, historical notes, genealogy, military records, cemetery records, pictures, and maps pertaining to the history of Benton County, Tenn.; copies of the Civil War letters of Stephen W. Holliday, 55th Tennessee Regt., C.S.A.; anecdotes of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest; Melton family genealogy; and Smith family albums. A later addition (283 items, dated 1774-1986) includes information pertaining to the genealogy of several related families (including the Thompson and Wyly families, as well as information on the descendants of Col. Samuel and Mary Webb Smith). Includes printed works on genealogy and other topics compiled by Emma C. C. Brown and Jonathan K. T. Smith (primarily Smith). Also includes: correspondence; legal documents; copies of church records; clippings; writings about the history of Benton County, Tenn., and some of its citizens and communities; photographs; printed and other material on Camden, Tenn.; copy of the diary of Anne William Smith; copy of a portrait of Anne William Smith by Gustavus Grunewald (1847-1848); a recording entitled The Remembrance Pilgrimage about the Smith family of Nymcock, Tenn.; A Century with St. Mark's: An Informal History by Clara L. Cape; and an extensive biographical sketch on Col. Maurice Smith.
Extent:
4 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.10089

Background

Scope and content:

This collection is largely genealogical in nature and holds miscellaneous papers of Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith including originals and copies of letters, papers, Bible records, pictures, and printed works relating to the history of the Smith, Pearson, and Thompson families who migrated from England to Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and finally to Arkansas. The Smith family descended through Maurice Smith (1801-1871) of Person County, North Carolina who later moved to Fayette County, Tennessee in 1831, and finally to Dallas County, Arkansas in 1843.

In addition to family correspondence of Maurice Smith (1801-1871); the collection has letters, legal papers, historical notes, genealogy, military records, cemetery records, pictures, and maps pertaining to the history of Benton County, Tennessee. Copies of the Civil War letters of Stephen W. Holliday, 55th Tennessee Regiment, C.S.A., to his parents, a history of Tulip and Tulip Ridge, Arkansas, by Smith entitled The Romance of, Tulip (Memphis: 1965), On this Rock . . . the Chronicle of a Southern Family, which is a history by Smith of the family of Colonel Samuel Smith and Mary Webb Smith of Abram's Plains, North Carolina; biographies of the Captain Nicholas Martian (1591-1657) and of Samuel Granville Smith (1794-1835); anecdotes of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest; a history of the Pearson family by Smith entitled This Valued Lineage; history of the Thompson family by Smith entitled These Many Hearths; albums of the Smith family containing pictures, clippings, and copies of letters and wills dating as early as 1649; genealogy of the Melton family by Herman E. Melton entitled Sassafras Sprouts; an anthropological study of the Indians of Kentucky Lake, Tennessee, by C. H. McNutt and J. Bennett Graham; and a pamphlet, 1961, by Smith entitled A Statement of Faith.

There is a microfilm copy of 'The Remembrance Pilgrimage. The Story of a Southern Family' (1964) available.

Biographical / historical:

Jonathan Kennon Smith was a resident of Memphis (Shelby Co.), Tennessee. Part of a related Smith, Pearson, and Thompson families who migrated from England to Virginia, North Carolina, then to Tennessee, and later to Arkansas.

Acquisition information:
The Jonathan Kennon Smith Papers were initally received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in the 1960s. There have been subsequent additions including 101 items and 7 vols. in 1968, 76 items and 2 volumes in 1971, 2 items in 1988, and two volumes in 2008.
Processing information:

Processed by Rubenstein Library staff.

Collection rehoused and finding aid updated by Vladimir Lukin and Tracy M Jackson, December 2022.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jonathan Kennon Smith Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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