James P. Smartt
J. P. Smartt, senior member of the firm of Smartt
Bros. & Co., wholesale boot and shoe dealers, was born in Warren County,
Tenn., in 1844. His parents, George M. and Anna (Waterhouse) Smartt, were
natives of Tennessee. The father was a farmer, and a man who took an active
interest in the welfare of his community. In 1857 he was sent by the people of
his county to represent them in the General Assembly. In 1871 the mother died,
but the father is still living. To them were born nine children, four sons and
five daughters. After the death of his wife the father was again married, with
the result of three children. Our subject was reared on the farm, and educated
at McMinnville College, and also at Hannah Highland College. In 1862 he
volunteered in Company C, Sixteenth Tennessee Infantry, Confederate Army, and
during three years of service never missed a day. At the cessation of
hostilities he returned and taught at Hannah Highland College, where he had
received the principal part of his education. In 1868 he went to Nashville,
where he was engaged respectively in the wholesale drug, boot and shoe and hat
business. In 1875 he came to Chattanooga, and has since been a prominent factor
in the business progress of the city. In 1879 Rowena Kennedy, of Chattanooga,
became his wife, and the fruits of this union were three children -two sons and
one daughter. Mr. Smartt is director, and formerly vice-president of the Third
National Bank; is director of Mountain City First Marine City Insurance Company;
is director and vice-president of the Chattanooga Investment Company; has been
president of the board of trade; is director in the Chattanooga Springs Company,
and is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, having been an elder in
the same since 1866.
Goodspeed's
"History of Tennessee" 1887