Person:Roy Smith (24)

Excerpt from Chester County, Tennessee Pictorial History:

Roy P. Smith (b. 1895; d. 1972) was born and lived his early life in Dectaur County, TN. His ancestors came from North Carolina to what was then Henderson County in the late 1820s.

Following graduation from high school, he attended West Tennessee Normal the year it opened in 1912. The school later became Memphis State University and is now the University of Memphis.

He discontinued his formal education to enter business with his father who had established a retail store in Jackson, TN.

The advent of WWI led to his enlistment in the Army's 115th Field Arty., a unit of the 30th Div. and he fought in several major engagements with this unit in France.

Following WWI, he met and married Kathryn Myrtle Martin (1924) of Hardeman County, TN and moved to Alamo, TN, where he established his own business. The had two sons born while in Alamo, Roy Martin Smith (b. 1927) and Jerry Kennon Smith (b. 1929). The family moved to Henderson, Chester County, TN in October 1933, where he established a retail business.

Although the depression of the 30s made life difficult for him and his family, he subsequently became a successful merchant and land owner of Chester County. He owned and operated several different businesses in Henderson and Trenton, TN. He served on the school board, the draft board (WWII) and as deacon of the First Baptist Church. He was also a member of the American Legion and the Masonic Lodge.

Roy P. Smith's first wife, Kathryn Smith (d. August 1945) and he married Kathleen Meadows in 1946. Her family were long-standing residents of the county and her ancestors among the earliest. This marriage produced a dughter, Pollye Sue Smith (b. Oct. 30, 1947).

Although all of his children left for college, married and settled elsewhere, Roy P. Smith retired from business and he and his wife lived out their lives in Chester County, Kathleen Meathows Smith (d. 1991). He is buried with his two wives in Henderson City Cemetery.

See Roy Pirtle Smith's grave marker at FindAGrave

Excerpt from Chester County, Tennessee Pictorial History, 1998

"I scanned this in a couple of weeks ago and just haven't had a chance to send it. I cut the article out of the Henderson (Chester County Independent) weekly paper months ago. The paper runs a section each week called Yesteryear. They pickup articles for the same time period to coincide with the current week from 50,40,30,20 and 10 years earlier. It's really interesting. The article I have attached refers to Daddy. This would have been when Jerry and Roy Martin were little boys and lived on Crook Avenue. Did Jerry ever show you the house where they lived then? Anyway, can you imagine how mad Daddy was, when he found out his car was gone. You know he quietly would help people, but nothing would make him madder than someone trying to take advantage of someone else or doing something illegal." - Pollye (Smith) Hardy, 7 Nov 2008