Our History
The Smith Bros. come from a long line of farmers in Tennessee. While they descend from Tucker and McKibbon grandfathers tilling the land in Franklin and Marshall County respectively, their Smith and Yeargan ancestors have been farming the lands of Rutherford County since the original settlement.
Smith Family
The Smith Bros. paternal 5th great grandparents, Major Robert Smith (1749-1822) and Mary Jarratt Smith immigrated to Tennessee from Goochland County, Virginia in 1804. By 1806, they were joined by family including their son, Colonel John Smith, and Mary's brother, Thomas Jarratt (see Yeargan Family below). Major Robert Smith was a descendant of Major Lawrence Smith and served in Revolutionary War as Ensign, Powhatan Militia, VA and resigned May 18, 1780 as a Captain. He was one of the first Trustees of Salem Methodist Church that was founded in 1812 and donated land to the church in 1816.
In August 1804, during a brief stay in Sumner County, Major Robert Smith purchased a 640 acre tract in what is known today as Salem, Tennessee. He built a home on this land where he spent the rest of his life and is now resting in an unmarked grave on this property. Major Robert Smith acquired more land throughout his years in Rutherford County and farmed the lands until his death when it was passed down to his descendants. The Smith Brothers continue to farm a portion of this land today while their family resides on another portion.
Colonel John Smith (1776-1825), son of Major Robert Smith, purchased a 640 acre tract in what is known today as Blackman, Tennessee. On this land, about 1809, he built the stately home "Springfield" which still stands today on Manson Pike. He was a prominent citizen of Rutherford County that accumulated much wealth and over 1,500 acres before his early death at the age of 49 years. Many of Colonel John Smith's descendants remain in Rutherford County and operate successful farms.
John Parke Smith (1810-1861), son of Colonel John Smith, was a substantial farmer in the 12th District of Rutherford County, known today as Rockvale, TN. While I am unable to verify how he obtained his land, in the 1860 Agricultural U.S. Federal Census of Rutherford County, John P. Smith owned an 800-acre farm of produce and livestock. This land could have been inherited through his father or his father-in-law, Dr. Swepson Sims, purchased individually or a combination.
James Madison Smith (1831-1908), son of John Parke Smith, owned and operated a successful farm in the 10th District of Rutherford County. The farm is located in Rockvale off Salem Highway, opposite the entrance to Thompson Road. He served three years in the 11th TN Calvary of the Confederate Army.
Dr. Sidney Bertrand Smith (1871-1953), son of James Madison Smith, was a renowned farmer and physician in Rutherford County. After graduating from the University of the South in 1898, among his other professions, he taught school at Rockvale. Dr. S.B. Smith later in life moved to the Salem Community where he built a home on the original land of his ancestor, Major Robert Smith. In 1953, he died at his vacation home in Citrus County, Florida and his remains brought back to his homeland to be laid to rest.
Duncan Meriwether Smith (1914-2004), son of Dr. Sidney Bertrand Smith, was a farmer and an employee of the State of TN. He was a veteran of World War II whom enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on December 8, 1941, one day after Pearl Harbor. Duncan Smith served in the Tennessee State Legislature in 1950-51. While he held many political positions, his forefathers ingrained in him the love and passion of farming which he entrusted into his descendants. Duncan's wife, Helen Tucker Smith and sons' Roger & Charlie Smith still reside on the land originally purchased in 1804 by Major Robert Smith.
Roger Eastman Smith, son of Duncan Meriwether Smith, is continuing in his ancestors' footsteps. He worked nights at General Electric for over 20 years before leaving the factory to focus on farming. Roger Smith continues to farm with his sons under the Smith Brothers' Farm and resides on the original homestead. As he continues to ponder retiring, I am certain he will never hang it up completely. He said it best when he once said to his children, "If I die while I am on my tractor, I will die a happy man."
God said, "I need somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'" So God made a farmer.
~Paul Harvey, 1978
Yeargan Family
Thomas Jarratt (1767-1818), a Goochland County, Virginia native, is the son of Archelaus Jarratt and Elizabeth Judith Mims Jarratt. He married Susannah Thompson and they immigrated to Tennessee about 1806, either traveling with or joining his brothers and his sister, Mary Jarratt Smith and her family. He settled in Rutherford County, Tennessee in what is known today as Barfield, Tennessee. He was one of the first Trustees of Salem Methodist Church that was founded in 1812, and held services in his home until the church was built a couple years later.
Thompson Jarratt (1796-1884), son of Thomas Jarratt and born in Virginia, he was still a young lad when his family moved to Rutherford County, Tennessee. After his marriage to Elmira L. Dodd in June 1822, he built a home for his family on property in the Barfield Community. Throughout his life he acquired a substantial amount of land that he farmed for 60 years. In the 1880 Agricultural U.S. Census, Thompson Jarratt had 666 acres of land. Upon his death, the land was divided among his three daughters: Elizabeth and husband, William G. Crockett; Elmira True and her husband, H.H.L. Yeargan; and Martha and her husband, Edmund Bartlett Yeargan. In 1902, the son of Martha and Edmund, Thomas B. Yeargan, bought his siblings' shares of the property and eventually purchased the acreage owned by his cousins.
Thomas B. Yeargan (1858-1938) willed the land to his son, Oliver B. Yeargan's children. Oliver's daughter, Connie McGehee and grandchildren, Bart Yeargan and Rosey Faulk still live on the land today. Oliver's son, Raymond Allen Yeargan passed away in 2004. He was the maternal grandfather of The Smith Brothers and they continue to farm their share of the land as their father did throughout their childhood.