Dr. and Mrs. Shobe Smith Sr.

I came across an envelope that contained a small piece of stationery engraved with the name Mrs. Shobe Smith, Sr.  

On the inside the following note is written:

This was written by Miss Ida Moran. President of Dresden Music Club.  Reading it at Club meeting in Her Home- Dresden

Maybe some day I'll come across what was read at the meeting!

In the meantime I was curious about the Smith's and who they were.

Before she married Dr. Shobe Smith, Sr. she was Mattie David Wooldridge, daughter of  David Hinds Wooldridge and Martha Jane Senter.  According to the death certificate David Wooldridge died in Nashville and was buried in Gleason, Tn.  

Shobe Smith was the son of Rebecca Shobe and Alexander Hannibal Smith of Smiths Grove, Warren County, Kentucky.  A good biographical profile of A.H. Smith can be found at Rootsweb.  According to Census records Shobe was born Moses Shobe Smith.  He and Mattie were married September 26, 1894 in Weakley County.  James A."Bump" Irvine was a witness and bondsman for the marriage.  He is also our 1st cousin twice removed!   A picture of  "Bump" can be found on an earlier blog post.  The 1910 Census shows the following children of Shobe and Mattie: Raymond age 13, Wooldridge age 10, Frank G. age 7, Shobe Jr age 3 and Clarence was under the age of 1.

Dr. Shobe Smith was a dentist in Dresden.  Here's a scan of an advertisement from the Dresden Enterprise dated October 11, 1895 for his dental practice:

Shobe Smith,
Dentist.
Office in rear John R.
Thomason's law Office.
All Kinds of
DENTAL WORK
Done in first-class Style, and at
reasonable prices.
Oct 11 1 y.

The Gunn Connection

Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn, a prominent Nashville Dentist, and Caroline M. Morehead were the parents of several children.  One of them was Sophia Riley Gunn who went on to marry John Williamson Moran.  Together they had five children and are responsible for building the lovely Victorian home in Dresden, TN for their family.  

When researching the family history I've noticed that a lot of people don't seem to know, or at least don't bother to mention, that he was staying at the home of his daughter Sophia at the time of his passing.  Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn's obituary can be found at The Nashville City Cemetery website.  The information was originally published in September 7, 1917 in Modern Methods, Article XI entitled "The City Cemetery" by Charles A. Marlin.


Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn - Born at Montague, Mass., April 1, 1810, died in Dresden, Tenn., December 1, 1890, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Sophia Gunn Moran.  He was a descendant of the Montague's of England, his mother being a Montague, and was also connected with the Taft family.  He spent the early years of his life with Mrs. Taft (grandmother of ex-President Taft) after the death of his mother.  Dr. Gunn was educated in Boston, Mass., and attended the Dental Department of the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated in dentistry.  He came to Nashville a few years before the war, and was one of the first dentists of Nashville, being associated with Dr. Morgan and practiced his profession over forty years, in this city.  His office was on what was then known as Spring street, and was one of the leading citizens of Nashville, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church.


For pictures and more detailed information about the Gunn Family and the Nashville City Cemetery check out my other blog post after we visited Nashville in July.