John James Smith

Greenville, where Smith served as marshal, was a divided town. Hunt County voted 416 to 339 to join the Confederacy, and Greenville raised a company that fought in Arkansas and eastern Tennessee, while the Greenville Guards, organized and led by the antisecessionist former state senator Martin D. Hart, served as an unofficial home guard. After the war a violent feud between former Confederates under Bob Lee of Fannin County and Unionists under Lewis Peacock of Grayson County brought two companies of federal cavalry to Greenville in 1868; by 1870 the force had grown to five companies.

What the plaque says

John James Smith (March 24, 1822 - April 22, 1924) Illinois native John James Smith came to Texas shortly before enlisting for service in the Mexican War, 1846-48. He later served as a Texas Ranger, helping protect frontier areas from attacks by hostile Indians. During the Civil War Smith joined the Confederate Army and served as city marshall of Greenville, Texas, for two years. Smith moved to Kimble County in 1881, where he was a farmer and a respected citizen. He lived at his nearby farm home (300 yds. SE) until his death at the age of 102. (1981)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kimble County Historical Museum — 2.2 mi
  A free county museum in Junction, the town at the meeting of the North and South Llano, with the papers, photographs and tools of a ranching county.
• Fort McKavett State Historic Site — 31 mi
  The post Sherman called the prettiest in Texas, home to soldiers of all four Buffalo Soldier regiments and then to a town that lived in its buildings until 1973.

More markers nearby

• Isaac Kountz — 1.0 mi
• Coach Bear Bryant and the Junction Boys — 1.0 mi
• Vicinity of Bradbury Settlement — 1.1 mi
• Captain William Walter Taylor — 1.2 mi