In January 1972, the First Christian Church in Monticello, Kentucky appointed a committee to investigate the possibility of obtaining and preserving the old log cabin home of Elder John Smith. The cabin was located on a farm 16 miles from Monticello in an area called Horse Hollow. Mr. Frank Vogler gave the cabin to the church and with loving care, it was moved ‘log by log, hearthstone by hearthstone, chimney stone by chimney stone' to its present location adjacent to the First Christian Church. It is the hope of the church that this will be a lasting memorial to this pioneer preacher, the organizer of the Monticello church who drew all of his nourishment from the Book of books. Visitors from Kentucky and across the nation have visited the cabin."

Families mentioned in the following profile: Adair, Adkin, Barnes, Barrier, Bell, Blevins, Bowen, Burk, Burnett, Campbell, Davenport, Denney, Denton, Dobbs, Dolen, Elam, Ferrill, Gregory, Jones, Keeton, Koger, Lovelace, Parker, Parmley, Phipp, Rice, Ryan, Sallee, Sandusky, Schmidt, Scott, Sharp, Smith, Stone, Townsend, Vaughn and Young.

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In the early 1800s, a man appeared on the scene who was destined to play a very important part in the religious history of Wayne County. That same man would make contributions to the Christian community that would eventually influence the lives of millions of people around the world. Elder "Raccoon" John Smith spent much of his life in Wayne County and several of the churches in the county exist today because of his efforts. Elder Smith was an associate of Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone and as a direct result of their preaching, the First Christian Church of Monticello was the organized. John was a man of humble origins and humble bearing, but he was also a man destined to become one of the South Fork country's noblest citizens and possible the region's most widely known and high respected representative.

Before ever becoming a preacher, John Smith was a pioneer. He was one of that special breed of people possessing the courage to face the hardships of the frontier. In doing so, he cleared the way for the establishment of law, government and a civilization where there were none. The life of John Smith provides a vivid example of the sacrifices and heartbreak our forebears endured as they settled this new land in America.

The father, George Schmidt came from Germany in 1735, settled in Virginia where he married in Botetourt County to Rebecca Bowen and changed his name to Smith. They were pious parents to their children and sought to steer them toward lives based upon the tenants of Jesus Christ and John Calvin. Their son, John was the 9th of 13 children, born 15 October 1784 in the valley of the Holston River in western North Carolina. This section later became Sullivan County, Tennessee (free state of Franklin). Until he was eleven years old, John lived with his parents and a cabin full of brothers and sisters in the Holston Valley. In 1795, the pull of the west became more than John's father could bear and the family moved to Powell Valley. The following spring, when the snow had melted on Powell Mountain and Walden's Ridge, John Smith and one of his brothers accompanied their father over the Wilderness Road to search for land in the new state of Kentucky. By early summer, the Smiths had found Stockton's Valley, near Poplar Mountain, in what would soon become western Wayne County and is now a part of Clinton County. The known brothers and sisters of John were George, Jonathan, Phillip, Rebecca, Mary, Elizabeth, William and Joseph Smith.

John was raised on the frontier and led a free and independent life. He spent much of his time exploring caves and rock shelters; he hunted deer, bear and turkey with friendly Cherokee who frequently camped on his father's land. Growing tall and robust, with dark hair, John was an impressive figure of a young man, full of life and full of mischief, both the pride and the bane of his family. When he became old enough, the young man joined the local militia and spent his share of time drilling and practicing the manual of arms and shooting. When the musters ended, John could always be counted on to share in the jug of whiskey that was passed around and after a few stiff drinks, he sang and danced for the amusement of all, until his comrades led him aside to sleep off the effects of the insidious brew. He was well liked by his peers and missed no opportunity to join them in wrestling matches, foot and horse races. He would not go to church, preferring to spend his Sundays roaming in the woods with his gun and dog or drinking with his comrades. Most of all, he was a disappointment to his parents. He did not do well in school and was frequently truant. On one occasion, John put live coals into the pocket of the snoring schoolmaster, resulting in the closure of the school. It was not until Robert Ferrill started a school in Stockton's Valley that John would become interested in learning to read and write.

In 1804, at the age of twenty years, John's life of frivolity and intemperance came to a halt. His father became ill. Herbs were gathered from the forest and failed to produce a cure and the father died. On his deathbed, the elder Smith beseeched his son to abandon his worldly ways and turn to God for guidance and protection. John tearfully listened to the words of his dying father, but did not know if he could obey them. At the funeral, John listened intently to the consoling words spoken by the minister, Isaac Denton. After the service, John sought out the minister and began what would become a life-long relationship based upon mutual trust, admiration and love. Before the year was half over, John Smith was baptized into the Baptist faith by Brother Denton. Isaac Denton had come to Stockton's Valley in 1799 and built a meeting house on Clear Fork, the first church in this section.

John Smith took his religion as seriously as he had taken his pleasures of the flesh. He was a regular participant in the home prayer meetings that were a mainstay of religion on the frontier and passed no opportunity to testify regarding his religious conversation. He continued to meet regularly with Isaac Denton, receiving both guidance and support as he sought to put aside his old life.

John visited Monticello frequently where he met and married his first wife, Anne Townsend on 9th of December 1806 by Rev. Elliott Jones. James Townsend, father of the bride gave his blessing and consent. Afterward, John and Anna moved into an unfinished one-room cabin on the banks of the Little South Fork River. With loosely chinked walls, a dirt floor and shutterless windows, the cabin provided little more than a roof over the newlyweds' heads. John lost no time in making the cabin livable.

With a wife, a sturdy cabin and fields to tend, John Smith's life acquired new substance and meaning. He became a model citizen and few inhabitants of the Little South Fork valley could complain that he was unneighborly. His door was always open to those in need. As children were born to Anne, John came to understand that he was a man doubly blessed by a merciful God and in 1808, he was ordained a Baptist minister.

On the 3rd Saturday of July 1810, the Bethel Baptist Church in Parmleysville was organized. It was constituted with nine members, to wit: John Parmley and his wife, Philip Smith and his wife, Roland Burnett, Jonathan Blevins, John Smith, Esther Koger, and Steven Vaughn. John Smith was appointed the first pastor of the newly organized church and his brother Phillip Smith was the first clerk. John Parmley gave the land for the erection of the Bethel Baptist Church: "...the said John Parmley out of free good will has generously granted, given and bestowed unto the trustees of Bethel Church for the benefit of said church so long as the Bethel Church continues there...2 1/2 acres from his 200 acre survey on the Little South Fork..." [This deed was never recorded in the Deed Books]. The community had a school, a store and a mill known as Isaac Burnett's Mill. Parmleysville became noted for its race track and fine horses. Horse racing was a monthly event and stakes ran high. The horses were brought from many sections to enter the races.

White settlement of the Little South Fork valley began about 1778 by the Revolutionary Soldier, John Parmley Sr., who built a blockhouse near the river. Parmley's Fort offered protection to the pioneers from the Indians. Due to the Parmley popularity in the community, "Horse Hollow" was renamed Parmleysville after John's son Robert Parmley, whose second wife was a Hurt. John Augustus Williams, in his biography, "The Life and Times of Elder John Smith," states that this area, around what is now known as Parmleysville, was inhabited a long time before the extinction of the Indian title by a band of thieves who used to hide their stolen horses in this secluded spot and was called "Horse Hollow." Before the turn of the 18th century, early settlers from Virginia and North Carolina took the Southern Ridge Trail which ran along near the state line to sections of the South Fork of the Cumberland, Rock Creek and the Three Forks of the Wolf. From this early group of settlers to the South Fork came the first Wayne County families of Adairs, Adkins, Burnetts, Barnes, Barriers, Bells, Burks, Blevins, Denneys, Davenports, Dobbs, Dolens, Elams, Gregorys, Keetons, Kogers, Lovelaces, Parmleys, Parkers, Phipps, Rices, Ryans, Scotts, Sallees, Sanduskys, Smiths, Sharps, Vaughns and Youngs, (etc.).

In his new ministry, John's popularity and influence expanded. Neighbors sought his counsel repeatedly and the mountain preacher from Parmleysville never failed to respond. He performed marriages in and around Wayne County, attended the sick and preached at their funerals. Yet, as John's service to God became more intense and his popularity more widespread, so did his trials and tribulations. In 1814, after much thought, John took his wife and four children to Alabama with dreams of settling and farming a large farm and eventually becoming a prosperous landowner. But, as we will see, God had other plans for this man. The Smiths settled into a house near Huntsville and rapidly found new friends. Then tragedy struck. When he was away from home on a preaching mission and his wife was visiting an ill neighbor, a fire broke out in the Smith cabin and was totally destroyed. Inside, fatally trapped, were the two Smith children, seven-year old Eli and two-year old Elvira. Grief stricken, Anne went to bed, unwilling to acknowledge the tragic loss of her children. She sank into deep depression and refused to eat. Slowly, in spite of all efforts to save her, she weakened and died within months and was buried in Alabama.

John was stunned at the sudden turn his fortunes had taken. He murmured over and over again, the despairing words of the crucified Jesus and felt that truly his God had abandoned him. But John refused to curse his God, as he was tempted to do. The faith he had embraced following his father's death had tempered his spirit well and after many long agonizing days in the depths of despair, John Smith rose from his sickbed and stepped outside into a world of hope and promise.

He returned to Kentucky, to the solitude of the Little South Fork wilderness that consoled him as little else could. Here, John drew strength and courage. After many weeks, he went back to Parmleysville and to the Bethel Church and was healed. John returned to the pulpit of Bethel Baptist Church and remained there as pastor for several years.

The following year after Anna's death, John Smith fell in love with a very pretty girl named Nancy Hurt and decided he wanted to marry again. Nancy's mother, Mary "Polly" Hurt, the widow of Joseph Hurt Sr. sent a consent note to the Wayne County Clerk's Office saying, "This is to certify that I have no objections to your granting licens to authorize marriage between John Smith and my daughter given under my hand this 22nd day of December 1815." John and Nancy were married three days later on Christmas Day by Elder Richard Barrier probably at Bethel Church.

Nancy Hurt was born 15 November 1792 in Spartanburg District, South Carolina. Before moving to South Carolina, her family had lived in Henry/Patrick County, Virginia in the same neighborhood as Jeremiah Burnett (1740-1816) and his family. Near the turn of the century, the Hurts left Virginia and migrated to South Carolina and by 1804-5, Jeremiah Burnett moved most of his family to Wayne County, Kentucky on Turkey Creek. The South Fork area had belonged to the Cherokee Indians up to 1804 when it was ceded to the United States and opened for surveying and patenting. Apparently, the Burnetts informed the Hurts in South Carolina that Wayne County was an exceptional place with better land and game aplenty, and so from 1808 to 1813, some of the Hurts also migrated to Wayne County. Three of Jeremiah Burnett's children married three of Joseph Hurt Senior's children: Mildred Burnett married 1797 to Joseph Hurt Jr., in Patrick County, Virginia; Roland Burnett married 1803 to Mary Hurt in Rutherford Co, North Carolina and Ursula Burnett married 1810 to James Hurt in Wayne County. Ursula and James Hurt took care of her father in his old age and he died at their home in 1816.

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