John Erwin Patton Smith (1834-1921)
Among the prominent citizens of Ellijay District of Gilmer County, Georgia, was John Erwin Patton Smith. J.E.P. was born 21 April 1834 near Swannanoa, Buncombe County, North Carolina. He was a son of Daniel Smith, Junior (1798-1866) and Margaret Isabella McRee (1801-1885), youngest daughter of the noted Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Dr. James McRee (1752-1840) and Rachel Cruser (1761-1856). J.E.P. was a grandson of Captain Daniel Smith (1757-1824), a well known Indian fighter and North Carolina militia officer during the Revolutionary War, and Mary McConnell Davidson (1762-1842). J.E.P.'s father moved the family to Gilmer County about 1844, settling northeast of Ellijay near Turniptown. Here J.E.P. was a farmer like his father.
