DR. HUGH L. SMITH

The following bio was taken from page 389 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

We are Texans by choice. In 1966 the members of Henderson’s First Baptist Church chose Hugh Smith to become their pastor. He chose to accept that call. Both the church and the Smiths believe this was God’s will. Thus we moved here from Cedartown, Georgia.

Hugh Lawson Smith was born in Maryville, Tennessee, August 10, 1916, to Claude C. and Daisy Hill Smith. Claude Smith was a merchant who had grown up in Union County, Tennessee. Daisy Hill Smith was the daughter of a rural doctor from Knox County, Tennessee. Hugh Smith received his education in Maryville, including a B.A. Degree from Maryville College. After being called to the ministry, he received his master’s and doctor’s degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He pastored churches in Kentucky and Georgia before coming to Texas.

Sarah Holland Smith (Mrs. Hugh L.) was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, December 14, 1923, to R. Miller Holland, Sr. and Christina Pence Holland. Mr. Holland was the son of a farm family near Whitesville in Daviess County, Kentucky. He was an attorney in Owensboro. Christina Pence Holland was the daughter of Merry Lewis Pence, Sr. and Belle Kelly Pence, both of whom grew up in Daviess County, Kentucky. Lewis Pence was the head of the Physics Department of the University of Kentucky.

Sarah graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, in 1945. There she made Texas friends and formed a high opinion of this state. After coming to Henderson, she taught English in the Henderson Independent Schools for fourteen years.

The Smiths have three children – Christina, Lawson, and Holland. Christina Deane Smith was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1948, while her father was in the seminary there. She attended public school in Cedartown, Georgia and graduated from Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tennessee. In 1974 she married Charles E. Gambrell of Laurens, South Carolina. They presently live in Greeneville, Tennessee, where he is a coach in the public schools. They have two daughters, Sallie and Merry.

Hugh Lawson Smith, Jr. was born in Marietta, Georgia, in 1951. He attended public schools in Cedartown, Georgia and in Henderson, Texas. He is a Certified Public Accountant and received his B.B.A. and M.B.A. from Baylor University, Waco, Texas. He now is employed in Ft. Worth, Texas and lives in nearby Mansfield, Texas.

Miller Holland Smith was born in Cedartown, Georgia in 1956. He attended public schools in Cedartown and in Henderson. He also is a Certified Public Accountant and received his B.B.A. from Baylor University. He now lives in Tyler, Texas.

Hugh Smith’s hobbies include dove and quail hunting, and he keeps two bird dogs. Sarah enjoys reading, needlework, gardening, and genealogy. Both enjoy travel and have especially enjoyed working brief times in churches and missions overseas.

In 1969, we built a home at 1107 East Main Street. We plan to continue to live here in retirement. All of us consider Henderson our home. We love Rusk County and its people. Coming to Texas was a happy choice for us.

Submitted by Hugh L. Smith