Kentucky: A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 7th ed., 1887, Owen Co. J. H. SMOOT was born in Owen County, Ky., May 17, 1843, and is a son of George and Dorothy (Dennis) Smoot. George Smoot was a native of Owen County, and was born in 1801. He was a man of considerable wealth for his day and time, and died in 1883. Reed Smoot, paternal grandfather of our subject, born in Virginia, immigrated to Kentucky at an early day, and was among the pioneers of the "dark and bloody" ground. Dorothy (Dennis) Smoot, a daughter of Jesse Dennis was born in Woodford County in 1788, and his father, Samuel, was born in Ireland, came to America in 1773, and was a brave soldier of the Revolutionary war. J. H. Smoot was educated in the common schools of Owen County, but was twenty-three years old before he learned the alphabet; by hard study and diligent application he was soon able to teach school, which he followed for three years. He married Miss Katie Branham, daughter of Benjamin and Martha (Crawford) Branham, in 1872, and one son has blessed their union, Stonie, who was born January 18, 1878. Mr. Smoot owns 176 acres of well improved land in a good state of cultivation. In politics he is a Republican. Smoot Dennis Branham Crawford = Woodford-KY VA Ireland http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/owen/smoot.jh.txt