| Notes |
- From photocopy of newspaper article of unknown date (probably before Nov 1983),by Bonnie Bare, probably from Chattanooga Free-Press:
All of the information on this page was provided by Della Alley, who is the daughter of the late W. A. Smith, Sheriff of Rhea County from 1896-1898.
Ms. Alley said, "Dad only served one term as Sheriff of Rhea County because of a fall he took the day before the election in 1896 and it was quite a while before he could take his position as Sheriff."
While taking [sic] with us Ms. Alley recalled many stories her father told her when she was a child.
She cited, "The only man ever to be sentenced to be hung in Rhea County was during dad's term as Sheriff.["]
W. A. Smith, talked with Jack Stewart from the Chattanooga Free Press in September of 1941 and recalled to Mr. Stewart some of the events that happened during his term as Sheriff.
"Things were not so dull those days, though," the former Sheriff said. "We had 19 murder cases on the docket at one term of court here, which is the most, I reckon, Rhea County's ever had. There were 13 saloons in Dayton and five in Spring City, and it was no work at all if we didn't arrest at least 40 drunks in one day."
He was elected on a Republican ticket which, he said, is "about the only thing that hasn't changed since I was totin' the badge."
Smith was elected for one term, from 1896-1898, during the presidential administration of Grover Cleveland and William McKinley, "and we had our war troubles back then, same as now."
"The first telephone at the jail was put in while W. A. Smith was Sheriff, and the Sheriff was scared to use it for several days. He made me do all the calling." John Vaughn, who was W. A. Smith's deputy and 'sidekick' at the time, told the Chattanooga Free-Press in 1941.
Reprint from Chattanooga News-Free Press dated August 11, 1968 by Marcia Cummings:
Milo Trentham, a native of Rhea County has lived in Chattanooga for the last 30 years.
But a 70-year-old sketch of Rhea County Courthouse, the site of the famous Scope's trail [sic], vividly returned his thoughts to stories from a time when Dayton had probably not yet heard of Charles Darwin or the "Origin of Species."
The stories where [sic] told to him by his grandfather, W. A. Smith who was sheriff of Rhea County for several years around the turn of the century.
Mr. Trentham was reminded of one particular story by an aged, yellowing drawing he ran across recently. The drawing was done in 1898.
In 1898, Trentham's grandfather, called "Uncle Add" by many, pursued a fugitive into the mountains near Monterey on horseback, apprehended the criminal, brought him back to Dayton and placed him in the jail across the street from the courthouse.
The prisoner's window presented him to [sic] clear view of the courthouse which stands today as it was in 1898.
Perhaps an aspiring artist or simply a bored man with a knack for accurately rendering the world around him, the imprisoned man drew a surprisingly realistic sketch of the future site of the "Monkey Trails [sic]."
The prisoner gave his finished sketch to one of "Uncle Add's" daughters who later became Milo Trentham's mother. Mrs. Trentham kept the sketch, finally passing it into the hands of her son.
Mr. Trentham said the sketch "looks about the way I remember the courthouse."
The courthouse is today very much as it was in 1898 soon after its construction.
Several years ago there was some discussion about rebuilding or remodeling parts of the courthouse. Appartently [sic] due to the objection of some that the courthouse is in some ways a historical landmark it was decided to renovate only the first and second floors.
Another interesting incident that Trentham remembers his grandfather recounting concerns his first race for sheriff's office.
The evening before the election day Smith went into Dayton. Returning home, he rode the train from Dayton to Pennine Station near his house. With the purpose of walking the remaining distance, he got off the train and started out on foot. Before he got far, he fell into an unseen hole in the dark and broke his ankle.
"Uncle Add" had to be carried home and put to bed. He was unable to get to Dayton for the election the next day but was elected in spite of his absence.
It appears that Milo Trentham's grandfather, like the Rhea County Courthouse, has had an interesting "untold" history.
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1854 - 1942 (88 years) Has 7 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
Abt 1827 - 
[2, 3]