JOHN W. ADAMS is a son of Archibald Adams, who was born September 30, 1811, in Tennessee.  He was married to Jane Ramsey, who was born July 21, 1810, and our subject, John W., was born to their union December 26, 1836.  The father died in 1850 and the mother in 1854.  Our subject was their second child, and assisted in tilling his father's farm until twenty-one years of age.  For two years he followed photography in Tennessee and Arkansas, and then joined the Confederate Army, Company H, Seventeenth Tennessee Infantry.  He was wounded at Murfreesboro, and was disabled from work two months, and was wounded in the foot at Petersburg, Va.  After the close of the war he returned home and was engaged by R. L. Adams, of Lewisburg, Marshall County, as assistant county court clerk, and continued about two years.  He then (in 1868), engaged in farming, in which he has been fairly prosperous.  He was elected magistrate in April, 1884, to fill an unexpired term.  December 10, 1866, Mary H. Glenn of Marshall County, became he wife.  She is a daughter of Hugh K. and Lucretia E. Glenn, and has borne her husband three children, all of who are dead.  Mr. Adams is a worthy citizen of the county and is a Democrat, and taught school in 1865-66.
 

J. C. AKIN, proprietor of the Evans Hotel, was born July 2, 1827, in Granville County, N. C.  His father, Thomas Akin, moved with his family from North Carolina to Maury County, Tenn., about 1830, and lived there till his death.  He was a farmer and raised a large family.  The genial subject of this sketch was reared on a farm.  He came to Shelbyville in 1854, married and engaged in mercantile trade for a short time.  He then farmed till 1857, having bought a farm near Shelbyville.  He then removed to McMinnville, Warren Co., Tenn., and engaged in the grocery business there a short time, and then at farming till the war, in the meantime having bought two farms and stocked them.  During the was he was in the drug business till early in 1865.  He then went to Maury County and raised a crop of cotton; thence he returned to McMinnville, and remained till 1878, when he again moved to Shelbyville, and for six years ran the Barksdale House.  Since then he has been running the Evans Hotel, the only first-class hotel in the city.  He also runs a fruit evaporator in Shelbyville.  He was married, September 18, 1854, to Mrs. America Lane, the widow of Robert Lane, of Marshall county.  Her father was Isaac Holman, who was once a member of the Legislature.  Mr. Akin and wife have been members of the Missionary Baptist Church for many years, and are among the leading members of the church at Shelbyville.  Mr. Akin has been chairman and treasurer of the executive board of the Duck River Baptist Association for many years, and at one time was president of the Baptist Sunday-school Association, and of the Bedford County Sunday-school Association.  He is a member of the K. of H.  Politically he was merely an old-line Whig, but is now a conservative Democrat.  He is justly regarded as an enterprising and influential citizen of the county, who has always taken special and active interest in all charitable, religious and moral enterprises.  The wife was the mother of four children by her former marriage, two of whom are now living.
 

D. M. ALFORD, publisher of the Bedford County Times, was born November 30, 1861, and is the son of A. J. and Margaret (Russell) Alford, both of whom are natives of Lincoln County, Tenn., though now living in Shelbyville, Tenn.  Our subject is a practical printer, and as such has filled responsible positions on the Fayetteville Express, Shelbyville Gazette, Chattanooga Times and Murfreesboro News. In February, 1886, he engaged with William Russell in the publication of the Bedford County of Times, which paper he is a publisher, and has succeeded in building up a good newspaper.
 

JOHN H. ALLEN, superintendent of public instruction of Bedford County, was born November 19, 1848, son of William and Elizabeth (Ray) Allen.  The parents were born in 1824 and 1827, respectively.  The ancestors of our subject emigrated from Smith County, Tenn., to Illinois, and after remaining there some time move to Bedford County, where our subject was born. William Allen was a tiller of the soil and the father of five children - four of whom were reared to maturity.  These are Isaac S., Sarah, James E., and John H.  The father was a pious member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and a respected citizen of the county in which he lived.  His death, which occurred in 1874, was universally regretted by all who knew him.  Since the death of her husband Mrs. Allen has been living with the subject of this sketch.  She is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  Our subject, at the age of nineteen, left the farm and, having had the advantage of a good English education, chose school-teaching as his profession.  He has given the best of satisfaction where he has taught, and is considered quite a success as an educator.  In 1885 he was elected superintendent of public schools of Bedford County, and by his energy and untiring zeal has done much to further the advancement of the schools of the county.  November 10, 1881, he married Miss Susan E. Hobbs, and two children have bless this union:  Lora V. and Ewitt P. Mr. Allen is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of which he has been a steward for eight or ten years.
 

A. E. ATKINSON was born in Marshall County, Tenn., January 23, 1817.  His father, John Atkinson, was born in Virginia about 1774, and first married a Miss Dunn, who bore him seven children.  His second wife was Nancy McClaren, and our subject is the fourth of their eight children.  John Atkinson came to Tennessee about 1800, and was one of the first pioneers of the country, and was elected magistrate soon after his arrival.  There being no other magistrate in the county, he was obliged to swear himself into office and held the position until his death in 1829, with the exception of one year, when he was a member of the State Legislature.  He also served as chairman of the county court several terms. Our subject has been a school-teacher for thirty-five or thirty-six years, teaching twelve months in the year a portion of the time. He also farmed, and June 5, 1838, he wedded Elizabeth C. Stem, and the following children are the result of their union:  F. M., Mary A., (Mrs. A. S. Turrentine), Christina C. (Mrs. W. H. Clark), W. E. and J. R.  Mrs. Atkinson died November 2, 1867, a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  Mr. Atkinson married his second wife, Jane Edwards, April 6, 1870.  Mr. Atkinson has a fair education, which he has obtained manly through his own exertions.  Up to the date of the late war he was an old-line Whig.  Since that time he has been a Democrat.