James H. Akin

James H. Akin was born on August 12, 1832 in Maury County, Tennessee.[1] His father was Samuel W. Akin while his mother was Millie Biffle.[1] He had eight siblings, and he grew up on a farm.[1]

His paternal great-grandfather, William Akin was born in Scotland and immigrated to South Carolina.[1] His paternal grandfather, Reverend John Akin, who was a Methodist minister, served in the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783 and settled in Maury County in 1808; he emancipated his slaves upon his death in 1821.[1] His maternal grandfather, Jacob Biffle, also served in the American Revolutionary War.[1]

Akin became a farmer and stock raiser in Maury County in 1847.[1] During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, he joined the Confederate States Army and served as the captain of Company E of the 9th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry.[1] He was stationed at Fort Donelson.[1] In 1862, he was promoted to the rank of major, and he found in Mississippi and Louisiana.[1] After the war, he returned to farming in Maury Countil until 1881.[1] From 1882 onward, he became a farmer in Williamson County, where he owned a 420-acre farm.[1]

Akin was a member of the Democratic Party.[1] He served as the tax collector of Maury County from 1870 to 1872.[1] He then served as justice of the peace in Williamson County from 1882 to 1890.[1] He served as a floterial representative for Maury and Williamson counties in 1890 and 1891, as well as Maury, Williamson, Giles and Lewis counties in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1895.[1] He served as a proper member of the state house from 1899 to 1901, representing Williamson County.[1]

Akin was married three times. He married his first wife, Marinda Cecil, in 1859; they had three children, but only one daughter, Bettie Jones, survived to adulthood; she died in 1867.[1] He married his second wife, Sophia Burnett Kernan, 1881; they had a son, Andrew Kernan, and two daughters, Ethel Johnson and Jimmie Hatton; she died in 1893.[1] He married his third wife, Lena Oden, in 1900.[1] He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and a Freemason.[1]

Akin died in 1911.[2]