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John H. McFerrin was born near Somerville, Tenn., April 9, 1839, and died at his home in Colliersville, Tenn., April 18, 1916, aged seventy-seven years. He was the son of Rev. W. M. and Mrs. Louisa McFerrin. He graduated from Wesleyan College, Florence, Ala., in 1861 and immediately enlisted in the Manson Grays, which company was attached to the 13th Tennessee Regiment of Infantry. He was continuously in service in camp and in field for four years, with the exception of a short absence from a wound and sickness. After the war he settled in Marshall County, Miss. On January 31, 1866, he was married to Miss Tommie Jessie Matthews of Hickory Wythe, Tenn. Two children survive, John B. McFerrin and Mrs. Armstead Dodson, both prominent in the social and religious life of the community. In 1873 Comrade McFerrin moved to Colliersville and entered into the mercantile business, and with the motto "Honest Weight and Good Measure" he soon build up a lucrative business, from which he was forced to retire a few years ago on account of failing health.

His gentle and generous nature, frank and confiding manner, and inflexible integrity commanded the admiration of all with whom he came in contact. No man of the community was more tenderly reverenced by friends, and no man ever evinced more loyal devotion in return. He was a loyal and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, from boyhood. His uprightness in his daily life was never questioned, and the character of unspotted honor and Christian charity falls as a rich heritage to his descendants. As a Christian he was without guile, as a friend without doubt, and in all the walks of life he was a light that never lost its brightness. The world is better for his having lived, and the grave has now no victory in his death, for the sweet fragrance of his memory will outlive the sting of death.

He was among the first subscribers of the VETERAN, a faithful worker in its interest, and read and discussed its contents with marked interest to the last. His golden wedding anniversary was celebrated a few months before his death, at which time this picture [not included] was taken as part of a group.