William D. Smith Family Cemetery

William D. Smith Family Cemetery. Autauga County. , The William Dixon Smith family settled in Autauga County in 1818, prior to Alabama Statehood. The family patriarch, William Dixon Smith (1809-1902), was a planter, forester, and operated a sawmill and gin. He also operated a mercantile business at Autaugaville and was part owner of the old cotton factory there. The Smith Family Cemetery contains 23 graves of the members of this prominent family as well as graves for several other significant individuals. The earliest burial is William D. Smith, son of William Dixon Smith and Sarah McLean, who died in 1845. The most recent burial is Morgan McLean Smith (1850-1924), another son of William Dixon Smith and Sarah McLean. Morgan graduated from law school at Cumberland University in 1872. He followed in his father's footsteps and assumed management of the family's large business holdings. In 1894, he was a delegate to the Democratic State Convention and represented Autauga County as a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1901. In 1909. Morgan established Autaugaville Bottling Works, which operated from a nearby artesian well., Another significant person buried in this cemetery is Dr. Arch Smith McKeithen (1835–1893). The son of Alexander McKeithen and Callie Elizabeth Scott Smith, Arch graduated from the Medical College of Virginia in 1860. He was practicing medicine at Prattville when the Civil War started. He enlisted and served as a Private in Capt. J. J. Cox's Company, Prattville Dragoons. He was later a member of Company H, 3rd Alabama Cavalry. In 1863, Arch passed the Confederate Army Board of Medical Examiners. He became Assistant Surgeon of the Provisional Army, CSA. After the war, he returned to Autauga County and married Costanga (Cottie) E. Smith. Dr. McKeithen practiced medicine near Prattville until 1890. Listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register on March 21, 2023 .