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CHAPTER VII.
JOEL SHOFFNER.
Joel, the first child of John and Amelia Shofner, was horn in Orange County, X. C., September 3, IS 11. W hen about four years of age, his father and mother brought him to Bedford County, Tenn., and settled on Duck River. Here his boyhood days were spent, hunting and iishing and going to school, but devoting a large part of his time toward assisting his father in clearing the land and tilling the soil.
When about twenty years old, the desire to see the land of his forefathers turned his path toward Xortli Carolina; and while there, he married on April 10,
1831,	Matilda Shoffner, oldest daughter of Daniel Shofl-ner, he being a brother to Joel?s mother, Amelia. After spending some time with his relatives there, he and his wife came to Tennessee, settling first in Carroll County; but in about 1838 they moved to Bedford County, buying a farm on Flat Creek and here locating permanently.
He was a successful farmer, raising principally cotton and operating a cotton gin for his own use and for the public in general. He was also engaged in the sawmill and lumber business for several years.
When the Civil War broke out, two of his sons, John I?, and Daniel P., joined the Confederate Army; and another son, Thomas J., joined the Federal forces. Two sons-in-law, Joseph B. Woosley and John C. Wooslev,