Joseph L. Lax, farmer, is a native of the county where he now resides, born February 3, 1837, a son of Berryman and Virginia O. (Farmer) Lax. After securing a good education, began farming and has always made Hardeman County his home excepting the time spent in the war and two years spent in the States of Arkansas and Mississippi. In June, 1862, Mr. Lax enlisted in Company C, Forty-second Mississippi Regiment Infantry; was received in Gen. Heath’s division, participating in the battles of the Wilderness and others. He was captured at Cold Harbor and was sent as a prisoner of war to Point Lookout. In 1865 he returned home and resumed farming, and now owns 700 acres of land. December 7, 1859, Mr. Lax married Miss Ann E. Cook, born in Montgomery County, N.C., August 20, 1837, a daughter of William and Martha Cook. Mr. Lax is a believer in Christianity, but not a member of any church. Mrs. Lax and her mother are members of the Missionary Baptist Church.
Source: “The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1886”