Glass was born on October 18, 1824, in Houston,
Virginia in
Halifax County son of Dudley and Nancy Carr Glass. In 1828, he moved with his parents to
Weakley County, Tennessee, where he attended Dresden Academy. He was elected
colonel of militia when he was eighteen years of age. He studied law, attended one course at
Lexington (
Kentucky) Law School. He married Sarah C. Partee on December 20, 1848. They had two children, Hiram D. and James Nelson. ==Career==