IowaJones/Biographies/B. A. Smith

B. A. Smith–J. C. Smith

B. A. Smith
Born 1830

B. A. SMITH, farmer, Hale Twp., Sec. 9; P.O. Hale Village; born in Berkshire Co., Mass., in 1830; went to Pennsylvania in 1840, and, in 1845, to Virginia; in 1851, came to Iowa; owns 380 acres, on which he has made all the improvements. In politics, Republican; in religion, Free-Will Baptist. Has been Road Supervisor and School Director. His wife, Irena Reed, was born in Ohio in 1835; married in 1851, and have eight children—C. A., Catherine (now Mrs. Coppass), Mary V. (now Mrs. Giddings), Mitchell, Ina, Manville, Franklin F., Ila. Enlisted in the 31st I.V.I., in 1861; discharged in 1866.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 641.

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B. F. Smith
Born February 8, 1830

B. F. SMITH, brick manufacturer, Strawberry Hill, Anamosa; is a native of Grafton Co., N.H., and was born February 8, 1830; he grew up to manhood there and learned the business of brickmaking; in 1853, he went to California and was engaged in brickmaking there for seven years, then returned to New Hampshire; in 1869, he came to Iowa and located at Anamosa, and established his brick-works here; since then he has been engaged in the manufacture of brick; there are very few men in the business who have the thorough practical knowledge of Mr. Smith, and the brick he manufactures are of an excellent quality, superior to those manufactured elsewhere in this part of the State; he furnished the brick for the residence of Col. Shaw and also for Shaw's Block and many of the largest buildings in Anamosa. Mr. Smith has been twice married; his first wife was Clara Perrin, a native of Grafton Co., N.H.; she died in December, 1869, leaving three children—Edward F., Addie J. and Bertie P. In March, 1871, he married Ellen Wheeler, a native of Grafton Co., N.H.; they have one son—Clarence.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 578.

C. H. Smith
Born 1821

C. H. SMITH, farmer, Hale Twp., Sec. 21; P.O. Hale Village; born in Connecticut in 1821; went to Ohio in 1827, and to Iowa in 1874; bought 270 acres. In politics, Republican; in religion, Free-Wil1 Baptist. His wife, Mary F. Barton, was born in Granby, Mass., in 1823; married at Wayne, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, in 1846, and have six children—M. B. (in Wyoming); Delany (now Mrs. Phillips); Dewitt L., Charles H., Clara and Newell.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 641.

Daniel Smith
Born 1818

Daniel Smith, farmer, Sec. 6; P.O. Viroqua; born in Union Co., Penn., in 1818; came to Iowa in 1857, and owns 136 acres, on which he has made all the improvements. In politics, Republican; in religion, United Brethren. His wife, Mary Moore, was born in Berks Co., Penn., in 1824. married in Pennsylvania in 1840; have five children—-George (in Rome), Jacob (in Kansas), Elizabeth (now Mrs. Kohl, in Linn Co.), Henry L. (in Rome), D. O. (at home).

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Co., Chicago, 1879, p 652.

Henry D. Smith
Born September 23, 1818

HENRY D. SMITH, farmer, Monticello Twp., Sec. 28; P.O. Monticello; is a native of Salem, Mass., and was born September 23, 1818; when 7 years of age, his father removed to Utica, N.Y., and he grew up to manhood in that State; he came to Iowa in 1856, and located in Jones Co., on Bowen's Prairie, and engaged in farming; in 1869, he removed to where he now lives, in the suburbs of Monticello; he owns a good farm, well improved, which joins the city limits. He has held the office of County Surveyor, and has held town and school offices. In 1840, he married Miss Harriet Campbell, from Paris, N.Y.; they have had six children, four of whom survive—Douglass H., Laura C., Dwight S. and Sarah L., all living in this State.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 679.

J. V. Smith
Born June 20, 1835

J. V. Smith, who is now one of the substantial farmers of Wyoming township, was born in Scotland, June 20, 1835, and is a son of David and Isabel (McCladen) Smith. The parents were also natives of that country, but in 1855 they brought their family to the United States. They came direct to Iowa, locating upon a farm in Jones county, which remained theirs for the remaining years of their lives. Mr. Smith died in I872, but his wife survived him for ten years, witnessing the success, which had already opened for her son. Of the six children who were born of their union two alone are now living: J. V., of this sketch, and Elizabeth, who makes her home in Center Junction.

J. V. Smith received a good common-school education in his native land and remained with his parents until they settled in this county. Then he began to make his own way in the world, having attained the age of twenty years. For a time he worked by the day as a laborer and then, in 1856, went to Nebraska, where he preempted land, living upon it for about five years to insure his possession and improving it during that period, In 1861 he returned to this county and bought the farm on which he now lives. It embraces one hundred and sixty acres, has been well improved and is cultivated so that it renders rich returns for the labor spent upon it. It was in I875 that Mr. Smith put up the fine brick house which is his home, and he has since made several improvements, so that it is a very comfortable and convenient dwelling.

In 1858 Mr. Smith wedded Miss Sarah J. Hunt, who was born in Peoria county, Illinois, in 1840. Her parents, J. W. and Catherine Hunt, were among those who sought homesteads in Nebraska when that state was thrown open with many inducements to families and they passed the remainder of their lives there. Two of their eight children have also died. Thirteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith: George D., who is now in Clinton, Iowa; James A., of Onslow; Emma L., who is the wife of Delbert Wright, of this county; J. E., who lives at home; Jennie, who is the wife of Jerome Bender, of Wyoming; Laura A., and John G., who are at home; and six who have died. Mrs. Smith was taken from this world in 1902 and was laid to rest in the cemetery at Wyoming. Reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church, Mr. Smith still gives unwavering support to its creed, while politically he affiliates with the republican party, feeling convinced of the value of its principles in the government of a nation. He has taken no small part in public affairs of the township, for he has filled some of the offices within the gift of the people and always with the same success which has attended his own agricultural operations.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 570.

John Campbell Smith
Born October 9, 1874

John Campbell Smith, one of the leading farmers of Lovell township and a representative of one of the oldest families of Jones county, was born on the farm which is now his home, October 9, 1874, his parents being Douglass Henry and Martha Sophia (Hutchins) Smith. For three generations back the Smith family has been prominent in this county, for the paternal great-grandfather, Captain George K. Smith, who had followed the sea for about forty years, passed the last years of his life on Bowen's Prairie, and was widely known for his piety. His son, the late Henry D. Smith, who was well and favorably known in this section of the state, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and died near Monticello, Iowa, May 10, 1897, at the age of seventy-eight years. Of his union with Miss Harriet L. Campbell was born Douglass Henry Smith, the father of the subject of this sketch. A native of Oneida county, New York, his birth occurred February 17, 1843, at Litchfield. During his early life he removed to Utica, that state, where he received his primary education, and then, in the winter of 1856-7, when he was less than fourteen years of age, he drove with his father in an open buggy from New York to Iowa. They took up their residence in that New England colony of this county, at Bowen's Prairie, where Douglass H. Smith lived until his marriage, in 1870. Then he removed to the farm in Lovell township on which his son, the subject of this sketch, lives today, and where the last years of his life were spent as an agriculturist. He did much for the upbuilding of this county, for he was industrious and progressive, and his business ability and honesty were recognized by all who came in contact with him. He was one of the first to advocate the establishment of cooperative creameries in this county and at the time of his death was one of the directors of the Klondike Creamery. But it was as a friend, kind, loyal and genial, that he was most deeply mourned when, on the 2d of December, 1906, he was called from this world, being fatally injured by being thrown from his wagon as the result of a runaway.

On the 14th of April, 1870, Douglass H. Smith wedded Miss Martha S. Hutchins, a native of Keene, New Hampshire, who had come to Jones county as a child with her mother, her father having died previously. Of their union six children were born: William Douglass, who died in infancy; Mary Helen, who is a teacher in the public schools of Loraine, Ohio; John Campbell, of this sketch; Stuart Hutchins and Douglass Henry, who are farmers residing in Canada; and Harriet Louisa, who married A. J. H. McNeill and resides in Monticello, Iowa.

John Campbell Smith was reared at home, acquiring his education from the public schools, and after completing the high school course in Monticello, attending for three terms the university at Ames, where his two brothers also received their training for life, while the two daughters were students in the State Normal School at Cedar Falls. Like the other members of his family, John C. Smith engaged in teaching after he reached manhood, devoting five or six winters to instructing the young pupils of the country schools. In 1902 he bought a farm of eighty acres in Castle Grove township, but lived on it only one year, selling it in 1904. Then he returned to the home farm identifying himself with his father's interests until the latter's death, when he assumed the responsibility of its operation. On the 1st of March, 1909, he purchased the place, to which he hopes to devote himself so that his success will equal that of his father before him. Progressive, faithful in the exercise of his duties, and unsparing of hard labor when necessary, there is every reason to believe that a bright future is in store for him.

Mr. Smith has not married. Since he has been of an age to enjoy the franchise right of a citizen of this republic he has given his support to the republican party,. but while interested in all questions before the people he has played no part in public affairs. His adherence in religious matters is given to the Congregational church, of which he is a devout and consistent member.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 295.