Smith, William L.

SMITH, HEMENWAY, BILLINGS, PALMER, SALESBURY

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 2/14/2003 at 15:54:50

WILLIAM L. SMITH
William L. Smith, who for twenty-three years has been in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, was born in Boone county, Illinois, May 12, 1853. His father, Joseph C. Smith, was born in Addison county, Vermont, in 1817, and was a farmer by occupation. On leaving the Green Mountain state, he took up his residence near Belvidere, Illinois, and there he entered land. Upon the farm which he developed his sons were born. His wife, Polly P. Hemenway, was also born in the same county in Vermont in which his birth occurred, first opening her eyes to the light of day in 1824. She is now a resident of Bridgeport, Vermont. Both the father and mother of our subject are representatives of Puritan ancestry and their people were pioneers of Massachusetts. After residing in Illinois for some time, Joseph C. Smith returned to his old home in Vermont, where he educated his family and lived until his death, which occurred in 1897. Both he and his wife were members of the Congregational church. They were the parents of ten children, of whom one son died in infancy, while Henry died at the age of two years; Milo at the age of four months; Marie Emily at the age of twenty-two years, and Eva P. when eight years of age. The others are, Frederick, who was formerly a preacher and is now in the employ of the railroad company, living in Chicago; Asa H., a truck gardener, and also an employee in a straw hat factory at Foxboro, Massachusetts; William L.; Stella A., wife of Edward Billings, of Addison county, Vermont; and Sarah B., wife of Charles Palmer, also of Addison county. The children were educated in an academy of that county and remained at home until they went to homes of their own.
William L. Smith attended the common schools and also spent two years in the academy. At the age of seventeen he began working as a farm hand and for two years he engaged in collecting. In 1876 he came to Clinton, Iowa, where he has since made his home, voting for twenty years in the second ward of this city. In 1877 he began working for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company on the drawbridge, and also ran the engine. He was watchman for one year and in 1879 he was made fireman, running between Clinton and Belle Plaine. In March, 1886, he was promoted to engineer and is now running in the passenger service. He has never met with any accidents in which the blame was attached to himself. Mr. Smith was married in 1880 in DeKalb, Illinois, to Ella A. Salesbury, who was born in Buffalo, New York, in June, 1855, and was educated in DeKalb. Her father was a speculator and a very prosperous man. Mr. and Mrs. Smith now have two daughters: Eva P. and Maud S., both at home and graduates of the Clinton high school. Eva is also a graduate of the Clinton Business College and Maud is taking a course in music. Mr. Smith purchased the family home in 1887 and in 1899 rebuilt the house which is situated at No. 220 Seventh avenue. It is supplied with all modern equipments and is a very attractive residence. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church; and since 1887 he has been identified with Clinton Division No. 125, B. L. E., in which he has held various offices. In his business his unquestioned fidelity to duty is most marked and he enjoys the unqualified confidence of the road which he has represented through almost a quarter of a century.
Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.