Milo Smith 1819 - 1904

SMITH

Posted By: Michael J. Kearney (email)
Date: 3/27/2011 at 17:04:35

The Clinton Herald Saturday February 27, 1904 p. 5 Col. Milo Smith Ill Serious Illness of this Pioneer Settler of Clinton There is no man more closely connected with the history of Clinton from its earliest beginnings than Col. Milo Smith, and his many friends will be grieved to learn that he is seriously ill at his home on Fourth avenue. Last Wednesday evening, the Colonel, who had been in the best of health all winter, became suddenly very sick, and while he is still in a very dangerous condition, this morning all of the symptoms were more favorable than at any previous time since Wednesday. It is felt by those who are with him that the strong and rugged health which has always been his, will stand him in good stead now, and that improvement, while slow, will be sure.

The Clinton Herald Monday February 29, 1904 p. 1 To Final Roll Call Col. Milo Smith Responds to The Last Call A lifetime public work in the interests of city, state and country - A pioneer resident of Clinton - Connected with its growth. At 7 o'clock last evening Col Milo Smith answered the final summons and joined the great majority of those valiant soldiers of the republic who have marched on before. It was the close of a long and busy life spent in the service of his country and his city. Col. Smith was stricken with paralysis last Wednesday evening, but rallied from the stroke and it was believed that he might overcome the weakness that followed, but it was not to be. On Sunday it was evident that the end was coming and at 7 when the recording angel called the roll it was given him to answer "Here." A history of Clinton and of railroading in the west, even a history of the great civil conflict could not be correctly written without reference to this man's work. He was born in Shoreham, Addison Co., Vermont, January 23, 1819, of strong revolutionary stock. All the grandeur of that noted town was instilled in his boyish mind in early days and in the subsequent school days at Newton academy at Shoreham. At the age of 21 he came west to Chicago and during three subsequent winters taught school in Belvidere, Ill. His railroad career In 1848 when the first railroad enterprise was originated west of Chicago, he accepted the contract to make the survey on the old Elgin State line railroad known as the Galina and Chicago Union, and in 1852 was appointed chief engineer and superintendent of the same road. In 1855 he came to Iowa and was made the chief engineer of the Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska railroad with headquarters at Clinton. The survey was not accepted, and most of the party returned to their homes, but Col. Smith remained in Clinton and made a new survey and estimates about on the route of present Northwestern line west. Col. Smith eventually completed the work and on January 18, 1858, received a personal letter from the Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska railroad conveying resolutions passed by said company, recognizing the ability, prudence and economy of Milo Smith as their chief engineer. During the panic of 1857 and the dull years following, Col. Smith carried the company safely through the crisis and on to success. His later work was in the survey and building of the immediate track west of Cedar Rapids for the Cedar Rapids and Missouri River railroad. Coming to Clinton when there was no Clinton, he believed in her future and the possibilities of the great west. He has seen Clinton grow from the first meal shanty on the site of the present Milwaukee depot to its present prosperity, and in his declining years has ever had a voice and heart in her future; has seen the railroads increase, has personally assisted in their making, in the bridging of the Mississippi until the completion of the routes to the west were well under way. In War Time In the midst of financial successes came the call for troops. Mr. Smith responded to his country's need, and with the same indefatigable zeal which characterized all his undertakings, personally aided in the formation of the 26th Iowa infantry which was composed almost entirely of Clinton county men. This regiment was mustered, Sept. 30, 1862, with Col. Smith as one of the field officers; from this time until 1865, when the were mustered out, the 26th Iowa was in many bloody conflicts and endured many privations. Their first field experience was in the White River expedition under General Hovey. They supported Grant in his first attack on Vicksburg, were with General Sherman when he met a bloody defeat at Chickasaw, and met the redoubtable Morgan at Arkansas Post. Col. Smith personally commanded a brigade in the second expedition against Vicksburg, and then was on his way with the 26th Iowa, reaching Lookout Mountain in the evening before the battle and taking part in the conflict the next day. Early in May 1864, this Iowa regiment joined General Sherman's Corps at Chattanooga, and in December went with the army to Savannah. January, 1865, saw the same company on the march through the Carolinas, being mustered out the same year. Although twice wounded, his rugged constitution enabled him to recover and he became once more prominent in civic life. In Civil Life He has been identified with Clinton since the war in many ways. He was the first vice president of the Clinton National Bank, for a short period had charge of the Revere house, and when the General N.B. Baker post of the G.A.R. was organized, was its first commander. His interest in this body has never waned, and on his 85th birthday, he attended a meeting of the post. In 1887 the Soldiers' home at Marshalltown was placed in the hands of a commission who elected Col. Smith as the first commandant. He remained there in discharged of his duties for five years, then returning to Clinton where he has since resided. Although a self made man and a man who has acquired much of this world's goods, Col Smith has in many years of public and private life retained the esteem of all those of all who were connected with him. He had a grand nature, strong integrity, and uprightness of soul that was a safeguard against trivial follies. He has been sought for and, offered many places of high political preferment, but his choice was that of the private citizen interested in the faithful discharge of his duties. Col. Smith is survived by his wife, his niece, Miss Ethel Estabrook, and nephew, W.L. Smith, both of this city, with other distant relatives residing elsewhere. The funeral service will be held at St. John's church Wednesday afternoon at two o'clock, in charge of the rector. The members of the General N.B. Baker Post G.A.R. will attend in a body.

The Clinton Herald Thursday March 3, 1905 p 5 Consigned to Earth Remains of Col. Smith are at rest in Springdale. Solemn Funeral Services Held at St. John's Episcopal Church Wednesday Afternoon - Dr. Cheeseman Delivers Landatory Discourse. With beautiful and impressive ceremony, the remains of the late Col. Milo Smith were consigned to their last resting place in Springdale ceremony Wednesday afternoon. The obsequies were held in St. John's Episcopal church in charge of the rector, Rev. T.W.C. Cheeseman, D.D. They were attended by the members of Gen. N.B. Baker post No. 88, G.A.R., and a large concourse of the friends of the deceased, including many of the business and professional men of the city. During the hours of the funeral the Clinton banks were closed, as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased. The floral offerings were numerous and beautiful, and the national colors were displayed in the church. The ritual funeral service of the Episcopal church was observed, upon the arrival of the funeral procession at the chancel. The bier was preceeded by the members of the army post who were seated on either side of the center aisle near the chancel. The pall bearers were Captain J.D. Fegan, Captain William Nichol, R.C. Young, J.F. Hayes, B.F. Mattison and A.J. Palsgrove. Following the rector's prayer the vested choir sand "Lead Kindly Light." The funeral sermon of Dr. Cheeseman was most eloquent. In it the departed comrade of the boys of the '60s was eulogized in language simple, elegant and impressive. The theme was "And a man shall be a hiding place from the wind and a cover from the tempest: as rivers of water in dry places, and as the shadow of a great rock in the desert." Col. Milo Smith, said the speaker, belonged to Clinton and the west in a sense in which few men belong to us. In beginning his discourse Dr. Cheeseman remarked that he had intended saying something of the work which had been accomplished by the deceased in building up the west by his railway projects, and of his signal part in the great struggle of the '60s, the war of rebellion. But having been superseded by the daily papers, he would speak of the main elements of strength in a character singularly strong and pure, not often met with in this day, when every man is for himself and no man for his brother. The speaker compare the departed citizen and soldier to the man spoken of in the theme which he had selected, and which he thought to be well chosen. The true man defends and shelters the storm-tossed in exposed places on the plane of human life - he takes the windy side of the road. Such a man was Colonel Smith, ever ready to lend a helping hand to the distressed and the needy. When the wind of oppression swept across the southern states and held the negros in servitude; when the union was ready to collapse, and the call for help went forth, the men of the north responded. Col. Smith was among them. He gave up a splendid position to accept the colonelcy of the Twenty-sixth Iowa Infantry. Some of you said the speaker, answered the same call, and served under him; and you found him as capable and judicious an officer as the north sent out to join the conflict. you were with him at the battle of Vicksburg, where he was badly wounded, and in Sherman's march to the sea. You, with him, bared your breasts to the bnblets of the foes of the nation. Twice Col. Smith was wounded, but his only wish was to grow strong again that he might continue to assist in the struggle to shelter his country from the fierce winds of disintegration and disunion. Colonel Smith was as invincible as a rock, yet as tender as a mother in the suffering. He was like lightning but he also was the light; like a river, and like a rock. He was a colonel to the boys of his regiment, but he was a father to them, ever ready to give help, advice and comfort. The speaker said that while he had not known the deceased for more than a year, in that time he had known him well enough to feel the pulsing of is big, generous, loving heart. He knew him to be a hiding place from the wind, responding to grief with the tenderest sympathy and helpfulness; and his closing was an earnest prayer for the future happiness of the comrade gone before. The old soldiers filed slowly from the church at the close of the service, forming in open order at the door, and allowing the bearers of the pall and the relatives to walk between. The casket was laden with floral emblems, in which were entwined the stars and stripes. Then the cortege proceeded westward to Springdale, where the body was lowered into the grave, and the salute was given by the firing squad, according to the ritual of the Grand Army. Many friends of the deceased accompanied the remains to the cemetery.