Smith, James F.

SMITH

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 9/22/2019 at 21:26:48

James F. Smith

(From the 1883 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, by J. H. Keatley, p.237, Silver Creek Twp.)
James F. Smith, farming, P. O. Carson. Mr. Smith was born and raised in La Porte County, Ind.; born 1835; lived in Indiana till 1877; he sold out and came to Iowa, settling in Mills County, where he remained till spring of 1882, when he came to his present farm in Silver Creek Township; he had lived in La Porte County till about 1870; he went to Porter County, and lived there till he came to Iowa. He bought his present farm in 1879; but it was raw prairie, so he did not move to it till 1882. His farm consists of 250 acres, ten of it being timber land, all but about fifty being in cultivation, 140 in corn, besides wheat. He is doing considerable feeding. He was married in La Porte County, Ind., in 1856 or 1857, to Miss Sarah J. Cooper; she was also born in La Porte County. They have four children, two girls and two boys; one girl married. He is Republican in politics; farming has always been his business; he was educated in Indiana; his mother died when he was only three years old, and his father was killed when he was five, and from that time he has had to look out for himself.

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.605)
JAMES F. SMITH, section 12, Silver Creek Twp., is one of the well known and successful men of his community. He came here in 1882 from Mills county, Iowa, where he had resided since 1877. A brief sketch of Mr. Smith's life is as follows:
He was born in LaPorte County, Indiana, November 5, 1835, a son of James F. SMITH Sr. His father was a native of New York state and was a hotel keeper all his life. He built and kept the Checkered Tavern near Buffalo, New York, and subsequently removed to Indiana where he was a popular and successful hotel manager, and where, in 1840, he was killed by a desperado at Hudson, LaPorte County. Mr. Smith's mother, India (DARBY) SMITH, was born in New York state. She died when James F. was two or three years old, and he was only five when his father's death occurred. Left an orphan thus early in life, he was reared by relatives in LaPorte County, Indiana, and in Southern Michigan, near Ann Arbor. He was brought up on a farm, and his education was obtained in the common schools and in the practical school of experience.
In 1870 he removed to Porter County, Indiana, where he resided seven years. He then sold the farm he had purchased at that place and came west to Mills County, Iowa. There he rented a farm of his brother-in-law, Josiah WEARING, one of the most prominent stockmen of that county. In 1882 he came to Pottawattamie County and purchased 160 acres of wild land at $12.50 per acre. He afterward bought 240 acres more. He is now the owner of 240 acres, having sold 80 acres to one of his sons, and the same amount to another.
Mr. Smith has a good frame house, 22 X 28 feet, one and a half stories, and an addition 20 X 16 feet, well situated, and surrounded with an orchard comprising two acres and a half. His granary is 20 X 20 feet, and he also has cribs, yards, feedlots, a windmill and everything to denote the thrifty and prosperous farmer. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising.
At the age of 21 years, Mr. SMITH as married in LaPorte County, Indiana, to Sarah Jane COOPER, daughter of John and Mary (WALLDRUFF) COOPER, both natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children, as follows: Olive, wife of E.B. CARLEY, Silver Creek Township; Nevada, wife of G.R. COOK of the same township; and George L. and Frank M. also of Silver Creek Township.
Politically Mr. Smith is a strong and radical Republican. He and his wife were formerly connected with the Christian Church. Mr. Smith is a man in the prime of life, is cordial in his manner toward his fellowmen and is honorable in all his business dealings. He is numbered among the solid men of the township.