Cerro Gordo County Iowa
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Henry Irving SMITH was born May 4th, 1840 in Nottingham, England, the son of William and Mary (MOORE) SMITH. After his father's
death in England in 1847, Henry and his mother came to North America, spending a year in Canada. In 1848, Mrs. SMITH
bought a claim of land in Kane County, Illinois to where the family moved. With the help of her children and brother,
Mrs. SMITH improved the farm. In 1854, the family moved to Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, traveling in a prairie schooner drawn by an
ox team. The journey took three weeks with the family camping and cooking with such provisions they could obtain by the
roadside. They settled in Falls Township on a farm located along the Shell Rock River.
Upon their arrival, they lived in their wagon until the built a log house, 16 x 20 feet. The first year they spent
in their new cabin with shakes for shingles and the mother earth for flooring. They made their bread that first winter
from corn-meal and buckwheat ground in a three-shilling coffee mill. They killed and smoked a pig, obtaining the remainder
of their meat from the forest, varied with fish from the river which they salted and smoked. Here Mr. SMITH grew to a
man's estate and received a good education. In July of 1861, Henry Irving SMITH enlisted in Company B, 7th Iowa Volunteers. His regiment was first rendezvoused at Burlington, Iowa, and in August was sent to Benton Barracks, St. Louis. His first smell of powder was at Belmont, Mo., Nov. 7, 1861, where he was shot in the breast, his collar-bone being broken. He still retains the bullet imbedded in the shoulder-blade. He was in Mound City Hospital until the day following the battle of Shiloh. At that engagement his only brother, Peter SMITH, was wounded by a shell and died on a steamer while en route to Keokuk Hospital. He was buried at Quincy, Ill. Mr. SMITH was under fire at Corinth, first and second battles, at Iuka, Dallas, Big Shanty, Kennesaw Mountain, at the siege of Atlanta (July 22 and 28), was with SHERMAN on his march to the sea, and in countless other engagements of more or less importance, and finally passed in the Grand Review at Washington, D.C, where he received a bouquet from the hand of Mrs. STANTON, wife of the Secretary of War. In 1864 he was promoted to second lieutenant at Pulaska, Tenn., and when in action at Atlanta, reached the rank of First Lieutenant. While at Washington, D.C., he was promoted to the captaincy of his company. While on the march to the sea he was placed on the staff of Brigadier-General E. W. RICE. He was mustered out of service at Davenport in 1865, and came back to Cerro Gordo county and engaged in farming for a short time.
He was married, in 1868, to Miss D. E. [Delight E.] BOGARDUS. Mr. and Mrs. SMITH have had five children, four sons and one daughter - William J., born April 20, 1869, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, died 1912, aged 43 years, married November 21, 1894 Edith Gardner HICKS (1872-1957); Lou D.; Henry Carl, born 1875, died 1951, interment at Elmwood Saint Joseph Cemetery, Mason City, Iowa; Robert P[ercy]., born 1878, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, died 1938 with interment at Elmwood Saint Joseph Cemetery, Mason City; and, Warren B. Henry I. SMITH was elected to succeed Mr. EMSLEY as treasurer of Cerro Gordo county, in 1869. In 1869 he came to Mason City to enter upon the duties of county treasurer, to which he had been elected, which office he held four years. His mother, Mrs. Mary (MOORE) SMITH, continued to reside in Falls Township. Mr. SMITH was re-elected in 1871 and served until Jan. 1, 1874. H. I. SMITH, president of the First National Bank, of Mason City, has been a resident of Cerro Gordo county since the spring of 1854. He is a member of the Masonic order, a republican in politics, and has held many important positions in the party.
Captain Henry Irving SMITH, an honored veteran of the Civil war now retired from active life and residing at Mason City,
Iowa, is a native of Nottingham, England, born May 4, 1840. He is a son of William and Mary Ann (MOORE) SMITH, the former
a native son of Dumfrieshire, Scotland, and the latter of Nottingham. William Smith was a traveling man and died when his
son Henry I. was small. In 1849 the mother, who was well educated and a woman of unusual ability, brought her four
children to the United States, stopping a few months in Canada on the way. She spent a year at Buffalo, New York, and then
located at Geneva, Illinois, where she support her family by needle work, in which line she was very proficient. Henry was
the oldest son and was soon able to work and help support the family, the others working as soon as they were able. At the
death of the father's brother in Scotland, the children were left an inheritance of about five hundred dollars apiece and
on April 1, 1855, the family started west, arriving at Shell Rock river, Falls township, Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, in the
latter part of the month. They bought one hundred and twenty acres of land, which they began improving. They erected a log
house, in which they lived two years with nothing but a dirt floor, and at first were able to break and cultivate but a
few acres at a time. Henry, as the oldest son, worked for others a great deal, and assisted with the other farm work. They
endured the usual hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, but all were ambitious and energetic, and saw a
bright future before them.
Besides Henry I. SMITH, the other children were: Peter, who served in the same regiment as Henry, was wounded at Shiloh,
from the effects of which he died in 1862; Maggie Jane, married Captain F. M. GREGORY, who served in the Eight Illinois
Cavalry, and they now reside at Mason City; Mary Anetta, married Ben A. BROWN, who died in 1908, and she now lives in
Wisconsin.
As a young man Captain SMITH worked considerably at teaming between McGregor and Charles City. He helped with the work
on the home farm when he was not employed elsewhere, and the second year they planted three acres of wheat, as the
seasons went by increasing their operations and in a few years were able to sell some. The saw and grist mills were then
some distance away, in Chickasaw county, and at first their nearest market was at Manchester, later being at Cedar Falls,
Janesville, and finally at Charles City, the last named being thirty miles from their farm. Besides the hard work and
privations in the early days they suffered much from ague. At the beginning of the Civil war, when the two sons enlisted,
the mother leased the farm and lived some years in Rock Falls. Later the farm was sold and another farm was purchased with
the proceeds. The mother spent her later years with her children, and died at the home of a daughter at Clear Lake, Iowa,
in 1900. She was greatly loved and honored by her children to whom her life had been an inspiration, and her memory is
very dear to them. In religious belief she was Unitarian.
Captain SMITH was the first man to enlist from Cerro Gordo county, the date of his enrollment being July 8, 1861. He took
six men from the neighborhood with him and they joined Company B, Seventh Iowa Infantry, the nearest recruiting station
being in Chickasaw county. They were mustered into service at Burlington, Iowa, July 24, and with the Fifth and Sixth
regiments went at once to St. Louis and to the front. They served under General GRANT at Shiloh and later in the Fifteenth
and Sixteenth army corps, being mainly in the Army of Tennessee. Captain SMITH participated in many important engagements,
being present at the first battle of Belmont, GRANT'S first battle in the war. He was wounded in that battle and again
slightly so at Corinth, in the fall of 1862. While recuperating at Belmont he did recruiting for a time at Fort Madison,
Iowa, but was after that always with his regiment and on the fighting line. Besides many skirmishes, he took part in
twenty-six important engagements. At the time of his enlistment he was chosen corporal and served in all the office up to
and including the rank of captain, which he received during the latter part of his service. During the famous "March to
the Sea" he commanded his company. After two and a half years of service, with most of his regiments Captain SMITH
accepted a veteran furlough, visited home with his company, then returned to the field and served to the end of the war,
being mustered out July 14, 1865 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Upon his return home Captain SMITH spent a year in farming, but was not in a physical condition that would enable him to
stand hard manual labor, and accepted the office of deputy county treasurer in the fall of 1866. He served two years, in
1869 was elected treasurer and served four years-two terms. In 1873, in company with J. B. W. MONTAGUE, Captain SMITH
engaged in the insurance business and they purchased the Cerro Gordo Bank, which they conducted several years. Later
they organized the First National Bank, of which Captain SMITH served as president during the twenty years of the first
charter. The success of this bank was [phenomenal] from the start, and with it were identified some of the most
substantial business men of the county. Captain SMITH resigned from the presidency some eight years ago, since which he
has been retired from business. He organized the Mason City Wholesale Grocery Company and served for years as president
of the same. He served six years as director of the State Agricultural Society and served some time as councilman and
member of the school board at Mason City. In politics he has always been a stanch Republican.
Since his marriage in 1868, Captain SMITH has been a resident of Mason City, where he erected two or more residences and
not owns a fine home at the corner of Adams and State. For years he owned a fine stock in Falls township, making a
specialty of Short-horn cattle and other high-grade stock, but a few years since sold this property and for some time
has been in poor health.
On May 14, 1868, Captain SMITH married at Mason City, Miss Delight E. BOGARDUS, who was born in Westerlo, New York, May
24, 1845, daughter of Robert B. and Maria (VERMILYEA) BOGARDUS and sister of E. R. BOGARDUS, mentioned elsewhere in this
work. Five children have blessed this union, namely: William Irving, born in April, 1869, engaged in the lumber business
and now in British Columbia, married Edith G. HICKS and they have two children, Gladys, born in 1897, and Irving G., born
in 1900; Miss Lou D., born in September, 1872, is at home; H[enry]. Carl, born in April, 1877, has been in the banking
business several years, was conducting a ranch in Dakota some years, and is now a resident of Mason City, married to
Adelaide STANNARD; Robert Percy, born November 1, 1879, assistant cashier in the First National Bank, of Mason City,
where he has been employed ten years, married Mildred BEEBE and they have two children, Alice Elizabeth, aged four, and
Robert Henry, aged two; Warren B., born in April 1881, married Miss Helen ATKINS, and they have one daughter, Marian,
aged two years.
Warren B. SMITH is now residing in Pollock, South Dakota, where he is manager of a
branch of the North Star Lumber Company and handles lumber, furniture and hardware supplies.
Captain and Mrs. SMITH are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is affiliated with the G. A. R., C. H. HUNTLEY
Post, No. 42, Army of the Tennessee, and she is a member of the Women's Relief Crops. Both are well known and have a
large circle of friends. Captain SMITH has been one of the most prominent men in Mason City since he has been living
there and has been identified with its best interests. No man is more highly esteemed in the community, not only for his
service in the war, but for his steadfast good citizenship and high character. He has a medal of Honor Legion, dated June,
1897.
 Captain Henry Irving SMITH died November 12, 1910 at Mason City, Iowa. Delight E. (BOGARDUS) SMITH was born in Westerlo, Albany County, New York on May 24, 1845, and died in Pasadena, California on March 9, 1924. They were interred at Elmwood Saint Joseph Cemetery, Mason City, Iowa.
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On March 15, 1865, 1st Lt. SMITH'S company attempted to construct a pontoon bridge over a portion of the flooded Black River in
North Carolina. The river was held by Confederate troops. In the midst of the struggle with the rebel defenders, one
of his soldiers was swept away by the current. 1st Lt. SMITH threw off his coat and sword and swam to the soldier's
rescue, bringing him to shore and continued his mission. For valor in the face of the enemy, 1st Lt. SMITH was promoted
to the rank of Captain and was consequently awarded the Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor.
Robert Percy SMITH was a member of the Iowa National Guard. He was at school in Minnesota when the
Spanish-American war began, and served one year in the Philippines, his entire regiment receiving medals for meritorious
conduct from President McKINLEY.