Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1891
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 655
JOE H. SMITH

Joe H. SMITH, one of the pioneer attorneys of Harrison County, now practicing at Logan, was born December 27, 1833, in Beaver (now a part of Lawrence) County, Pa. The first sixteen years of his life were spent on the farm, having such educational advantages as were to be had in the public schools of the place. Later he became a student of Westminster College, at Wilmington, Pa. From this place to the office of Judge Eben NEWTON and Judge Frank Girard SERVIS, at Canfield, Mahoning County, Ohio, where he was admitted to the bar, April 14, 1857. Immediately on admission to the bar, he started for the "far West," and June 125, of the same year located and began the practice of law at Magnolia.

January 4, 1859, he returned to the old home, in the Keystone State, and married Julia Ann WARRICK, and at this date as the result of this marriage union, there are the following children: Law P., Mary M., Palmer, John I., Tad L., and Thomas C.

But few of the early settlers have entered into and become more conspicuous in the "warp and woof" of Harrison County, individually and historically, than the subject of this sketch, for few public measures were proposed or carried through unless Smith figured more or less therein.

At the breaking out of the civil war, no one put forth greater efforts toward filling the ranks with enlisted men than he, for being Chairman of the Board of County Supervisors, when the young men of the county were ripe for enlistment, a meeting of this Board was called, and each person enlisting from the county was given a bounty of eighty acres of land or its equivalent. Smith then enlisted, not waiting for others to do, but said, "boys, come along!" In one day an entire company was enlisted, and since then has been known as Company C, Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry, he being the Second Lieutenant of the Company.

In 1858 he was elected as the first County Superintenent of Schools. In 1864 was elected as a Representative of this and Shelby Counties, in the Twelfth General Assembly, where it is said he very ably presented the wants and protected the interests of his constituents.

Scarcely a case of importance upon the court calendars of Harrison County, but Joe H. SMITH's name appears an attorney for one of the parties, and not only here, but in the Supreme Court of the State, a very creditable reputation is accorded him. He is untiring in his efforts, quite captivating in his manner; logical in his conclusion, and at times sarcastic and eloquent. In 1888, he compiled and published a condensed history of Harrison County, which had many points of excellence. He is a ready writer, graphic and pleasing in his description of pioneer days, including the early courts, schools, and churches. The volume was replete with information, general description, as well as amusing incidents, all of which had come under Mr. SMITH's personal observation, for it will be remembered he was a pioneer of the county himself.

In conclusion it may be said that Mr. SMITH is a man of noble impulses, positive in his opinions, and will be remembered, perhaps, as long as any one of the early settlers of this county.

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