For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 288
S. H. SMITH, Jr. S. H. Smith, Jr., a well known citizen of Muscatine county, who for fourteen years past has resided at Nichols, is a native of Halifax,Vermont, born November 16, 1841. He is a son of Dr. S. H. and Emeline S. ( Putnam ) Smith, both born in Windham county, Vermont, the mother being a descendent of General Israel Putnam. They were married in 1840 and five years later removed to Steuben county, New York, where they continued until 1870, when they came to Muscatine county, Iowa, locating permanently at Nichols in 1871. The father built the second house in the town and was proprietor of a drug store, of which his son later took charge. The father devoted his attention to the practice of medicine from 1845 until 1902, when he retired. He departed this life January 27, 1908, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, and the mother was called away in 1903. The household circle included five children: S. H., our subject; Henry P., who enlisted in the Civil war and died in 1862 at Harpers Ferry while in the Union service; Charles E., who engaged in the lumber business and was killed in an explosion of dynamite in 1889 at Fountain, Colorado; Florence A., who became the wife of S. E. Walcott and is now deceased; and Emma, who died at Nichols, Iowa in 1906.S. H. Smith, Jr., was educated in the public schools and continued with his parents until he was nineteen years of age, when he enlisted in the field at Falls Church, Virginia, in Company D, Twenty-third New York Infantry. He engaged in the battle of Cedar Mountain, and, being incapacitated from duty on account of rheumatism, was sent to a hospital at Bedloe Island, New York, and was honorably discharged from service in October, 1862. He returned to Corning, Steuben county, New York, and subsequently entered the employ of the Erie Railroad Company as agent, continuing in this capacity for thirty years, and thus showing a fidelity very greatly to his credit. In 1896 he severed his connection with the railway and has since made his home at Nichols. He is now serving as city weighmaster.
In 1864 Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Helen Davenport, of Steuben county, New York, a daughter of Henry Davenport, and a representative of the same family as the man after whom Davenport, Iowa was named. Mrs. Smith died in December, 1889, and the two children born to her are also deceased. Carrie L., born in 1865, died in 1891 at the age of twenty-six years. Frederick P., born in 1875, died in 1896.
As a young man Mr. Smith responded nobly to the call of President Lincoln to defend the Union and through life it has been with him an abiding principle to discharge every duty to the best of his ability. He has had a varied experience and is a man of wide observation, his opinions being the result of contact with the world, which is the great teacher. Politically he has from the time of reaching manhood been a supporter of the republican party. He has never sought the honors of office, but has served for a number of years as justice of the peace. Socially he is connected with the Masonic Lodge at Nichols and the chapter at Owego, New York. He is a firm believer in the authority of the Bible and is identified with the Presbyterian church, as were the members of his family.
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