Benjamin Smith

As printed in 1883

BENJAMIN SMITH.

This gentleman is the oldest engineer on the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad, having run the first engine on that line. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, February 26,

1827. When he was sixteen years old he went into the machine shops of the Housatonic railroad in his native town, and commenced learning the trade of a machinist. Two years later, after firing for a short time on the same road, he took charge of an engine, which he ran at intervals for three years, then regularly, for six successive years. He then ran as engineer on the Rock Island railroad for two years, going thence to St. Louis, where he took charge of an engine on the Missouri Pacific till 1862. Going to Memphis, he ran on the Memphis and Charleston road nine months, for the government, after which he was transferred to Nashville, Tenn., and given charge of an engine of the hospital train, which he ran on various roads in the South till the war closed, visiting several battlefields, among which were Mission Kidge, and the battle between Nashville and Decatur. After the war he returned to Pacific City, Missouri, and took the engine he had formerly run, and has been in same employ ever since. Mr. Smith was married to Martha Tyman some nine years before the civil war, by whom he has had seven children. His home is in Pacific City, where he has lived for thirty years. He is a member of Pacific division. No. 83, B. of L. E., of which order he was a charter member. Besides this he is in the Locomotive Engineers' Mutual Life Lisurance Association, and is also a member of the 'Frisco L. E. H. Association.

Is a native of Canada, born in Quebec, May 10, 1845., He came to the United States in 1864, and accepted a position on the Chicago and Northwestern railroad, where he stayed three years, then took a train on the Union Pacific railroad, which he run until 1870, then resigned and took a train on the St. Louis and San Francisco railway, where he is at present running a passenger train. On the 8th day of November, 1876, he married Miss Florence Britton, a native of New York. They have one child, Clarence Osman Smith. Mr. Smith is a member of Ozark division, No. 30, Order of Railway Conductors.

As printed in History of Greene county, Missouri, ... including a history of its township, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri ... biographical sketches and portraits of prominent cit (1883). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.