James Smith

As printed in 1905

JAMES SMITH, once sheriff of Hamilton county, lived for a great portion of his life in St. Clair township. He was born December 22, 1763, in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and emigrated to the West in the year 1792, in conjunction with General James Findlay, with whom he formed a partnership after his arrival, which lasted more than ten years, under the firm name of Smith & Findlay. Their store was near the foot of Broadway, on Front street. A short time after his arrival he was appointed sheriff of the county, and on the formation of the state of Ohio, he was elected to that office by the people, being the first one thus honored. So long did he hold the shrievalty that he was commonly known as “Sheriff Smith.” During a portion of this time he was collector of the revenue of the government of the United States for the Northwestern Territory and of the taxes for the county. Few men in the Northwest had more influence in the affairs of the community than he, and none; exercised it more wisely. He acted for a time as the private secretary of General, St. Clair, who was governor of the territory, and enjoyed his confidence and esteem. He was captain of the first light infantry company raised in Cincinnati, and when the second war with Great Britain broke out, went to the front as paymaster of the First Regiment, third detachment of the Ohio Militia, and was in Fort Meigs when it was besieged by the British and Indians during that war. About the year 1805 he came to Butler county, settling on the. place in section 21, St. Clair township, at the mouth of Four Mile creek. Here he remained until his death, which occurred in 1834. He was a man of much capacity, benevolence, and public spirit, and gave his children the advantage of good education. His widow and they (except two of the younger ones, who died in infancy) survived him. The late Charles K. and John C. Smith, both public men of prominence, were his sons, and James Smith, who married a sister of Almon Davis, of this county. They are now all dead.

As printed in Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio (1905). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.