John T. Smith

As printed in 1887

JOHN T. SMITH, M. D. The gentleman whose name stands at the head of this sketch, came into Linn County in 1853, and is now residing in College Township on section 13. He is a well-known and prominent citizen, and for the space of thirty years has identified himself with the interests of this community. He is a native of Elkhart County, Ind., and was born May 5, 1835. His father, Isaac Smith, was a native of Ohio, and pursued the peaceful occupation of agriculture, lie was married at Athens, that State, to Miss Surah Thomas, a Virginia lady, born and reared in Tyler County. After their marriage and the birth of four children, they determined to seek a home further west, and. proceeding to Indiana, located upon a tract of land which the father improved and brought to a high state of cultivation. This tract embraced a half section, and upon it they remained until after the birth of eight more children, when they removed and emigrated to the Hawkeye State. This was in 1853, and before Linn County was extensively settled. Here they lived and labored, establishing for

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themselves and their children a comfortable home, and, at a ripe old age, passed away in peace, the mother in 1871, at the age of sixty-seven years, and the father in 1 880, at the age of seventy-nine.

The subject of this notice was educated in Mt. Vernon, and resided with his parents, lie completed his studies at the State University, at Ann Arbor, Mich., and afterward took a course of medical lectures, preparatory to becoming a physician. He also attended lectures at Rush Medical College, Chicago, and established his first practice in that city. At the outbreak of the Civil War, and after the call was made for 300,000 troops, he laid aside his personal plans and ambitions, and enlisted as a hospital steward, Sept. 20, 1861, in the oath Illinois infantry. The following April he was appointed to the post of Assistant Surgeon, under command of Gen. Sherman, filling this position for two years with great credit, and soon afterward became Army Surgeon with the rank of Major. At the expiration of his term of enlistment, the title of Major in the regular army was conferred upon him, and he was assigned a position in the hospital at Savannah, Ga., and remained there until the close of the war, receiving an honorable discharge Aug. 2, 1 8 ">. He participated in sixteen hardfought battles, the most memorable being the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, and later at Jackson, Miss., and Mission Ridge. Amid all those scenes of suffering and bloodshed he performed his painful duties valiantly, and remained firm amid scenes calculated to chill the bravest heart. He was Surgeon of the brigade that planted pontoon bridges almost under the feet of the enemy at Mission Ridge, where they crossed and captured the rebels. This was one of the most daring feats of the war; the Union troops were commanded by Gen. Giles A. Smith, and our subject stood by the side of this General when he was wounded by a gunshot, and at once removed the bullet from his back. May. Smith, through all these sixteen engagements, was neither wounded nor captured, although he experienced many narrow escapes.

At the close of the war, and after his discharge from the army, May. Smith came to Linn Township and took up a permanent residence upon the homestead where he now lives, and which lie bad owned previous to entering upon his military career. It embraces 120 acres, forty of which are valuable timber, and the balance highly improved and cultivated. Becoming deeply interested in agricultural pursuits, he abandoned the practice of medicine and surgery, attending strictly to the duties of the farm, and becoming highly successful in his undertakings. The tract which he owns was naturally very productive, and he has so.improved upon its first condition, that his grains and fruits are the finest in quality of any produced in that section. He is orderly and systematic in all his transactions, and the result is one of the most comfortable homesteads in the county, the above of ease and plenty.

May. Smith sought for his bride an Eastern lady, Miss Anna R. Field, who was born in Newport, N. H., Dec. 18, 1835. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been born one child, Ralph F., Aug. 18, 1871. They are members of the Universalist Church, and in politics he is an uncompromising Republican and a Prohibitionist.

As printed in Portrait and biographical album of Linn County, Iowa (1887). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.