Samuel L. Smith

As printed in 1910

SAMUEL L. SMITH.

It is with pleasure that there is now placed before the readers of this work the life record of the honored gentleman whose name initiated this paragraph, for he is deemed eminently worthy of representation along with the best and most industrious citizens of Lafayette county, owing to the fact that he belongs to the energetic and enterprising class that has made this favored section of the Empire state of the West one of the most noted and richest in the Middle West. He has led a long, active and useful life, and although the twilight of his age is now upon him, he is still active and his brain clear as a result of his careful habits. He comes from one of the best old Southern families of the Old Dominion.

Samuel L. Smith, a Washington township farmer, first saw the light of day in Hampshire county. West Virginia, December 28, 1825. He is the son of Lewis and Mary (Emmett) Smith. The paternal grandfather, Timothy Smith, a native of Virginia, was the son of a native of England, this family having come to the United States in the colonial days. The father, Lewis Smith, was in the war of 1812, ranking as ensign. The subject's paternal grandfather was a Methodist preacher. Lewis Smith moved to Illinois, where his son, Carlton, lived, and there the father died in 1877; his wife also died there. They were the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters, the only ones living being Samuel L., of this review, and Carlton, mentioned above.

Samuel L. Smith grew to maturity at his native home and w'as educated in the neighboring schools. He came from Virginia to Missouri in 1855 and lived at Greenton, Lafayette county, one year, then bought land in Johnson county and lived there until the Civil war. In the fall of 1862 he proved his loyalty to his family traditions, sympathizing with the Confederacy, by enlisting for service under the noted Joe Shelby, and he saw considerable active service until the close of the struggle, taking part in the battle of Prairie Grove and others. During the last eight months before the close of the war he was a prisoner. He was at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, during the seven days' engagement there, and he always performed his duties as a soldier most faithfully according to his comrades.

After the war Mr. Smith and his family were compelled to leave their Johnson county farm, which had been devastated by Union soldiers. He bought one hundred and twenty acres in Davis township, Lafayette county, and lived there eighteen years, then in the early eighties he bought one hundred and twenty acres on the east side of Washington township and here he has since made his home, improving his place, as he did the one he owned in Davis township. He has erected excellent buildings here and has been rewarded by bounteous harvests. Considering the many obstacles he has had to overcome, Mr. Smith is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished.

Mr. Smith was married in November, 1854, in Virginia, to Lavina Mc- Cauley, daughter of John and Sarah McCauley. They came to Missouri in 1855 and took up farming. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel L. Smith, one dying in infancy, namely: Walter H., who is married and has three children, lives in Davis township on his father's old farm; Edward O. (deceased) was married and had a family of four children; John L., who lives with his father, is married and has one child; Oscar died in infancy; Mary S. (deceased) married Joseph Attebery, who is a farmer, lives in the state of Washington and has one child, Edna. Mrs. Attebery has a college education, having attended Central College two terms.

Mrs. Smith was called to her rest on September 17, 1893. She was a member of the Methodist church, of which Mr. Smith and his children are also members. Mr. Smith has always taken considerable interest in public affairs, but he has held no office in this county. He was justice of the peace in Johnson county for some time. In his younger days he was a surveyor and was an expert at this line of work, having been at one time department surveyor in Johnson county.

As printed in Young's history of Lafayette County, Missouri (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.