Born in Canada
His children were:
Joseph Harvey - 1857-1897
Edgar A - 1853-1871
Willard M - 1855-1883
Letitica Ruth Dillon - 1859-1940
Ella M Mitchell - 1862 - ?
Arthur H - 1866-1949
Laura D Henderson - 1870-1954
Charles H 1873-1898
Alton Evening Telegraph
November 15, 1882
(He died 5 November, 1882)
James Harvey Smith
In every branch of active life, are to be found, at all times, men who stand above their compeers, and whose history serves to encourage the youth who aspire to similar avocations. In a country like ours, every man, no matter how slender his means, can by honest labor and unceasing activity, gain any position to which he may aspire. He has only to will it, and it will be brought within his grasp, and the men who acquire wealth, honor, position in society, solely by their own unwearied application and industry are more respected by their fellow men than those who owe their wealth, their position in life, rather to accidental causes than to any energy or industry of their own. Self-made men are and should be, the pride of a country like ours. It is a duty we owe to the youth of our country to place before them a record of the lives of those of our citizens, who, by their own energies, have acquired honorable positions from their fellowmen, in order that encouraged by their examples, they too, may become useful citizens, and faithful children of their country.
James Harvey Smith, the subject of this memoir, was born Nov 17, 1814, in Canada, near Kingston, and was son of Ira Smith who died in 1820, at the age of 36 years, leaving him fatherless at five years of age. Coming west in 1836, at the age of 19; he made his home in Ohio until the November of ‘37, when he came to Alton, Ill. He was employed in and about Alton, in various ways for several years. At the old Alton Penitentiary he held the position of guard for three years. During this time, he had a very narrow escape from death; being on duty, one night, he had just changed his position, when that part of the wall, where he had been standing, gave way, and was soon a mass of ruins on the place that our subject had removed from. In the spring of ‘44 he came out on the prairie near Moro and soon after engaged in farming, as a partner of Nimrod Dorsey, which partnership existed until the death of Mr Dorsey (in August ‘49). He was married January 31, 1850 to Elizabeth Smith, and soon after moved to his farm, just west of Moro, where he resided at the time of his death, Nov 5, 1882. In ‘64 he united with the Moro Presbyterian Church, and a fewyears later was ordained an elder, which office he had held with honor and respect since that time. Thus we have briefly sketched the life of one of the self-made men of the great West. There has passed from us one who had long been identified with our people. The world is the better for his having lived in it. As he was loved in life so was his death lamented. He has done his work well, and by his frugality and careful management has left to his large and stricken family a handsome competence; but the high and unsullied character he likewise bequeathed to those he loved, is a far more valuable heritage than his acres.
His children were:
Joseph Harvey - 1857-1897
Edgar A - 1853-1871
Willard M - 1855-1883
Letitica Ruth Dillon - 1859-1940
Ella M Mitchell - 1862 - ?
Arthur H - 1866-1949
Laura D Henderson - 1870-1954
Charles H 1873-1898
Alton Evening Telegraph
November 15, 1882
(He died 5 November, 1882)
James Harvey Smith
In every branch of active life, are to be found, at all times, men who stand above their compeers, and whose history serves to encourage the youth who aspire to similar avocations. In a country like ours, every man, no matter how slender his means, can by honest labor and unceasing activity, gain any position to which he may aspire. He has only to will it, and it will be brought within his grasp, and the men who acquire wealth, honor, position in society, solely by their own unwearied application and industry are more respected by their fellow men than those who owe their wealth, their position in life, rather to accidental causes than to any energy or industry of their own. Self-made men are and should be, the pride of a country like ours. It is a duty we owe to the youth of our country to place before them a record of the lives of those of our citizens, who, by their own energies, have acquired honorable positions from their fellowmen, in order that encouraged by their examples, they too, may become useful citizens, and faithful children of their country.
James Harvey Smith, the subject of this memoir, was born Nov 17, 1814, in Canada, near Kingston, and was son of Ira Smith who died in 1820, at the age of 36 years, leaving him fatherless at five years of age. Coming west in 1836, at the age of 19; he made his home in Ohio until the November of ‘37, when he came to Alton, Ill. He was employed in and about Alton, in various ways for several years. At the old Alton Penitentiary he held the position of guard for three years. During this time, he had a very narrow escape from death; being on duty, one night, he had just changed his position, when that part of the wall, where he had been standing, gave way, and was soon a mass of ruins on the place that our subject had removed from. In the spring of ‘44 he came out on the prairie near Moro and soon after engaged in farming, as a partner of Nimrod Dorsey, which partnership existed until the death of Mr Dorsey (in August ‘49). He was married January 31, 1850 to Elizabeth Smith, and soon after moved to his farm, just west of Moro, where he resided at the time of his death, Nov 5, 1882. In ‘64 he united with the Moro Presbyterian Church, and a fewyears later was ordained an elder, which office he had held with honor and respect since that time. Thus we have briefly sketched the life of one of the self-made men of the great West. There has passed from us one who had long been identified with our people. The world is the better for his having lived in it. As he was loved in life so was his death lamented. He has done his work well, and by his frugality and careful management has left to his large and stricken family a handsome competence; but the high and unsullied character he likewise bequeathed to those he loved, is a far more valuable heritage than his acres.
Born in Canada
His children were:
Joseph Harvey - 1857-1897
Edgar A - 1853-1871
Willard M - 1855-1883
Letitica Ruth Dillon - 1859-1940
Ella M Mitchell - 1862 - ?
Arthur H - 1866-1949
Laura D Henderson - 1870-1954
Charles H 1873-1898
Alton Evening Telegraph
November 15, 1882
(He died 5 November, 1882)
James Harvey Smith
In every branch of active life, are to be found, at all times, men who stand above their compeers, and whose history serves to encourage the youth who aspire to similar avocations. In a country like ours, every man, no matter how slender his means, can by honest labor and unceasing activity, gain any position to which he may aspire. He has only to will it, and it will be brought within his grasp, and the men who acquire wealth, honor, position in society, solely by their own unwearied application and industry are more respected by their fellow men than those who owe their wealth, their position in life, rather to accidental causes than to any energy or industry of their own. Self-made men are and should be, the pride of a country like ours. It is a duty we owe to the youth of our country to place before them a record of the lives of those of our citizens, who, by their own energies, have acquired honorable positions from their fellowmen, in order that encouraged by their examples, they too, may become useful citizens, and faithful children of their country.
James Harvey Smith, the subject of this memoir, was born Nov 17, 1814, in Canada, near Kingston, and was son of Ira Smith who died in 1820, at the age of 36 years, leaving him fatherless at five years of age. Coming west in 1836, at the age of 19; he made his home in Ohio until the November of ‘37, when he came to Alton, Ill. He was employed in and about Alton, in various ways for several years. At the old Alton Penitentiary he held the position of guard for three years. During this time, he had a very narrow escape from death; being on duty, one night, he had just changed his position, when that part of the wall, where he had been standing, gave way, and was soon a mass of ruins on the place that our subject had removed from. In the spring of ‘44 he came out on the prairie near Moro and soon after engaged in farming, as a partner of Nimrod Dorsey, which partnership existed until the death of Mr Dorsey (in August ‘49). He was married January 31, 1850 to Elizabeth Smith, and soon after moved to his farm, just west of Moro, where he resided at the time of his death, Nov 5, 1882. In ‘64 he united with the Moro Presbyterian Church, and a fewyears later was ordained an elder, which office he had held with honor and respect since that time. Thus we have briefly sketched the life of one of the self-made men of the great West. There has passed from us one who had long been identified with our people. The world is the better for his having lived in it. As he was loved in life so was his death lamented. He has done his work well, and by his frugality and careful management has left to his large and stricken family a handsome competence; but the high and unsullied character he likewise bequeathed to those he loved, is a far more valuable heritage than his acres.
His children were:
Joseph Harvey - 1857-1897
Edgar A - 1853-1871
Willard M - 1855-1883
Letitica Ruth Dillon - 1859-1940
Ella M Mitchell - 1862 - ?
Arthur H - 1866-1949
Laura D Henderson - 1870-1954
Charles H 1873-1898
Alton Evening Telegraph
November 15, 1882
(He died 5 November, 1882)
James Harvey Smith
In every branch of active life, are to be found, at all times, men who stand above their compeers, and whose history serves to encourage the youth who aspire to similar avocations. In a country like ours, every man, no matter how slender his means, can by honest labor and unceasing activity, gain any position to which he may aspire. He has only to will it, and it will be brought within his grasp, and the men who acquire wealth, honor, position in society, solely by their own unwearied application and industry are more respected by their fellow men than those who owe their wealth, their position in life, rather to accidental causes than to any energy or industry of their own. Self-made men are and should be, the pride of a country like ours. It is a duty we owe to the youth of our country to place before them a record of the lives of those of our citizens, who, by their own energies, have acquired honorable positions from their fellowmen, in order that encouraged by their examples, they too, may become useful citizens, and faithful children of their country.
James Harvey Smith, the subject of this memoir, was born Nov 17, 1814, in Canada, near Kingston, and was son of Ira Smith who died in 1820, at the age of 36 years, leaving him fatherless at five years of age. Coming west in 1836, at the age of 19; he made his home in Ohio until the November of ‘37, when he came to Alton, Ill. He was employed in and about Alton, in various ways for several years. At the old Alton Penitentiary he held the position of guard for three years. During this time, he had a very narrow escape from death; being on duty, one night, he had just changed his position, when that part of the wall, where he had been standing, gave way, and was soon a mass of ruins on the place that our subject had removed from. In the spring of ‘44 he came out on the prairie near Moro and soon after engaged in farming, as a partner of Nimrod Dorsey, which partnership existed until the death of Mr Dorsey (in August ‘49). He was married January 31, 1850 to Elizabeth Smith, and soon after moved to his farm, just west of Moro, where he resided at the time of his death, Nov 5, 1882. In ‘64 he united with the Moro Presbyterian Church, and a fewyears later was ordained an elder, which office he had held with honor and respect since that time. Thus we have briefly sketched the life of one of the self-made men of the great West. There has passed from us one who had long been identified with our people. The world is the better for his having lived in it. As he was loved in life so was his death lamented. He has done his work well, and by his frugality and careful management has left to his large and stricken family a handsome competence; but the high and unsullied character he likewise bequeathed to those he loved, is a far more valuable heritage than his acres.
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