SMITH, Fred Crego

SMITH, BROWNELL, LYLE

Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 9/8/2012 at 15:58:40

In a record of business enterprise and commercial development in Mitchell county, mention should be made of Fred Crego Smith, who was born June 6, 1876, in Osage, his father being James A. Smith, the well known lumber merchant and founder of the company whose lumber interests cover a wide territory in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota.

Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, Fred Crego Smith at the usual age became a public school pupil and passed through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school of Osage with the class of 1895. He after­ward entered Grinnell College at Grinnell, Iowa, and pursued the liberal arts course, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree upon his graduation in 1900. He then joined his father in the lumber business, beginning work in a humble capac­ity, gradually advancing step by step. In January, 1902, he and his brother, Leland A. Smith, purchased their father's lumberyard at Spirit Lake, Iowa, and con­ducted the business successively at that point until 1908, when Fred C. Smith returned to Osage and entered the general offices of his father, Mr. James A. Smith. He and his brother, Leland, still owned the Spirit Lake yard for a time but afterward sold that property to the corporation known as the James A. Smith Lumber Company when the business interests were organized under that form. Fred C. Smith was at that time made treasurer of the company in which position he still continues, and in addition he acts as auditor of part of the Iowa and Min­nesota yards. The business has been extended to cover a very wide field, there being many yards owned by the company at various points in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota.

On the 8th of April, 1902, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Eunice Brownell, of Spirit Lake, Iowa, who was born October 16, 1880, a daugh­ter of E. L. and Eunice (Francis) Brownell. Her father was a leading physician of northwestern Iowa for more than forty years but both he and his wife have now passed away. They were the parents of three children, of whom Mrs. Smith is the eldest. Her sister, Alice Lyle, died in 1907, and her sister, Ruth Brownell, now makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of two children: Dorothy, born August 15, 1903; and Lawrence Brownell, born May 27, 1907.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members and active workers of the Congregational church. Mr. Smith's political allegiance is given to the republican party, and fra­ternally he is a Mason, belonging to lodge, chapter and commandery. He was active in the Masonic work of Spirit Lake, Iowa, and has ever been a loyal exemplar of the teachings of the craft. He is also connected with the Knights of Pythias. He is now serving the community as a school director for a second term. Those who know him—and he has a wide acquaintance—esteem him highly as a man of genuine worth.

Source: History of Mitchell and Worth Counties, Iowa, Vol. II, 1918, pages 405 & 406.