J Dyer Smith Biography
From the 1889
J. Dyer Smith. Probably there is no more worthy or popular man in the town of Preston
than he with whose name we introduce this biographical outline. A man of decided views and opinions, he possesses great force of
character and amid the many changes of life, has preserved that equanimity of
deportment which had gained him not only the admiration, but the respect and
warm friendship of all who know him. He
is a Deacon and one of the pillars of the Congregational Chruch, and in his
social;, business and religious life has been enabled to present an example
worthy of imitation.
Mr. Smith is the owner
of a good property including besides his town residence, a farm of 120 Acres,
eighty acres lying on section 31, and forty Acres on section 5, Van Buren
Township, the farm buildings being on the former. The main facts in relation to
his family history are a follows: his father, Joshua Smith, a native o Vermont,
was the son of David Smith, one of the body guards of Gen. Washington during the
Revolutionary War. The old hero is
recorded as having related with pardonable pride many interesting event of those
stirring times, and also concerning the Father of our Country, who was never
ashamed to fall upon his knees and seek Divine guidance during his hours of
peril and anxiety. It is a
well-known fact that he shared the privations of his soldiers with cheerful
spirit, and David Smith frequently related how he ate roast potatoes from a
shingle in leiu of pewter or sliver.
The paternal great-grandfather of our subject was an Englishman by birth, and upon emigrating to America, settled in Connecticut, where it is probable he spent the remainder of his life, and occupied himself as a farmer. Grandfather David Smith was born in the colony of Connecticut, and married a French lady from Normandy. With the exception of this digression, this branch of the Smith family is purely Anglo-Saxon, and traces their ancestry back ot the time of William of Orange. Joshua Smith was born and reared in Vermont, as was also the lady who he married, Miss Hannah Emmons.
The parents of our
subject lived in Vermont until 1816, when they emigrated to Tioga County, N.Y. The father in the meantime, in his native State, was a member of the
militia, Holding the rank of First Sergeant. He had been bred to farm life, but after leaving the Green Mountain
State, engaged in lumbering and operated saw-mills along the Susquehanna River. At the same time he cleared a tract of land and carried on agriculture to
a considerable extent until he became interested in architecture and
bridge-building, which he prosecuted very successfully. He spent the remainder of his days in Tioga County, passing away at the
age of seventy-two years. Of his first marriage there were born two children, the
subject of this sketch [J. Dyer Smith] and a son, Orman, who died at the age of
eleven years. Of his second union
there were born three children, two of who lived to mature years, and are now
deceased.
Deacon Smith, our
subject, was born Sept 2, 1812 in Londonderry, VT and the scenes of his first
recollections lie among the Green Mountains of his native State. He was at an early age trained to habits of industry and economy. When a youth of seventeen years, he assumed the management of one of his
father's mills , and at the age of twenty, supported not only himself, but the
balance of the family, His father in the meantime having failed in business and
lost a large amount of property. His
education was somewhat limited, having been conducted in a log school-house
under the imperfect system of that day.
When in the
twenty-second year of his age, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Louisa
Atwater, and he thereafter carried on the saw-mill and the farm until removing
to Pennsylvania, where he engaged in lumbering about four year with excellent
results. Of this Union there Were
born five daughters, only two of whom are now living: Julia A. and Ellen J.:
both are married and reside in Dakota. In
the year 1859, our subject set out for Iowa, and took up his abode in Van Buren
Township on a tract of wild land. He
had then a capital of $7, and was
among strangers. He labored a
number of years amid difficulties and discouragements, but in due time industry,
honesty and perseverance met with their legitimate reward, and he once more
found himself on solid Ground. Two
years after leaving New York State, he returned in order to regain if possible a
portion of the property which had once belonged to him, but the attempt proved futile.
In Tioga County, N.Y.,
on the 20 of June, 1861, our subject was married a second time at Waverly, to
Miss Julia A. Spencer, and returned to Iowa that same fall with is family. Mrs. Smith joined hands with her husband in his efforts secure a home and
competence for the future, and Providence smiled upon their labors. Of this marriage there were born two children. The son, David married Miss Charlotte Wyckoff, and has one child, Maud M. The second child of Mr. and Mrs Smith, a daughter, died in infancy. In May, 1871, Mr. Smith and his excellent wife concluded to retire from
the active labors of farm life, and took up their residence at a snug home in
Preston, where they now reside.
Mr. Smith, politically,
is a staunch Republican, "dyed in the wool," having been identified
with he party since its organization. He had the honor of voting for "old Tippecanoe in 1840,
and also voted for his grandson, Benjamin Harrison in the election of 1888. He has filled his present office of Deacon in the Congregational Church
for a few months and is a man looked up to and respected by all who know him.
