Macoupin County
ILGenWeb

Biography - NATHAN R. SMITH

Nathan R. Smith, one of the successful farmers and stock raisers of Dorchester township, Macoupin County, the owner of a fine farm of 153 acres in section 25 and 26, is also one of the prominent and influential men of his township. He was born December 5, 1838, near Carrollton, Greene County, Illinois, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Chatham) Smith.

This branch of the great Smith family is of Welsh extraction. The great-grandfather of our subject served in the Revolutionary War and his grandfather, Nathan Smith, served in the War of 1812. The latter had five children: Thomas, Joseph, Mrs. Elizabeth Weeks; Mrs. Miranda Newberry and Mrs. Lucy Woodruff, all of whom became residents of Illinois.

Thomas Smith, father of Nathan R. Smith, was born August 9, 1813, in North Carolina, near Raleigh, where he resided until 1834, when he removed to Greene County, Illinois. There he married and later removed to Madison County and still later to Macoupin County, dying on his farm south of Staunton in 1852. In politics he was a Whig. Both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Church. The latter, who was a native of Virginia, accompanied her parents first to Kentucky and later to Illinois. She became the devoted and beloved mother of six children: Nathan R., of this sketch, who is the oldest; Mrs. Frances Snell, of Staunton; Jasper, who lives with our subject; Mrs. Ellen Sparks, who lives near Edwardsville, Illinois; Joseph, superintendent of a coal mine at Staunton; and Mrs. Margaret Grant, of Edwardsville.

Nathan R. Smith was an infant when his parents moved from Greene to Madison County and was four years old when they came to Macoupin County, which has been his home ever since, with the exception of three years spent in Madison County. He has always followed a farming life and his fine farm of 153 acres testifies to his ability. He located on it in 1866 and has made stock raising a feature, giving attention only to the best grades of cattle and hogs. His improvements are substantial and a lately erected fine dwelling and commodious barn add much to the air of comfort and the prosperity of the place. He has a fine orchard of 50 trees, set out by himself, which are in good bearing at the present time.

In 1858 Mr. Smith married Servilla Walker, who was born in Dorchester township, Macoupin County, Illinois, June 29, 1840, a daughter of Aaron and Nancy Walker, natives of Indiana and Illinois, respectively, who were pioneers in this section. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had three children born to them, viz: Charles, a resident of Mitchell, Illinois, who has four children, — Charles, Donna, Maggie and an infant; Thomas, also a resident of Mitchell, who has three children; and James, who is also a resident of Mitchell. Mrs. Smith died in 1874 and in the following year Mr. Smith married Hannah Cornelius, who was born in Dorchester township, Macoupin County, Illinois, and they had three children: Nathan, of Mitchell; Mrs. Dolly Sawyer, of Staunton, and Cornelius, who lives at home. The mother of this family, born February 14, 1853, died April 21, 1897. In 1900 Mr. Smith married Mrs. Julia Simmons, daughter of Jacob Perrine.

For the past 30 years Mr. Smith has been a school official, for 16 years was highway commissioner, has been four times elected township clerk and has been supervisor for seven years. In all his public offices he has been honest, careful and economical in the interests of the township. Fraternally he is a Master Mason in Lodge No. 177 and a Modern Woodman of America in Lodge No. 572, both of Staunton.


Extracted 2018 May 08 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, pages 281-282.


Design by Templates in Time
This page was last updated 07/01/2022