SMITH, John R., b. 1875: 1905 Bio, Rio Blanco County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/rioblanco/bios/smithjr.txt --------------------------------------- Donated August 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- John R. Smith Building his own fortunes by his unaided efforts from an early age, and while he was yet a youth providing a home for his brothers and sisters who, like himself, were orphaned by the death of both parents before they reached maturity, John R. Smith, of Rio Blanco county, has met life's responsibilities and calls to duty with a manly spirit and shown a degree of fraternal devotion that is worthy of all praise. And in the measure of his exhibition of that devotion he has won regard in return from the community around him, who have found in him the same consideration for his kind in a general way which has characterized him in the special cases of his own family, and the same attention to public that he has to private duties. Mr. Smith was born in Larimer county, Colorado, near Fort Collins, on November 15, 1875, and is the son of Henry R. and Frances L. (Hardin) Smith, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Missouri. They became residents of Colorado in 1860 and located near Fort Collins, where the father engaged in farming and freighting until his death in 1894. He was a Democrat in political affiliation, an Odd Fellow in fraternal life, and a man of deep and earnest interest in the welfare and progress of the section in which he lived. When the Civil war began he promptly answered the call of his country to her defense, and enlisted in the Union army as a member of a regiment of Colorado infantry, and he served with fidelity to the end of his term. The mother died in 1890. Seven of the nine children born in the family are living: John R., May (Mrs. Al. Ellison), Rebecca I., Effie M., Samuel A., Burnaham and Guy L. The parents belonged to the Christian church. Their son John R., who was the first born of their living children, was obliged to aid in the work on the paternal homestead from his boyhood, and had therefore opportunity for only a common-school education. When his mother died he was but fifteen and when his father died but nineteen years of age, and thus on the very threshold of his young manhood he found himself with a family much dependent on him for support and guidance. He assumed the work of caring for and rearing them with cheerfulness and carried it on with energy, so that their comfort was well provided for and their training for life's duties was not neglected. He leased a ranch, which he managed until 1897, then secured employment as a hand on ranches belonging to various persons in the neighborhood. This occupation he continued for only a few months, as he was eager to get a home of his own and devote his energies to its development and improvement. Accordingly he pre-empted a claim of one hundred and sixty acres on White river in 1898, the land lying eleven miles southeast of Meeker. He has about sixty acres under cultivation and gets good crops of the products usual in that region. He also raises cattle in numbers, and finds both lines of his ranching industry profitable. He takes an active part in politics as a Republican, and in fraternal life as a member of the order of Odd Fellows. In the improvement and progress of the community he is always earnestly interested and actively serviceable. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.