Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Smith, Amos M 
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Author: Past & Present Will County, 1907

Amos M. Smith is an enterprising and progressive farmer and stock-raiser, 
owning and operating a well improved farm of one hundred and forty-five acres 
on section 16, Plainfield township, while for several years he was engaged in 
the dairy business, selling his products in Plainfield, but he has since 
disposed of that interest and now gives his entire time and attention to his 
farming and stock-raising pursuits. Mr. Smith was born in Plainfield township, 
three and a half miles from the village of Plainfield, in 1858, a son of 
George V. and Magdalena (Ream) Smith. The father was born in Pennsylvania, but 
removed with his parents to Greensburg, Ohio, while the year 1851 witnessed 
his arrival in Will county, at which time he located on an unimproved farm in 
Plainfield township, the place being occupied at the present time by his son, 
George B. Smith. The father was a wagon-maker by trade, following that pursuit 
in the east, but after coming to Illinois he never worked at his trade. He was 
a supporter of republican principles in his early life but later gave his 
political allegiance to the prohibition party, thus indicating his views on 
the temperance question. His wife died on the homestead farm in the spring of 
1889, when she had reached the age of seventy-one years, for her birth had 
occurred in 1818, in Ohio, where she was also reared and married. Seven 
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. George V. Smith ere their removal from Ohio 
to this state, while during their residence in Illinois four more children 
were added to the household. Six sons and one daughter still survive, while 
four of the number have passed away. The family record is as follows: Sarah is 
the wife of Isaac Henry, a resident of Plainfield township, Will county. John 
R. lives in a pleasant home at No. 113 Park avenue, Joliet. W. B. Smith makes 
his home in Aurora. Mrs. Mary Ferner died on the old homestead in the spring 
of 1885. Andrew died at Kankakee, Illinois, in 1890. Conrad E. is a resident 
of Plainfield. George B., who resides on the old homestead farm in Plainfield 
township, was born November 14, 1852, and wedded Miss Emma Bucks, a native of 
Illinois, by whom he has two living children, Victor and Paul, both at home, 
while Laura died in 1899, and Joy died in 1896, at the age of three years. 
Adam K. Smith is a resident of Belle Plaine, Iowa. Simon, the next member of 
the family, died when a little lad of seven or eight years. Amos M., whose 
name introduces this sketch is the next in order of birth. Levi died in Ohio. 
After losing his first wife Mr. Smith married a second time, subsequent to 
which he removed to Sedalia, Missouri, and his death there occurred in 1893, 
when he had reached the age of eighty years. Amos M. Smith was reared in Will 
county, where he acquired a good common-school education. On starting out in 
life on his own responsibility, he engaged in farming in Plainfield township 
for one year and in Lockport township for two years, after which he carried on 
the hardware and implement business at Manhattan for two years. During the 
following three years he followed farming in Plainfield township and in 
Lockport township for two years, and then again turned his attention to the 
hardware and implement business at Benson, Illinois, for two years. In 1893 he 
invested his money in his present farm of one hundred and forty-five acres, 
situated on section 16, Plainfield township, and he has continued its 
operation to the present time. In addition to raising the cereals best adapted 
to soil and climate he likewise raises stock. For six years he was engaged in 
the dairy business, disposing of his products in Plainfield, but he has 
abandoned that pursuit and now gives his attention strictly to his farming and 
stock-raising interests. In February, 1881, occurred the marriage of Mr. Smith 
and Miss Carrie B. Zinser, who was born in Tazewell county, Illinois, a 
daughter of Solomon Zinser, one of the early settlers of this state. Unto our 
subject and his wife have been born four children: Clayton T., who has a 
position with the Rock Island Railroad Company in Chicago; Olive L., who is 
the wife of John G. Anderson, a resident farmer of Kendall county, by whom she 
has a little daughter, Eileen, one year old; Mildred A., who is still with her 
parents; and Ralph, who at the age of seventeen years is attending school. Mr. 
Smith is a republican with strong prohibition tendencies. He is a member of 
the Grange and is identified with the Evangelical church. The Smith family is 
an old and honored one in Will county, having been founded here fifty-five 
years ago, and the sons, who now represent the agricultural interests of 
Plainfield township, fully sustain the reputation which was borne by their 
father.

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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