Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Smith, William E. 1863 - 
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Author: Emma E. Forter (1917)

WILLIAM E. SMITH.

    William E. Smith, one of the progressive and well-known farmers and stockmen
of Balderson township, Marshall county, was born in Creston, Ogle county,
Illinois, on June 22, 1863, being the son of Thomson and Rebecca (Rowe) Smith.

    Thomson Smith was a native of London, Canada, where he was born on November
29, 1836, and was the son of Thomas Smith, who was born in Yorkshire, England.
Rebecca (Rowe) Smith was born on November 7, 1836, in Devonshire, England, being
the daughter of John H. Rowe and wife, who were also natives of that country.
Mr. and Mrs. Rowe received their education in the best English schools and
continued to live in that country for some years after their marriage, when they
decided to come to America. On their arrival in this country, they remained for
a time in the state of New York and later emigrated to Illinois, where they
established their home on a farm, where they lived and engaged in general
farming for many years. They were ever loyal to their adopted country, and took
much interest in the general social and physical development of the district in
which they lived, and where they were held in high regard.

    Thomson Smith received his education in the schools of Canada and there grew
to manhood, having spent his early life on a farm in that country. As a young
man he came to Illinois. His father became a well-known farmer in this state and
a successful breeder of Shorthorn cattle. While a resident of Ogle county,
Illinois, Thomson Smith was united in marriage on January 3, 1860, to Rebecca
Rowe. After their marriage they continued to reside in the state until 1876,
when they moved to Cedar county, Iowa. There he continued his work as a farmer
and a breeder of stock, in which he had met with much success in Illinois. The
family remained in Iowa for five years and in. 1881 they came to Kansas,
locating in section 21, Balderson township, Marshall county. Here he obtained a
fine farm, on which he erected a beautiful house and some good and substantial
barns and other outbuildings. He continued his work as. a farmer and breeder of
Shorthorn cattle until his death on May n, 1916. He was a well-known member of
the Masonic order, and a man who took the deepest interest in all local affairs
and did much for the development of the district in which he lived. William E.
Smith lives east of Oketo, on his farm and is one of the men who have had much
to do with the introduction of the Shorthorn cattle into Marshall county, and
has shipped many of these fine animals out of the state of Kansas.

    Thomson and Rebecca Smith were the parents of the following children: Ezra,
William E., Ella J., Walter J., Minnie and Nellie. Ezra is a successful farmer
in section 16, Balderson township; Ella J. is the wife of Clarence White and
they are residents of Marysville; Walter J. is a resident of Esbon, Kansas;
Minnie R. is at home and Nellie Potter is a resident of Balderson township,
where her husband was engaged as a successful farmer and stockman. He died in 1916.

    William E. Smith received his education in the public schools of Illinois,
Iowa and Kansas. He was but a lad when he came to Kansas and here he spent the
first few years of his life on the home farm. For five years after his marriage
he lived in section 21 Balderson township, Marshall county, and was there
engaged in general farming and stock raising until 1894, when he moved to his
present location.

    On December 19, 1888, William E. Smith was united in marriage to Effie M.
Delair, who was born on November 29, 1869, in Oketo township, Marshall county.
She was the daughter of Edmund and Dilena (King) Delair, the former born on
April 11, 1829, and died on July 13, 1893, and the latter was born in 1830 and
died on June 6, 1886. As a young man Edmund Delair enlisted in Company K,
Ninety-second Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry and served his country in
the Civil War in a most acceptable way. He saw much active service and
demonstrated his ability as a soldier of force and ability. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Delair were active in the moral and social life of the community in which they
lived and where they were held in the highest regard and esteem by all who knew
them. Edmund Delair was born in Canada and Mrs. Delair was a native of the state
of New York. They received their education in the schools of their respective
localities and later located in the state of Illinois, where they were married
and where they lived until 1868, when they came to Kansas. Here they established
their home on a farm in section 13 Oketo township, Marshall county, which they
later developed and improved. Mr. and Mrs. Delair were actively engaged in
general farming and stock raising until the time of their deaths. During their
residence in the county they were active in all the enterprises that would tend
to the better growth and development of the district. As a general farmer and
stockman, Mr. Delair was recognized as one of the successful ones of the
township. He took much interest in local affairs and became well known
throughout the county. Mr. and Mrs. Delair were the parents of the following
children: Oscar, a resident of Oketo; Ida Smith, a resident of Idaho where her
husband is a farmer; Dora Patterson and her husband are living in the state of
Washington; Etta Tatman and her husband are residents of Kansas, and Effie M. is
the wife of William E. Smith.

    To William and Effie Smith have been born the following children: Myrtle D.
Taylor, who lives one mile south and three miles east of Home City, where they
are living on a farm; Howard J. and Ellwood Earl are at home and Marvel M. died
on November 5, 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have always taken an active interest in
all the affairs of the township that would tend to the uplift of the community
in which they live, and where they are held in the highest regard and esteem.
They are the owners of one of the best farms in the township, located in section
16, Balderson township. The house, a most substantial structure, is located on a
hillside and presents a pleasing view from the road. The barn, thirty by forty
feet, with its sheds, one of which is nineteen by forty feet and the other
fourteen by forty feet, is among the substantial farm structures in the
township. Mr. Smith is one of the most successful general farmers and stockmen
in the community, and is particularly interested in the breeding and raising of
Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs.

    Politically, Mr. Smith is identified with the Republican party and has
always taken much interest in local affairs. After having served two terms as
trustee of his township, he was again elected against his wishes in November,
1916, for another term. He is a member of the Masonic order and he and his wife
are active members of the Christian church. In addition to his membership in the
Masonic order and the church, Mr. Smith is also a member of the Modern Woodmen
of America and of the Knights and Ladies of Security, in all of which he takes a
most active interest and in which he is one of the prominent workers.

    Mr. Smith has always taken an active interest in the moral and educational
development of the community and has long been one of the strongest advocates of
the better country school, believing that in the common schools of the township
and the county rests the future of the district. By his efforts in conjunction
with others in the community, the standard of the schools has been raised to
their present high standard of efficiency. He is president of the Farmers'
Co-operative Store at Oketo and assisted in the organization of Farmers Elevator
Company and is a member of the Fair Association. By his activity and interest in
all these undertakings, they have met with much success and are among the
permanent organizations of the county. Mr. Smith is recognized by the residents
of the county as one of the most progressive and influential men in the district.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions
by
Emma E. Forter

Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917)


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