Harvey H. Smith Biography


	This biography appears on pages 381-382 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				HARVEY H. SMITH.  

	Harvey E. Smith, a capitalist of Yankton, has resided in that 
city since 1870 and the measure of his success is seen in his many 
substantial investments, the supervision of which now engages his time. 
He was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, on the 22d of May, 1838, 
and is a representative of an old New England family that was 
established in Connecticut at an early period in the colonization of 
the new world. Later representatives of the name removed westward and 
Alandson B. Smith was born in the state of New York. Having arrived at 
years of maturity he wedded Matilda Bush, of Oxford, New York, and they 
became the parents of eight children, of whom Harvey H. Smith is the 
fourth in order of birth. For about ten years Alandson B. Smith was a 
resident of Yankton, South Dakota, and at his death, which occurred in 
1886, he left behind him many warm. friends. His widow afterward 
returned to the east and her last days were spent in Pennsylvania.  

	Harvey H. Smith devoted his early youth to the mastery of the 
branches of learning taught in the public schools of Ulster, 
Pennsylvania, and later he enjoyed the advantage of training in the 
Susquehanna Collegiate Institute at Towanda, Pennsylvania. He likewise 
attended a select school and all through his life he has added to his 
knowledge by reason of the fact that he possesses an observing eye and 
a retentive memory. Moreover, he has gained many valuable lessons from 
the school of experience. After his text-books were put aside he 
remained upon the farm for a time, actively assisting in the work of 
the fields, and later he engaged in the lumber business and in ship 
carpentering. Attracted by the growing opportunities of the west, he 
came to Yankton in 1867 and began rafting logs on the Missouri river 
from Nebraska to Yankton, spending one summer in that connection He 
next entered the employ of the Yankton Agency, of which he was 
assistant foreman, and he later spent one year as boss foreman. In 1870 
he came to Yankton and built the Smithsonian Hotel, which he conducted 
successfully for a number of years. He afterward operated a ferry boat 
for one season on the Missouri river and in all of these undertakings 
he won substantial success, wisely and carefully directing his 
interests so that gratifying results accrued. He saw the opportunities 
offered by conditions in the northwest and improved them and upon his 
investments he has realized handsome profits, showing that they have 
been judiciously made. In 1884 he retired from active business and has 
since devoted his time to the management of his private interests. He 
spends much of the year in Yankton, but the winters are passed in St. 
Petersburg, Florida, that he may enjoy the more genial climate of the 
south.  

	On the 8th of September, 1861, Mr. Smith was united in marriage 
to Miss Jane C. Ridall, a daughter of William and Sarah (Mitchell) 
Ridall, both of whom were natives of England. Mrs. Smith, however, was 
reared in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The three children of this 
marriage are: Martha, who is now the widow of Rollin E. Cutts and makes 
her home in Yankton; Dr. Frank Conger Smith; and Dewitt B. Smith, who 
is living in Yankton county. 

	When age conferred upon him the right of franchise Harvey H. 
Smith endorsed the principles of the republican party, which he 
continued to support for a number of years, but in his later life he 
has been a prohibitionist, for he is an earnest temperance man and 
regards the question of temperance as one of the paramount issues 
before the people of the country today. His life has been guided by 
earnest Christian belief and he has identified himself with those who 
are working for moral progress as a member of the Congregational 
church. He has served for many years as a church trustee and has also 
been one of the trustees of Yankton College since it was founded. For 
five years he served as Sunday school superintendent and never in that 
time was he absent a single Sunday, notwithstanding the fact that his 
home was a mile and a half distant. Another element in the life of the 
northwest has enjoyed his cooperation, for he was a first lieutenant of 
Company D at a time when that organization was raised as a protection 
against the Indians. He has lived to see notable changes here as the 
work of civilization and progress has been carried forward and none 
have been more active in furthering the cause of advancement than he. 
Many phases of his life are worthy of commendation. He has never given 
a mortgage on any property he has ever owned or never asked an endorser 
for any of his paper. His business methods are thoroughly reliable and 
he has established his success upon his careful management and thorough 
understanding of business conditions, which have enabled him to make 
judicious investments. In the cause of temperance he is found as a most 
enthusiastic worker and he has exerted a widely felt influence in that 
direction. Yankton College has profited much by his cooperation, as he 
has been one of its most liberal supporters and wise counselors. He is 
well known as a pioneer who can give an accurate and ready account of 
the early days; he is still better known as a prominent and influential 
citizen who keeps in touch with the trend of events of the modern days 
and cooperates heartily in all movements which are for the material, 
intellectual, political, social and moral progress of his adopted 
state.