E. H. Smith Biography


	This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
 	compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
	including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and 
	representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & 
	Co., Chicago, 1899. Pages 311-312

	Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. 

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E. H. SMITH. The subject of this sketch stands second to none among the 
enterprising and progressive farmers of Beotia township, Spink county, 
and he has that love for his calling without which there can be no 
success. Upon his father's farm he became thoroughly familiar with 
agricultural pursuits in boyhood and it was always his intention to 
devote his life to this vocation. He was born in Ohio township, Bureau 
county, Illinois, November 29, 1856, a son of J. Miles and Elizabeth 
Smith. His father was one of the brave men who fought so valiantly for 
the preservation of the Union during the dark days of the Rebellion 
and. now fills a soldier's grave, being killed at the battle of 
Missionary Ridge, while making a charge up Lookout Mountain. He had 
enlisted in Company B, Ninety-third Illinois Infantry. 

E. H. Smith, who was the second child of the family, carried on the 
home farm in connection with his brother until the spring of 1883, and 
was educated in the district schools of the neighborhood. He was 
married February 15, 1883, to Miss Isa C. Taylor, a native of Berlin 
township, Bureau county, Illinois, and a daughter of Mathew and 
Catherine (Smith) Taylor farming people, as were also her grandfathers, 
John Taylor and Smith, both of whom were of German descent. To our 
subject and his wife have been born five children, namely: Miles V.; 
Elmer H., deceasd; Claud C.; Helen E.; and Ernest G. 

Coming to Spink county, South Dakota, in March, 1 882, Mr. Smith 
homesteaded the southeast quarter of section 32, Beotia township, and 
then returned to Illinois, but in September he again came to this state 
and erected upon his place a small house, 14 x 16 feet, and a stable to 
accommodate his three teams. These improvements he made in order to 
comply with the law, but did not locate here until the spring of 1883, 
when he brought his family, including his mother, and began the 
operation of his farm. At that time Mellette, fifteen miles distant, 
was his nearest market; the country round about was all wild and 
unimproved; and only a few sod shanties dotted the prairie. The first 
school house in the neighborhood was built in the fall of 1883 on the 
northeast quarter of section 29, Beotia township. Mr. Smith has 
principally engaged in the raising of wheat and other small grain, and 
in 1890 had the misfortune to lose one hundred acres of wheat by hail. 
He raises some cattle and horses, and in 1890 became interested in the 
sheep business. He now owns four hundred and eighty acres of land, 
eighty acres of which is pasture land, while the remainder, together 
with a tract which he rents, makes five hundred acres which he has 
under cultivation. He has a complete set of good farm buildings, 
including a new house erected in 1899, consisting of three parts, each 
14 x 24 feet with eighteen foot posts. 

In politics, Mr. Smith is a stanch Republican, has served as a delegate 
to several county conventions, and has ever taken an active and 
commendable interest in public affairs. He gives his support to every 
worthy enterprise for the public good, and is justly regarded as one of 
the most useful and valued citizens of his community. In 1889 he was 
elected county commissioner of Spink county in the first district and 
most creditably filled that office for three years. He has also been a 
member of the school board and is now treasurer of Beotia township. 
Religiously he and his estimable wife hold membership in the Methodist 
Episcopal church at Conde, South Dakota.