Lacrosse County WI Archives Biographies.....Smith, Orlando H. January 31, 1821 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Roxanne Munns rmunns@uwalumni.com April 13, 2007, 10:23 pm

Author: Unknown

ORLANDO H. SMITH, City Clerk, was born in Voluntown, Windham Co., Conn., Jan. 
31, 1821; was the second youngest of seven brothers. He attended a district 
school from the time he was 5 until he was 16 years of age, from three to four 
months each year, during the winter, and usually had to walk about one and a 
half miles to school. His father, John C. Smith, was a farmer, and also had a 
store, and with him he worked during the summers, part of the time on the farm 
and the remainder of the time in the store, until he was 22 years of age, when 
he learned the weaver's trade and worked in a cotton factory as head weaver 
for four or five years. He was married, Oct. 10, 1847, to Harriet T. Kinney. 
After this, he kept a factory store and worked in the factory occasionally 
until March, 1857. In 1856, he was elected a member of the Connecticut State 
Legislature from his native town. Came to La Crosse in May, 1857, but soon 
returned again to his home in Connecticut. In December of the same year, he 
again came to La Crosse, this time bringing his family with him. From 1858 to 
1861, he kept a boarding-house and hotel in La Crosse. In the spring of 1861, 
he was elected City Clerk, which office he retained until April, 1862. In 
November, 1861, he was elected as Clerk of the Circuit Court, and held that 
office until Jan. 1, 1864. In 1865, he was clerk in an auction store, and from 
January, 1866, to November, 1869, was head salesman and book-keeper for W. H. 
Leeman & Co., wholesale grocers. From this time until January, 1877, he was in 
the grocery business, part of the time with H. C. Heath and the remainder of 
the time alone. In April, 1874, he was elected Alderman of the Fourth Ward, 
and held that office until April, 1877, when he was elected as City Clerk, 
which office he still retains.

Additional Comments:
From History of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, 1881, p. 795.

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