Lewis County, West Virginia Biography of ELLIS L. SMITH This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 464 ELLIS L. SMITH. While he owns and lives on a good farm three miles east of Weston, Ellis L. Smith is most widely known over Lewis County for the good work he has done as a teacher and in school administration, a re- sponsibility he has carried the greater part of his active life. Mr. Smith was born on Stone Coal Creek in Lewis Coun- ty, December 6, 1876, son of Lee and Matilde (Hudson) Smith. His father was born in the same locality, Septem- ber 25, 1843. He had a private school education, and as a youth enlisted in the Union Army, performing the serv- ice of a brave and dutiful soldier. When the war was over he returned home, married, and then settled on the farm where he has lived ever since. He is a republican, and has been active in the Methodist Protestant Church. This old soldier and old time resident of Lewis County. had a family of eleven children: Clarence L.; Flavila F., wife of Bruce Shoulders; Margaret, widow of T. J. Bon- nell; Jacob M., a farmer in Lewis County; Roscoe C., a Lewis County farmer; Washington H., a member of the Weston police force; Ellis L.; Myrtle, wife of Wade Hard- man, of Weston; Hugh, who is a railroad man; Grace, wife of Scott Bulcher; and Esta, wife of Naaman Lawson. Ellis L. Smith was reared on his father's farm, and in addition to the public schools he attended a private normal and a state normal at Fairmont. Mr. Smith put in twenty-three years teaching in different schools of the county. For four years he was county superintendent of schools, and during that time did much to elevate and im- prove the standards of school work throughout the coun- ty. He is now serving his second year as principal of the Shady Brook School at Weston. Mr. Smith's farm comprises sixty-eight and one-half acres, and it furnishes him occupation for his vacation periods and also a delight- ful home for his family. On March 14, 1900, Mr. Smith married Maude Bush. They have one daughter, Irene, born May 19, 1906, now a sophomore in the Weston High School. The family are members of the Methodist Protestant Church. Mr. Smith is a past noble grand of Golden Lodge No. 139, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, he and his wife are members of the Rebekahs, and he is affiliated with Weston Lodge No. 43, Knights of Pythias. Politically he is a republican.