USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Peterborough > History of the town of Peterborough, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire > Part 55
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JOHN SMITH.
the man who never lets a human being pass him un- heeded ; whose ever active mind and ready talent can draw forth alike the budding powers of childhood or those of ripened age ; who is ever ready to aid, counsel, or direct, with wisdom, purse, or hand his fellow-man ? Such a man was John Smith."
His sudden death spread a gloom over the town hardly ever felt before, and the words added to the rec- ord of his death in the church-book by Mr. Dunbar tes- tified to the universal esteem in which he was held : -
" Ast eheu quantum benevolentia, quantum integritatis e terris convolavit."
The question arises how such men as Mr. Smith ac- quired such funds of knowledge and wisdom in those times, when the means of cultivation were so limited, books so scarce, and periodicals and newspapers almost unknown. We can only partially account for the fact. He inherited more than a common share of talent, and in his early life of hardship, in which his physical powers were fully developed and strengthened, his constant as- sociation with men of a superior character for strength and purity tended to a constant elevation of his moral as well as his intellectual powers. His means of early education were exceedingly limited, but it was effective ; for such men only need to be started ; an ardent thirst for knowledge and a keen observation of men and things would open the way to any acquisition. Perhaps I should not omit to mention, as one of the elements of his success, his great moderation in eating, and an en- tire abstinence from all luxuries ; his sustenance was upon a plain, nourishing diet, which insured the greatest share of health. The books read were few, but they were read thoroughly, and the contents, with much re- flection and conversation, made his own. His associates were thinking men, men who had large, expanded views, and were able to grapple with almost any subject, with- out extraneous aid. But we never cease to wonder how such men as the subject of this notice could have arisen without more means of culture and improvement. Were it not that other instances of native greatness were often exhibited in this town, that a race almost came forth with shrewdness, knowledge, and wisdom unprecedented, we should have said that this was merely one of those ex- ceptions of individual excellence that spring up now and then, no one knows how. He settled on the Street Road near to and north of his father's residence. He m., Dec. 1, 1791, Margaret Steele, dau. Capt. David Steele. She d. at Franklin, Sept. 30, 1830, æ. 73 yrs., 8 mos.
Bufford's Lith. Boston,
Robert Smith
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ROBERT SMITH.
He met his death by a fall from a load of hay, Aug. 7, 1821, æ. 67 yrs., 3 mos.
Harriet, b. Nov. 3, 1792 ; d. May 17, 1818, æ. 25 yrs., 6 mos.
Louisa, b. May 9, 1795 ; m., Sept. 18, 1827, Joshua Fi- field, Franklin ; he d. at Alton, Ill., Nov. 27, 1840 ; ch., Mary Mansfield, the only child living, b. Feb. 8, 1835 ; m. George Kellenberger, who d. Jan. 4, 1866 ; two ch., Anna and Edith ; r. Alton, Ill.
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John, fr., b. April 16, 1797. He lived in town till 1822, when he went to Northfield, and associated himself with Thomas Baker and John Cavender, for the purpose of building a cotton factory. While ear- nestly laboring in this enterprise, he sickened and d., Oct. 8 of the same year, 1822, æ. 25 yrs. He was a young man of much promise.
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Jane, b. March 14, 1800 ; m., Jan. 26, 1823, John Cav- ender, a trader in Peterborough many years ; a manu- facturer of Franklin from 1822 to 1836, and then a merchant in St. Louis, Mo., one of the firm of Smith Brothers & Co. He d. at St. Louis, Jan. 5, 1863, æ. 69 yrs. She d. at St. Louis, Dec. 5, 1858, æ. 58 yrs., 8 mos. ; two ch., John S. and Robert. Robert, b. June 12, 1802.
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He spent his early years at home in labor on his father's farm, on which he worked steadily till he was nineteen years of age, only enjoying the winter district- schools, with a term of three months at Daniel M. Christie's school in the autumn of 1820, and three months at the New Ipswich academy, as all his advan- tages of education. In the spring of 1820, he went into the machine-shop of his Uncle Samuel to learn the trade of making machinery, where he remained till the death of his brother John in 1821, when he took his place in the Smithville Manufacturing Company, with John Cavender and Thomas Baker, in building a cotton- factory in Northfield, near the point where the Winni- piseogee and Pemigewasset unite.
He remained here, sedulously employed in the manu- facturing and mercantile interests of the company, till 1832, when he emigrated to the State of Illinois, pitch- ing his tent in the town of Alton, "near which was a traders' post of some note, called St. Louis." (How strange ! now a mighty city.) He rose to distinction in political life by his own ardent and unaided efforts, overcoming all the obstacles that his want of early discipline and training presented. He was chosen to
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ROBERT SMITHI.
the twenty-eighth Congress in the district in which he lived, for three terms, or six years, from 1843 to '49.
" His general course in the national councils has been guided by those democratic principles and doctrines upon which he was originally elected. He here sus- tained the administration of Mr. Polk in all its cardinal features of its policy, excepting as to appropriations for rivers and harbors. These he has always broadly and liberally advocated." *
He was appointed paymaster in the late civil war, in which office he did faithful service, till ill-health com- pelled him to resign. He was a man of very genial nat- ure, and of the strictest integrity. He possessed uu- commonly popular talents, and few men ever held such a power over the popular will. He m., Nov. 3, 1828, Sarah P. Bingham, of Lempster ; ch., (1) Robert Bing- ham, b. July 31, 1838 ; (2) Sarah Bingham, b. May 27, 1843. He d. at Alton, Ill., Dec. 21, 1867, æ. 65 yrs.
James, b. Oct. 28, 1804; m., May 15, 1832, Persis Garland, of Franklin ; c. After spending some five years in business in New York, he formed a copart- nership with his brother, William H. Smith, and their brother-in-law, John Cavender, under the 'firm of Smith Brothers & Co., and commenced business in St. Louis, May, 1833, which was successful under his untiring energy and cautious, prudent management, till the "big fire of 1849," when the old firm dissolved, showing a prosperous business, in spite of losses by the disastrous fire. In 1851, a new copartnership was formed, in which George Partridge was associated with James and William H. Smith, under the style of Partridge & Co., the Smiths only to render such service in the business as suited their inclinations. It is but justice to say that the continued prosperity of the new firm was quite as much due to the cautious, prudent counsel and management of James Smith as in the old company. The Smiths withdrew from this copartnership in 1863. James Smith, after an unremitting service of more than thirty years, retired to wisely consider how. he could best discharge the "trust of a beneficent Providence," in the disposition of his earnings and savings. If report be true, he has chosen the sensible plan of becoming his own executor, to which the Washington University and kindred institutions of the city of his adoption bear ample testimony as to the wisdom or folly of his example.
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* History Congress, Biographical and Political. Henry G. Wheeler. Harper & Brothers. 1848.
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WESTERN ENGRAVING CO OF ST LOUIS
Juvely James Smith
Bufford's Lith Boston
very truly Will Smith
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JOSEPH ADDISON SMITH.
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Jeremiah, b. Oct. 1, 1806 ; d. April 6, 1816, æ. 9 yrs., 6 mos.
William H., b. Dec. 26, 1808 ; m., Nov. 5, 1837, Lydia Pettengill, of Salisbury ; she d. at St. Louis, Feb. 10, 1841, æ. 29 yrs. He m., 2d w., Sept. 13, 1843, Ellen Smith, dau. Samuel and Sally G. Smith. Of their four ch. only one survives, William Eliot, b. Dec. 31, 1844 ; m. Alice Cole, of Alton, 1873. When Wm. H. Smith retired from business in St. Louis, in 1863, he took up his residence in Alton, and here bought a farm, erected a suite of buildings, and adapted the farm to the fruit culture.
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JAMES SMITH. He settled in Cavendish, Vt., in 1790. He was here highly respected, and held various offices of trust and honor. He was many years justice of the peace ; a Representative in the Legislature of Vermont for thirteen successive years, and much employed in town business. He was said to be second to none of his family in talents or intelligence. He m., Dec. 31, 1791, Sally Ames, b. May 6, 1769 ; she d. May 16, 1833, æ. 64 yrs. ; he d. Aug. 11, 1842, æ. 86 yrs., 6 mos.
Sally, b. Sept. 1, 1795; m. James Walker, Esq., of Peterborough.
James, b. Nov. 13, 1797 ; m. Betsey Brown, of Ply- mouth, Vt. He represented Cavendish in the Legis- lature ; afterwards re. to Schoolcraft, Mich., May, 1833, where he d. Feb. 4, 1842. She d. May 11, 1841. Three of his large family only survive, viz .: Betsey, Sarah and Marcia.
William, b. July 31, 1800 ; m., Oct. 6, 1828, Rhoda Bates, of Cavendish. She d. Aug. 8, 1844 ; m., 2d w., Aug. 20, 1845, Mrs. Isabel Page, dau. of John Proc- tor, b. July 4, 1823. Of his children, Rhoda, who m. Franklin Rice, of Boston, and Ellen and William sur- vive. He has represented Cavendish in the Legislat- ure of the State, and been much employed in munici- pal and probate business in the town. At one time he was extensively engaged in the woollen manufact- ure at Proctorsville, Vt., but sold out his interest in the same, and has now for many years devoted him- self to agriculture.
Joseph Addison, b. March 31, 1806 ; m., Oct. 8, 1835, Sarah M. Proctor, b. Jan. 16, 1819. He d. at Proc- torsville, Vt., Feb. 28, 1851. One ch. only survived of his family, John P.
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JOHN SMITH.
58 John, b. Aug. 31, 1812 ; m., Feb. 25, 1836, Nancy Wil- lard. He d. April 20, 1839, æ. 26 yrs., 7 mos. ; r. St. Joseph, Mich.
5- 37 JEREMIAH SMITH. Judge Smith is the representative man of the race and of the town. He was among the most eminent men that New Hampshire has ever pro- duced. If, as has been said in relation to an early period of New Hampshire history, " there were giants in those days," he was certainly among these giants. He was an eminently great and good man. All his efforts were exerted for the honor and benefit of his State ; and few men have accomplished so much as he did in ele- vating his profession, the law, then in a low condition, to a true and honorable basis - even to a high standard. His memory will be long cherished as one of the public benefactors of New Hampshire.
He commenced the practice of law in Peterborough, in 1787, where he remained ten years. During this time he represented the town in the Legislature in 1788, '89, '90; was a member of the convention that formed the present Constitution in 1791, '92. He took an active and important part in the deliberations of that body. His vote was cast for expunging that clause of the Constitution by which " no person can be capable of being elected a Senator or Representative who is not of the Protestant religion," an article which is still in the Constitution.
In 1790, he was chosen a Representative to the second Congress, and was continued for three successive terms. He here formed an acquaintance with all the great men of that period, and was upon terms of intimacy with that remarkable man, Fisher Ames, which continued through his life. In 1797, he removed to Exeter, and was that year appointed U. S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, and at the same time he resigned his office as member of Congress. In 1800, he was appointed Judge of Probate for the County of Rocking- ham, and held the office about two years. In February, 1801, he was appointed a Judge of the U. S. District Court, but on the repeal of the "Judiciary Law," in March, 1802, his office was abolished ; but in May, of the same year, he was appointed Chief-Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature in New Hampshire. He held this office till 1809, when he was chosen Governor of the State ; but failing of a reelection, he returned to the bar. Under a new judiciary act in 1813, Mr. Smith was reluctantly induced to accept the office of chief-
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JONATHAN SMITH.
justice, which office he held till 1816, when the judiciary act was rescinded by the Legislature, and he once more returned to the practice of law.
In 1820, at the age of sixty-one, he withdrew from active business, having acquired an ample fortune by the fruits of his industry and judicious economy. To those who wish to know more of this remarkable man, we would refer them to an excellent Life of Judge Smith, written by John H. Morison, D. D., and pub- lished in 1845. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Dartmouth, 1804, from Cambridge in 1807. He m., Ist w., March 8, 1797, Eliza Ross, of Prince George County, Md. She d. June 19, 1827, æ. 59 yrs. ; m., 2d w., Sept. 20, 1831, Elizabeth Hale, dau. of Hon. William Hale, of Dover. He d. Sept. 21, 1842, æ. 82 yrs., 9 mos.
Ariana, b. Dec. 28, 1797 ; unm. ; d. June 20, 1829, æ. 31 yrs., 6 mos.
William, b. Aug. 31, 1799 ; unm. ; d. at Centreville, Miss., March 29, 1830, æ. 30 yrs., 6 mos., where he had gone for his health. He was graduated at Harvard University in 1817. He studied law, and practised his profession in Portsmouth, the last two or three years of his life, till his health failed. He represented the town of Exeter in the General Court in 1821, '22, '23.
Jeremiah, b. Aug. 20, 1802 ; drowned Sept. 26, 1808, æ. 6 yrs.
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Jeremiah, b. July 14, 1837 ; m. Hannah Webster, of Dover. Was graduated at Harvard University, 1856 ; studied law, and was appointed, Oct. 16, 1867, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court in New Hampshire, which office he resigned in consequence of the failure of his health, January, 1874.
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JONATHAN SMITH remained on the old homestead, and spent his life there. The farm was deeded to him, May 5, 1791, for which he was to support the parents, and also to see that John Scott was taken care of in a comfortable manner, and pay within a year after his de- cease twenty pounds to Elizabeth Morison, and also the same sum to Hannah Barker. The sons, John, James, Jeremiah, and Samuel, were cut off in his will with one dollar each. He was a deacon in the church, long a leader of the choir. He was selectman six years, 1799, 1800, 'I, '2, '3, '4; representative to the General Court eight years, 182 1, '22, '23, '24, '25, '26, '27, '28.
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JONATHAN SMITH.
He was a man of a strong mind, which had been long maturing, and he felt very little of the withering effects of age, although he had nearly reached eighty years. His knowledge was not very general, though he was a great reader ; but on some subjects he was exceedingly well informed. His reading had taken a theological turn, and but few persons possessed his knowledge on these matters. He was a strong Unitarian, and was ready to give any man a reason for his faith. He was a man of kind affections and feelings, yet strong in his prejudices, and rather more ready to forgive an injury than to forget it. His life was a useful one, he having at various times held all the offices in the gift of the town ; but it was mostly spent in the retirement of his own home, and in the management of his own affairs. He was a modest man. Those who remember him at the centennial will recollect with how much diffidence he presided on that occasion. The responsibility of the important trust of presiding disturbed his sleep for many nights. He, nevertheless, performed all the du- ties of the occasion well when the time came, which added very much to the success of the celebration.
He was a good man, - good without ostentation and without pretension ; his life showed forth the man, for it was a living and preaching illustration of Jesus. He lived and died on the same spot on which he was born. He went down to his grave like a shock of corn fully ripe, with so pure and upright a character as falls to the lot of but few mortals here below. He m., August, 1792, Nancy Smith, dau. of John Smith. She d. May 13, 1847, æ. 74 yrs., 6 mos. He d. Aug. 29, 1842, æ. 79 yrs., 4 mos.
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Betsey, b. Feb. 3, 1795 ; m., Dec. 30, 1819, John Gordon ; re. to Montebello, Ill., 1831 ; she d. in Hamilton, III., Aug. 12, 1845, æ. 50 yrs.
Jonathan, b. Aug. 15, 1797 ; m. Hannah Payson.
Mary, b. May 17, 1799 ; m., Dec. 3, 1818, Timothy Fox ; re. to Denmark, Iowa, in 1836. He d. and she d. Only one of their large family survived.
66 William, b. July 8, 1801 ; m., Oct. 9, 1838, Elizabeth, dau. John Stearns, of Jaffrey; r. La Harpe, Ill., where he d., Oct. 25, 1873, æ. 72 yrs. ; four ch. sur- vive, viz., William H., Jonathan, Albert, Elizabeth.
t John, b. April 17, 1803 ; m. Susan Stearns.
Nancy, b. 1805 ; d. Aug. 23, 1808, æ. 3 yrs., 6 mos.
Charlotte, b. 1806 ; d. Sept. 9, 1808, æ. 2 yrs.
Nancy, b. Aug. 5, 1808 ; m., Sept. 21, 1840, Dr. John H. Foster, b. March 8, 1796, at Hillsboro. He received
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SAMUEL SMITH.
the degree of M. D. from the New Hampshire Medi- cal Institution, 1821, and practised his profession first at New London, then Ashby, and at Dublin from 1828 to 1833. He then re. to Chicago, and relin- quished his profession, and after that acquired an immense fortune. Three ch. living, (1) Clara, b. Jan. I, 1844; m. Perkins Bass, Esq., of Chicago; (2) Julia, b. Aug. 22, 1846; m. Rev. Mr. Porter, of Racine, Wis .; (3) Adele, b. Aug. 3.1, 1851 ; m. George Adams, Esq., of Chicago. Dr. Foster d. from an injury received in being thrown from his car- riage, May 17, 1874, æ. 78 yrs.
Charlotte, b. 1810 ; d. Aug. 10, 1825, æ. 15 yrs. Caroline, b. Nov. 13, 1812 ; m. James Reynolds. He d. at Hannibal, Mo., 1873; ch., Anna, b. March 24, 1853 ; d. in Hannibal, 1873, æ. 20 yrs. She d. at La Harpe, Ill., July, 1875, æ. 62 yrs.
Jeremiah, b. Sept .. 15, 1815 ; m. Sarah Oatman ; 2d w., -; lives in La Harpe, Ill.
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SAMUEL SMITH. His early opportunities for education were probably better than of most of the young men of his day. In addition to the common advantages at home, he enjoyed longer or shorter periods of schooling at the academies at Exeter and Andover, and thereby fitted himself to become an accomplished talker, a ready debater on almost any topic, and a man of vastly more than common intelligence. When we add to this his courteous manners and gentlemanly deportment, and his great knowledge of mankind, together with a physique of fine proportions, and commanding and pleasant mien, we have altogether a man that does honor to our common nature.
He was a man of a strong and highly cultivated intel- lect, with exceedingly active and energetic powers, of quick perception and ready judgment. He was particu- larly distinguished for his colloquial powers, which were remarkable, and his conversation was always rich and instructive, and his ideas were clothed in singularly accu- rate and appropriate language.
It is not too much to say that, in the height of his prosperity, he exerted over the community an elevat- ing and enlightening influence ; that he was by his char- acter and intelligence a public educator, and raised and sustained the tone of public sentiment in town. He was always particularly posted up in all the topics of the day, beside his extensive general reading. He delighted in politics, and had devoted much attention and study to it,
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SAMUEL SMITH.
never wishing to be known by any other title than that of a Federalist of the old school, with all the unmerited reproach attached to the name. Of course he was much involved in the bitter controversies that so much pre- vailed in the first organization of the Democratic and Federal parties in our country, and did strong and effec- tive service for his party. He was chosen to represent his district in Congress in 1813-15, but on account of the press of his private business, he resigned his seat, after attending the first session and a part of the second.
He possessed great business talents, and could accom- plish a great undertaking with singular despatch and success ; but he scorned little things, and all care and economy of these he entirely ignored. He was in his element with fifty workmen at his beck, and with a great job of a dam or wall or embankment ; and no man could manage them more pleasantly and kindly than he, and yet accomplish such an immense amount of work; and after all he was not an economical manager of these great enterprises ; the little things, so important in every undertaking, always more than counterbalanced the rapid progress of any work. He was persevering in the object which engaged his attention, but did not look to the end. He often seemed visionary, and many of his plans and projects came to an end half-completed. He was fair and honorable and upright in all his business transac- tions. Though he took great pride in making good bargains and profitable contracts, it was not so much through the love of gain, as exhibiting shrewdness, judg- ment, and talent. He was never very scrupulous if the bargain was not fulfilled to the letter, only so be it that he had made a good bargain. The consequence of all this was, that he never had things well done, however shrewdly projected.
He always had a nice sense of right. There are very few acts of his long business life on which you can lay your hand, and say that they were the result of any moral obliquity. He was kind, benevolent, and forbear- ing, in an eminent degree, with those who were dependent on him.
He was a man of uncommon equanimity of temper, and this followed him to the very last. He has been often heard to say that this equanimity of temper was the result of his own efforts ; that he began business with being fractious and irritable, but seeing the evils of it, and the difficulties and perplexities it occasioned, he schooled himself to this equable state of mind that followed him through all his life.
He had great faith in mankind ; he was never heard,
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SAMUEL SMITH.
with all his hard experience in life, to rail at our race. He had acquired a great knowledge of mankind, and did not lose his respect for them by an extensive inter- course.
He began business as a trader in Peterborough in 1788, when he was twenty-three years of age, and was some years located at what was called "Carter's Cor- ner," having there built a house and store, afterwards occupied by Oliver Carter. He built his mill in 1794, a building two hundred feet long, and two stories high, which was the wonder and admiration of the whole country. In the south end of this great structure he finished off a commodious dwelling into which he moved, Jan. I, 1795, where he continued to live till 1805, when he removed to his new house on the east side of the river. He carried on, in this building, for many years, the business of paper-making, and had also at the same time in operation a saw-mill, a clothier's shop, a trip- hammer shop, a wool-carding machine, and an oil-mill, in addition to his trading and farming. All this occurred before the cotton manufacture commenced. He then engaged in this business, and the paper-manufacture was given up, and his great building was converted to this purpose.
It is what now constitutes the Phoenix Factory. A part of this factory was burned, Dec. 18, 1828, and Mr. Smith, having a large interest in the same, and having permit- ted his insurance to run out, lost so much by this fire that he was obliged to close his business, and all his property in the village was divided into small por- tions and sold at auction. He never engaged in busi- ness after this, but devoted himself to hunting up files of the political papers of our early times, as preparatory to writing a political history of the early days of our government. But age crept on him too rapidly to admit of any such undertaking. All these valuable papers are now safely deposited in the Dartmouth College Library, and owned by the Northern Academy of Sciences.
He always took a deep interest in the municipal affairs of the town, and was a leading actor in the same. He was moderator for seventeen years, beginning in 1794 and ending in 1829. He may justly be considered the founder of the village, where not one single object exists to perpetuate his name.
He m. Sally Garfield, of Fitchburg, Mass., dau. of Elijah and Jane Nichols Garfield, Nov. 10, 1793, b. Oct. 21, 1771. She d. Sept. 1, 1856, æ. 85 yrs. He d. April 25, 1842, æ. 76 yrs.
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JEREMIAH SMITH.
74 Jeremiah, b. Nov. 23, 1794. He was fitted for college in early life, but his services were so necessary to his father's business that he could not be spared. He be- came a superior clerk, having specially improved his handwriting, so that few could equal his chirography. He retained his literary tastes all his life ; became an extensive reader, and a fine classical scholar. He re. to New York in 1825, and was for some years engaged in the commission business in the firms of Nesmith, Smith & Co., Smith, Wheeler & Fairbanks, and Smith & Wheeler. After relinquishing this business he be- came the chief clerk of the New York & New Haven Railroad, which office he held at the time of his death. He d. in New York, May 16, 1860, æ. 65 yrs., 5 mos., by a railroad accident ; a street-car ran over him, as he stepped from one car to another without being aware of its approach, which accident he survived only two days. He m., May 22, 1832, Emeline Van Nortwick, of New York City.
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