Oliver Lines Smith

Regions: Oswego Co., NY; Walworth Co., WI

From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, Publ. 1912 - Page 931-933 OLIVER LINES SMITH. The life of Oliver Lines SMITH, of Walworth, has indeed been a busy, varied and successful one and the record is eminently worthy of perusal by the student who would learn the intrinsic lesson of individuality and its influence in winning material success and also in giving character and stability to a community. Mr. SMITH was born in Walworth township, this county, January 12, 1857, and is a son of James E. and Sarah M. (LAKE) SMITH. The father was born in Rishfield, Oswego county, New York, October 1, 1817. He was a son of John Isaac and Patty SMITH, the former born January 14, 1770, and the latter on March 23, 1778. John I. SMITH died on November 12, 1851, at Edmeston, New York, and his wife died there on September 5th of the same year, at the age of seventy-three years. James E. SMITH lived in New York for some time, moving to Michigan in 1835, and from there he went to Leavenworth, Crawford county, Indiana, thence back to New York in the spring of 1838, returning to Leavenworth, Indiana, in the fall of 1842, and in the spring of 1843 moved on to Walworth county, Wisconsin, but did not settle permanently here until 1845. On March 3, 1847, he married Sarah Maria LAKE, daughter of Elder Phipps W. LAKE, a pioneer minister of Walworth, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work. Mr. SMITH followed farming on his eighty-acre place in the east edge of Walworth township. Five children were born to James E. SMITH and wife, namely: Bradely Truman, who died when two years old; Albert Bradely died when eighteen months old; Rebecca L., married Charles H. COON, of Walworth, and she died here on October 17, 1892, at the age of thirty-eight years; Oliver Lines of this sketch; James E. Jr., of Walworth township, born May 4, 1862, married in 1888, Rozella DuVAL, daughter of John and Rozella (LaBREC) DuVAL; she was born in 1864 and was reared in Alden, Illinois. Her father was born in Quebec and her mother in Vermont, and they grew up and were married in the East, moving to Walworth county about 1878, locating on a farm in the southern part of Walworth township, and there the mother died in 1897 and the father in 1901. James E. SMITH bought land from the government, going to Milwaukee on foot to make the entry in the land office there, coming within nine miles of that city the first day. He was clerk of the Free-Will Baptist church at Big Foot, and was a very devout member of the same. His death occurred on February 22, 1890. His wife is still living, making her home with her son, James Edward, in Walworth township on land that was part of her father's estate. Oliver L. SMITH, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm, and he received his education in the Bigfoot Academy. He continued on the farm until he was twenty-one years old, and in 1882 went to Chicago, where he was in the employ of the American Express Company for two years, then went to California and there engaged in milling, returning to Chicago in 1886 and working again for the American Express Company. In 1884 he married Henrietta HUMASON, who was born and reared at Rochester, Minnesota. Her family had moved to California and the subject and wife followed them to that state. Oliver L. SMITH remained in Chicago until 1892, then went to Minneapolis, continuing with the American Express Company. In 1894 he went to Dodge Center, Minnesota, and again engaged in the milling business, remaining there until 1908, when he came to Walworth, Wisconsin. The death of Mrs. SMITH occurred in 1899, leaving three children: Clarence, born in Chicago, March 23, 1887, is now yardmaster for the Chicago Great Western Railroad Company at Hayfield, Minnesota; Eloise, also born in Chicago, was graduated from the Whitewater Normal school in 1910, and is teaching school at Alma, Wisconsin; Raymond, born at Dodge Center, December 2, 1896, is in Walworth with his father. Mr. SMITH was again married in Walworth on June 10, 1908, to Josephine HIGBEE, daughter of William S. HIGBEE, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. SMITH is a member of the Modern Woodmen, Royal Neighbors, Knights of Pythias, Mystic Workers and the Equitable Fraternal Union. Submitted by Carol

See Also: Phipps Waldo Lake