My Genealogy Hound

HENRY M. SMITH, a carpenter and builder, now practically retired from active participation in business, was born in the town of Whately, Franklin County, July 14, 1831, son of Henry and Almira (Holmes) Smith. Henry Smith, also a native of Whately, born in 1800, one of the seven children of Rufus and Anna (Munson) Smith, was a successful farmer in Whately. In 1820 he was married to Almira Holmes, a native of Williamsburg; and the union was blessed by the advent of five sons and one daughter, all of whom grew to maturity and married. Besides the subject of this sketch the only survivor is L. J. Smith, of Saratoga, N.Y. The mother died in 1841, when forty-three years old. The father was again married, but had no children by his second union, and died in 1846. He was a man of great personal merit, was highly respected for his integrity, and was a consistent member of the Universalist church.

Henry M. Smith left home at the age of sixteen years, and came to Northampton, where he learned his trade of H. I. Clapp. He worked for Mr. Clapp and others until 1861. Afterward he was employed by the government, boring and straightening guns in the Springfield Armory one year, and for two years in Norwich, Conn. In 1865 he became a partner in the firm of Currier Brothers & Smith, who for seven years carried on a large business in contracting and building. The firm was then changed to Smith & Stevens, under which name it carried on business for six years, when Mr. Smith became the sole proprietor. He subsequently formed with Mr. Livermore a copartnership that lasted nine years, during which the firm became the leading contractors and builders in this section of Hampshire County. Many of the finest residences and, business blocks of the city were built by them. The Northampton Savings Bank building is their work, and so are the two dormitories, the observatory, the scientific building, and the art gallery of Smith College. In 1890 Mr. Livermore sold out his share of the business, and one year later Mr. Smith disposed of the whole to Avon C. Matthews.

On Christmas Day in the year 1854 Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Edna Hill, a native of Fair Haven, Conn., born in 1833. She was an infant when her father, Joseph Hill, a sea captain, died of consumption, at the early age of thirty -five years. Six years later Mrs. Hill, whose maiden name was Emily Thompson, passed away, also the prey of that fatal disease. Mrs. Smith, the only child of their union, has not inherited the malady, as her fresh and youthful countenance amply testifies. Carrie E., the only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, married George Buffington, of Springfield, a postal clerk in the railway mail service between Springfield and Newport; and they have one child, Lucy, now thirteen years old. Mr. Smith’s house at 20 Monroe Street, which he built a quarter of a century since, is a very comfortable and attractive residence. In social circles, as in business life, he is held in high esteem. He is a loyal member of the Republican party, and he belongs to the Legion of Honor.