My Genealogy Hound

W. A. Smith has been a resident of Poinsett County, Ark., all his life, and his example of industry, and earnest and sincere endeavors to succeed in life, especially in the occupation of farming, are well worth imitation. He was born in 1860, and of his parents’ five children he is the second. In boyhood, he attended the district schools near his home, and finished his education in Harrisburg, under the tutelage of Prof. J. P. Leake. He was taught the rudiments of farm work by his father, who was a successful agriculturist, and after leaving school, he engaged in this business, and was married in Poinsett County, in 1884, to Miss Mary Etta Wright, a native of Greenfield Township, and a daughter of J. L. and Jane (Ishmael) Wright, who were early pioneers of Poinsett County. Mr. Smith first bought a forty acre timber tract, but now has some thirty-two acres under cultivation, on which are good buildings, fences and orchards. He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, while his wife belonged to the Christian Church. She died quite recently, having borne two children: Charles O. and an infant. Being a native of the county, Mr. Smith has naturally taken a deep interest in its welfare, and is an active and public-spirited citizen. His parents, William C. and Margaret (Ainsworth) Smith, were born in Poinsett County, and in 1853, the father began opening up a farm in Bolivar Township, and here his widow is residing at the present time. His death occurred on the 16th of November, 1876, having been an enterprising resident and an active member of the Democratic party all his life. William Smith, the paternal grandfather, was an early pioneer of this section in 1832, and was one of the prominent agriculturists of Bolivar Township. He was county treasurer for a number of years.