My Genealogy Hound

MARK SMITH. The career of the self-made man is finely illustrated in the history of Mr. Smith, who commenced the battle of life dependent upon his own resources and who through the difficulties and drawbacks common to most men, has achieved success. Upon coming to Clark County he in due time acquired a large amount of real estate and began erecting numbers of dwellings, so that he now has over thirty tenement houses besides a large mill building on Mill Creek, which is amply furnished with water power and used for manufacturing purposes. He has been an energetic, wide-awake man, keenly observant of what is going on around him and has contributed his full quota to the growth and development of his adopted county.

The early home of Mr. Smith was on the other side of the Atlantic in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, and he was born March 4, 1823, in the little town of Alloa. His father, John Smith, was a native of Yorkshire, England, which was likewise the native shire of his grandfather, Mark Smith. The latter obtained only a limited education, and when but a boy entered a woolen factory where he learned the trade of weaving and all the other details in connection therewith. Upon leaving his native shire he repaired to Alloa, Scotland, where he established a factory, of which he was manager a number of years. Finally he returned to England and there spent the closing years of his life. His wife bore the maiden name of Martha Conyer and she, too, died in England.

John Smith, the father of our subject, like his father before him, served an apprenticeship in a woolen mill in his native place and he also when this was completed went to Scotland and was employed in a factory; he, too, established a factory at Alloa. He carried on business a number of years when the factory was destroyed by fire, then, in 1855, John Smith emigrated to America and located in the city of Cleveland, this State. A short time later, however, he removed to Springfield and was employed as dyer in a woolen mill, remaining there until his decease, which occurred about 1878. His remains were laid to rest in Ferncliff Cemetery.

Mrs. Jane (Mason) Smith, the mother of our subject, was likewise a native of Alloa, Scotland, and the daughter of John and Ellen (Commery) Mason. Grandfather Mason and his wife were also of Scotch birth and ancestry. Mrs. Smith came to America with her husband and died in Springfield about 1886. The parental family consisted of seven children, five of whom lived to mature years, these being Mark, John M., Jane Ann, Martha Elizabeth and Horatio.

Mr. Smith, of whom we write, spent his early years in his native village and, like his father and grandfather, served an apprenticeship in a woolen factory, commencing when a youth of eighteen years and remaining in Scotland until 1849. In the spring of that year he emigrated to America, embarking at Greenock on the sailing vessel “Margaret,” March 15, and landing in New York City six weeks later. Thence he proceeded directly to Huron County, this State, and procured employment in a woolen factory as a spinner, remaining there four years. He decided then to investigate the Great Northwest, having in view the Territory of Minnesota. Thither he made his way by rail to Cincinnati and from there by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Winona, whose site was then marked by only one building, and that occupied by a missionary. Mr. Smith entered a tract of Government land seven miles northwest of Winona, and later with others made another claim eight miles from that place where he put up a board house. He had left his wife at St. Louis, but she soon joined him with a year’s provisions. They, however, only sojourned there a few months, then returned to the haunts of civilization, settling in Cleveland, Ohio, where Mr. Smith entered the employ of Alexander Patton, a Scotchman engaged in the manufacture of soap.

Our subject remained with Mr. Patton for a period of four years as an employe and was then admitted to partnership in the business, continuing there another four years. We next find him in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he remained one year. In 1861 he came to Springfield and establishing a soap factory, at once entered upon a successful business which he conducted a number of years and then turned over to his sons. Mr. Smith was married, in 1843, to Miss Isabella White, a native of his own shire in Scotland. She became the mother of seven children and died at her home in Springfield, October 9, 1886. There are now living of their family three sons and a daughter, viz: James, Mark, Mary and Horatio; all live in Springfield.

Mr. Smith has proved himself an able financier and possesses all the sturdy qualities of his substantial Scotch ancestry, of which he has reason to be proud. He is honest and upright in his dealings, has been industrious and frugal in his manner of living and is deservedly in possession of a competence which will fortify him against want in his old age. Politically, he is a supporter of the Republican party and in religious matters believes in the doctrines of the United Presbyterian Church.