My Genealogy Hound

DR. MARION LEE SMITH, a well known oculist of Sedalia, has his office at No. 111 Ohio Street. He has been very successful in his chosen work, and has performed many wonderful operations, even from a professional point of view. He is a great student, and devotes all his time and attention to study and practice. In 1891 he graduated with honors from the Chicago Ophthalmic College, and after traveling for a year located in this city, in 1892.

The Doctor’s grandfather, John Smith, a hero of the War of 1812, was born in Tennessee, but at an early day moved with his family to Illinois, first settling in Hancock County, and in the ‘30s moving to the vicinity of Troy, Davis County, Iowa. He built a mill on the Fox River and engaged in farming in that locality. Our subject’s father, John P., was also born in Tennessee, and learned the milling business in his early manhood. For some years he ran a mill and dealt in grain in Davis County, but in 1879 moved to Downing, Mo., where he also bought and sold grain extensively. He is now Mayor of the city, havmg been elected on the Democratic ticket. His wife, Sarah, was born in Pennsylvania, being a daughter of Jacob Kinney, also a native of that state, but who moved to Davis County, Iowa, with his family and engaged in cultivating a farm. His wife died in 1892, at the extreme age of ninety-two years. Mrs. Sarah Smith was called to her final rest in 1875, when in her forty-sixth year. Her eldest son, Jesse, is engaged in the harness business in Ft. Kearney, Neb., and another son, Hamilton C., graduated from a medical college and is now a ranchman near Billings, Mont. At one time he was a member of the Grain Exchange in St. Louis, and is now quite wealthy.

The birth of our subject occurred in Davis County, Iowa, in 1856, and in 1875 he graduated from the high school at Centerville. He learned the watchmaker’s trade, and, going to Elgin, obtained employment in the factory there, later being with the Illinois Watch Company at Springfield. He took up the study of medicine with Dr. Babcock and Dr. Hubbard, of Springfield, burning the midnight oil in the search for knowledge. After learning the fundamental principles of medical science he entered the Chicago Ophthalmic College with the intention of becoming a specialist, and that he has been successful in his endeavors goes without saying. Probably one secret of his success as an oculist and surgeon is the mechanical knowledge which he gained in his former occupation as a watchmaker.

In Centerville, Iowa, our subject was married, in May, 1884, to Miss Sadie Lane, who was born in Pennsylvania, and who became a resident of Iowa about 1865. The young couple have a pleasant home and have made many sincere friends since coming to this city. The Doctor is a Knight of Pythias, and in his political affiliations is a Democrat.