The following is a biographical sketch of Francis Smith composed by Ed Smith for the 2002 Smith Reunion:

A middle son of Nathan and Elisheba, Francis Smith became a weaver like his father. I’m sure that Nathan probably taught Francis the art of weaving. Francis was only 17 years old when his father died. We haven’t located him on the 1820 census in Vermont and we feel that he was put out to another family in the area.

In 1822 he married Nancy Hartwell in Newark. They wasted no time starting their family. It grew to include 2 fine sons and 3 beautiful daughters, all born in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. They lived on a farm in the Lyndon area from 1822 until 1833 when the farm was sold. We’ve heard that Francis signed a note for a friend using his homeplace as collateral. When the note came due, the friend defaulted and Francis was forced to sell their home to make good on the note.

In 1837, shortly after their youngest child was born, the family packed up and moved west to Centerville, Indiana where his younger brother, Nathan, was already established and living. The story we’ve been told says that Francis, Nancy and their children headed west in a cart being pulled by the family cow. The cow supposedly died in Ohio; Francis and his younger son, Philip, went on to Centerville to get help from family there, while Nancy, the oldest son, Silas, and the three girls waited with friends.

Once settled in Indiana, the Francis Smith family prospered in the Centerville area. For a short time around 1850, we’re told that they moved to Milton, a town south of Centerville where they were involved in a weaving and carding mill. Remember that Francis followed in his father’s trade of weaving. Francis and Nancy both died in Centerville and are buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery there.

Silas H., the first born child to Francis and Nancy, was born on his parent’s first wedding anniversary. The “H” has become a mystery in recent years, whether it was for “Hartwell” or for “Harvey”, as family in Arkansas has been told. He married Sarah Kirkman and raised a family of 12 children, including 7 boys to help work on the farm. They lived in Indiana until the mid 1870’s. It was then most of the family moved on to Missouri and Arkansas. Silas and Sarah’s children Charles Francis, Elexia and Laura, who had already married, remained in Indiana.

Silas, Sarah and several children eventually settled in Hickory Plains, on the central prairies of Arkansas. A number of the Smith family members are buried at Hickory Plains and several still live in the surrounding area today. At this point, it is interesting to note that Octavia Smith Beall, in her accounts of the family said that Silas was shiftless. He did move around quite a bit, possibly searching for better farmland after hearing tales of greener pastures elsewhere. Maybe he had “happy feet” like so many others in the family…. always in search of a better life in the great frontiers of the west.

Lavina, the second born Married William Henry Wait. They settled in western Indiana and raised a large family there. Their children continued the Smith movement to the west Moving in to Kansas and the Pacific Northwest.

Philip Hartwell Smith seemed to follow more in the footsteps of his Uncle Nathan. He apprenticed to a newspaper in Centerville for a short time. We’ve heard that he also ran mule teams from Cincinnati to Centerville and became quite successful. Also, like his Uncle Nathan, Philip served in the Indiana State Legislature.

Philip bought a large tract of government land in Perry Co., IN, which is today known as Smith Valley. Before leaving Centerville for southern Indiana, he bought a home for his parents on School Street in Centerville. This house remained in the Smith family until the 1970s and is still standing today.

Once in Perry Co., Philip was quite successful raising cattle and grain feeds. In 1859, he married Eleanor Connor, whose mother was a Lincoln. She was a cousin to Abraham Lincoln, whose home place was nearby. Some of Philip and Eleanor’s children remained in Indiana, while some moved on south to Arkansas, like their Uncle Silas’ family.

Francis and Nancy’s fourth child, Elexia, never married. She died the age of 21, supposedly of tuberculosis. She must have been quite loved by her brothers and sisters, as three of them named one of their children after her.

The fifth child was Mary Loanda, who married Abraham Lynch. It was with “Lo” that Francis and Nancy lived with until they died. Widowed at an early age Mary Loanda had two children, one of which died in infancy. She made a successful life as a milliner in Centerville, where her descendants still live today.

There is a letter from Albert Abel Smith and his father William, written to Francis, dated April 1872. A.A. was concerned about having not heard from them in quite some time. It mentions that Uncle John and his stepmother had died. By the time the letter arrived in Indiana, Francis had also passed away. We here today can be grateful for that letter and for the efforts of those gone before us, who worked to preserve parts of our past. We are especially thankful for the efforts of Octavia Smith Beall and Lela Joyce “Tootsie” Smith Bell Gustavus for their gathering of information, which led in part, to making this day possible.”

PHILLIP Smith was born in Caledonia Co., Vt., October 21, 1827, and is the third of five children of Francis and Nancy (Hartwell) Smith, both of whom were of English extraction. In 1837 the parents moved West to Wayne Co., Ind. Philip remained at home with his parents until the age of twenty-nine, at which time he settled on land bought two years before under the Graduation Act of Congress. Since that time he has been a resident of this Co., . In February, 1859, he married Mary E. Connor and by her has seven children, Ernest, Edward C., Elexia, Gertrude, Horace G. Mary and Owen. Edward and Elexia are dead. Our subject in youth served an apprenticeship at the printer’s trade. Since coming here he has followed farming, and now owns 600 acres of land. He was formerly a Republican but is now a Democrat, and has been the nominee of the last named party in this Co., for representative to the State Legislature twice. In 1848 he was associated with Rawson Vaile, of Kokomo, in the publication of the Free Territory Sentinel at Centerville, Wayne Co., Ind., which sheet assisted in the election of George W. Julian, the first anti-slavery member of congress from Indiana.

“History of Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana – Anderson Township” by Goodspeed Bros. & Co., – published in 1885

—–Copied from Ed Smith’s Smith Family Page:
“Letter from Philip Hartwell Smith to Wm. H. English
Near Bristow Aug 5th ’88