JOHN F. SMITH of the dry goods firm of Smith & Hamlin, Auburn, Illinois, is a native of Germany, and was born in 1842. Being of an adventurous turn of mind, he emigrated to America alone, in 1856. After spending a year in Chicago he came to Springfield, and has since been a resident of Sangamon county, save two years (1867 and 1868) spent as a bookkeeper in a bank at Carbondale, Illinois. In 1869, Mr. Smith located in Pawnee, Sangamon county, as a general merchant, and carried on business there until 1876, when failing health compelled him to sell out. During the first year at Pawnee his sales were $11,000, and in 1875 they aggregated $43,000. The rapid increase of $32,000 in six years, in a village eleven miles from a railroad, demonstrated the business qualifications of the man. After closing out, he settled nearly three years on a farm near Pawnee; when, having recuperated his health, at the solicitation of his friend, J. A. Abel, he re-entered the mercantile business in Auburn, in September, 1879, with a stock of general merchandise, embracing dry goods, boots and shoes, clothing, hats, caps and notions. Frank L. Hamlin bought Mr. Abel's interest in April, 1881. The firm carries a stock of $13,000 to $15,000, and has an annual trade of $40,000; the sales of 1881 being twenty-five per cent larger than those of 1880. Besides his commercial interests, Mr. Smith, in company with Mr. Abel, has been engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock, of which they ship about one hundred and twenty-five cars a year. In 1870, Mr. Smith married Mary E. Jarred, who was born in Indiana, in 1846, but reared in Sangamon county, Illinois. They have two children - Pearly, aged eleven years, and Lelia, eight years old. Mr. Smith was made a Mason in Pawnee, in 1869-70, and has taken the Royal Arch Degree; is also a member of I.O.O.F., Auburn Lodge. Mrs. Smith's father resides at Crow's Mill, Sangamon county, Illinois. Her mother died in 1869. Mr. Smith's parents both survive, and with four of their six children, reside in Germany. His only brother in this country lives in Northern Iowa.