SMITH, JAMES D.
, born Dec. 5, 1805, in Harrison county, Kentucky, was married at Cynthiana, in that county, in 1829, to Ruth Ann Brown. They had one child in Kentucky, and Mr. Smith visited Missouri and Illinois in 1832. He purchased land in Sangamon county, and moved with his father-in-law, Colonel William Brown, arriving in the fall of 1833 at Island Grove, where nine children were born, three of whom died in infancy. Of their children--WILLIAM B., born Dec. 6, 1832, in Harrison county, Kentucky, brought up in Sangamon county, was married near Burlington, Vermont, Oct. 13, 1873, to Julia B. Kinney, who was born near Burlington in 1845. They live two miles southwest of Berlin, Illinois.
JOHN P., born July 25, 1835, in Sangamon county, was married near Lexington, Kentucky, April 28, 1864, to Anna P. O'Bannon. They have six children. HATTIE B., the fifth child, died Oct. 12, 1873. RUTH W., O'BANNON, ELIZA, JAMES D. and ANNIE P. live with their parents four miles west of Berlin, Sangamon county, Illinois, within one mile of where Mr. Smith was born.
JAMES D., Jun., born Dec. 20, 1837, in Sangamon county, was married at Jacksonville, Illinois, Sept. 29, 1864, to Elizabeth B. Brown, who was born April 2, 1842, in Boonville, Missouri. They have four living children, ELISHA B., JAMES D., MARY B., and HALLIE, and live at the homestead, three wiles west of Berlin, Illinois.
HATTIE B., born July 27, 1844, in Sangamon county, was married May 27, 1865, to Samuel S. Deweese. They have two children, ELIZA S. and JAMES SMITH, and live one mile north of Alexander, Morgan county, Illinois.
MARTHA D., born March 26, 1847, in Sangamon county, was married Feb. 20, 1872, to George Prewitt, have one child, HALLIE, and live in Georgetown, Kentucky.
RUTH ANN, born Jan. 25, 1850, in Sangamon county,, was married Sept. 24, 1874, to James G. Kelly. They have one child, CONWAY, and live in Georgetown, Kentucky.
LLOYD B., born Sept. 24, 1852, in Sangamon county, was married at Alexander, Morgon county, Illinois, to Lulu B. Alexander, daughter of John T. Alexander, Esq.
"On the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 7, 1871, James D. Smith, an old and honored resident of Island Grove, Sangamon county, Illinois, was thrown from his buggy and killed whilst returning alone to his home from the town of Berlin. On the afternoon of the Thursday following, the large concourse of people, from town and country for miles around, which gathered at his grave, spoke impressively of the high esteem in which he was held by all who kew him. In 1833, in company with his father-in-law, Col. William Brown, he emigrated to Illinois and made his home on the farm from whence he was borne to the grave. Shunning public life, though often urged to accept positions of trust and honor by his friends, he but once yielded his personal feelings to their solicitations, and was elected and served as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1862. During the whole of his life in Illinois, he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and with his brother-in-law, Captain James N. Brown, who, just three years in advance of him, went into the better land, was the founder and most liberal supporter of Island Grove station, the first rural station established in Illinois Conference. An active, earnest, humble christian, he was peculiarly free from sectarian prejudice, and although warmly attached to the church of his choice, regarded with fraternal feeling every follower of his Master. Eminently domestic and social in his nature, and urbane in manner, the loved and honored companion of childhood and youth, as well as of those of mature years, his time outside the requirements of large farming and stock operations, was devoted to his family, his kindred and his neighbors, in whose welfare he ever felt the deepest interest. As illustrative of his character, it might here be stated that early in his life at Island Grove he was commissioned Justice of the Peace, and during the whole time he held that office he had but one suit brought in his court to come to trial, having in every other case, by his personal influence with the parties, and efforts in the true interests of peace, affected an amicable settlement of differences. Decided in his convictions, and uncompromising as to the right, yet the intercourse with his fellow men was marked by the exercise of judgment so unwarped by selfishness, and was softened by such abounding charity, that he lived without an enemy. With him benevolence was an ever present sentiment, falling like the gentle dew into the every-day acts of life, manifesting itself alike in the sacred precincts of his family, in his dealings with the many in his employ, and in an open hand to the poor, the needy, the sick, and the stranger. Of him it may be truly said, "He was a good man," one whom the church, the state and society could illy afford to lose. Living, he was the embodiment of every domestic virtue; dying, he has left his stricken family a treasure more valuable than his ample fortune--the priceless heritage of a well spent life."
His widow, Mrs. Ruth A. Smith, survived her husband exactly ten months, and died Sept. 7, 1872. The remains of both are interred in Wood Wreath Cemetery, near where they spent so many years of their lives.