Hiram R. Smith
Honored and respected by all, there is no man in Mansfield who occupies a more enviable position in financial circles than Hiram R. Smith, not alone on account of the brilliant success he has achieved but also on account of the honorable, straightforward business policy he has ever followed. Though he is now practically living a retired life, as a capitalist, he is connected with a number of different enterprises which have been of material benefit to his town and county.
Mr. Smith was born in Huron, Ohio, January 7, 1813, and is the only survivor of a family of seven children, whose parents were Asa and Hannah (Richmond) Smith, the former a native of Long Island, New York, the latter of Rhode Island. They were married in New York and made their home in Waterloo, that state, until their removal to Huron, Ohio, before steam navigation was used upon the lakes. The father died when our subject was only two years old, after which the mother sold the farm and moved to Sandusky City, where her death occurred. There the remains of all the family have been interred, the father's body being removed from Huron. Hiram R. was the youngest of the children. William B., who died in Sandusky at about the age of eighty-three years, built the first frame dwelling, also the first brick house in that city; the latter is still standing. He also engaged in merchandising. Sallie married Silas Dewey, a distant relative of the Admiral, and both died in Clyde, Ohio, near Toledo. Nancy married Amos Fenn, a native of Massachusetts, as was also Silas Dewey, and a prominent early settler, manufacturer and farmer of Clyde, where he served as a justice of the peace for thirty years and where both he and his wife died. Clarissa became the wife of Hugh McFall, one of the first merchants of Mansfield, where both died and where two of their sons recently died. Frederick spent his life in Sandusky. Susan married James P. Bowman and lived in Mansfield many years. She died here, but her husband's death occurred at Bucyrus, Ohio.
At the age of eleven years Hiram R. Smith came to Mansfield, which city has been his home for seventy-seven years. In this he enjoys the distinction of having lived longer than any other of its citizens with one exception, and he has witnessed its growth from a country hamlet to a prosperous city of nearly nineteen thousand inhabitants. He attended the pioneer schools of Mansfield, his principal instructor being Alexander Barr, a prominent educator of his day. He finished his education under the tutorship of Judge Stewart, the father of Mrs. John Sherman.
Mr. Smith began life on his own account as a clerk in the mercantile establishment of his brother-in-law, Mr. McFall, and in 1839 he embarked in the same line of business for himself, carrying on merchandising very successfully until 1870. In early days he shipped his goods from Philadelphia by teams and he has crossed the Alleghany mountains in a canalboat. After his retirement from mercantile business he erected the Smith block on Main street, which is one of the most valuable properties in the city, as well as one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture. In dimensions it is seventy by one hundred and eighty feet and four stories in height. The entire ground floor is occupied by one mammoth mercantile establishment,—that of R. B. Maxwell & Company; the second story is used for offices, and the third is a public hall. Mr. Smith purchased the lot in 1840 and for a period of sixty years it has produced regular annual rentals. He was one of the first directors of the Richland Mutual Insurance Company, of which he is now the president, and he is the oldest director of the Farmers' National Bank and the vice-president of the same. He is also a director of the Mansfield Cemetery Association.
Mr. Smith has been twice married, first in 1839 to Miss Ann C. Leiter, a native of Leitersburg, Maryland, and to them were born four children, but all are now deceased, with the exception of Richmond, who is the secretary and manager of the Richland Mutual Insurance Company. The wife and mother died in 1850, and four years later Mr. Smith married Miss Ann Ward, a native of Richland county and a daughter of Joseph and Mary Ward, early settlers of the county. By this union two children were born: Ward, who died in August, 1899, at the age of forty-three years, leaving a wife and two daughters; and Rena, the wife of E. B. Caldwell, a druggist of Mansfield, by whom she has two sons.
Mr. Smith has been a lifelong Democrat, but he has never sought public office, though he has been called upon to serve his city in various official positions. Among other things he has done much for Mansfield, having been instrumental in securing the reformatory here. He and his family are all members of the Congregational church. Having never inherited a dollar, his success in life is due to his own unaided efforts. As a business man he is energetic, prompt and notably reliable, and carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. His career proves that the only true success in life is that which is accomplished by personal effort and continued
industry.
From A Centennial Biographical History of Richland County, Ohio, A. J. Baughman, Editor. The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, 1901; Page 600
Hiram R. Smith yesterday completed the eighty-first year of his life upon this mundane sphere, as was announced in Sunday's Shield. A short sketch of the life of the venerable gentleman who is hale and hearty and remarkably active for one of his years, will be of great interest to the Shield's many readers. Mr. Smith was born on a farm on the site of the present village of Huron, O., where his parents, Asa Smith and wife (nee Hannah Richmond) had located just before the war of 1812. In 1824 he came to Mansfield and lived with Hugh McFall, tending store mornings and evenings and going to school during the day. For fifteen years he lived with Mr. McFall as salesman of a general stock of goods and, during this time, he served as deputy postmaster for eight years and a half, doing all the business in the post office and, through his fidelity, economy and energy, succeeded in accumulating enough capital to warrant his engaging in the general merchandise business for himself. In 1839 Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Ann C. Leiter, who died in this city, June 7, 1850, and who bore him the following children: Henry, born March 31, 1840, who enlisted in the army during the rebellion and died in Arkansas in 1862; Mary Felicia, born June 25, 1842, died July 20, 1876; Richmond, born December 14, 1844; Clara Ann, born February 8, 1848, died July 26, 1875. Mr. Smith's second marriage was to Ann Ward, May 16, 1854. Of this marriage, two children were born: Ward Smith, October 1, 1856, and Rena May, born August 8, 1860. Mr. Smith has always encouraged every public enterprise that would benefit the community, and has seen the growth of Mansfield from a village to the city of the present. The Shield wishes him many happy returns of the anniversary of his birth.
From Richland Shield & Banner, January 13, 1894
This is the birthday anniversary of Hiram R. Smith, Mansfield's oldest resident, who now enters upon his ninety-eighth year, having been born in Huron, Erie county, Ohio, Jan. 7, 1813. He came to Mansfield in 1824 and has resided here ever since, having been prominently identified with the early history of the city. Mr. Smith is still able to get up street quite frequently and is remarkably active and spry, considering that in two years time he will enter his one hundredth year.
From The Mansfield News, Friday, January 7, 1910, Page 3
