My Genealogy Hound

OREN B. SMITH, a retired manufacturer and an influential citizen of Northampton, was born in Kirby, Vt., December 6, 1827, son of Thomas B. and Jane (Barron) Smith, the former of whom was born in Sturbridge, Mass., in 1792.

His grandfather, who followed the calling of a farmer, removed from Sturbridge into the State of Vermont, where he settled on a tract of forest land. He died in middle life, leaving eight sons and two daughters. John Smith, the youngest son, became a Methodist preacher, and for some years was stationed at Lowell, Mass. Frank Smith was at one time a government surveyor in Illinois. Subsequently he and another brother located in the State of Texas. Phillip Smith followed the trade of a cloth-dresser in Burke, Vt., where his life was spent. He celebrated his golden wedding in 1883, and, although then eighty-one years old, was strong and active both in mind and body. He died when about eighty-seven years of age. Thomas B. Smith, who chose the calling of a farmer, became quite prosperous in time. His wife, Jane Barron Smith before marriage, to whom he was married in Vermont, was born in Gilson, N. H., in 1787. They had eight children, three sons and five daughters. All lived to maturity, married, and reared families; but Oren B. Smith and a sister, Florilla, the widow of Lewis McCrillis, residing at Brimfield, Mass., are the only survivors now. Leander served in the Civil War, enlisting from Palmer, Mass., and was no doubt killed in the service, as nothing has since been heard of him. The father died in Thorndike village, in the town of Palmer, in 1866; and the mother died in 1869, eighty-two years of age. Their remains rest in the Palmer Four Corners burying-ground.

Oren B. Smith began to work for a living when but a boy of eight years. His first employment was in the cotton-mill at Holden, Mass., where his childish labor was valued at twenty-five cents per day. He gradually made his way upward step by step, until finally he became General Manager of the Boston Duck Company, in which position he continued for twenty years. He is now a stockholder in the Chicopee Manufacturing Company, the West Ware Paper Company, and the United Electric Light Company of Springfield, Mass. Mr. Smith came from Palmer to Northampton in 1890, where he purchased the Wood property, together with three and one-half acres of land, a portion of which was a swamp. Upon this, after filling it in and grading it, he erected seven houses, which to-day are a valuable piece of property. After selling the frontage on Elm Street at a considerable profit, he still has a valuable estate left.

Mr. Smith has been thrice married. His first wife was Miss Roxana Moody, of Palmer, Mass., to whom he was married October 3, 1848. She was a daughter of Joseph Moody (deceased), and she died October 15, 1857, leaving two children: Clara E., the wife of Frank A. Packard, of Indian Orchard, Mass., who has two daughters; and Charles N. Smith, a builder and contractor residing in Savannah, N. Y., who has three sons and three daughters. Mr. Smith’s second union was with Miss Elmina A. James, of Palmer, Mass., who died April 3, 1868, at forty years of age. She bore him two sons: Frank O. Smith, a purchasing agent at Battle Creek, Mich., who is married and has a son and daughter, Clarence and Genevieve; and George N. Smith, a book-keeper for the Valley Falls Paper Company of Holyoke, Mass., also married and father of one son, Claud H. Smith. Mr. Smith’s third wife was Miss Hattie Buckland before marriage, of Chicopee, Mass., a daughter of Ashbel Buckland (deceased). She died at Northampton, May 4, 1894, fifty-eight years of age. A son and daughter survive her: Oren Barron Smith, Jr., a student in the Institute of Technology of the class of 1897; and Gertrude L. Smith, a young lady residing at home with her father. At the time of her mother’s death she was an art student in Smith College, and she is also a musician. It is a remarkable coincidence that Mr. Smith’s three wives should each have lived ten years after marriage and that each left two children.

Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics, and, though not a man who aspires to office, was, nevertheless, chosen as a member of the legislature in 1884, and for three years has served most acceptably as Selectman. He resides at 15 Massasoit Street.