My Genealogy Hound

SEBASTIAN SMITH. The career of this gentleman has been marked by enterprise, industry and the well-directed efforts that have been rewarded by the accumulation of a considerable amount of land and the machinery and stock necessary for carrying on a first-class farm. The early years of Mr. Smith were spent in his native village, Rodfield, Kennebec County, Me., where he was born May 11, 1826.

The grandfather of our subject, whose given name was Mathias, was one of the settlers of the Plymouth Colony of historical fame, and he located on two hundred acres of land in the Plymouth County tract, along the Kennebec River. There he toiled laboriously in making a home for himself and family, and died in the very prime of life. To himself and wife were born four sons: Mathias, John, Cyril and Comfort. John and Comfort lived to the great age of ninety years. Grandfather Smith was born and reared in the State of Maine, and there he wooed and married his wife, who was known in her maiden days as Miss Stockton. This lady bore her husband eight sons and one daughter, all of whom reached mature years with the exception of one son. The others are: Samuel, George, Benjamin, Oliver, Ansel, James, John and Harriet. James died in New Hampshire, Oliver in New Brunswick, Ansel in Massachusetts, and John passed away when twenty years of age at his home.

The father of our subject was born in Redfield, Me., January 2, 1792, and although a mere lad when the War of 1812 broke out, he enlisted and served the entire time, being in the battle of Ft. Prebble and other engagements. During active life, George Smith was a merchant, in which occupation he was very successful, but when old age began to show itself he retired from business and went to live with his son, our subject. He was a man of strong intellect, retaining his mental faculties to the last. He learned the Greek alphabet after he was eighty years of age, and was excellent in mathematics all his life, having taught in early years. He served in numerous township offices, and was a Democrat in politics. He died at the ripe age of ninety-one years, his wife having passed from this life in 1865, at the age of seventy.

Mr. Smith’s mother was also a native of Redfield, and a daughter of Jeremiah White, a shoe-maker by trade. She was the mother of five children: Glorvinia, Albion, Sebastian, Wallace, and George W. The two last-named were soldiers, the former enlisting in the Second Wisconsin Cavalry as Lieutenant. The latter enrolled his name with those who formed the Nineteenth Maine Infantry as a private, but was soon promoted to the rank of Captain. He was killed in the memorable battle of Gettysburg, July 2, and buried on the field. At the time of the dispute about the boundary line, in 1830, George had charge of the troops, and discharged his duty there in a trustworthy manner.

Our subject received his education in the common district schools of Maine and New Brunswick, and at the age of nine years he entered his father’s store, where he remained for about four years, and at the end of that time went with his Uncle Oliver to New Brunswick. There he spent two years in the town of Frederickton, and at the age of fifteen began to receive a salary of $200 a year. After the demise of his uncle, Sebastian settled up the business, and in 1854 returned to Maine, where he stayed a few days with his parents, and then made his way to Chicago. At the expiration of two years, during which time he was in the employ of a lumber company, he erected a mill in partnership with Henry R. Holland, but in the panic of 1857 they lost everything they had. Mr. Smith and his partner then purchased a quarter-section of land, which is now the home of the former, and although at the time of purchase the land was in a very rude state, our subject has so skillfully managed and worked so industriously as to convert it into a first-class farm. In the spring of 1858 Mr. Smith began clearing this land, upon which he built a house a year later. He now owns three hundred and twenty acres in the home farm, which is located on section 14, at the east end of Paw Paw Lake, Watervliet Township, Berrien County. Besides the homestead, there are farms elsewhere aggregating five hundred acres, sixty of which are devoted to the cultivation of fruit, and forty of which, situated on the lake, are used for the purpose of renting. On these forty acres are built neat and attractive cottages, that nestle among the groves and constitute the most comfortable homes.

Mr. Smith has always been active in political affairs, and has cast his ballot both for the Democratic and Prohibition parties. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of which he was made a constituent in New Brunswick, and is also identified with the Congregational Church. The marriage of our subject and Miss Harriett M. Barker was celebrated July 9, 1850, at the home of the bride’s parents, John and Rebecca (Burpe) Barker. Mrs. Smith was born in New Brunswick, and after her marriage became the mother of five children, three of whom are still living: John W., Carrie B. and Ella G. The others died in infancy. John Barker was a farmer and shoemaker by occupation, and reared one son and three daughters.

The worthy wife of our subject has been a zealous worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church for a number of years, and is a lady who is beloved by all with whom she forms acquaintanceship. Mr. Smith has long been known as an honorable and hard-working farmer, who possesses good qualities as a man and is loyal and true as a citizen.