My Genealogy Hound

EDWARD D. SMITH, division passenger agent Baltimore & Ohio railroad, P. O. Bonney, a son of John C. and Eliza A. Smith, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., April 11, 1852. John C. was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., in 1809, and came from Greensburg to this county in 1829. He married, in 1832, Eliza A. Day, and they were blessed with ten children, of whom the living are: William, Percy, Ella, Lyda, Catherine (wife of W. P. Fullmer) and Edward D. John C. had learned the trade of tinner, and for three or four years he earned his living with the soldering-iron. When the mayor’s court was started in the old city hall he was appointed watch man, and from that day until now he has been actively identified with the courts of Pittsburgh, and is probably the oldest official in the state, if not in the United States. He is blessed with a wonderful memory, and can give the details of all the noted trials that have come up in the courts of Pittsburgh during the past fifty-six years. He remembers well how disheartened the people were in this county in 1832 when Jackson vetoed the United States bank bill, and in 1845 when the great fire nearly wiped the city out of existence, and again in 1854 during the cholera scourge. It was feared the city would never recover from these terrible disasters, but in the language of the old gentleman, “the city came up all right, and today I guess it’s hard to beat.” Mr. Smith was one of the number invited to the opening of the Pennsylvania railroad to Greensburg, July 15, 1852, which he represents as a big event in the history of Pittsburgh. Among the positions he held in Pittsburgh in an early day was that of councilman when there were only five wards in the city. He is still hale and hearty.

Edward D. Smith, the subject of this memoir, married, Dec. 6, 1877, Anna K, daughter of Rev. L. R. and Jane Norton, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and their children are Lilian F., Helen N. and Lindsay K. (deceased). Mr. Smith has been in the employ of the Burlington & Ohio railroad for twenty years, and for many years has held the position of division passenger agent.