North Star Township Biography
GEORGE SMITH
Source: BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF GRATIOT COUNTY, MICHIGAN published by J. B. BEERS & CO., Chicago, 1906
GEORGE SMITH, one of the representative men of North Star township, Gratiot county, Michigan, the head of a family and the owner of a valuable farm of sixty-five acres, was born February 22, 1837, in Onondaga county, New York, eldest of the eight children born to James and Sarah Ann (Barber) Smith.
James Smith, the father, was born August 22, 1813, in Cayuga county, New York, and the mother January 15, 1820, in Onondaga county. Her father was Ruluf Barber, who lived and died in Onondaga county. James Smith and wife migrated from Cayuga county, New York, to Hillsdale county, Michigan, in 1843, where they lived until 1871, when they settled in Kalkaska county, Michigan. The mother died while on a visit to her children at the residence of her son, Henry Smith, in North Star township, April 10, 1890, aged seventy years. The father died in Kalkaska county in his eighty-third year. They were people of estimable character, and led quiet, virtuous lives.
George Smith was about six years old when his parents came to Hillsdale county, where he grew to manhood. When twenty-two years old he returned to his native State and spent several years engaged in farming in Tompkins county, and during his residence there was married, August 18, 1860, to Atlanta L. Shaw. She was born in Tompkins county, July 27, 1840, daughter of Erastus and Eliza (Cummings) Shaw. Her father was a son of Benjamin Shaw, and he was born July 3, 1806, in Vermont, and died in Groton township, Tompkins county, New York, aged eighty years. The mother of Mrs. Smith was born in 1811 in Groton township, where she died in 1842, aged thirty- one years, her father dying at the age of seventy-six years. Mrs. Smith was fourth in their family of five children, and was reared and educated in Groton township.
After his marriage Mr. Smith remained in Tompkins county about eighteen months, and moved to Hillsdale county, Michigan, settling in Ransom township, but conditions did not prove favorable and one year later the couple returned to New York. In the following year they returned to Hillsdale county and settled in Wright township, where they resided until 1869. In September of that year Mr. Smith removed with his family to Gratiot county, attracted by the fertile lands and pleasant natural surroundings, and purchased a farm of eighty acres in Section 25, North Star township. The tract was then dense woods, but Mr. Smith succeeded in clearing a large portion of it, and six years later traded for another property in Section 22. He was there engaged in general farming and the manufacture of brick and tile, but in 1898 sold the property and removed his residence to the village of North Star. Two years later he exchanged his interests there for his present farm of sixty-five acres in Section 16, on which are a modern brick residence and substantial, convenient out-buildings. He is also the owner of another farm, in Section 23, consisting of forty acres.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had seven children, namely: Rosa B.; Emma A., wife of Foshen Hoffman; Eugene J.; Flora V., Mrs. Joseph Gilleo; Addie L., wife of Homer Mulholland; Francis J., and Grant O. Rosa B., the eldest child, died in Hillsdale county, aged one year and four months.
Mr. Smith has always been identified with the Republican party, and has been more or less connected with public affairs for a number of years. For fifteen years he was the efficient township clerk and for two terms a justice of the peace. In whatever position he is found, he gives complete satisfaction, being a man of both capacity and responsibility. Mrs. Smith is a valued member of the United Brethren Church, and Mr. Smith is socially connected with Heath Lodge, No. 22, I.O.O.F.
Created on ... October 09, 2001