From A
Biographical History of Central Kansas, Vol. I, p. 328
published by The Lewis Publishing Co, Chicago & New York, 1902
ISAAC N. SMITH
Isaac N Smith is one of the intelligent and enterprising farmers of Rice county, whose entire life has been passed in the Mississippi valley, and he was born in Morgan county, Illinois, on the 20th of May, 1843. His father was James Job Smith, who came to Rice county in 1873. He was born in Cumberland county, Kentucky, in 1813, and was a son of James Smith, who removed to North Carolina during the boyhood of James Smith. The latter was there reared and married, Miss Mary E Job becoming his wife. She was a native of North Carolina. A few years after their marriage they started on horseback over the mountains to Kentucky, with their two children, and settled in Cumberland county, that state. They became the parents of nine children, namely: Samuel, Jane, Thomas, Levi, Ruth, James Job, (John), William and Elijah. In 1829 James Smith removed to Morgan county, Illinois, where he remained until 1845, when he went to Cass county, that state. Subsequently they took up their abode in Madison county, Iowa, where both the grandparents of our subject died, their death being occasioned by a fever, when they were seventy-three years of age.
James Job Smith, the father of our subject, was married in Morgan county, Illinois, at the age of twenty-two years, to Eve Miller, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of Henry Miller, one of the pioneers of the Hoosier state, who was forced to flee to the fort in order to seek protection from the Indians. He had come to the west from Pennsylvania and was of German ancestry. His death occurred in Indiana. His wife, Hester Miller, died in Illinois. In 1845 the parents of our subject removed to Cass county, Illinois, where they resided until 1853, when they became residents of Iowa, settling in Mahaska county. At a later date they removed to Madison county, Iowa, taking up their abode twelve miles east of Winterset, among the pioneer residents of that locality. There the father carried on farming until 1873, when he came to Rice county, Kansas, making his home in Lincoln township, where he resided for a number of years. In 1896 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away at the age of eighty-five years and twenty days. They had lived together as man and wife for sixty-two years, sharing with each other in the joys and sorrows, the adversity and prosperity of life, their mutual love and confidence increasing as the years went by. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, loved and respected by all for her many good qualities of heart and mind. This worthy couple were the parents of six children, who are yet living. In his political views the father was in early life a Whig and afterward joined the Republican party, and all of his sons have adhered to the same faith. He too is a devoted member of the Methodist church, in which he has served as class-leader for fifty years, and his children have been brought up in the church and have become honored and respected members of society. They are: Elizabeth, who died at the age of eighteen; J F, who served as a soldier in the Fourth Iowa Infantry and is now living in Lincoln township, Rice county; F M, who was also a Union soldier and is now a resident of Lyons; Isaac Newton, of this review; Elijah T, who makes his home in Douglas county, Kansas; and William Thomas, and Mrs Mary J Summers, both of Lyons.
Isaac Newton Smith spent his early youth in Illinois and afterward accompanied his parents to Madison county, Iowa, where he assisted in the work of clearing and developing a farm. His education was acquired in the schools of two states, and on the 21st of March, 1864, about the time he attained his majority, he offered his services to the government as a defender of the Union cause, enlisting in the Fourth Iowa Infantry, under Captain A J Tisdale, who commanded Company F. He served until the close of the war and was engaged in active duty with General Sherman’s army. He was in the battle in which General McPherson was killed. He participated in the engagements at Resaca and Atlanta, and went with Sherman on the memorable march to the sea. He also took part in the battles of Savannah and Goldsboro, marched on to Richmond and thence to Washington, DC, to participate in the grand review, the most celebrated military pageant ever seen on the western hemisphere. He was then honorably discharged and returned to his home in Iowa.
In the year 1873 Mr Smith came to Rice county, where he took up a claim, and in 1876 he further completed his arrangements for a home by his marriage to Miss Amanda M Young, an intelligent and cultured lady, who was born in Harrison county, Missouri, and was there reared and educated. Her father, Jeremiah Young, was one of the first settlers of Harrison county, but is now deceased. The marriage of Mr and Mrs Smith has been blessed with three children: Claude J, who is engaged in farming on the old homestead in Lincoln township; Paul Palmer; and Anna Maud.
Mr Smith owns a very valuable farm of three hundred and forty-six acres, well improved and equipped with all modern conveniences. His attention is devoted to its cultivation, and the rich fields annually yield to him golden harvests. His political support is given the Republican party, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has served as steward and class-leader. The causes of education, of temperance and of the right in every form find in him a warm friend and he heartily endorses every movement that is calculated to benefit the community and uplift his fellow men.