Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897

SAMUEL H. SMITH,

[p. 215] deceased, late an esteemed citizen of Shenango township, and proprietor of a dairy farm three miles south of New Castle, was born in Perry township, Oct. 18, 1850, and was the second in a family of eight children, born to James and Rosa Jane (Morrison) Smith. Our subject's mother was born in Perry township in 1829, and died in August, 1864; she was a daughter of Squire William Morrison, who married Harriet Frew, a member of one of the oldest families in the county, who lived to be seventy-two years of age. Squire William Morrison, who was also born in Perry township, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and lived to be seventy-four years old; he was a justice of the peace for a number of years; his father was Alexander Morrison, a farmer, who came to Beaver County at an early day. James Smith, the father of our subject, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1818, came to this country in 1830, and departed this life in 1890; he came across the water with his father, John Smith, a weaver in the old country, but a farmer in America, who died in the State of Iowa at the age of eighty years.

Samuel H. Smith lived in Perry township until he reached the age of twenty-eight years, attending the district schools till he was twenty years old, and working on his father's farm thereafter. In 1878, he bought his present farm of 150 acres, which is now devoted to dairy farming, and supports some thirty-five head of choice cattle.

Mr. Smith was married, Oct. 20, 1881, in North Sewickley township, to Eunice Fombelle, a native of that township, and fourth in a family of twelve children born to Theophilus and Elizabeth (McGraw) Fombelle. Mrs. Smith's mother was born in North Sewickley township, and was a daughter of James McGraw, who married a Miss Yeager. Theophilus Fombelle was born in Beaver County, and was a son of Abel Fombelle. Our subject and his wife have been blessed with an interesting family of three children: Edna Pearl; Hattie May; and Mary Grace. They are members of the United Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Smith was unswerving in his loyalty to the Republican party and its principles. Mr. Smith was killed April 23, 1897, by an explosion of dynamite while clearing a piece of land of stumps. He lived but nine hours after the accident.


Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897

Previous Biography | Table of Contents | Next Biography
Explanation/Caution | Lawrence Co. Maps | Lawrence Co. Histories
Updated: 12 May 2001