Wayne County Biographies



Part of the Indiana Biographies Project



James W. Smith

James W. Smith is a native of Richmond, Ind., born in 1839. He is the eldest and the only one now living of five children of Sidney and Martha (Wharry) Smith. His grandfather, John F. Smith, was a native of Virginia, of German descent. His mother was a daughter of James Wharry, of Columbus, Ohio, and a sister of the late Judge Wharry, of Darke County, Ohio. His father came to Indiana in 1834 and died in 1865. His mother is still living. James W. received a common-school education, always residing in Richmond. In 1857 he went into the old bank of Morrisson, Blanchard & Co. (now Richmond National Bank) and remained there twenty-two years, and the last seventeen years was the general bookkeeper. The first eight years of the latter's existence he was one of its directors. In 1882 he was elected by the voters of both political parties by a majority of 1,200 to the office of Trustee of Wayne Township, a position he still holds.

Source:
History of Wayne County, Indiana. Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1884. Volume 2