Legislator Details
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
Number of Children: 5
Background
Education:
attended Malone Academy for 5 years
Biographical Sketch:
Son of Oliver M. and Anna (Horton) Smith, grandson of Judge Hiram Horton of Malone, NY. His parents moved to Brandon, VT. He returned to Malone and was raised by his grandfather, Judge Horton, from the ages of 5-15 when his grandfathr died. He attended school until age 11. Worked in the mercantile trade for 3 years in Castleton, VT. He went to Grandville, NY in 1830, where he had a mercantile until 1835 when he moved to Jackson, MI. He moved to a farm in to Ingham Co. in 1836. He served as county treasurer & clerk [1841]. After leaving the legislature, he had a mercantile in Mason, MI. He built the 1st flour mill in Lansing, 1847 and built the plank road from Lansing to Howell, 1851-52. He was involved in the creation of the Jackson to Saginaw railroad line, 1863 & a line from Jackson to Fort Wayne, IN, 1868-70, as well as several other projects. He returned to Jackson in 1866 with his sons and became a manufacturer.
Notable Facts:
1st Mayor of the city of Lansing; 1st Ingham Co. Treasurer (elected 1838)
He was a Democrat until 1856 when he identified with the Republican Party.
Married Mary Jane Waldo, [who died in 1859[; children 3, Henry, Dwight and Mrs. R.M. Newman;
married Mrs.G.W. Gorham, 1865