James Harvey Smith

Brief Life History of James Harvey

When James Harvey Smith was born on 17 November 1814, in Ernestown Township, Lennox and Addington, Canada West, British North America, his father, Ira Smith, was 29 and his mother, Philomela Polly Loomis Smith, was 20. He married Elizabeth Smith on 31 January 1850, in Madison, Illinois, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 6 daughters. He lived in Illinois, United States in 1870 and Moro, Madison, Illinois, United States in 1880. He died on 5 March 1882, in Madison, Illinois, United States, at the age of 67, and was buried in Madison, Illinois, United States.

Photos and Memories (4)

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Family Time Line

James Harvey Smith
1814–1882
Elizabeth Smith
1831–1911
Marriage: 31 January 1850
Sarah J Smith
1850–1876
Edgar Anderson Smith
1853–1871
Willard M Smith
1855–1883
Joseph Harvey Smith
1857–1897
Letitia Ruth Smith
1859–1940
Ella Margaret Smith
1862–1941
Lulu Emma Smith
1863–
Arthur Hayes Smith
1866–1949
Nancy Smith
1868–
Laura E. Smith
1870–1954
Charles H Smith
1873–1898

Sources (16)

  • Harvey Smith, "United States Census, 1880"
  • James H Swither, "Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019"
  • James Harvey Smith, "Find A Grave Index"

World Events (8)

1818

Illinois is the 21st state.

1819 · Panic! of 1819

With the Aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars the global market for trade was down. During this time, America had its first financial crisis and it lasted for only two years. 

1832 · Black Hawk War

The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of other tribes, known as the "British Band", crossed the Mississippi River, into Illinois, from Iowa Indian Territory in April 1832. Black Hawk's motives were ambiguous, but records show that he was hoping to avoid bloodshed while resettling on tribal land that had been given to the United States in the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis.

Name Meaning

English and Scottish: occupational name denoting a worker in metal, especially iron, such as a blacksmith or farrier, from Middle English smith ‘smith’ (Old English smith, probably a derivative of smītan ‘to strike, hammer’). Early examples are also found in the Latin form Faber . Metal-working was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required, and its importance ensured that this term and its equivalents in other languages were the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. Medieval smiths were important not only in making horseshoes, plowshares, and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor. This is also the most frequent of all surnames in the US. It is very common among African Americans and Native Americans (see also 5 below). This surname (in any of the two possible English senses; see also below) is also found in Haiti. See also Smither .

English: from Middle English smithe ‘smithy, forge’ (Old English smiththe). The surname may be topographic, for someone who lived in or by a blacksmith's shop, occupational, for someone who worked in one, or habitational, from a place so named, such as Smitha in King's Nympton (Devon). Compare Smithey .

Irish and Scottish: sometimes adopted for Gaelic Mac Gobhann, Irish Mac Gabhann ‘son of the smith’. See McGowan .

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

Possible Related Names

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