SMITH. The first of the family of that name, of which this sketch treats, of whom there is any record, was one Samuel Smith, of German parentage, who was born in Lancaster county, Penn., where he grew to manhood and married. He and his wife came to Washington county, settling in East Pike Run township, where they purchased land, but had previously made a stay in Fayette county, and as pioneers there took up a large tract of land. They had born to them children, as follows: Mary, married to John Thompson, of Washington county; Nancy, married to Avery Leonard, of Ohio; Catherine, who died, single, in Washington county; Elizabeth, married to Moses Pester, of Washington county; John, deceased in Ohio; Rezin, who died in Illinois; Samuel, deceased in Indiana, and Hiram, who died in Washington county. The mother of this family died in 1832, and the father in 1843 or 1844 at the age of eighty years; he was a farmer and a miller, and conducted flour, saw and oil mills. For many years he served as a justice of the peace. Hiram Smith was born August 8, 789, in Washington county, and during his boyhood learned the trade of millwright, in which he ultimately evinced great skill, becoming one of the finest mechanics in the western part of the state. He made millwrighting his life's work, and extended his business into surrounding counties and States. On September 24, 1815, in Washington county, Mr. Smith married Miss Hulda Rush, daughter of John Rush (born November 15, 1794, of Scotch parentage), of Fayette county, where he followed agricultural pursuits in the mountains. After marriage, Mr. And Mrs. Hiram Smith settled in East Bethlehem township, where he died in 1860, at the age of seventy-one years. In his political preferences he was a Democrat, and in religious faith he was a member of the M. E. Church. His widow survived him three years, dying at the age of sixty-nine in same township. They were the parents of nine children, as follows: Margaret Jane, who died when a child; Samuel H., a resident of Brownsville, this county (he was a justice of the peace, and now (1893) is burgess of the borough. He also represented the district in the Legislature. His life for the most part was passed in mercantile business in Philadelphia); Albert, who died in Illinois in 1889, leaving two children; Sarah Ann, who died single at the age of twenty years; Edmund R., of whom a sketch follows; Clarkson, who died in Monongahela, Penn.; Alexander V., of whom a sketch follows; Mary Elizabeth, deceased in infancy; and Frank B., who died leaving a widow. He went out in the war of the Rebellion in the first cavalry company from Washington county, known as the "Old Ringgold Cavalry", and was wounded at Charleston, W. Va.; at that time he was first lieutenant of the "Independent La Fayette Cavalry Company", and had been sent with twenty-seven men as a guard; but they were surrounded by the enemy. He was in the act of shooting, when a bullet struck him on the left side, passing entirely through his body. He was brought home, and never fully recovered. Afterward he served in the Pension Office at Pittsburgh some years, and also clerked in the courthouse for a time, finally dying in Pittsburgh, Penn., from the effect of his wound. EDMUND R. SMITH was born January 19, 1827, in East Bethlehem township, this county. By trade he became a painter, at which he worked in his early manhood. In 1852 he married Miss Susan H. Zediker, who was born October 15, 1833, a daughter of Lewis Zediker, of South Strabane township. Lewis Zediker was the eldest son of John Zediker, who was a blacksmith by trade, and came while a young man during the Revolutionary war to this country from Switzerland, settling in South Strabane township, the county. He followed blacksmithing for some time, but soon engaged in agricultural pursuits. About 1790 he married Margaret, daughter of Ludwick Smith, who was an extensive land owner of the same township, and who came originally from Germany. Lewis Zediker was born in South Strabane township, in 1793. He followed farming and stock raising. He married Isabel, daughter of Robert Henry, of the same township, who was Scotch-Irish decent. To them were born eleven children. Lewis Zediker died in 1868, aged seventy-five years; Isabel, his wife, died in 1873, being about the same age. After marriage Mr. And Mrs. Edmund R. Smith lived in the township just mentioned until 1859, when they moved into the borough of Washington, he having been appointed deputy sheriff under Col. Norton McGiffin, for a term of three years, which was succeeded by another term under James M. Byers. In 1864 he was elected sheriff, and served until 1867, completing a total of nine years' public service. Some time afterward he moved to Zollersville, in the same county, where for three years he kept store, and then, in 1870, returned to Washington, since which time he has been engaged in the lightening-rod business. Mr. And Mrs. Edmund R. Smith are the parents of eleven children, as follows: George, married to Clara B. Pettit; Flora B., deceased; Mary Malissa, deceased; Hiram L., deceased; John H., married to Susan Wylie; Norton McGiffin; Edmund R., Jr. (of whom a sketch follows), married to Ida Farnsworth; David Wison, married to Gertrude Hawkins; William McKennan; Susan Addell, and Howard R. Mr. Smith is a member in good standing of the F. & A. M.; politically he is a Republican. He has been crippled all his life. Alexander V. Smith was born July 7, 1832, and received a liberal education at the common schools of the place of his nativity. At the age of fifteen years he left home for Brownsville, Penn., where for nineteen years he filled the position of clerk in stores. In that town he resided twenty-three years, or until 1870, when he proceeded to Port Perry, Allegheny county, for the purpose of setting up a set of books for Miller, Nichol & Co., shipbuilders, shippers, etc., on the Monongahela river. In November, 1872, he removed to Florida, and there carried on a fruit-growing industry till 1884, on July 27, of which year he once more arrived in Washington county, and settling in the city of Washington has been here conducting a grocery business. In January, 1856, Alexander V. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Amanda, daughter of William and Catherine hart, of Washington county. Mr. Hart was from eastern Pennsylvania, and married Miss Catherine Stealey, a native of Virginia, who is now eighty-four years of age, living in Morgantown, W. Va. Mr. And Mrs. Smith are the parents of four children: Harry (who died at the age of five years), Wilfred, Grace and Eva. In 1862 Mr. Smith raised a cavalry company for service, known as the "Independent La Fayette Cavalry Company", which was mustered in at Washington, Penn., about June, and he was appointed captain of same. They proceeded to Wheeling for equipment, and then served in West Virginia some twenty-seven months, chiefly on "scouting" duty, but participated in the first battle of Winchester. At the expiration of their term of service they returned home, and Capt. Smith again took up his residence in Brownsville, where he embarked in mercantile business for his own account. Politically he is a Democrat. While in Florida he was a member of the Board of Public Instruction, and in 1878 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Florida State troops, serving until his removal northward. He and his wife and daughters are members of the Presbyterian Church of Washington. Edmund R. Smith, Jr., was born in Washington, Penn., November 11, 1864. From 1870 to 1882 he attended the public school of that place, graduating in June, 1882. After graduation he clerked in the postoffice for five years until January, 1887 (excepting one year-1883-when he attended Washington and Jefferson college), at which time he resigned to accept a position as bookkeeper with the firm of Hughes & Wright, insurance and real estate agents of the same city. He was a member of Company H, N. G. of Pennsylvania, for five years-from 1884 to 1889-and was borough secretary for the year 1892. He is at present bookkeeper for Hughes Bros., successors to Hughes & Wright; is city passenger agent of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railway Co.; secretary of the Washington County Board of Fire Underwriters, and is engaged in the fire insurance business. On April 24, 1890. He marries Ida M. Farnsworth, of Warren county, Penn., and they have one child, Donald R. Mr. Smith is a Republican, and a member of the local Jr. O. U. A. M. He and his wife are members of the Second Presbyterian Church.

Text taken from page 39 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed June 1997 by Dorothy Elwood of Mulberry, FL as part of the Beers Project. Published June 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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