William S. Smith

William S. Smith born in Pennsylvania, February 19, 1829, is the son of Peter and Margaret (Searls) Smith, natives of that State, of German origin. They were the parents of eight children, of whom are living: Catherine, Mrs. Andrew Adams, of this township; Mary A., widow of Silas Bunnell, of Bureau county; Charity, Mrs. George Albright, of Livingston county; Wm. S., of this township, and Joseph, married, residing in Bureau county, all in Illinois today. The father of this family moved to Bureau county, Ill., April 10, 1852; purchased land there, and was engaged in agriculture until his death in 1860. William S. Smith received a practical education on the farm and in the schools of his district. From the age of eighteen to the close of his twenty-first year he served an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade, but on moving with his father in 1852 he aided him in improving his Bureau county farm; subsequently he worked at his trade there until September 17, 1861, when he enlisted in Company B, Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving steadily with that command until September, 1864. In the spring of 1865 he married Miss Elizabeth D., daughter of Thomas and Elvina Cole, natives of Virginia, but early settlers of Illinois, where their daughter was born. After this marriage he moved to Wisconsin; in two years returned to Bureau county, and four years after settled at Castleton, being engaged at his trade all the time, and since coming here in blacksmithing and manufacturing. Their children are: William S., a telegraph operator on C. I. K. K. in Knox county; Edith M., Mrs. Walter Eagelston, Keokuk, Ia.; Lillian M., Rose E., Katie S., and Lawrence E., pupils of the Castleton schools. Mr. Smith is a member of Dickerson Post, No. 90, G. A. R.; a member of the I. O. G. T. Lodge at Castleton, and both he and Mrs. Smith are members of the M. P. church.