-------------------------------
from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
PastAndPresentOfMahaskaCo.,IA by Manoah Hedge(Theodore Kent Smith) - THEODORE KENT SMITH, b. 13 Jun 1826 Theodore Kent Smith, whose sterling integrity and genuine personal worth made him a valued citizen of Oskaloosa, where for many years he was extensively and successfully engaged in the jewelry business, was born June 13, 1826, in Schuyler Falls, Washington county, New York. His father, Herman Smith, was a miller by occupation and served in the Revolutionary war on Lake Champlain with the rank of lieutenant. He married Lucy Beckwith. Following the removal of the family to Plattsburg, New York, Theodore K. Smith there spent his boyhood days, and mastered the common branches of English learning but left school at the age of fourteen years to enter business life. His father had met with financial reverses and it was necessary. that the son should aid in his own support. He had been reared in a good Christian family of the Methodist faith, and lessons of industry, integrity and sobriety were early instilled into his mind. For four years he was connected with the jewelry business in Fort Ann, New York, and afterward removed to Northfield, Vermont, where he continued in the same line of trade. While living in the former city he was married to Sarah Slocum and unto them was born a son, E. A. Smith, who is now living in New Sharon, Iowa. The wife and mother died in Fort Ann, New York and in 1853 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Clara L. Beckwith, of St. Louis, Missouri. He continued a resident of Vermont for four years and then removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where he spent one year. He afterward passed two years in Hannibal, Missouri, and two years in Macon City, Missouri, and on the 21st of May, 1861, arrived in Oskaloosa, where he established a jewelry store. In 1870 he erected a two story brick building on First avenue West, known as the T. K. Smith Jewelry House, and the same year he purchased and rebuilt a commodious and comfortable residence on Third avenue East, where he lived until his death. He was known as one of the foremost jewelers in the state of Iowa, drawing an extensive patronage from all sections of Mahaska and adjoining counties. He was thoroughly reliable in all of his business dealings and he carried a large and well selected line of goods, so that he was able to met the varied tastes of the general public. By the second marriage of Mr. Smith there were seven children added to the household. His second wife was a daughter of a Methodist minister, and was educated in a Catholic convent in St. Louis, Missouri. She was married at the age of eighteen years, and by this union were born the following named children: Addie and George Smith, both now deceased; Herbert F.; Daisy L., the wife of L. H. Greenwood, of Topeka, Kansas; Mrs. Clara L. Hearne, the widow of William E. Hearne; and Louis E. Smith, of Oskaloosa. In his political affiliation Mr. Smith was a stanch republican and held the office of councilman from the third ward, but was not active in politics as an office seeker, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs which were capably and profitably conducted. He was a man of quiet tastes and habits, never seeking prominence socially or politically. He had, however, a large circle of warm personal friends. He possessed a generous disposition and was a man of large heart, kindly disposition and genuine worth and his word was as good as his bond. He died March 2, 1893, at his home in Oskaloosa, at the age of sixty-six years, eight months and nineteen days, after a residence of almost a third of a century in this city.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy