Wayne County Biographies



Part of the Indiana Biographies Project



Isham Smelser

During the pioneer epoch in the history of Wayne county, the Smelser family was founded within its borders by Jacob and Elizabeth (Smith) Smelser, who, leaving their homes in Kentucky in 1822, took up their residence in Boston township, Wayne county, Indiana, where they spent their remaining days. The members of the family took an active and prominent part in the development of this section of the state, aided in transforming its wild lands into rich farms, and in other ways promoted the progress and advancement which made a once wild region the home of a contented, prosperous people. Jacob Smelser lived to witness much of the development of the county, his death occurring December 8, 1875, when he had reached the advanced age of ninety-one years. His wife passed away April 7, 1869, at the age of seventy-five years. They had nine children: Harriet, widow of William Byers, and a resident of Richmond; Solomon, who is mentioned in connection with the sketch of Nicholas Smelser, of Harrison township, Union county; Catherine, who married Isaac Esteb, of Boston township, Wayne county; Margarey, deceased wife of John Sedgwick; James, who died leaving a widow, who now lives four miles east of Richmond; Isham, of this review; Jacob, a resident of Frankton, Madison county, Indiana; Minerva, wife of James Hart, of Harrison township, Union county; and Tracy, widow of Zachariah Osborn, of Boston township, Wayne county.

Isham Smelser, whose name heads this article, was born on the old family homestead in Wayne county, November 23, 1823, and was therefore reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life. He aided in the arduous task of clearing wild land and converting it into fertile fields, continuing to assist his father until his marriage, when he began farming on his own account. The first land he owned was a tract of one hundred and eighty-two acres, given him by his father, and with characteristic energy he began its development. He was very industrious and enterprising, and as his financial resources increased he added to his landed possessions until he was the owner of an extensive and valuable property. In connection with the cultivation of his fields, he engaged in raising cattle in large numbers. He fed these for the town market, and found that branch of his business a very profitable one. His capable management, enterprise, well directed efforts and honorable dealings were the important factors in his prosperity and brought him a very handsome competence.

In 1850 Mr. Smelser and Miss Henrietta Farlow were united in marriage. The lady was a daughter of John and Catherine Farlow, of Harrison township, Union county, where the family located at a very early day. It was in that locality that Mrs. Smelser was born, and there her marriage occurred. Four children were born of this union: John F. and Richard E., who reside on the old family homestead, now owned by the latter; Jacob S., a resident farmer of Boston township, Wayne county; and Mary E., wife of Walter W. McConahan, of Center township, Wayne county. Both Richard and John are members of the Knights of Pythias fraternity of Abington, Indiana. The former owns four hundred and five acres of land, - the old family homestead, - and the latter is the owner of a valuable farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Boston township. They carried on business in partnership for five years, but have since dissolved their business relations. They are both men of executive ability and enterprise and are numbered among the leading citizens of the community. The father of this family was a faithful member of the Universalist church, very regular in his attendance on its services, and was fond of an argument on religious topics, on which he was well informed. Straightforward in all his business dealings, loyal to his duties of citizenship, he commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow men, and by his death the community lost one of its valued citizens. He passed away September 28, 1882, in his fifty-ninth year, and his wife, surviving him some time, died December 15, 1893, at the age of sixty-seven years.

Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899