Other surnames mentioned: Coldren , Ensminger , Premer , Schlosser , Smith John C. Smith, one of Pike township's well known farmers, was born on the farm on which he is now living, and has resided there all his life, with the exception of a period of two years in the days of his young manhood when he lived in Ohio. Mr. Smith was born on March 13, 1858, and is a son of Daniel and Catherine (Schlosser) Smith, both natives of Ohio. In 1848, Daniel Smith came to Indiana and bought a quarter section of uncleared land in Pike township, this county, moving into a log cabin erected by George Ensminger at an earlier date, and there established his home. His affairs prospered, and among his pioneer activities he burned a kiln of brick in 1850, probably the first undertaking of the kind in Jay county, and from which he erected for himself in 1851, a brick house, said to be the first of the kind in the county. This house is still standing, one of the pioneer landmarks of this region. Daniel Smith spent the remainder of his life in this new house, his death occurring there in 1880. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, but four of whom are now living, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Susan and Catherine, and a brother William H. Smith. Reared on the farm in Pike township, John C. Smith received his early schooling in the neighborhood schools, and supplemented this by a term in the old Ridgeville College, and one session of the Portland Normal School. He had intended in his youth to prepare himself to teach school, but after attending a term of school at the Portland Normal he was offered a position as salesman in the co-operative store at Boundary, this county, and accepted this place, which he held for several years. On March 3, 1883, John C. Smith was married to Lucinda Smith, who was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, daughter of Benjamin and Abigail Smith. Mr. Smith lived in Jay county for nine months following his marriage, when his wife's mother died and at the request of her father they removed to Fairfield county, to take care of him in his declining years. They lived there for two years, when the father-in-law passed away and then they returned to live in Jay county on the farm that he now occupies of one hundred acres, where he and his family are comfortably situated. Mr. and Mrs. John C. Smith have two daughters, Carrie and Goldie, both of whom are married. Goldie Smith married Harvey Premer, of Ohio, and has four children, Daisy, Elizabeth, John and Ralph. Carrie Smith married Caldwell Coldren and has seven children, Edith, Beatrice, Lillian, Charles, Mary, Thelma and Caldwell. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Reformed church and are Democrats in their political faith. Mr. Smith is a member of Salamonia Lodge No. 803, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The Smith home is situated on rural mail route No. 8 out of the city of Portland.
Milton T. Jay, M.D., History of Jay County Indiana, Historical Publishing Co., Indpls. 1922, Vol. II. Submitted by: Eloine Chesnut
Buried in Boundary Cemetery