J. FRANK SMITH, photographer, Fairfield, is a native of Switzerland; was born in October, 1841. He came to the United States with his parents, Anthony and Mary Smith, who settled with their family in the present limits of the city of Chicago. There the parents and an older brother's wife and child died, in September, 1853, of cholera.
In 1855, the remainder of the family removed to McHenry County, Ill, , where they engaged in the pursuit of farming. J. F. Smith was, therefore, early thrown upon his own resources for a livelihood, and his opportunities for education materially abridged. He had acquired a tolerable proficiency in reading and, writing in German before leaving his native country.
By the economy of time and application to study, he qualified himself for practical business life. Curing the late civil war, he was assistant in the Quartermaster's Department, and while in that position he embraced the opportunity to learn the art of photography, which achievement alone has influenced his subsequent life, as he bas followed that profession continuously ever since. Soon after the war, he located at Xenia, Clay Co., Ill., to pursue his trade, and while there became acquainted with Nancy L. Young, to whom he was married on the 15th of March, 1868. She is a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Berry) Young, formerly of Hickory Hill Township, where Nancy L. was born on the 4th of December, 1847.
Thomas Youngwas born January 21, 1816, and Mary Berry was born October 10, 1816. They were married in Greene County, Ind., January 23, 1840, and came to Wayne County, Ill., as early as 1844, The former died in 1848, and the latter in 1851.
Mrs. Smith, thus early left an orphan, was reared by Mr. Stout Atteberry of Wayne County.
Mr. Smith came to Fairfield in the spring of 1878, after a residence of several years in Minneapolis, Minn., and has a thriving business and pleasant residence property. He is a member of the Royal Templars of Temperance. Their union has been blessed with four children -
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