Submitted by Laurie Selpien
Laurie wrote:
I am sending you the information on John R. Smith that I have, which is 'very' simular of what is on the Wayne County website. The
biography below is out of a book I own, of which is "A Journey Through Our Past Barr Family History", copywrite 1987 by Doris Jane
TROTTER. Doris used to live in Wayne County, IL and visited with my Grandmother. It was my Grandmother helped Doris write the
information on John Smith.
John R. SMITH was the first man to settle in what is now Four Mile Township south of Wayne City, Illinois. He was born in 1775 in North Carolina and came up through Kentucky to Illinois.
On November 12, 1818 he married red-headed Polly MYERS, the daughter of John and Elizabeth MYERS who lived between Bell Town and Auxier Creek.
John was the biggest man in the county, weighing around three hundred pounds and was fond of performing a variety of feats requiring great strength and nerve. He claimed to be very illiterate but was brimful of jokes and was marvelously well posted on points of scripture. He could not only quote profusely from any writer from the Book of Books but was also able, if some passage was read to him, to immediately identify the verse, chapter and author with remarkable precision.
John built the first mill in Four Mile Township. It used the old stump arrangement with horse power and ground meal for all the surrounding area for many years. He and Polly had two sons and one daughter:William Harrison, Daniel, and Mary Elizabeth "Betsy"who married William "Billy" COLLINS. Betsy and Billy were the parents of Eliza Jane (COLLINS) BARR.
John and Polly are buried in the Olive Branch Cemetery. This is a photo of John's tombstone
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