Parents:
. Martin Smith (1800 - 1870)
. Mary Elizabeth Smith (1803 - 1859)
Marriage:
. Marcelia Dexter, 13 Feb 1881
The funeral of Martin S. Smith, department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and oldest graduate of Brown University, whose death occurred last night at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Howard W. Steere, in Chepachet, will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock, with internment in Glenford cemetery. Military burial will be accorded him, in charge of Col. Charles Black of Providence, a retired army man and friend of Mr. Smith. Services will be conducted in North Scituate Baptist Church, with Rev Floyd Taylor, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, husband of a granddaughter of Mr. Smith, officiating.
Mr. Smith, who had been living at the Steere residence only during an illness of two weeks, was considered a man of remarkable vigor for his nearly 92 years. Except for periods when he was out of the state, he lived at the farm house on Grange road, North Scituate, where he was born. Up to a few weeks ago he sawed wood for half an hour a day and made his weekly trip to Providence to dispose of his farm products.
Three years of residence in the West excepted, he marched in every Brown commencement procession since 1867. Last September he marched in the National G.A.R. parade in Washington, where he attended the annual convention.
From Brown, where he was president of his class and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Mr. Smith went to Blackfoot, Mont, to become storekeeper, minor and school teacher directly following the Civil War. He also went into business in New York and Brooklyn for a time. He was regarded an expert in determining farm land values in Rhode Island. He served in both houses of the General Assembly.
Mr. Smith's early education was obtained at the district school near his home on Grange road, Chopmist Hill, and East Greenwich Academy. When he entered Brown, at the age of 16, the college had only 200 students and half a dozen buildings.
Mr. Smith had been in his class for two years when he decided to volunteer for the Civil War. He applied to Governor James V. Smith for commission and was sent to Washington to take an examination, which he passed. Commissioned a second Lieutenant in the Fourteenth Rhode Island Regiment, a heavy artillery outfit, he soon was placed in command of company. He was successively battalion quartermaster of the Third Battalion and regimental quartermaster.
The regiment trained on Dutch Island in Narragansett Bay and then sent to New Orleans, where it was assigned to Camp Parapet, on the Mississippi, below the city. Mr. Smith was mustered out in October, 1865.
On a trip to Blackfoot, Mont; to become partner of his brother Edward in a general store, he travelled 1400 miles by stage coach after leaving the Union Pacific railroad. He joined Prescott Post, G.A.R. at its formation in 1867, but soon transferred to Rodman Post. He was a great past commander of the Loyal Legion, an organization of commissioned officers.
He served many times as moderator of Scituate and was at one time president of the council. He served also as superintendent of schools and as trial justice under the old court system. He was a Republican.
His wife, the former Marcelie Dexter, a teacher whom he hired as trustee of the Eagle school district and whom he soon afterward married, died about 25 years ago. Survivors are his daughter, Mrs. Steere, and two sons, Benjamin H. of Scituate and Howard D. Smith of Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
Page 2 of the Pawtucket Times, published in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Monday, November 23rd, 1936
Parents:
. Martin Smith (1800 - 1870)
. Mary Elizabeth Smith (1803 - 1859)
Marriage:
. Marcelia Dexter, 13 Feb 1881
The funeral of Martin S. Smith, department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and oldest graduate of Brown University, whose death occurred last night at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Howard W. Steere, in Chepachet, will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock, with internment in Glenford cemetery. Military burial will be accorded him, in charge of Col. Charles Black of Providence, a retired army man and friend of Mr. Smith. Services will be conducted in North Scituate Baptist Church, with Rev Floyd Taylor, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, husband of a granddaughter of Mr. Smith, officiating.
Mr. Smith, who had been living at the Steere residence only during an illness of two weeks, was considered a man of remarkable vigor for his nearly 92 years. Except for periods when he was out of the state, he lived at the farm house on Grange road, North Scituate, where he was born. Up to a few weeks ago he sawed wood for half an hour a day and made his weekly trip to Providence to dispose of his farm products.
Three years of residence in the West excepted, he marched in every Brown commencement procession since 1867. Last September he marched in the National G.A.R. parade in Washington, where he attended the annual convention.
From Brown, where he was president of his class and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Mr. Smith went to Blackfoot, Mont, to become storekeeper, minor and school teacher directly following the Civil War. He also went into business in New York and Brooklyn for a time. He was regarded an expert in determining farm land values in Rhode Island. He served in both houses of the General Assembly.
Mr. Smith's early education was obtained at the district school near his home on Grange road, Chopmist Hill, and East Greenwich Academy. When he entered Brown, at the age of 16, the college had only 200 students and half a dozen buildings.
Mr. Smith had been in his class for two years when he decided to volunteer for the Civil War. He applied to Governor James V. Smith for commission and was sent to Washington to take an examination, which he passed. Commissioned a second Lieutenant in the Fourteenth Rhode Island Regiment, a heavy artillery outfit, he soon was placed in command of company. He was successively battalion quartermaster of the Third Battalion and regimental quartermaster.
The regiment trained on Dutch Island in Narragansett Bay and then sent to New Orleans, where it was assigned to Camp Parapet, on the Mississippi, below the city. Mr. Smith was mustered out in October, 1865.
On a trip to Blackfoot, Mont; to become partner of his brother Edward in a general store, he travelled 1400 miles by stage coach after leaving the Union Pacific railroad. He joined Prescott Post, G.A.R. at its formation in 1867, but soon transferred to Rodman Post. He was a great past commander of the Loyal Legion, an organization of commissioned officers.
He served many times as moderator of Scituate and was at one time president of the council. He served also as superintendent of schools and as trial justice under the old court system. He was a Republican.
His wife, the former Marcelie Dexter, a teacher whom he hired as trustee of the Eagle school district and whom he soon afterward married, died about 25 years ago. Survivors are his daughter, Mrs. Steere, and two sons, Benjamin H. of Scituate and Howard D. Smith of Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
Page 2 of the Pawtucket Times, published in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Monday, November 23rd, 1936
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