Smith, Clark M.

Born: 1820-05-10 Clarksville, Tennessee

Died: 1885-07-28 Springfield, Illinois

Flourished: Springfield, Illinois

Clark M. Smith, a merchant and brother-in-law to Abraham Lincoln, moved to Carlinville, Illinois, in 1835, where he worked as a clerk in a dry goods store before going into business for himself. His brother Stephen soon joined him as a partner. In October 1846, Smith married Ann M. Todd, Mary Lincoln's sister, and the couple had at least four children. Smith and his family relocated to Springfield in 1852, and Clark and Stephen opened a general mercantile store. The Smith brothers added William Yates to their partnership, forming Yates, Smith & Company. In 1860, Smith owned real property valued at $18,000 and had a personal estate of $20,000. Yates, Smith & Company continued until 1864, when the partnership dissolved and Clark Smith became the sole proprietor.

Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Sangamon County, 25 October 1846, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1881), 716; Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 30 July 1885, 5:5; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Springfield, Sangamon County, IL, 130; U.S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States (1870), Springfield, Sangamon County, IL, 243; Gravestone, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL.