Smith, George (of Madison Co., IL)

Born: 1796 New Hampshire

Died: 1860

Flourished: Madison County, Illinois

In January 1825, Smith married Sally Dunsmore, and they settled in Madison County, Illinois, where Smith became a prominent member of the community. Smith served as an early postmaster in Alton, where he was also a farmer. Religiously, Smith was a Baptist; he helped found and served on the Board of Trustees of the Alton Seminary, which later became Shurtleff College. Smith was also a member of the Madison Association, an anti-slavery society formed in 1823. He served on the Alton Board of Trustees from 1834 to 1835. From 1838 to 1840, he represented Madison County in the Illinois House of Representatives, where he served alongside fellow Whig Abraham Lincoln. Smith was also elected to the Illinois Senate in 1842 and 1844, serving until 1846. By 1860, he owned $25,000 worth of real estate.

History of Madison County, Illinois (Edwardsville, IL: W. R. Brink, 1882), 101, 304; W. T. Norton, ed., Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People 1812 to 1912 (Chicago: Lewis, 1912), 1:82, 85, 480; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 317, 353; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Madison County, IL, 206; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Madison County, 2 January 1825, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Gazetteer of Madison County (Alton, IL: James T. Hair, 1866), 87, 127-28, 131-32; John Clayton, comp., Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 208, 210, 212.