MARTIN LEONARD SMITH 

Martin Leonard Smith was born May 13, 1828, in Montgomery County, Ohio, his parents being John (born and raised in Boston) and Catharine (Mowery, a native of Hagerstown, Maryland) Smith. The family moved to Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, then to Chillicothe, thence to Cincinnati and back to Dayton again. In 1835 they went to South Bend, Indiana, and lived there three years, then went to Elkhart, where the family made their home for many years. Mrs. Smith died there in 1885, at the age of eighty-four years. Mr. Smith died in Plymouth, Indiana, forty miles southwest of Elkhart, in 1854. They had a family of five children, who all lived to be grown: Elizabeth Hazelton, resident in Elkhart, Indiana; John R., Martin L., James, resident in Elkhart, and William Henry. The two latter were in the war; John died soon after, and William Henry is supposed to be dead. The subject of this sketch lived in Elkhart till 1852. When he was but sixteen years of age he commenced to learn the shoe-making trade, and worked about four years in his father’s shop, the same which he afterward conducted himself. He left for California in the spring of 1852, transferring his business to his brother-in-law, John Hazelton. There were three of them in the party, all young fellows; a man agreed to bring them out overland for $100 apiece. They had the privilege of paying that in money or wagons or anything to make out the outfit. Martin Smith had a wagon made and put it in for his share. After they reached Chicago the guide began to act ugly; but they stayed with him, not being very well able to help themselves, till they reached Cainesville on the Missouri; then they concluded to quit him. They had a trial of the matter, conducted by impartial parties and determined to allow him $25 for bringing them that far, and he had to refund the balance of the money and property. They then engaged another man at the same price, but he turned out to be meaner than the first man, and consequently, they had another suit on the plains, and the result was that they took his team away from him and kept it until they reached Placerville. While traveling on the plains they saw many things that would surprise an ordinary mortal, in these days; they would in themselves form a small volume and be most interesting, but the scope of this work will not allow of their repetition. After reaching California he visited many points of interest, wandering from one place to another until 1855, then followed mining, and at last, not being very successful at mining, bought a ranch and settled down on it; the purchase money was a part of that made at Teats’ diggings, about three miles from his present place. The ranch contains about 164 acres and is situated on the old Coloma road about thirteen miles from Sacramento. Mr. Smith was married in 1855 to Miss Sarah Flanigan, a native of County Clare, Ireland; she was very young when she left the old country for Fall River, Massachusetts. In 1852 she came to California via Cape Horn. They had ten children, of whom nine are living: James, Henry, who died on this ranch at the age of nine years, Benjamin Franklin, Mrs. Mary Ann Burk, Lizzie, John, Agnes, Sallie, Katie, Lora, Gracie. Mrs. Smith died in December 1882. Mr. Smith married again, November 19, 1884, to Miss Ellen Donavan, of Sacramento, a native of Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. Her parents were natives of Ireland and she came with them to Hoboken, New Jersey, and thence to Sacramento, where she had been resident for thirteen years. After an absence of thirty-eight years Mr. Smith, with his wife and youngest daughter, returned to the home of his boyhood on a visit.