Springfield-Greene
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HARRISON MILTON SMITH. Harrison Milton Smith, cashier of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, of Springfield, is a native of the Buckeye state, having been born on June 28, 1857, in Licking county, Ohio. His parents were Harrison and Margaret (Brown) Smith, who were natives of Culpeper county, Virginia. His grandfather, Philip Smith, was a native of Warren county, Pennsylvania, and came from that sturdy German stock. His grandfather on his mother's side, Peter Brown, was of English descent. He was a minute man of the War of 1812, and lived to the ripe old age of ninety-one years. When H. M. was a small boy his parents emigrated from Ohio to Lagrange county, Indiana, where he lived until he grew to manhood. He received his early education in the district schools, and at the age of nineteen years he commenced teaching. He taught four terms and in the spring of 1880 he entered the State Normal at Terre Haute and graduated with honors in June, 1883, receiving a state teacher's license for life in the state of Indiana.
After graduating he became general agent for the Union Publishing Company of Chicago, in which position he served for eighteen months. In March, 1885, he entered the employ of the Goodspeed Publishing Company and for five years he was their biographical writer for state works. He traveled in ten different states and was considered as one of the company's most efficient and competent men.
On May 9, 1889, he married Sarah Catharine Foltz, who is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana. By this union three children were born; Imo Ann, died on October 31, 1895; Orpha Foltz and Wilma Bernice are at home with their parents.
On June 3, 1889, Mr. Smith located at Richland, Missouri, where he organized the Pulaski County Bank, it being the first bank in Pulaski county, hence he is known as the pioneer banker of said county. He was elected its cashier, which position he held for fourteen years. In June, 1903, he sold out and moved his family to Springfield, Missouri, and at once organized the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and it opened for business on September 21, 1913. Here again he was elected as cashier of said banking institution, which position he has since held. As a banker he has been a. success. His principal has always been "safety first" to his depositors and the banking institution of which he has been cashier, carrying at all times a surplus equal to the capital stock. He has always been a very busy man, looking carefully after every detail of the work at hand and in doing this he has been able to accumulate good property. Mr. Smith has always taken an active part in public affairs and in the welfare of the city in which he has lived. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a member of United Lodge, No. 5, Gate of Temple Chapter, No. 15, St. John's Commandery, Abou Ben Adhem Temple Shrine. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and Woodmen of the World. He has been a member of the Methodist church for many years, and is one of the trustees of Grace Methodist Episcopal church and one of its active members.
Mr. Smith is a self-made man in the true sense of the word. He was reared on the farm, working for twenty-five cents a day when a boy; worked two years in a brick yard at a dollar a day and boarded himself. He is one of the substantial business men of Springfield and one of the leading bankers of Southwestern Missouri. He was elected secretary of Group No. 7 at its last meeting in the fall of 1914.
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