"UNCLE
JOHN" SMITH DIES IN HIS 98th YEAR
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Nestor
of Freeport Passes Away In House He Built Sixty Years Ago.
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FRIEND
OF RUSSELL SAGE
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Born
In Merrick, He Became One Of The Prominent Residents of South Side
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(Special
to The Eagle)
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Freeport,
L.I.February 24 - John A. Smith,
who was born on July 17, 1817, and was in his 98th year, died last night
at his home, a house which he built sixty years ago, on North Main St.,
of heart failure.Everybody knew
him as Uncle John and he was much esteemed on the south side, of which
he was one of the oldest residents.
Uncle
John was the son of Daniel Smith and was born on Meadowbrook Road in Merrick.He
lived there until he was 24 years old, when he married Susan R. Smith,
daughter of Raynor Rock Smith.They
had three boys and one girl.The
sons, Lincoln, Alonzo and Charles, still living, , while the daughter died
sixty years ago.Mrs. Smith died
five years ago at the age of 89.
John
A. Smith had been a Republican since the formation of the party.He
use to say that he believed his first vote was cast for Martin Van Buren
for President, although he was only 19 when he was elected, but he contended
that in those days it was size that qualified one to vote.He
voted for every President since that time, and he declared that the two
men whom he thought to be the greatest were Abraham Lincoln and Theodore
Roosevelt.
Mr.
Smith held various offices in the town of Hempstead- two terms as town
collector, two terms as town assessor and for two terms was a justice of
the peace.One of the events of his
life, of which he was fond of speaking, was the part he took with his father-
in- law, Raynor Rock Smith in the burial of the dead of the wreck of the
bark "Mexico", from a European port, when there were only nine survivors
out of a total of more than 100 that sailed on the vessel.The
vessel was sunk off now Baldwin, and it was one of the worst wrecks in
the history of the island coast.There
is a large tombstone in Rockville Cemetery in honor of the dead of that
casualty.
Mr.
and Mrs. Smith were great friends of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Sage, and they
were often invited to the Sage homestead at the Isle of Wight near Lawrence,
as guests.Mr. Sage often took occasion
to stop and see Uncle John and hear him talk about early events on the
island and of the men who were famous in the country and in politics in
the State and in his part of the island.Mrs
Sage sought out Mrs Smith and many happy hours were spent together.
Mr.
Smith was in full possession of all his faculties up till the time of his
death, except that within a year or two his hearing had become a little
defective.He was fond of a good
horse and until quite recent years drove a trotting horse himself.He
was always interested in the card of races at the Mineola Fair and went
frequently to Belmont and Aqueduct race tracks to watch the horses run.
The
funeral (rest of sentence torn, cannot read) Monday afternoon and the Rev.
J. Sidney Gould, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of this place
will officiate.Interment will be
in Greenfield Cemetery.Besides the
sons mentioned, Mr. Smith is survived by 18 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren
and 2 great great grandchildren.