Rev. John L. Smith, D. D. [pp. 385-387]

THE
LADIES' REPOSITORY.
NOVEMBER, 4876.
REV. JOHN L. SMITH, D. D.
EV. JOHN LEWIS SMITH, whose
portiait wvas puiblishled in thle Sep teml)er nmiumbier of the REPOSITORY, is
the son of Bowvlin and Lovewvell Smith,
and w as born in Br-uunswick County, Vi1ginia, onl the 24thll of May, I8II. His
mater-nal grandparents, WVilliam and
IMaryI\ Oweneis, wer-e converted and joined
the M\ethlodist Episcopal Clhurch utnder
the pr-eaching of Rev. Rolbert \Villiams,
in I773, near Por-tsmouthtl, Virginia, and
were two of thle seven persons constituiting the fil-st class in the Old Dominion.
Tllex after ward remioved to B-runsvwick
Countyiit where Dr. Smiithl's mother was
)born on the 22d of Fel)bruary-), I784, ten
months before the formal or-ganization
of the MIethlodist Episcopal Church in
Amei-rica, whichl event took place at the
Chlristmas Conference of that year. The
paterIal g-randmiothler was of the noted
Perry famlily of Rhode Island, a near
relati xe of Oliver Hazard Perry of naval
falne.
Dr-. Smithl was the fourthl child and first
son of his fiatlher's household, and wvas
dedicated in infaitncy, by his mnother, to
the service and cause of God. Ten of
this g-ood womanl's children (three sons
and seven daughters) lived to manhood
-and womanhl ood;. seven of them still
suirv ive; and.thle two brotlhers, besides
the Doctor, are now lhonored citizens of
Indiana, and usefill members of the
Chu i-cl.
VOL. XXXVI.-25'
The educational advantages of Dr.
Smith's boyhlood wvere fewv and meagre.
Such opportunities as the "subscription"
schools in the neigllhborhllood of his father's house afforded were wvell improved
b)y the lad in the acquirement of the common blranchles of study. Afterward his
education was carried forwvard to a certain extent in the "grammiar school'' or
academy which hle attended; )but on
reaching manhlood his scholastic attainments wvere still limited and imperfect.
His robust and vigorous intellect was left
well-nigh uintr-ammeled by the doctrines
and discipline of the schools. Much
sulbsequent reading and gene-ral study
have gone far toward compensating for
the deficiencies of his early education.
Dr. Smith was converted to God under
the labors of the Rev. George W. Maley,
in Union Chapel, on Union circuit,
Greene County, Ohio, April I, 1827.
Hithler, in the previous year, his fathler's
family had removed from Virginia. He
was licensed to exhort by the Rev. William SuLttonl in June of I836; and his license to preaclh wvas issued in the following Felbruary, lby the Rev. James B.
Finley. The yotung preachler, full of
vigor and enthusiasm, was at once put
onL a circuit, and has remained "effective," in all the senses of that word, until
the present day. In 1840 he removed to
Indiana and joined the old Indiana Conference at its October sessionl in Indian