Los Angeles County, CA, Biographies

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NICHOLAS SMITH.
 
        Among the California pioneers of 1849, and the early settlers of Los 
Angeles County and well-known residents of El Monte Township, is the subject of 
this sketch. Mr. Smith is a native of Prussia, and dates his birth October 18, 
1818. His parents were Lawrence and Mary (Maxminer) Smith, both natives of the 
place of his birth. His father was a farmer, to which occupation the son was 
reared. At the age of twenty years he entered the Prussian military service, and 
served four years in the Ninth Regiment of Prussian Hussars. After his discharge 
from the service he was employed in agricultural pursuits until 1847. In that 
year he emigrated to the United States, and, upon his arrival, went to the 
Western country and was engaged at farm labor in Wisconsin and Michigan. In 1849 
the California gold fever prompted him to seek his fortune in the El Dorado of 
the Pacific Coast, and in the spring of that year he joined a party of emigrants 
and started across the plains for California. This journey was made by ox teams, 
the route taken being through Utah, and thence by the Southern route to 
California. Late in the year Mr. Smith arrived in San Bernardino County, where 
he remained until the following spring, and then came to Los Angeles County and 
located in Los Angeles, where he established a boarding-house, which he 
conducted until 1851. In that year he came to El Monte and took up a Government 
claim for 160 acres of land, located about one mile east of El Monte. Here he 
established his residence and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. For 
nearly forty years Mr. Smith has resided upon his farm, giving years of steady 
toil to its improvement and cultivation. With the exception of planting a small 
family orchard his operations have been confined to hay, grain and 
stock-raising. His long residence here has made him well known throughout the 
San Gabriel Valley; and his straightforward dealings with his fellow�men and his 
consistent course of life have gained him the respect and esteem of his 
associates. In. political matters he is a sound Republican, and has supported 
that party since its organization in 1856. During the late war he was a strong 
Union man and a firm supporter of the National Government. In 1850 Mr. Smith was 
united in marriage with Miss Elmira Pierce, a native of New Hampshire, and a 
cousin of President Franklin Pierce. She died in July, 1887. From this marriage 
there were two children born. The first child, Mary, died August 27, 1864, aged 
twelve years. The second child, Nicholas, is now (1889) living upon the old 
homestead and engaged in conducting the farm operations. He married Miss Julia 
Newman in 1888. She is the daughter of John and Adelina Newman, residents of El 
Monte. Of this union one child has been born, Nicholas Erwin.
 
An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California �  Chicago, The Lewis 
Publishing Company, 1889   Page 815
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler