14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



The Story of SmithVille 



will) ill the lumber world has not heard 

 of Siiiithville — that model New Jersey vil- 

 lage, the home of prosperity ;uiil I'ontent- 

 ment. the site of one 

 of the greatest wood 

 working machinery 

 industries in tlie 

 rountry.' Quiet and 

 obscure, with most 

 delightful surround- 

 ings, it stands as an 

 enduring and pic- 

 turesque monument 

 to the ability and in- 

 dustry of its founder, 

 H. B. Smith. 



To reach Smith- 

 ville one takes the 

 slow-going cars down 

 Market street, Phil- 

 adelphia, transfers' to 

 one of the great 

 ferry hulks at the 

 wharf, lands at the 

 Pennsylvania rail 

 road station in Cam- 

 den, X. J., and 

 takes the train. 

 Smithville is twenty- 

 two miles east of 

 Philadelphia, on thi- 

 Amboy division of 

 this great system nf 

 railroads. The local 

 train — they are all 

 local in this part of 

 .lersey — speeds out ' 

 through well-kept 

 truck gardens, past 

 pretty homes and 

 prosperous farms, 

 and in an hour by 

 the watch reaches 

 the railway station 

 of Smithville. It is 

 a typical Httle coun- 

 try depot. Across the 

 track and within 

 sight arc a number of 

 neat white cottages 

 with green blinds; a 

 big schoolhousc 

 stands on the hill, 

 and a modest church 

 is nearby. 



From the station 

 Smithville looks liki' 

 a slccply little ham 

 let. There is no 

 evidence that it is 

 one of the most fa- 

 mous centers for 

 the manufacture of 

 woodworking m a - 



ehinery in the country. After having inter- 

 viewed the station agent as to the location of 

 the real Smithville, one grasps his grips 



resolutely, and starts down the well-kept 

 turnpike, wifli rows of shade trees on each 



siili'. a'litl within a ttiird of :» mile sees 



SCKNE8 .Midi T iKi-: (;ui:.\r m.s.nskin .vr s.\iriii\ii,i.K. 



I'l'at (latL'wn.v. 



'I'lingled Shriibbciy Id the Yard of the MaiiKloii. 

 .'1. KancocaH (,'reek In Ki-ont of thr 



1?. 'I'lii' 

 Mansion. 



sparkling in the sunshine, a great pond, lie- 

 yond are irregular groups of buildings of 

 solid masonrv. On the wav one is enter 



taiiied Ijy the chirp of the robin, the shrill 

 note of the bluejay, and the cry of the cat- 

 I inl. Out in the country is Smithville, and 

 a picturesque coun- 

 try at that. .Tersey 

 IS usually thought of 

 as a level waste of 

 white sand, but this 

 part of the state is 

 lolling land, and the 

 water, trees and pc- 

 iniiar architecture of 

 the great Smith ma- 

 chinery plant all 

 contribute to the pic- 

 turesqueness. 



There is a long and 

 strange story about 

 Smithville. This sec- 

 tion belongs to the 

 tirst settled portions 

 of the state. The early 

 white population 

 shared in the trials 

 of contending claim- 

 ants, suffered from 

 the tyranny of selfish 

 rulers, and particu- 

 larly from disputed 

 boundary questions. 

 The stone tomahawks 

 and flint arrows of 

 the aborigines, fre- 

 quently found in the 

 vicinity, testify that 

 it was a favorite re- 

 sort for the red man, 

 the dense forests and 

 rich fisheries of the 

 Delaware and its 

 tributaries making 

 the region a kind of 

 Kdcn to him. The 

 early settlers were 

 Swedes and a Quaker 

 I'lement, who, from 

 honest dealings 

 witli the Indians, 

 ;;ained their respect 

 anil confidence, so 

 1 hat very few of the 

 horrors resulting 

 from contention be- 

 t ween aborigines and 

 wliites that befell 

 nther portions of the 

 lountry were enacted 

 ill this section. 



The happening of 

 Smithville is rather 

 singular. Its founder, 

 11. ii. Smith, was 

 born in Uridgewater, 

 Vt., in ]sl(i. lie was 

 a cabinet maker, his first pursuit being turn- 

 ing bed posts and chair stock by hand. This 

 1 nsiness enterprise was a failure, but ho 



