BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SMITH is the owner of 237 acres of land in Lost Creek Township, Miami County, Ohio, his home farm consisting of 157 acres located about seven miles northeast of Troy at the intersection of a mud road and the Lost Creek Extension Pike . He was born on his father's farm in Montgomery County, Ohio, April 5, l853, and is a son of Alexander and Isabella (Waymeyer) Smith.

Alexander Smith was born in Rock Bridge County, Virginia, in 1820, and was one of a large family of children. Although the father of this family was poor, he reared his children in the proper way and they all grew to be useful men and women in the various communities in which they lived. Alexander was the youngest member of the family, but because of his great size was generally referred to as the "big brother." He became a skilled workman as a blacksmith, learning the trade in Virginia in his youth. When a young man he left his native state because of his antislavery views, and later wanted the other members of the family to leave in order to afford their children better educational advantages. He came to Ohio on horseback and while passing through the swamps of Indiana was mired, which necessitated his walking the remainder of the way. He was about twenty years old when he arrived at Dayton, Ohio, and he soon erected a shop at Frederick, about twelve miles distant from that city. He later purchased a farm in Butler Township, Montgomery County, on which he erected a shop, and in addition to general farming he did many odd jobs of blacksmithing for his neighbors. He continued there until 1862 when he sold his farm and purchased the present home farm of the subject of this sketch, in Lost Creek Township, Miami County. Here he continued to live until his death in March 1889. He married Isabella Waymeyer in Montgomery County, she being a native of that county. Her death occurred about the year 1887. The following children were born to them: Sarah, wife of Joseph Ray; Jennie, wife of John Tobias; Benjamin Franklin; James; Wesley; Harrison; and William, who died it the age of one year.

Benjamin Franklin Smith, familiarly known as Frank, was about nine years of age when his parents moved to Miami County, and located upon his present farm. His education was limited and when quite young he began work on the home farm, on which he has since continued. Upon the death of his father he bought out the other heirs in this property, on which he has made many important improvements. The brick house in which he lives was erected in 1840. He has always been a hard and industrious worker, and all that he possesses has come through his individual efforts. He and his brother James, purchased another tract of 160 acres in Lost Creek Township. Mr. Smith has traveled extensively through the South and West, and been pretty generally over the country, but he considers the Miami Valley the garden spot of the universe. In addition to the property mentioned, he also is the owner of five good residence properties in Casstown, and a small farm on the Miami River in Staunton Township.

June 6, 1889, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Anna Tobias, a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Whip) Tobias, from near Dayton, both of her parents now being deceased. She was one of the following children born to them: Jonathan; Mary Elizabeth, wife of J. Jackson; Sarah, wife of John Barnett; Laura; Anna; Walter; and Daniel, who died young. Politically, Mr. Smith is a Republican.