The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 274

RAY W. SMITH.

Ray W. Smith was born in the old town of Yakima, July 28, 1886, and throughout
his entire life has resided in this locality, his life expressing the spirit of
western enterprise and progress, which have been the dominant factors in the
upbuilding of the great empire of the northwest. His parents were Robert W. and
Addie Gertrude (Adkins) Smith, the former a native of England, while the latter
was born in Michigan. Coming to Washington in 1886, they located at Yakima,
where the father engaged in business. He also secured a homestead in Yakima
county and in 1893 he purchased ten acres of land six miles west of the city of
Yakima, planting one-half of this to orchard, while the balance was devoted to
the raising of hay and corn. He afterward divided his homestead between the
children, but the property has since been sold. The father is now living
retired, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. He
served as a soldier of the Civil war, enlisting in the Union army from Wisconsin
and giving active aid to the cause of liberty. Since coming to Yakima he has
filled the office of justice of the peace and he is recognized at all times as a
citizen of worth. In the family were three children, two sons and a daughter,
but the daughter is now deceased. There was also one child of the father's
second marriage.

Ray W. Smith acquired a public school education and in early life took up
ranching. He now manages the old home place and is accounted one of the
successful and representative business men of the locality.

On the 5th of April, 1907, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Margaret Gearheart, of
Oregon, and they have become parents of two children, Raymond and Welford. Mrs.
Smith is a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church. In politics Mr. Smith is
an independent republican, voting according to the dictates of his judgment,
which often, however, endorses republican principles. He stands for progress in
all that relates to the community and district in which his entire life has been
passed. For a third of a century he has lived here, witnessing the growth and
development of the community, and he is a most enthusiastic champion of the
west.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.