J. B. Smith. Scan courtesy Mennonite Church USA Archives-Goshen HM 4-299

Jacob Smith (1870-23 September 1951), a leading minister and educator in the Mennonite Church (MC), was born in St. Jacobs, Waterloo County, Ontario, the son of George and Mary Schmidt. His education included work at Elkhart Institute and Ohio Northern University at Ada, Ohio and Temple University. He was ordained preacher in 1897, serving several years as pastor of the Bethel (MC) congregation of Garden City, Missouri, and then, beginning in 1901, of the Bethel (MC) congregation of West Liberty, Ohio. In 1922 he moved to Elida, Ohio, where he served as minister in the Salem Mennonite Church for many years. He died in Elida on 23 September 1951.

J. B. Smith's greatest service was in the field of teaching and writing. He served on the faculty of Hesston College (1910-1917 and 1927-1929), and as the first president of Eastern Mennonite College (1917-1922). He was the author of One Thousand Best Bible Verses (Chicago, 1924) and Greek-English Concordance to the New Testament (Scottdale, 1955). On 17 March 1901, he was married to Lena Burkhardt. Among their seven children were Ruth Smith, who married Truman Brunk, and J. Harold Smith, who was a professor at Hesston and Goshen colleges.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 553. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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