Smithville, Ohio, is a town (pop. 800 in 1959; 1,333 in 2000), located in Wayne County, northeast quarter of the state (coordinates: 40° 51′ 48″ N, 81° 51′ 31″ W). Probably 1,500 Mennonites lived within a ten-mile radius in the late 1950s, mostly of the Mennonite Church group, with some Conservative Amish, Old Order Amish, Old Order (Wisler) Mennonites, and General Conference Mennonites included. At the time, chief settlements were north, east, and south, with about thirty Mennonite families living in Smithville. Amish Mennonites were among the first settlers in the area, coming from Pennsylvania about 1817. Three Mennonite (MC) churches in the immediate vicinity (Oak Grove, Smithville, Salem); Rittman Mennonite Home for the Aged is five miles northeast. Smithville is in Green Township, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the nation.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, 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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