Susan Smith

Written by Anna Mae Maday, Manager, Eddy Historical & Genealogy Collection of Hoyt Public Library in Saginaw, Michigan
September 2000


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In 1885 the Saginaw Reading Club, an organization devoted to the study of culture, was organized. Susan Smith and her daughter Winifred were charter members. Susan Smith was elected vice-president of the Saginaw Reading Club for 1887-1888. She then served as the organization's fifth president in 1889-1890. During her time as president, the club chose to study Germany. Susan Smith was a member of the club's 1892-1893 program committee that hesitantly broached the subject of women's suffrage . Egypt was the study topic that year. Five years later she served on the executive committee. She enjoyed participating in the club's activities and rarely, if ever, missed a meeting. For almost half a century Susan Smith had been associated with society and the cultural community of Saginaw. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of Saginaw General Hospital and participated in charitable work. Mrs. Smith participated in church activities and belonged to First Presbyterian Church.

Susan Wallis Cochrane was born in Orleans County, New York on April 21, 1831. She married Jay Smith, who became a Saginaw City pioneer druggist. She was the mother of eight children. Susan Smith, who had been a widow for seven years, died November 18, 1902, at her Saginaw residence, 316 South Michigan Avenue. Just a few weeks before her death she had given a presentation to the Saginaw Reading Club. At the funeral her favorite hymns were sung, and an appropriate poem was read. She was interred at Oakwood Cemetery.

One of her sons, Wallis Craig Smith, followed his mother's example and became involved with Saginaw's Associated Charities and served as chairman of the Saginaw Chapter of the American Red Cross during WWI and the 1918 flu epidemic.

Suggested Reading
  • Chapman, Chas. C.History of Saginaw County. 1881.
  • McDonald, Tom. Parade of Saginaw Folks I Wish I Had Known. Part 2.
  • Mills, James Cooke. History of Saginaw County.
  • Saginaw Courier Herald. November 19, 1902 & November 21, 1902.
  • Saginaw Evening News. May 21, 1895.
  • Saginaw Reading Club History.

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Keywords: Saginaw Reading Club--Presidents  ; Smith, Susan Wallis Cochrane  ; Women--Societies and clubs  ; Smith, Jay  ; 
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