The Smith Family of Broadlands
Image Credit:
George W. Smith Family, Doris K. Wylie Hoskins Archive, Museum of the Grand Prairie, Mahomet, IL
Approximately 1 mile northwest of Broadlands, IL
George W. Smith arrived in Champaign County in 1876 and purchased his first 80 acres. Formerly enslaved, during the Civil War he acted as a Union Scout in Tennessee. A noted stockman, farmer, and horseman at the time of his death in 1911, he owned 437 acres and was worth $3,717,800 in today’s dollars. His son William Walter Smith became the first African American to graduate from the University of Illinois in 1900. George’s other sons expanded and continued the farm. In 1983 the Smiths were awarded a Centennial Farm designation for being in the family for 100 years. As late as 2012 its last 160 acres were still under family ownership.
Decade:
1870-1879
People:
- George W. Smith
Location(s):
- Broadlands, Illinois
Additional Broadlands Trail Sites
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