Adam and Mary L Smyrl
From the Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of
Kentucky, published by the John M Gresman Company, Chicago-Philadelphia 1896.
page 77-78
ADAM SMYRL of Bellevue, a member of the firm of Smyrl & Hughes, No
50 West Fourth street, Cincinnati, Ohio, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland,
March 8, 1843. He was particularly fortunate in his school days and
embraced the opportunities which his parents gave him in the common schools and
best academies in the county.
He came to America in 1869, stopping near Worcester, Massachusetts. He found employment in one of the large woolen mills there, and stuck to it until he mastered the business, which he followed in the New England States until 1876. His mother, having arrived in the country, was living in Bellevue and when he came to visit her in 1876 she persuaded him to remain with her.
He accepted a position in the house of C H Bishop & Co flour merchants and continued with them until 1883, when he formed a partnership with W C McClanahan and embarked in the flour, grain and commission business in Cincinnati. The firm of Smyrl & McClanahan continued until 1888 when Mr. McClanahan withdrew and a new firm under the style of Smyrl, Armstrong & Hughes was formed, in which name the business was continued until 1894, when Mr. Armstrong retired and the name was changed to Smyrl and Hughes. The extensive business of this house is the best evidence of Mr. Smyrl's ability and integrity as a business man. Although his principal place of business is in Cincinnati, he is greatly interested in the town in which he has his residence, and in one of the most enterprising citizens of Bellevue.
He is president of the Bellevue and Dayton Land Company; also president of the South Bellevue Development Company, and is interested in other enterprises pertaining to the advancement of the community in which he lives. He has been a director of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; was a member of the Bellevue City Council for eight years; is president of the Jamestown Magisterial District of Bellevue; was chairman of the Bellevue School Board, and is president of the L J Crawford Republican Club of Bellevue. While he is not in any sense a politician, he is deeply interested in the success of the Republican party.
He is a member and trustee of the Presbyterian Church; superintendent of the Sabbath school, and is a good citizen, honored and respected by all who know him.
Mr. Smyrl was married May 3, 1882, to Mary L Milligan, daughter of Samuel Milligan of Cincinnati. She is also a member and active worker in the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Smyrl's parents, Gabriel and Sarah Ann (Bell) Smyrl were natives of County Tyrone, Ireland. His father died in his native country at the age of forty-six in 1856. He was a man of fine intelligence and a devoted Christian in connection with the Presbyterian Church; had many friends in his country. He had visited American and seen considerable for a man in the humble position of a farmer. After his death, Mr. Smyrl came to this country, where some of her relatives had preceded her and finally made her home in Bellevue where she reached the good old age of four score years and died in November 1893.
Mr. Smyrl has several brothers, who are respected citizens of Bellevue.
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