Born in
Augusta, New York, to Timothy Smith and Lucy Avery Smith, Smith graduated from
Hamilton College second in his class and at the age of 18. He then studied law and was admitted to the New York Bar. In 1845, he moved to
Kenosha, Wisconsin, In 1857, Smith became vice president of the Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac Railroad. The assets of that railroad were purchased in June 1859 by the new
Chicago and North Western Railroad, and Perry was named as vice-president of that. A locomotive of the new line was named in his honor, but it was wrecked in an accident on November 1, 1859 when an ox ran onto the track. In 1860, he moved to
Chicago, Illinois. In 1866, Perry donated half of the $25,000 cost for a new library building at his alma mater,
Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, and participated in the laying of the cornerstone on July 18. The building was completed and opened in 1872 as the Perry Hiram Smith Library. In 1924, it underwent its first renovation to become the Knox Infirmary. In about 1964 it was transformed into Minor Theater. In 2015, it became a residence hall and was renamed Morris House. In January 1869, Smith became a charter member of the new
Chicago Club, a private social club. In 1869, he left the railroad and went into private business. He organized an excursion party from June 22 to July 29, 1869, over the newly completed transcontinental Union and Central Pacific Railroad lines to California for 28 leading businessmen, statesmen, judges, lawyers and railroad executives. Among the notables on that trip were
William B. Ogden, who had been first mayor of Chicago and later was the first president of the Union Pacific railroad, and
John Insley Blair. In October 1869, he took his family on an extended trip through Europe, based in
Brussels They were in Moscow when the
Franco-Prussian War began, and in August 1871 the family returned to the U.S. After the
Great Chicago Fire of 1871, he built a home at the corner of Pine (now
Michigan Avenue) and Huron at a cost of some $200,000. One author wrote that "Perry Smith ... made his home in one of the gaudiest town houses created by Cudell and Blumenthal. Its three stories of Joliet marble, its stairway of ebony enriched with gold, and its dining room with carved panels portraying rabbits, ducks, squirrels, and prairie chicken were famous throughout the Middle West." Like many business leaders of the day, at his home Smith hosted lavish occasions, including (for example) a party for
Cyrus McCormick's son's coming-of-age. That home was torn down around 1918 to make way for the widening of
Michigan Avenue.
In 1877, Smith ran for
Mayor of Chicago and lost the election to
Monroe Heath. Later that year he was a delegate to the
Democratic National Convention, where he worked for the nomination of his personal friend,
Samuel J. Tilden. and from $750,000 to $1 million. ==Notes==