About Pardee Smith Road
By Bob Hoeltzel, Arcadia Town Historian
August 15, 1997
In a recent issue of the Courier-Gazette, a reader asked "Sidewalk Talk" whether "Pardee Smith" or "Pardy Smith" was the correct name for the road extending from Peirson Ave. 1.4 miles west to Turner Rd. southwest of the village.
There are probably many other Newark oldtimers like myself who could correctly answer the question, but to satisfy doubters, I needed documentation. It was easy to find.
As the gentleman for whom the road was named died here October 1, 1928, I checked for his obituary in the old Newark Courier of October 8, 1928, using the library's microfilm of old Newark newspapers. On the front page of that paper was a well-researched obit headlined, "D. PARDEE SMITH, RETIRED BANKER IS LAID TO REST." The article began, "Daniel Pardee Smith, 85, former president of the First National Bank, the Reed Manufacturing Company, Heat, Light and Power Company passed away Monday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock at his home, 110 High Street, after an illness of two years..."
From that obit and many other sources, I can give the following account of the life and accomplishments of this interesting man:
Daniel Pardee Smith was born in his parents' farm home on the outskirts of the old Thompsontown rural school district on November 23, 1842, the son of Daniel and Deborah (Vary) Smith. The parents had moved to this township from Nassau, Rensselaer County, in 1836 and purchased the Jonathan Palmer farm that same year, where they lived the remainder of their lives. The old farmhouse still stands - the F.J. Greco residence, 5257 Pardee Smith Road.
The nicknames "Junior" and "Chip" not having come into usage that early, it is likely that the youngster was called by his middle name by family, neighbors and schoolmates to distinguish him from his father, Daniel.
Although I have not been able to document the connection, I believe the mother (the father was of German descent) was descended from George Pardee (1624-1700) who came from Taunton, England, to New Haven, Connecticut in 1644, and became the progenitor of a large and well-known New England family with descendants now from coast to coast. Legend has the Pardee family living in France as early as 1200 under the name Pardieu, meaning "By God." As Huguenots, the family fled to England in the early 1500s, where the name became Pardee.
Young Pardee Smith was educated in the nearby Thompsontown school and in the Newark Union School and Academy, following which he joined his father full-time in running the family farm. The farm remained in the family until 1917, when it was sold to Jackson & Perkins.
Have you ever wondered about the ancient, but beautifully proportioned house standing in the middle of a cornfield near the western end of Pardee Smith Road? That house was purchased by Stephen Fisk, one of four Fisk brothers who came to this area at an early date. The original owner was a Mr. McClintock. A granddaughter of Stephen Fisk, Emogene "Emma" Fisk was born in that house in 1842, and on Nov. 15, 1876 was married to Pardee Smith.
Mr. Smith, "considered one of the best farmers in this vicinity" (obit) gave up farming in 1894, moving to the village of Newark, and purchasing the large, brick Trowbridge house (now a professional building, 110 High St.) in 1895. Previously, in 1889, Mr. Smith, together with Ruben Reed and Frank Garlock, organized the Reed Manufacturing Co., with Mr. Smith as president. During his presidency of the company it was well on its way to becoming a leading Newark industry.
In Frank Garlock, 10 years Mr. Smith's junior, Pardee Smith saw a young man who shared his enterprising instincts. Together they organized the Heat, Light & Power Co., which brought electricity to Newark.
In 1898, on the death of Fletcher Williams, founder of Newark's First National Bank, Pardee Smith became the bank's president. He and Frank Garlock had purchased the bank previously. Mr. Smith became a director of the Mora Automobile Co. on the organization of that company in Newark.
In 1911, Pardee Smith resigned as President of the First National Bank but continued to take an active interest in the development of the village." The 1911 village directory lists "Smith, D.P., capitalist, 6 High St. (old numbering)."
Although blessed with a bit of "the Midas touch," Pardee Smith had his share of grief. His first wife and childhood sweetheart died in 1891. Two sons were born of that union. William Pardee Smith died in 1897 while a student at Union College. A younger son, Leslie E., was killed in a coasting accident on the State School hill in 1898. In 1898 Mr. Smith married Miss Mary Scutt, but she died in 1913. This left Mr. Smith with only two nieces, the Misses Anna and Harriet Miller, daughters of Pardee's only sibling, Esther Smith Miller. The nieces lived across the street; their home is now the D.A.R. Chapter House.
In his business life in later years, Mr. Smith often used the name "Daniel P." or D. P. Smith," his father, Daniel, having been dead for many years. The name given to him in childhood, "Pardee Smith," however, stuck with him throughout his lifetime, and was the name by which he was known, at least by reputation, by virtually everyone in Newark.
For his many contributions to the economic development of Newark, Daniel Pardee Smith deserves to have his name remembered. He also deserves to have his name spelled correctly - Pardee Smith.
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