55195: John Smith

John (1848-1923) was a son of Donald Smith and Ann Macleod, 44 Balallan. He served his apprenticeship as a tailor with William Mackenzie, Cromwell Street, Stornoway. He went to Glasgow in 1866 where he worked until he returned to Stornoway in 1872 and set up in business on Cromwell Street as a grocer/draper and tailor for the next thirty years. He married Barbara Matheson, The School, Callanish and lived at 24 Bayhead Street, Stornoway.

John was an elder in the Free Church, Stornoway and at the church union of 1900, he was the only elder to remain with the congregation. In 1902, he was appointed a lay missionary and apart from spells in Back, Crossbost and Glenelg, he spent the next 16 years in Stornoway, during which time the congregation was largely vacant. He retired to 88 Keith Street, Stornoway.