A writer grew in Belding

Betty Smith, author of the classic semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and dozens of other works, spent a year living in downtown Belding one century ago as the young wife of a local attorney. Other than a small display at the Belrockton Historical Museum and a one-line listing in the 1923-24 city directory, there is scant information about the time George Smith and his someday-famous wife Betty Smith spent here.