Date of birth of Tessie Olivette Morrill Smith was September 9, 1876 at Grayslake, Illinois. She died June 10, 1968 in Beloit, Wisconsin and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery. Tessie Olivette Smith belonged to the West Side Fort Nightly Club and it was through that organization, along with the concerted effort of the ladies from other clubs, that started the Beloit Historical Museum.

They were young women with busy lives and the job came to be wholly that of Olivette, Mrs. Merton Smith. The Museum was located on the second floor of the Beloit Public Library, then located at 241 West Grand Avenue, now in the location of the Park View Apartments. Olivette was Curator of the Museum operation approximately forty years and was well into her eighties when it became apparent that she needed a helping hand as her sight and memory began to slip. It was at that time that Daisy Chapin, who had retired from the Beloit School System in 1954, took over and headed up the Beloit Historical Society for the next fifteen years. Daisy Chapin was inducted into the Beloit Hall of Fame in 1990.

Olivette Smith came from Grayslake, Illinois as a bride of a Beloit resident, Merton Smith. They were married September 15, 1897 and built their home at 906 Kenwood Avenue in 1906. At that time the area across the street was a corn field and later became Vernon Avenue playgrounds. The Smiths had two sons (Cecil and Kenneth) who each died at an early age, so “Ollie” as she was called, had no family to keep her busy and was happy to take over the Museum. She was a petite lady of 100 pounds and never missed being on duty for her appointed days. Olivette spent her last two years of her life at Caravilla Nursing Home and died June 10, 1969, at the age of 91. She was active in the Second Congregational Church for many years as a Sunday School Teacher and was a fifty-year member of the West Side Fort Nightly Club, an early member of Treble Clef and the Beloit Chapter of the Eastern Star. Her father was John Morrill, of Grayslake, Illinois and his grandfather owned the land that now is Grayslake and Waukegan, Illinois. Their ancestors were from Vermont.