USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 33
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JAMES SMITH.
The subject of this sketch was for many years intimately associated with the development and progress of Fayette county, his life and the history of the county during the formative period having been pretty much one and the same thing. That part of the county included within the present limits of Smithfield township appears to have been his special field of endeavor,
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for it was there that he permanently settled on coming west, in 1854. He secured a large body of choice land, which in due time made him one of the wealthy and substantial men of northeastern Iowa. James Smith's father was Hector Smith, whose birth occurred May 18, 1789, in New Jersey, and who was by trade a blacksmith, also a man of wealth and influence and a slave holder. He married, in his native state, Sophia Clark, who was born August 29, 1785, and whose father, Abraham Clark, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. On the paternal side of the Smith family is Holland stock, and several of the subject's ancestors served with distinction in the war of the Revolution. Hector Smith was killed in 1817. and some time afterward his widow became the wife of Andy Mann, of New Jersey, whose birth occurred on February 15, 1779; she departed this life January 25, 1865. James Smith was born February 10, 1816, and spent the greater part of his youth in New Jersey, where he was employed on a farm and where he remained until young manhood, when he went to Carroll county, Ohio. There he entered the service of Governor Pike, as a laborer on the latter's farm, and continued in that capacity for several years, mean- while, on June 18, 1837, having been united in marriage with Mary Jane Morrison, who was born November 12, 1818, in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, where her parents, John and Jennie ( Montgomery) Morrison, natives of Ireland, settled the previous year. John Morrison and wife came to America from the city of Dublin and settled originally in Pennsylvania, but after a brief residence in that state moved to Carroll county, Ohio, where he entered a section and a half of government land and became one of the most influential men in the county. He was the organizer of the first Methodist church in the town of Carrollton, erected a house of worship for the society and also donated land for a burial ground, which is nown known as Green Hill cemetery. He was a farmer and stock raiser and, as already indicated. occupied a conspicuous place in the esteem of the public. His death occurred in the year 1842, and, with his wife, he sleeps in beautiful Green Hill ceme- tery, which he laid out for burial purposes a number of years before.
Mr. Smith continued to live in Ohio until May, 1854, when he came to Fayette county, Iowa, and located in what is now Smithfield township, which was named in his honor and in the organization of which he took an active and influential part. The year previous he migrated west as far as Dubuque, where he left his family until he made a tour of investigation with the object of locating permanently, but spent a winter in Jackson county before going to Fayette. Being pleased with the part of Fayette county referred to above. he secured eleven hundred and sixty acres of fine land, to which he removed
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his family the following spring. He soon had an excellent farm under culti- vation and stocked with superior breeds of cattle and it was not long until he forged to the front as one of the leading agriculturists and stock men in his section of the country. He also manifested an active interest in other than material affairs, having been a friend and advocate of education, and to him belongs the credit of building the first school house in Smithfield township, in addition to which he afterwards donated a one-fourth section of land to Upper Iowa University. James Smith not only became one of the leading farmers of Fayette county, but, as an enterprising citizen having at heart the welfare and best interests of the community. he stamped his individuality upon public mind as one of the notable men of his day and generation in his part of the state. Originally a Whig in politics and a leader of that old party ere it fulfilled its mission, he afterwards became a stanch supporter of its successor, and as a Republican wielded a wide influence in political affairs and won the confidence and esteem of the people, irrespective of party ties. In matters religious he was a Methodist, and as such lived a life void of offense toward God and man and did much to promote the moral and spiritual interests of the community in which he resided. Mr. Smith was a man of decided domestic tastes and to him his home was the happiest and most sacred spot in the world. His fondness for his family became almost pro- verbial and the object which he appeared to make paramount to every other consideration was that his children might grow up to honorable manhood and womanhood and become useful and God-fearing members of society. After a long and eminently honorable career, this high-minded gentleman and public-spirited citizen was called to his final reward, on October 22, 1894, his widow surviving him until November 29, 1899, when she, too, ended her earthly sojourn.
James and Mary Jane Smith had nine children, namely: William, who died March 4. 1838, in Carroll county, Ohio; Jennie, born May 13, 1839, was for many years a teacher in the public schools of Fayette county and is still living near the family homestead, being unmarried and one of the most highly esteemed ladies of the community; Sophia Z., wife of Lewis Shirley. is deceased, her husband being a resident of Boone county, Illinois. John M. was born July 4, 1843, and died on the 10th day of March, 1888. He mar- ried Ella White, who bore him one daughter, Elizabeth, now Mrs. Harvey Rawson, of Moscow, Idaho; the mother is still making her home in Arling- ton, Iowa. Rose, whose birth occurred May 5, 1845, was engaged in educa- tional work for a number of years and enjoyed the reputation of being one of the ablest and most popular teachers in the county of Fayette; she is now the
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wife of E. Evenson and lives at Oelwein. Mary, the next in order of birth, died on July 28, 1851. Harriett, who was born July 22, 1851, departed this life in 1854. James H., born June 11, 1855, a well known farmer and repre- sentative citizen of Fayette county, has always lived on or near the home place, which he now helps to manage. Charles F., who also resides near the paternal estate, was born August 24, 1858, and is one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of his township. Of the above, Jennie, Joseph H. and Charles F. Smith remained with their parents until 1890, when they pur- chased eighty acres of land in Scott township, where they have since lived, owning in addition to their place of residence four hundred and eleven acres of the old homestead. They rent all of the latter farm and are among the most enterprising and prosperous agriculturists of the county, their home being modern and up-to-date in every particular and comparing favorably with any other place of residence in this part of the state. The brothers are Republicans and stand for progress and improvement in the most liberal meaning of the term. They are also deeply interested in natural history, archaeology and kindred subjects and their collection of curios, specimens, etc., which represent many years of travel, painstaking research and no little ex- pense, is one of the largest and most valuable private collections in the state. Indeed many objects in their cabinets cannot be duplicated, consequently are beyond price, while others are quite rare, all being very valuable and a mine of information to those interested in such things.
JOHN ROTHLISBERGER.
From sturdy and worthy Swiss parents, as good blood as could course through the veins of any man, comes John Rothlisberger, an enterprising and highly respected farmer of Illyria township, Fayette county. He was born in Wagner township, Clayton county, Iowa, October 6, 1853, and is the son of Simeon and Elizabeth (Neuenschwander) Rothlisberger, both natives of the canton of Bern, Switzerland. They grew to maturity in their native land and were married there, coming to America about 1851 and located near Mans- field, Ohio. However, they soon came on to Clayton county, Iowa, where they secured forty acres of land; after retaining this a short time, they sold out and came to Pleasant Valley township, Fayette county, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres, which was soon cleared and a comfortable home established on it. The parents lived there until 1867, when they sold out
MR. AND MRS. JOHN ROTHLISBERGER.
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and located in section 1, Illyria township, on a tract of one hundred and sixty acres; later additions brought this place up to two hundred acres, and here the father spent the rest of his life, dying in July, 1887, his widow surviving until November 24, 1908, reaching an advanced age. . Simeon Rothlisberger was a hard working, successful agriculturist, honest and a man who had hosts of friends wherever he was known. He and his good wife were members of the Reformed church. He voted the Democratic ticket. The following children were born to them: Alice married L. H. Oswald, of Elgin, Iowa ; John, of this review ; Simeon is a farmer in Plymouth county, Iowa ; Emma is deceased; Louisa married G. W. Bowder, of Ft. Collins, Colorado; Pauline . married C. Oswald, of Gary, South Dakota; Fred married Mabel Humphrey and is farming in Illyria township; Rosanna is single and is living in Illyria township; Ida and George are twins; the former married John Mattox, of Illyria township, and one child which died on the ocean and is buried in New York City ; George is deceased.
John Rothlisberger was educated in the common schools and he re- mained on the home place until he was thirty years old. On January II, 1883, he married Cora M. Kohler, who was born in Elgin, Iowa, the daughter of Benedict and Magdalena (Wenger) Kohler, both natives of Switzerland, from which country they came to America in 1854, he at the age of seventeen and she when fifteen years old, each with their parents.
Mr. Kohler spent three years in Elgin, Iowa, with Benjamin Dimond in a grist-mill. Three trips to Kansas, with a view of locating there, ended in a final location in West Union, Iowa. The first trip, in 1857, was made by steamboat, the return being made afoot, in order to view the country. After this trip, Mr. Kohler never refused lodging or food to any wayfarer who ap- pealed to him. In August of the same year he returned to Kansas, taking with him a bride, Magdalena Wenger, and his older brother, John Kohler, the wedding trip being made in a "prairie schooner," drawn by oxen. Mr. Koh- ler found that his claim had been taken by frontier sneaks, and, with his wife and brother, he pushed on farther south and then west. After three years of sickness and frontier hardships, drouth compelled them to abandon Kansas and they again came to Elgin. Three years were spent in Elgin and twenty- seven years on a farm three miles south of that place, and then Kansas lured him again. This time, however, the trip was made by rail. Less than a year in Kansas sufficed to send them back to Fayette county, locating near West Union, where they remained for sixteen years. Then came a trip to California and a final location in West Union, where Mr. Kohler's death oc- curred on April 22, 1907, his remains being laid to rest in Leo cemetery,
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Illyria township, a burying ground to which many are brought great distances for burial near their old homes. His widow is living in West Union. Ten children were born to them, namely: Esmeralda died in Kansas; Angeline married Sampson Humphrey, of Pacific Grove, California: Cora M., wife of the subject : Josephine married William Boyer and lives in Decorah, Iowa; George is deceased; George, the second, is living in Kansas; Ida lives in West Union ; Frank is deceased ; Cecelia married William Stirk and lives near West Union : Lillian is single and is living with her mother.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. John Rothlisberger : Charles E., who married Lulu Kerr, is living in Illyria township, and they have two children, Earl and Helen; Walter S., who lives at home, is a graduate of the Oelwein Business College, of the class of May, 1907 ; Leo E. is the young- est child.
After their marriage the subject and wife lived one year on his father's farm, then rented land in Illyria township for two years, then bought where they now live in section 3, of this township, which is known as the Charles Speed place. This excellent place consists in all of two hundred and twenty- seven acres, a part of which is the W. Boyle place in section 3, Illyria town- ship. The subject has a well improved farm in every respect, which is well kept, and his home is one of the most desirable and attractively located in the community. General farming has always claimed his attention for the most part, though he is known as a raiser of fine Durham cattle, Belgian and Nor- man horses, Poland-China and Duroc-Jersey hogs. His stock always finds a very ready market, owing to the fact that they are well cared for and are ad- mired by all. He has been very successful considering the fact that he is a self-made man and has but little assistance in all his operations.
Mr. Rothlisberger is a Democrat and he has held many of the township offices. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. His wife is a member of the Ancient Order of Gleaners, as is also their son, Walter S.
GUERNSEY SMITH.
After a long and strenuous career, filled to repletion with stirring expe- riences and exciting adventures, the subject of this sketch retired from active life and is now spending his closing years in the town of Hawkeye. Guernsey Smith is a native of Ulster county, New York, born July 15, 1833, near Lloyd. in what was known as "Pancake Hollow," so called on account of a mill for the grinding of buckwheat flour, which was extensively patronized by the
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farmers of the vicinity. His parents were Calvin and Henrietta (Chambers) Smith, the former being descended from Scotch ancestry, who came to this country in a very early day and settled in the eastern part of New York state. From the most reliable data obtainable, it appears that four brothers of the name of Smith sailed for America as long ago as 1640 and located at Jamaica, Long Island, where their names can still be seen in the old church records at that place. They were ship carpenters and one of them subse- quently started a shipyard at Milton, on the Hudson, near which place he also received a patent for a body of land extending three miles back from the river to the top of a mountain in the vicinity of Lake Mohawk. In addition to this shipyard, he erected a grist mill, which was highly prized by the early settlers and which was in operation many years, though all traces of the building have long since disappeared. A piece of one of the old buhrs, how- ever, was saved and is now in possession of the subject of this sketch, who prizes it as a very valuable relic. The Smith who settled in Ulster county was the founder of the family to which the subject belongs. He appears to have been a man of intelligence and great energy and under his management the shipyard and mill were operated very successfully, both finally passing into the hands of his descendants, by whom they were afterward abandoned. Eliphalet Smith, the subject's grandfather, was also a ship carpenter and for a number of years did a thriving business building schooners, which he loaded with wood or grain and sold in New York city. During the Revo- lutionary war work in the shipyard was discontinued and at one time the British soldiers tried to find tools belonging to the blacksmithing department, but failed by reason of their having been hidden by "Aunt Nancy" in a well nearby. The family is still represented in Ulster county and in different parts of New York, a sister of Guernsey Smith being a teacher in the schools of Poughkeepsie, and a brother is a resident of Pleasant Valley, in the county of Dutchess. Calvin Smith spent all his life in New York and died at the early age of thirty-two years. He was a farmer by occupation, and, like his antecedents, possessed sound, practical intelligence and was an excellent and praiseworthy citizen.
Guernsey Smith spent his childhood on the home farm, in Ulster coun- ty, and was eight years old when his father died. After this sad event he was obliged to earn his own livelihood and during the nine years ensuing worked for different parties at an average of about four dollars per month. The discovery of gold in California, in the year 1849, caused great excitement throughout the entire country and young Smith, caught by the craze, decided to seek his fortune in the far West, though but seventeen years old at the
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time. To carry his desires into effect, he subsequently drove a team for his employer to Cayuga county, for which service he received thirteen dollars per month and while thus engaged saved sufficient money to pay his way to St. Louis, where he went with the intention of going with an overland party to California. Not finding conditions as he anticipated, he gave up the western venture and engaged as a deck hand and foreman on a steamboat which was then bringing railroad iron from New Orleans to Paducah, Kentucky. After making two trips between those cities, he became quite sick with typhoid fever and for several weeks was confined in a marine hospital at the latter place. When sufficiently recovered he returned to his home in New York to look after the interests of his mother and sister, whom he took to a rented farm in the neighborhood, where they continued to reside until the sister began supporting herself by teaching. He then moved to Illinois, locating near the town of Rochester, where certain of his friends were then living, and for some time thereafter worked as a farm hand at twenty dollars per month. This was in the fall of 1856, the beginning of the great finanacial panic which embarrassed the country the following year and it was about that time that many people from the Central states were going to Kansas and other parts of the west to secure cheap lands.
Mr. Smith, with a number of his neighbors and friends, becoming in- fected with the general desire, joined the tide moving westward, going as far as Iowa City by rail and thence on foot to Ft. Dodge, where his cousin was then living. The Indians, who for some time had manifested a restless disposition, finally went on the warpath and in the spring of 1857 occurred the terrible massacre at Spirit Lake, in which nearly every inhabitant of the village was either killed or taken captive, not a person being found alive when the rescuers reached the place. Mr. Smith at once volunteered, being one of the one hundred and ten men who went to Spirit Lake to bury the dead and rescue the survivors. On arriving at the scene of the massacre forty- nine horribly mutilated bodies were found lying about in the snow, all of which were buried in cellars, the ground being too much frozen at the time to dig graves. This expedition consumed about three weeks, during which the volunteers marched over a large area of territory and suffered much from cold and other causes. To commemorate the massacre, a monument was afterwards erected on the spot on which were carved the names of the victims and all of the survivors ; but few, if any, of the latter are now living.
Returning from the above experience, Mr. Smith found a tract of land to his liking, a quarter section in the northeast corner of Pocahontas county, which he at once entered and proceeded to improve. After erecting a cabin.
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he earned some money by breaking land for others, in this way putting his three yoke of oxen to good use. Not long after his arrival there was a rush of people to the county, which at that time was not organized, the majority of whom settled along the river in order to procure timber. Among the new- comers were Gus Malcolm and William Haight, Mr. Smith's nearest neigh- bors, and the three working together earned sufficient money breaking prairie to keep themselves supplied with the necessaries of life, the nearest market place being Ft. Dodge, thirty-five miles distant. When a movement was inaugurated to organize the county, Mr. Smith presented a petition to Judge Pease at Ft. Dodge in favor of the project, the instrument containing the signatures of the majority of voters then residing in his part of the country. The seat of justice was originally established at Old Rolfe, in the northeast corner of the county, but subsequently, after several votes had been taken and considerable rivalry aroused among three or four different factions, each having a favorite location, the county seat was established at Pocahontas, where it has since remained. At the first election Mr. Smith was elected county surveyor and one of his earliest official duties was to locate the seventy thousand acres of swamp land which was to be sold for the county and the proceeds used in the construction of a court house, bridges, school houses and other public utilities.
About the time the county organization went into effect the people be- came considerably wrought up over the question of slavery and sectional spirit ran high, causing no little trouble among the friends and neighbors who had formerly lived in peace and harmony. To escape this, Mr. Smith disposed of his interest in Iowa and proceeded farther west; accordingly, after spending three years on his claim and making considerable improvement, he sold out with the intention of going to California. Returning to St. Louis in the spring of 1860, he made a few trips on the Missouri river, after which, in company with Abe Farr and a Mr. Hannah, started from St. Joseph to the far west with an outfit consisting of wagons and several small Mexican ponies. which previous to that time had never been worked in harness. Their expe- riences at first were anything but encouraging, as the ponies refused to move, in which dilemma horses were hitched in front of them, and, with the men behind pushing, the animals were forced forward. After a short time the ponies became inured to the harness and thenceforth no trouble was expe- rienced by the three men, who from that time on passed those who had before laughed and jeered at them.
Arriving at Pike's Peak, Mr. Smith secured employment in a mine, working at night time for two dollars and a half a night, and in this way
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spent his first summer in the West. In February, 1861, he set out alone and on foot for Ft. Laramie, two hundred fifty miles distant, the weather being exceedingly cold and the snow at times quite deep, making the trip a long and laborious one. During a part of that year he worked for the stage line, erecting log stations at intervals on the route, receiving forty dollars per month for his services, and continued with his employer until the following autumn. He then went to Salt Lake City with Governor Morton and guard, the superintendent of the stage line having given him a pass to the former place. Meeting his old friend Farr at the head of Echo Canon, he stopped there and spent the summer helping care for stage stock, building barns, etc .. and while thus engaged he learned of the discovery of the Bannock diggings in Montana. In December, 1862, he went to Salt Lake, where he remained until the following February, when, in company with nine others, he started for the Bannock mines, which were reached after fourteen days of travel over a very rough and difficult stretch of country. Arriving at his destina- tion he was engaged for some time in getting out piling and other kinds of work. Bannock was the first mine discovered in the fall of 1862, being discovered by a party from Wisconsin and some from St. Paul, who were going through to Oregon. There were old miners with them who knew the ore and being short of provisions they stopped there and sent to Salt Lake for the supplies. Mr. Smith spent two years at the diggings, during which time he devoted his attention to various other kinds of labor, besides taking an active interest in all that concerned the welfare of the locality. When the law- less element became predominant he helped organize the vigilance committee. which soon restored peace and quiet, and in many other ways he made him- self an influential factor in promoting the prosperity of a place which after- wards figured so prominently in the annals of the West. At the expiration of two and a half years, his old friend Farr sold his claim and turned his attention to the breeding of horses, Mr. Smith meantime becoming associated with C. W. Brundige, of Bath, New York, a partnership which lasted as long as the subject remained in Virginia City. Disposing of his interests at that place, in 1864, he returned to the states via San Francisco and in due time arrived at his old home in New York, where, on February 3. 1865. he was married to Charity Perkins, after which he bought a farm and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits.
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