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Mr. Smith came to Boone from Clinton county in the winter of 1871. He remained there about four years, and married the lady that has been his companion for fifty-four years. In February 1876 the young couple moved to section 33, Clinton township. Mr. Smith had bought eighty acres two years previous. He paid $1.00 an acre down and took time on the balance, $4.00 an acre. The year before they moved here they decided to make a trip to Sac county as Mrs. Smith had not seen this country nor the land her husband had bought. She decided that this was a rather wild looking country but had the grit to accompany her husband. After they had really decided to move, and had returned to Boone, Mr. Smith made a trip to West Side, bought enough lumber to make a shanty and hauled it across to his farm.
He built his own shanty, costing less than $100, and Mrs. Smith came from Boone and the couple began housekeeping. In 1875 Mr. Smith had hired a man to break 15 acres. This was planted to corn, wheat, etc. the next year, and the whole acreage was eaten by the grasshoppers. Mr. Smith says, the hoppers came in August. There were rumors to that affect [sic] for several days before they came, so they were not unexpected. Coming from the north, settling on a piece of prairie across the road from the Smith farm, bluestem did not seem to satisfy their appetites, and they soon crossed to the corn and wheat fields. The corn was fine and one could not see very far down the rows on account of the leaves, but in a short time they had stripped the fields and no crop was left. Mr. Smith handed the writer the following on grasshoppers.
One day we had a great surprise,
Grasshoppers came down from the skies;
They hopped around upon the ground,
And ate up everything they found.
Some flew away while others stayed
And layed [sic] the ground plumb full of eggs;
Those eggs were surely good and sound,
They stayed all winter in the ground
And in the spring when they thawed out,
They soon began to hop about.
As soon as they were on their feet
They hopped about for things to eat;
They ate our wheat, our oats, and flax
Till they split open on their backs.
You laugh, but these are the facts,
They did split open on their backs.
They shed their coats and spread their wings
And then they looked like different things;
They went up high into the air
And flew away, I don't know where,
How far they went or how they fared
I never knew and never cared.
The Sunday following the hopper raid, the family attended services at the Taylor school house, 3 ½ miles southwest, and everyone seemed more interested looking out of the windows than they were in hearing the sermon. At last the preacher, Mr. Shumaker said, "They will soon all be gone, and you will soon have a railroad near here." It was built and not over a half mile from that school house.
About 1887 Mr. Smith bought a forty acre tract of prairie about a mile east of the home farm for which he paid $17 an acre. Later he bought forty-three acres joining the home place and paid $100 an acre, and he added this, "I paid for the $100 piece a great deal easier than I did for the $5 piece". The family did their trading at West Side over twenty miles away, on the main line of the Northwestern road. When hauling a load to that place, he would load up the night before he expected to start and get off sometimes as early as three o'clock in the morning. This was necessary if he expected to return the next day.
On one of these trips he was detained in West Side longer than he expected and darkness and a hard rainstorm found him many miles from home, and nothing but a prairie road for the team to follow. He trusted the team to keep the road, but they were lost also, and soon came to a stop. The horses were not on the trail and they knew it, so Mr. Smith unhitched them and was getting ready to spend the night under the wagon, when he heard a wagon not far off. The man with the team and wagon proved to be John Scott, a neighbor. He knew where they were, and all arrived home safe.
Another time Mr. Smith had gone to West Side for a load of coal. He stated that this was the worst trip he ever took. He had borrowed a team from a neighbor, having only two horses himself, so he could bring a four-horse load.
The weather was cold and the greater part of the Goose Pond was frozen over.
The trail home crossed the east part of the pond and while attempting to cross
this short strip his lead team became frightened at the ice and water, swung
around so that the chain that attached them to the wagon pole unhooked and fell
into eighteen inches of water. This could not be found and Mr. Smith utilized
the pole-straps of the lead team, and reached home. The chain yet rests at the
bottom of the pond.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith stated that the worst feature of the early days was the mail
service. They got their mail at Philo. The stage route between Sac City and
Denison made the trip once a week, and if friends that lived at any distance
were sick, it was too long to wait.
The first year or two fuel was something hard to get, (without money at least) and Mrs. Smith often picked up red roots from the breaking to keep the fire going.
About ten years ago Mr. and Mrs. Smith turned the management of the farm over to their son Clifford, and they bought a five-acre tract from Eli Thompson which had been purchased from Mr. Smith when he built the buildings on it. This is where Mr. and Mrs. Smith have made their home since retiring from farming, although they keep three cows and 150 chickens yet, and every year they have one of the best gardens that can be found. They also raise quantities of berries and other fruits. They both claim that their neighborhood is the finest spot to live in. They thoroughly enjoy themselves in their rural home.
Mrs. Smith is of a family of nine children, all living. Five of the nine have
celebrated their golden wedding. She will be 78, May 22, and Mr. Smith will be
81, June 22.
Although Mrs. Smith is 77, she has all her original teeth except one, something
that many ladies at thirty cannot claim.
Of the children, W. J. and Clifford reside between Odebolt and Wall Lake, Emory lives at Denver, Colorado, Arthur at Paton, Iowa, and Mrs. Phillip Caine lives in North Dakota.
They have 14 grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
The Chronicle extends congratulations to this worthy couple.
transcribed by B. Ekse from microfilm