Reno County Biographies
"The History of Reno County, Vol. 2," Sheridan Ploughe, 1917
FAY SMITH.
It may be news to many friends of Fay Smith, one of the few really
"old timers" now remaining in this county, former county sheriff, former
clerk of the county courts and former county commissioner, to know that
the name by which he was formally christened was John Lafayette, but it
has been so many years since he was known by that dignified name, and so
long has it been since he has signed his name any other than "Fay," that it
shall so remain in this formal biography of one of Reno county's most
interesting and prominent pioneers.
Fay Smith is a native of Iowa, having been born in Jackson county,
that state, on November 27, 1852, son of John L. and Matilda (Smith)
Smith, who, however, were not related by ties of blood, both of whom were
born in Tennessee where they grew up in the same neighborhood and where
they were married, shortly after which they emigrated to Jackson county,
Iowa, where they spent the remainder of their lives. John L. Smith was a
vigorous, energetic man and became one of the most extensive farmers in
the section of the country in which he settled, having been the owner of
eight hundred acres of land. Mrs. Smith was a member of the Methodist
church and her children were reared in that faith. There were nine of these
children, of whom but three now survive. Fay Smith having one brother
and one sister now living, Rufus P., a retired farmer of Taylor county,
Iowa, and Mrs. Susan Kingkade, of Winfield, this state. The only one of
the nine children here mentioned, besides the subject of this sketch, who
came to Reno county was George A. Smith, who came here in 1874, but later
removed to Taylor county. Iowa, where he became a prosperous farmer.
Fay Smith was reared on the paternal farm in Iowa, receiving his
elementary education in the district schools of his home neighborhood,
supplementing the same by a course in the schools of Bellevue, the nearly town,
and at twenty years of age started out for himself, making his way to
Kansas and very wisely deciding to stop in Reno county. That was in 1872,
not long after the beginning of a social order hereabout, and Mr. Smith
filed a homestead claim to a quarter of a section of land in Lincoln township,
this county, and there established his home, continuing his residence in
Lincoln township for eight years, at the end of which time he moved to
Hutchinson, the county seat, having accepted the appointment as deputy sheriff
under Capt. J. M. Hedrick. and thereby hangs a tale.
Not long after Fay Smith had entered his homestead claim in Lincoln
township, he and his neighbor, Robinson, decided to trade tracts. In order
properly to effect this transfer it was necessary for them to relinquish their
homestead claims. Before they could perfect their new titles, a man of the
name of Pierce, who had been awaiting the opportunity, filed an entry for Mr.
Smith's quarter section and took possession, boldly "jumping" the claim, and
coolly proceeded to erect a house on the same. This insolent bit of
effrontery so incensed Mr. Smith's neighbors that about thirty of them met at a
nearby house, elected Captain Hedrick leader and in military order marched
to the place of the claim jumper. Pierce was at work on the roof of his
new domicile when the "vigilantes" arrived. He leaped to the ground and
made a dash for his wagon, in which there were stored several firearms,
but before he could open fire he was overpowered and at the mercy of the
indignant homesteaders, who told him that unless he immediately signed a
release of his claim and left the country they would drown him in the
nearby creek. Upon his refusal to do as commanded, the party dragged
him to the creek, a number of the men armed with poles with which to hold
the body under water until all struggling had ceased. A detachment then
seized Pierce, prepared to throw him into the water. "One, two, three;
ready!" cried Captain Hedrick, and the terrorized Pierce was swung back
and forth preparatory to the final plunge. As Captain Hedrick's calm and
determined cry "Ready!" rang out the wretched claim jumper "caved."
"I'll sign; I'll sign," he screamed, whereupon he was placed on his feet, the
papers were quickly signed and he left the country, never to return. It was
thus that Fay Smith, then little more than a boy, retained his homestead and
at the same time formed an abiding friendship with Captain Hedrick, which
eight years later led to his appointment as deputy sheriff.
It was in 1880 that Fay Smith became deputy sheriff of Reno county,
four years later, in 1884, he was elected sheriff, to succeed Captain Hedrick,
and in this official capacity served very acceptably for four years, at the end
of which time he engaged in the livery and feed business in Hutchinson and
continued thus occupied until his election to the office of clerk of the courts
of Reno county in 1896, in which public capacity he served four years,
1897-1901, continuing the excellent record in the public service he had made
in the sheriff's office. In 1906 Mr. Smith again was called to the public
service, he having been elected in that year to the responsible and important
office of county commissioner, in which capacity he served for eight years,
up to and including 1914. In 1905 Mr. Smith bought a very desirable tract
of sixty acres within the city limits of Hutchinson, in the east part of
town, north of Fourth avenue, and there he erected his house, 1410 Fourth
avenue, Fast, where he still makes his home. He platted thirty acres of this
tract and during the last few years has been actively engaged in the
real-estate business, promoting the sale of the lots in that addition.
On January 2, 1886, Fay Smith was united in marriage to Alice B.
Lewis, who was born in Putnam county, Indiana, daughter of S. C. and
Louisa Lewis, who came to Reno county in 1883 and bought a farm in Troy
township, where they made their home for some years, later moving into
Hutchinson, where Mr. Lewis died in 1907 and where his widow still makes
her home. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith two children have been born, Harry L.,
born in 1887, who is now living in southwest Georgia, and Susie, 1889, who
married Prof. O. W. Hunter, professor of bacteriology in the college at
Manhattan, Kansas.
Mr. Smith is a Democrat and from the time of his location in Reno
county, the year after the town of Hutchinson was laid out, has been an
active force in the political affairs of the county as well as taking a deep
interest in district and state politics. He has been a delegate to numerous
state conventions of his party and is widely known among the leaders of the
party in this state. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and
takes a warm interest in the affairs of that order.
In a biographical sketch of Fay Smith, presented in the "History of
Central Kansas," published in 1903, it is stated that the paternal
grandfather of Mr. Smith, Alexander Smith, was a native of the South, as was his
wife, who came from North Carolina. He was of English-Irish lineage
and she of Dutch. Two of his sons were soldiers during the Civil War,
one fighting for the preservation of the Union and the other taking up arms
in favor of the Secessionists; and in the battle of Gettysburg they fought
against each other. John Lowry Smith, father of Fay Smith, although
born in North Carolina, was reared in Tennessee, and in 1839 went to Iowa.
The following year he moved his family from White Oak Springs, Illinois,
to Iowa, where he took up a timber claim and partially improved the same,
but later made a home for his family out on the prairie. He spent his
remaining days in his adopted state and passed away at the age of fifty-nine
years. He had become a successful grain and stock raiser, having acquired
about five hundred acres of land. Fay Smith is identified with the Ancient
Order of United Workmen and a charter member of the Knights of Pythias
lodge at Hutchinson. He is a very active supporter of the Methodist
Episcopal church, of which both he and his wife are members.
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