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John was the the sixth of William Dudley & Mary Arminta (Owens) Smith's 13 children. His siblings were:Sarah "Sallie" Hannah, Thomas Jefferson, Pamela Ann, William Albert, Mary Arminta, Emily Louise, Frederick "Fred" Randolph, Edward "Sterling," Robert Lee, Ludwell "Lud" Browning, Singleton Dudley, & David "Curtis."
His sister & brother, Pamela & William, died while young.
His first marriage was to Ella Rebecca Sparks in Centerville, Klickitat Co, WA on March 1, 1882. A large family Bible of their daughter, Edna Brown, has a handwritten entry on the marriage page, "John Henry and Ella B. Sparks were married at...
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John was the the sixth of William Dudley & Mary Arminta (Owens) Smith's 13 children. His siblings were:Sarah "Sallie" Hannah, Thomas Jefferson, Pamela Ann, William Albert, Mary Arminta, Emily Louise, Frederick "Fred" Randolph, Edward "Sterling," Robert Lee, Ludwell "Lud" Browning, Singleton Dudley, & David "Curtis."
His sister & brother, Pamela & William, died while young.
His first marriage was to Ella Rebecca Sparks in Centerville, Klickitat Co, WA on March 1, 1882. A large family Bible of their daughter, Edna Brown, has a handwritten entry on the marriage page, "John Henry and Ella B. Sparks were married at the bride's home on Feb. 28, 1882, by Rev. B. Robertson in the presence of H.B. Brooks."
John & Ella's children were:
Frederick Arthur (February 25, 1883 - December 18, 1961)
Grace Mae (July 05, 1885 - May 15, 1971)
Edna Lee (November 30, 1888 - July 07, 1973)
Ella died in Centerville on September 29, 1892, two months before Edna's fourth birthday. The cause of death isn't known.
John's second marriage was to Anna McKillip in Centerville on October 16, 1895. She died in Goldendale on February 25, 1902.
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Edna told her grandson the following story: She told about the time when she was a little girl in a wagon traveling from CA to WA. Somewhere around Gooselake, OR, they met some Indians. Along the way they also met a guy who said he had a machine that could find gold and tried to sell it to them.
Edna was a young girl when her father became ill & didn't know if he was going to live so he had her write down directions to a cave where he had discovered gold in the late eighteen hundreds. He was to meet a man in Southern Oregon, but when he got to the place, Indians were camped there. He went upstream & found a cave to wait in & discovered gold nuggets in the walls. He retrieved one, which he kept as a watch fob. He recovered from his illness but never returned to the place.
Edna kept the directions, which she had written down on the back of a recipe. Late in life, she gave this to her grandson. Present day names would indicate that there was indeed gold in this area.
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The following article includes information about John & his family, as well as information about the family of his wife, Ella Rebecca Sparks.
"JOHN H. SMITH, auditor of Klickitat county of its most widely and favorably known citizens, as well as one of its early pioneers, resides in the city of Goldendale. A native of Missouri he was born in Scotland county, June 20, the son of William D. and Mary (Owens) Smith. The father was a native of Kentucky, born city of Versailles in the year 1826.
His parents were among the earliest pioneers of the Blue Grass state. William D. was a millwright by trade and until 1875 operated a mill in his native state. Then he went to California, where he farmed two years, after which he went north to Oregon and settled in Clackamas county in the spring of 1877.
During the next three years he followed agricultural pursuits in the Webfoot state. He became a settler of Klickitat in 1880, following farming and raising until his death, August 16, 1900.
Mrs. Smith was likewise a Kentuckian, born in 1829. When a young girl she removed with her parents to Missouri, and in that state attended school and, at the age of eighteen, was married. Mrs. Smith survives her husband and is at present living with a daughter in Goldendale. She is of Scotch-Irish descent; he was of Irish ancestry.
John H. is the second oldest child of a family of eleven children, all of whom are still living. He was reared upon the farm, receiving a good education in the schools of Missouri. With his parents he went to California in 1875 and to Oregon two years later, continuing to assist his father upon the farm. However he did not tarry long in Oregon, coming almost directly through to the Klickitat county in 1877 and filing upon a homestead two miles southeast of Centerville.
With the exception of several years spent in the mercantile business at Centerville, Mr. Smith has assiduously devoted himself to farming and stock raising during most of the remaining years he has lived in the county, meeting with an enviable success. He opened a general store at Centerville in conducted it until 1892, when he satisfactorily disposed of it. The next two years he served the county as assessor, retiring from office to give farming and sheep raising more attention.
Mr. Smith was married at Centerville, February 16, 1882, to Miss Ella Sparks, a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Fowler) Sparks. Mr. Sparks brought his family to Washington from Kansas in the spring of 1876, and with his wife is at present a resident of Chehalis, Washington. Mrs. Sparks was born and married in Kansas, and is the mother of ten children. Mrs. Smith was also born in Kansas, 1861 being the year of her birth. She received her education in the schools of Klickitat county and at the time of her marriage was twenty-one years old. Mrs. Smith passed many years ago to her eternal home, revered by all who knew her, & leaving three children to mourn her loss: Fred A., born near Centerville, February 25, 1883, now attending the University of Washington; Grace M., born Independence Day in the year 1886, who recently was graduated from Klickitat Academy, & Edna L., born October 30, 1888.
Mr. Smith's brothers and sisters are all living, Thomas J., the eldest, in Salinas City, California; Fred A., at Benicia, California; Edward S. at Toppenish, Washington; Mrs. Sarah H. Teel, in Spokane; Robert L., Ludwell B., Singleton D. and David C. all live near Centerville; Mrs. Mary A. Hamilton in Goldendale and Mrs. Emma L. Hamilton in Oregon City, Oregon.
Fraternally Mr. Smith is connected with the Masons, Knights of Pythias, A. 0. U. W., Woodmen of the World and the Order of Washington. He is one of the most influential Democrats in this section of the state, and as an illustration of his popularity at home it is only necessary to state that he was elected to his present office in November, 1902, in one of the Strongest Republican counties in the state; he received five-eighths of all the votes cast.
Besides his property in Goldendale, Mr. Smith has other large including the home ranch of 280 acres of as fine wheat land as lies in the valley. He is generally conceded to be one of the most faithful officers that ever served Klickitat county. He commands the esteem and friendship of all who know him and is worthy in every respect to be classed as one of Klickitat's foremost citizens."
Source: An Illustrated History of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas Counties, Interstate Publishing Co.,
Chicago, IL., 1904
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In September 1923 John received word that his brother, Frederick R. Smith, who had died in Australia, had died. Frederick was 68 years old and had lived in Goldendale years ago. For a number of years Frederick operated a large ferry at Benicia, CA and lived in Berkley.
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A newspaper clipping with John's obituary that was found stored in Edna's Bible follows:
"John H. Smith
John H. Smith was born in Scotland County, Missouri, June 20, 1856, the son of William D. and Mary (Owens) Smith, being the second oldest child of a family of eleven children. With his parents he went to California in 1875 and to Oregon two years later. He remained there but a short time and in the spring of 1877 he came to Klickitat county and filed upon a homestead two miles southeast of Centerville now a part of the Dan Cameron farm. Here he partook of the hardships as well as the joys of pioneer life, raised his family and brought forth from this wild unbroken land of pioneer days a farm of productivity.
On February 16, 1889, he was married to Miss Ella Sparks. To this union three children were born: Fred A. Smith of Goldendale, Wash., Grace M. Bird, of Turlock, Cal., and Mrs Edna L. Brown, of Centralia, Wash. His wife predeceased him many years ago. He later married Miss Anna McKillip, who also predeceased him.
He was interested in a general store business at Centerville from 1887 until 1892 which he and his partner, C.H. Curtis conducted successfully. Along about 1898 he left the farm and moved to Goldendale, later selling the farm, but continuing in the sheep business in which he had become interested a few years before. He later disposed of this business and was more or less retired for the balance of his life.
He was a loyal member of Goldendale Lodge No. 31, F. & A.M., having been raised a Master Mason February 15, 1892. He was also a member of Aloha Circle No. 246, Women of Woodcraft, Goldendale, and served one term as county auditor of Klickitat county.
He won the esteem and friendship of all who knew him. On August 5, 1935, after a lingering illness which kept him bedfast and which he patiently endured, he quietly passed away, as he had live, at the home of his daughter in Centralia, of the age of 79 years, 1 month and 15 days. He is survived by his three children; two brothers, Ludwell B. of San Diego, and Dudley of Wapato; 7 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren besides numerous other relatives and friends.
Funeral services were held Friday, August 9th, 1935, from the Chapman Chapel, Goldendale, at 3:30 p.m., S.C. Eshelman officiating. Interment followed in the I.O.O.F. cemetery with the Masons conducting the service.
To The Memory of J.H. Smith
Fifty-seven years ago last January a little band of people came to Klickitat County by way of The Dalles. Coming by mule team to the Klickitat valley they sought a place to build homes and in true pioneer spirit to establish themselves in a new land. Six souls constituted the little band which was bound together with ties of friendship; they made their homes in the new country, each settling on a homestead joining each other. Several of these still stand, a silent reminder of the zeal and enterprise of those sturdy pioneers.
Only one of that little group is now living, Dr. G.C. Eshelman, of North Emerson Street in Portland, Oregon.
In this group was J.H. Smith, then a young man and a boyhood friend to the others. Somehow these ties were never severed.
Time moves on and changes come, and one by one they cross the silent River; but each has left behind a loving remembrance of the tasks performed. Their work well done, and while the places they once knew, shall see them no more, the memory of their work will remain. Such was the life of J.H. Smith."
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Another obituary has been provided by Karen
"THE PASSING OF JOHN H. SMITH
John H. Smith, a pioneer resident of Goldendale, passed away Wednesday, August 7, aged 79 years and one month, after a lingering illness. Funeral services will be held at the Chapman chapel, Friday, at 3:30 p.m., Rev. S.C. Eshelman of Centerville officiating. Interment will be in the Odd Fellows' cemetery under the auspices of the local Masonic lodge.
Mr. Smith was a former auditor of Klickitat county and was widely and favorably known throughout the county. A native of Missouri, he was born in Scotland county, June 20, 1847, the son of William B. and Mary (Owens) Smith. He was the second oldest of a family of eleven children. Reared on a Missouri farm he was educated in the schools of that state, coming west with his parents to California in 1875 and then to Oregon two years later.
However, Mr. Smith did not remain long in Oregon but came to Klickitat county in the spring of 1877 and filed upon a homestead two miles southeast of Centerville. Except for a few years spent in the mercantile business in Centerville Mr. Smith devoted his time to farming and stock raising in which he was a highly successful. He opened a general store in Centerville in 1887 which he conducted until 1892, when he satisfactorily disposed of it. The following two years he served as county assessor, retiring from office to give attention to farming.
Mr. Smith was married at Centerville, February 16, 1882, to Miss Ella Sparks, daughter of Andrew and Mary (Fowler) Sparks. Mrs. Smith passed away many years ago. Three children were born: Fred A., born near Centerville, February 25, 1883; Grace M., born July 4, 1886 and Edna L., October 30, 1888.
Fraternally Mr. Smith was connected with the Masons, Knights of Pythias, A.O.U.W., Woodman of the World and Order of Washington.
He was one of the most influential democrats in this section of the state, and an illustration of his popularity was shown when he was elected county auditor in one of the strongest republican counties in the state by receiving five-eights of all the votes cast. He was generally conceded to be one of the most faithful and capable officers which served Klickitat county. He commanded the esteem and friendship of all who knew him."
The Klickitat County Agriculturist, Goldendale, WA., August 9, 1935, page 10
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Centralia Daily Chronicle (WA)
August 6, 1935
"GOLDENDALE MAN'S DEATH OCCURS HERE
The death of John H. Smith, 79, of Goldendale, who came here two months ago, occurred last night at the home of his daughter, Mrs. George W. Brown, on South Pearl street and followed a lingering illness. Two other children, F.A. Smith, Goldendale, and Mrs. H.D. Bird, Turlock Calif.; two brothers, S.D. Smith, Wapalo, and L.B. Smith, Los Angeles; seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren survive.
The deceased was a member of the Masonic lodge at Goldendale and of the W.O.W. The body was removed to the mortuary of Sticklin and Sons, from where it will be sent this evening to Goldendale for funeral services and interment." |
