CHARLES C. SMITH
View Portrait of Mr. & Mrs. Charles C. Smith
Charles C. Smith, one of the leading farmers and representative citizens of Red Oak township, his home being on section 5, was born in Mechlenburg, Germany, March 9, 1846. His name was originally Carl Schmidt but after coming to America he changed the spelling to the English form which he now uses. His parents were John and Dorothea (Bebion) Smith, also natives of Germany. It was in the fall of 1854 that the father brought his family to America, the voyage being made on a sailing vessel which was nine weeks and three days in crossing the ocean. It was an American ship and most of the people on board spoke English but the Smith family were unable to understand them. Landing at New Orleans, they proceeded up the Mississippi river by boat to Rock Island. They then walked as far as Cedar Bluffs, Iowa, looking for a location and the father finally purchased forty acres of land in Cass township, Cedar county, which is still in possession of the family. The father was successful in his farming operations, becoming the owner of a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Fremont township. He was born in 1810 and died on the old homestead in 1881, while his wife, who was born in 1813, passed away at the extreme old age of ninety-three years and six months. Their children were: Henrietta, the deceased wife of Jacob Kuntz; Charles C., of this review; and Augusta, the deceased wife of Jacob Shawver.
Charles C. Smith was but eight years of age when the family came to this country and on entering the schools of Cedar county was unable to understand English but he made the most of his advantages and is today a well informed man. After spending about eleven years at Cedar Bluffs, the family removed to Fremont township in the spring of 1865, locating one mile north of the present farm of our subject. His entire life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits and for twenty-seven years he has now resided on section 5, Red Oak township, where he has a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres. Besides this valuable property he has one hundred and sixty acres across the road in Fremont township and another tract of one hundred and twenty acres in the same township a mile and one-half west of his home place. He also owns some timber land aggregating thirty-five acres and in all has five hundred and seventy-five acres of very valuable land. Industrious and energetic, he has placed his land under excellent cultivation and has erected good, substantial buildings for the shelter of grain and stock. At present, however, he is practically living retired, while his sons operate the land. In its cultivation he uses the most modern and improved machinery, having two gang plows, to which he hitches four horses and three plows with three horses each. In the summer of 1910 he planted two hundred acres in corn. He is not only engaged in farming but devotes considerable attention to the stock business, feeding from four to five carloads of cattle and hogs annually.
On the7th of October, 1869, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Mary Johnson, who was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, on the 22d of February, 1848, and in the fall of 1854 came to Cedar county with her parents, George and Hannah (Wilson) Johnson, both natives of Yorkshire, England. Her father was born in 1818 and her mother in 1821, and they were reared and educated in England, where they continued to make their home until after their marriage and until their oldest child was about six months old. It was in 1844 that they came to the new world and settled in St. Lawrence county, New York. Ten years later they migrated to Iowa, making the journey with two teams, in company with six other families who were coming west at that time. They drove to Buffalo, where they loaded their teams and effects upon a boat, and proceeded to Chicago, whence they drove to Cedar county, Iowa, located first in Red Oak township, where they made their home for six years. Their last days, however, were spent in O’Brien county, Iowa, where the father died in 1900, the mother passing away in 1883. In their family were eight children, namely: William, now a resident of Sanborn, Iowa; Rachel, the wife of Alexander Long, a resident of California; Mary, the wife of our subject; Robert, of O’Brien county, Iowa; Hannah, the wife of Albert Jacobs of Paulina, Iowa; Elizabeth, the wife of William Jacobs of Woodbury county, Iowa; George, of Minnesota; and James, of Pipestone, Minnesota. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith are as follows: Robert A., a farmer of Fremont township; Lawrence J., at home; Cora, the wife of George Moir of Linn township; Dora, the wife of Charles Kahler of Pioneer township; William G., Ernest C. and Herbert A. , who are at home.
In his social affiliations Mr. Smith is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Mechanicsville. He has devoted considerable time to public affairs, having held all the school offices of Fremont township and trustee for six years in Red Oak township. Mr. Smith is a stanch republican in politics. He has made steady progress in well defined lines of labor and in accordance with honorable methods and is today one of the most prominent and substantial agriculturists of Cedar county. He is widely recognized as a good business man, strong in his honor and good name and strong in his ability to plan and to perform.
