home, one having given up his life on the field of battle. In the fall of 1868 Aaron Smith came to Story county, Iowa, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Milford township, where he spent the remainder of his days. He died in 1885 at the age of sixty-seven years, having been born on the 8th of March, 1818. While in Ohio he was an active member of the United Brethren church. He was identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also with the Grand Army of the Republic. Originally he was an old line whig but after the organization of the republican party he gave to it his earnest support. The mother of our subject was born in New Jersey on the 13th of September, 1823, and traced her ancestry to Holland. Her grandfather Paddock served in a New Jersey regiment at the time of the Revolutionary war. He and his brother were taken prisoners by the British but they made their escape after a short confinement and reached the Continental army in safety. Mrs. Smith was a woman of many excellent qualities and a consistent member of the United Brethren church. She was the mother of five children, the eldest of whom died in infancy. The other members of the family were : Levi H., now living at Central Point, Oregon ; Winfield Scott, our subject; Eugene, a successful fruit and vegetable grower of Franklin township, Story county; and Daniel P., now engaged in fruit growing in the Hood river district of Oregon.
Winfield S. Smith removed with his parents to Lee county, Illinois, and in 1868 to Story county, Iowa. As he grew up he assisted his father upon the home farm and attended the district school in winter. In the spring of 1876 he went to Kansas and preempted a timber claim upon which he located, expecting to make it his permanent home. The first two seasons were prosperous, but during the next two years a drought prevailed over that portion of the state and in 1880 Mr. Smith returned to Milford township, Story county, fully convinced that conditions were much more favorable here than in certain parts of the Sunflower state. He purchased land, which he cultivated diligently and with very satisfactory results until 1896, when he took up his residence in Nevada. He has since devoted his attention largely to the general oversight of his farm and to the real-estate and insurance business.
On March 3, 1878, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Laura H. Huckel, who was born in Black Hawk county, Iowa, June 23, 1860, and is a daughter of Joseph and Lizzie (Roberts) Huckel. The parents came to Iowa from Pennsylvania about 1850 and located in Black Hawk county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Smith five children have been born : Aaron L., now a railroad engineer of Sioux City, Iowa ; Harry W., who is connected with the railroad business at Kansas City, Missouri; Lulu L., who married John Shirk, an expert creamery man, of San Luis Obispo, California, and is the mother of two children : Edna R., a teacher in the public schools of Nevada; and Laura V., now acting as bookkeeper in the Journal office at Nevada.