CLINTON D. SMITH

One of the most successful men of Washington township and even of Lucas county, is Clinton D. Smith, who with few interruptions has made his home in the aforementioned township since 1864. Along various lines prosperity has come to Mr. Smith, for he is not only one of the foremost farmers and stock-raisers of his district, marketing more hogs than any other farmer in Washington township, but he also owns conjointly with his brother, E. A. Smith, three hundred acres of choice land in Benton township and property in Russell, where he is also a director and vice president of the Russell State Bank. Moreover, Mr. Smith is gifted with an inventive mind, being the first man to receive a patent on a road drag, and he now owns a factory in Russell for the manufacture of these implements. Prosperity, even wealth, has come to Mr. Smith entirely through his own efforts, for he started in a humble way and what he has achieved well entitles him to that distinction of which an American is most proud, the right to be called a self-made man. While Mr. Smith has made large personal gains, he has been a constructive factor in the development of agriculture and industries in Lucas county, and his attainments are largely to be considered public assets. Ever interested in the general welfare and material as well as moral and intellectual advancement, he has given readily of his time and means to promote worthy public enterprises or private enterprises which contribute to the resources of the section.

Clinton D. Smith was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, August 5, 1857, a son of Jacob and Emmeline (Vogel) Smith, the father born in Muskingum county in March, 1827, and the mother a native of Germany. In 1862 the parents with their family, including Clinton, who was then but five years of age, came overland to Wapello county, Iowa, and made settlement in Blakesburg, where they resided until 1864, when a removal to Washington township was made. The father died at Russell on the 26^th of April, 1890. The mother, who had more claim to be called an American than a German, for she was brought to this country when only a few months old, also passed away in Russell. Mr. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of six children: Augusta, born November 2, 1853, who married Thomas C. Thorne, a prosperous agriculturist, who operates a fine farm on section 16, Union township, and of whom more extended mention is made on another page of this work. Mrs. Adelia Thornbrue, who was born March 12, 1855, and who makes her home in Des Moines, Iowa; Clinton D., our subject; E. A., born April 22, 1859, also a resident of Russell and owning valuable land in partnership with our subject in Benton township; Mrs. Violet Coen, whose birth occurred on February 15, 1861, and who makes her home in Afton, Iowa; and Mrs. Adessa Plotts, born January 25, 1866, who resides in Des Moines.

Clinton D. Smith was brought by his parents to Wapello county, Iowa, in 1862, and in 1864 removed with the family to Washington township, of which he has ever since been a continuous resident, barring some extended trips and vacations which he took at various times to Oklahoma, California, Texas and other places. An ox team was used when the family made the overland journey to Iowa and Mr. Smith still has the yoke and chain in his possession. In the acquirement of his education he attended the pioneer schools of Washington township and it is worthy of mention that his first teacher was John S. Logan. Acquiring such knowledge as the crude educational facilities of the time permitted, he laid aside his text-books at the usual age and early in life began to earn his own support. In his early days in Washington township he drove six yoke of oxen, breaking the prairie and preparing land for cultivation. Conditions were most primitive at the time and wild animals were yet to be found here. Rattlesnakes were plentiful and troublesome. His first wages after attaining manhood were fifteen dollars a month, but as he was frugal and saving he succeeded in laying away a portion of his earnings, judiciously investing his money. Mr. Smith was one of those who at one time sought the opportunities Oklahoma offered to the new settler and was among the first to take up residence at Oklahoma City, turning the primitive press from which was issued the first edition of the Oklahomanian. He was the fifth white man in the Arapahoe and Cheyenne reservations in Oklahoma at the time they were opened. The other four members of the party were General James B. Weaver, Captain Couch, the postmaster of Oklahoma City, and the United States land commissioner. There were present at the time twelve Indian chiefs. As the years have passed Mr. Smith has become one of the most successful farmers, one of the largest stock-raisers, and one of the wealthiest business men of the county. Beginning by earning his wages in a humble way, he has amassed a fortune and his prosperity is to be ascribed entirely to his energy and perserverance. Mr. Smith owns in partnership with his brother, E. A. Smith, three hundred acres of choice land in Benton township with one set of improvements, which included substantial and modern buildings and the most up-to-date farm machinery. Mr. Smith also owns over two hundred and fifty-five acres in Washington township, upon which he lives, and considerable property in Russell. Moreover, he is connected with financial interests of the city, being a director and vice president of the Russell State Bank, in the management of which he is helpful by virtue of these positions. Mr. Smith has also been successful along another line, having received a patent on a road drag, which he now extensively manufactures in his own plant at Russell. This drag has been used in many parts of Iowa and Missouri and has proven successful from the start. However, Mr. Smith gives most of his attention to his stock-raising interests. On his farm of two hundred and fifty-five acres, located on section 4, Washington township, which is one of the most valuable properties in the entire county and modernly improved, can be found many barns and sheds for the great number of head of live stock that he cares for each year. He has full-blooded Duroc-Jersey swine and handles a good grade of other classes of stock. He enjoys the reputation of raising more hogs in Washington township than any other man engaged along that line.

In Wayne county, Iowa, on May 7, 1896, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Betty M. Wilson, who was born at Warsaw, that county, July 3, 1868. She grew to womanhood in that locality and there attended common school. Being particularly gifted, she studied music at Allerton, this state, and afterward at Kansas City. She also acquired a serviceable business education, taking a course in stenography and typewriting at Des Moines, Iowa. Her parents, Greenberry and Mary Jane (Rankin) Wilson, were among the early pioneers of Wayne county and natives of Indiana and Ohio respectively. The father died in Wayne county, passing away in early manhood at the age of thirty-eight years, but the mother now resides in Des Moines. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson became the parents of the following children, all of whom were born in Wayne county: Mrs. Cora O. Palladay, born May 11, 1867, who died in Oklahoma in 1906; Mrs. Clinton D. Smith; and Elmer F., born December 16, 1871, who died at Allerton, June 23, 1894. Mrs. Wilson married again, her second union being with John W. Rankin, their home now being in Des Moines. Of this union was born, in 1880, one son, Charles Glenn Rankin, a resident of Spencer, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children: Vogel Wilson, born January 24, 1898; Lorita Colette, born March 31, 1900; Dorothy Margaret, January 4, 1902; and Theodore J., born September 1, 1904. Miss Lorita Smith was born in El Paso, Texas, where the parent then sojourned, but the other children are natives of Washington township. All have been reared in Russell and are at present attending the public schools of the city.

Mr. Smith took a prominent part in the campaign of 1836, using his influence for the election of Samuel J. Tilden for president. He is a democrat in his political beliefs and adheres to the principles of the party. Public-spirited and progressive, his attention has been given to public office and he has been a member of the school board and school treasurer of Washington township for twenty-four years. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Russell and takes an active and helpful interest in its work. At various times he has traveled extensively over the western and southern sections of the United States, visiting Oklahoma, California, Texas and other divisions of this great country. He has thereby greatly enhanced his outlook upon life and has gathered valuable information and experience which have helped him to attain that position which he now occupies as one of the wealthiest men of the county. His interest in agricultural matters is also evident from the fact that he is a life member of the Farmers’ National Congress. Mr. Smith is also one of the men known as commissioners from whose ranks the executive committee of the Farmers’ National Congress is chosen. Mr. Smith is the member of that committee from Iowa. The foregoing is but a brief account of what Mr. Smith has achieved in Lucas county, but those who can read between the lines readily perceive the chief characteristics which have led him to success. These are honest and fair methods, frugality, self-control, energy, perseverance and incessant watchfulness for opportunities, of which he has taken advantage as they have presented themselves. There is no one in Lucas county who begrudges Mr. Smith his attainments and who does not recognize that they have been fairly won and are well merited. They are what every American citizen tries to achieve, and that he has reached the goal is proof of his extraordinary qualifications. It must not, however, be presumed that Mr. Smith has viewed his plans only from the point of his own progress, for he has always considered others and is much guided by the effect of his actions upon the general welfare. He was contributed much toward the satisfactory conditions that now prevail in Lucas county and Washington township, and his name will find a place in the annals of the history of this county among those men who have labored for feasible and lasting achievements. His citizenship is highly commendable and should serve as an example to the present and coming generations.

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