AUSTIN H. SMITH
Austin H. Smith, on section 35, came here in 1871 and bought two hundred and fifty acres of land. At the time of his purchase there was a small frame house upon the place and sixty acres broken. He has since enlarged the house and built a large frame barn. He has all the land improved and is engaged in raising graded stock. He is a native of Ohio, born in Green county, March 28, 1823. When he was two years of age, his parents removed to Gelana, Illinois, where his father engaged in mining lead. They lived in Galena and vicinity until 1828, then moved to Missouri and remained two years. Then they moved to Quincy, Illinois, where they lived until the spring of 1833, when they returned to Galena. The following July they moved to Dubuque, then in the Northwestern Territory. In 1838, his father entered government land, six miles from the city, to which he removed his family. There the subject of this sketch grew to manhood. He was married January 26, 1847, to Maryette Estabrook, a native of Essex county, New York. After his marriage he settled upon the homestead, and remained till 1851, when he traded for land in the western part of the county, to which they removed. The following year (1852) he went to California, going overland with a pack horse, and was on the road seventy-four days. He worked at mining in different parts of the State, remaining there two years, then returned home and resumed farming. In 1860 he went to Pike's Peak and spent a few months in mining, returned and remained until 1864, when he again started for the mines, going this time to Montana. After an absence of one and a half years he returned to Dubuque county, where he remained until 1871. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had eleven children -- Ambrose C., Harriet A., Francis V., Mary Florence, Laura A., James A., Eliza A., Nancy M., George A., Margaret A., and Clara Bell. Clara Belle was born January 20, 1869, and died July 31, 1870.
Transcribed by Gloria Goltiani from "History of Cass County, Iowa. Together With Sketches of its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens." Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Company, 1884, pp. 660.
