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Biographical History of Cherokee County, Iowa
W. S. Dunbar & Co., Chigago - 1889


    MATTHIAS SMITH, a retired farmer of Cherokee County, was an early
    settler there, and has seen pioneer life in all its phases.  He was
    born in Canada, January 24, 1820, and is the son of MATTHIAS SMITH,
    a millwright by trade, also an owner of mills and a practical miller.
    He was born in Canada, and was a son of PHILIP SMITH, a native of
    Germany, who settled in America before the Revolutionary War.  The
    mother of MATTHIAS SMITH was REBECCA ROUSE, who was born in the State
    of Vermont.  After his marriage MATTHIAS SMITH settled in Canada, and
    he and his wife remained there the balance of their days.  MATTHIAS,
    the subject of this sketch, spent his youth on a farm and in the mill;
    he also worked at the trade of a millwright with his father.  He re-
    ceived the advantage of a common-school education, and remained with
    his parents until he was twenty-six years of age.  In February, 1847,
    he was united in marriage to Miss RUTH CHRISTY; she was born and reared
    in Prince Edward County, Canada, and is a daughter of HENRY and MARIA
    CHRISTY.  After their marriage they settled on a farm, and at the end
    of three years removed to Victoria County, Canada, where Mr. SMITH
    rented a saw-mill; he divided his time between the mill and clearing
    a farm, on which he lived about nine years.  In the fall of 1859 he
    removed to De Kalb County, Illinois, where he settled on a farm and
    followed agricultural pursuits for ten years.  In the spring of 1869
    he came to Cherokee County and took up a homestead in Amherst Township
    consisting of eighty acres; this he improved and added to his first
    purchase until he owned 160 acres, which he made his home until he
    removed to the city of Cherokee in 1882.  Mr. SMITH'S first house in
    the county was built of cottonwood, which he purchased from the
    railroad company, and the first winter was a cold one.  He devoted
    himself to farming and stock-raising.  He commenced life for himself
    on limited means, and lost heavily during the grasshopper raids for
    four years; he was also visited by a cyclone, which brought destruc-
    tion to his crops; but he struggled on through all these adverse
    circumstances; he mortgaged his farm for $1,000 and bought stock,
    after which he sold $1,000 worth each year until the fall of the
    sixth year when he sold $2,200 worth.  This set him on his feet again
    and fortune has since smiled upon his efforts.  Since his residence
    in Cherokee, Mr. SMITH has worked at the carpenter's trade, and has
    built several houses in his immediate neighborhood.  Politically he
    is identified with the Republican party, and has served as justice
    of the peace, road supervisor, township trustee, and has been school
    director for four years.  He has been a faithful member member of the
    Methodist Episcopal Church for thirty-three years.  By industry and
    economy Mr. SMITH has accumulated considerable property; he owns 155
    acres of well-improved land in Amherst Township, four town lots and
    houses, which he rents.  Mr. and Mrs. SMITH have had born to them ten
    children: EDWIN, a resident of Carthage, Missouri; ADAM H., a jeweler
    in Cherokee; NELSON W., of Sioux Rapids, Iowa; WILLIAM P., a farmer
    of Amherst Township; LYDIA L. CHAPMAN, of Carthage, Missouri; EDITH R.
    THOMAS, residing in Dakota; PATIENCE E. CASWELL, a resident of British
    Columbia; CHRIST M., of Carthage, Missouri; PHEBE A., of Carthage,
    Missouri, and RUTH G., at home.

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