Lewis Publishing Company, 1904

Transcribed from the original book by Kristin J. Vaughn © 2008

George Y. Smith Page 577 The life history of George Y. Smith demonstrates what can be accomplished through determined and well directed and forceful energy. He has in his business career steadily advanced along lines of progress which have led to prosperity, and is to-day the owner of one of the finest farms in Richland precinct of Jefferson county. The land, rich and arable, quickly responds to the care and cultivation he bestows upon it, and yet it has not been without much hard labor that it has been brought to its present state of productiveness. Mr. Smith was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, on the 3d of July, 1849. His father, George C. Smith, was a native of the same province and a representative of an old and honorable German family. In his home neighborhood he was reared and educated, and in early manhood he married Miss Margaret Hoffman, who was also born in the same locality. They continued to reside in the fatherland until April, 1865, when they crossed the Atlantic on a westward-bound steamship, arriving about the time that President Lincoln was assassinated. From New York they went by rail to Alton, Illinois, where the father purchased land and improved a good farm near Alton Junction. His entire life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, and his business dealings were characterized by the strictest integrity. Both he and his wife were members of the Lutheran church and reared their children in that faith. The father died at the advanced age of eighty-eight years and the mother passed away when seventy-seven years of age. They were the parents of four children: Henry, who is living in this county; Mrs. Anna Young, of California; George Y.; and Mrs. Margaret Herman, of Alton, Illinois. In his native country George Y. Smith spent the first sixteen years of his life and during that period acquired his education in the public schools. He then accompanied his parents to the new world and continued his studies in Alton, Illinois, thus becoming familiar with the English language and gaining broad knowledge that has well fitted him to cope with the practical and responsible duties of a business career. He worked upon the home farm in Madison county, Illinois, until twenty-one years of age, when he went to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he followed the carpenter's trade for a time, and thus started out upon an independent business career. Mr. Smith was married at Springdale, Leavenworth county, Kansas, to Miss Eudora Way, who was born near Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, and was a daughter of a well known and prominent citizen of that county. Anthony Way, who was born in North Carolina in 1808 and removed from there to Wayne county, Indiana, in 1828, becoming one of its pioneer settlers. He aided in its early development and was closely connected with its progress and improvement for many years. He married Ruby Lane, who was born in 1814 and belonged to a well known family of Indiana, being a cousin of Colonel James Lane, who took so prominent a part in public affairs in Kansas prior to the Civil war, when the attempt was being made to secure the admission of the state into the Union as a slave state. Mrs. Way died when her daughter Eudora was but four years of age. There were thirteen children in the family, of whom five are living: Dr. Susanna W. Doods, who is proprietor of the Hygiene Sanitarium, of St. Louis, Missouri; Dr. Rachel Swain, proprietor of the Hygiene Sanitarium, of Indianapolis, Indiana; Dr. Anna Lou Morton, of St. Louis, Missouri; Mrs. Esther Barker, of Kansas; and Mrs. Eudora Smith. In the year 1873 Mr. Smith removed from Illinois to Nebraska settling in Meriden [Meridian] precinct, Jefferson county, securing a homestead claim where the town of Powell now stands. There he built a dugout, sixteen by twenty-four feet. He had then but two dollars in cash, in addition to which he possessed a hunting dog, a shotgun and a chest of carpenter's tools, but he possessed health, resolute will and strong determination, and these stood him in stead of capital. He set to work to make for himself and family a good living, and he has ever had the hearty encouragement and sympathy of his wife. They lived on their first farm until 1880, when Mr. Smith sold that property and purchased land west of Daykin in Thayer county, Nebraska, there living until 1882, when he returned to Madison county, Illinois, continuing to make that district his place of residence for four years, when he came again to Nebraska and lived in Eureka township for some time. He purchased the town site of Daykin, laid one hundred and eighty town lots and sold them. He then bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Richland precinct, and has since devoted his energies to the deveopment of what has become one of the best farms of the locality. He built a modern residence, twenty-eight by thirty-two feet and two stories in height. It stands in the midst of a natural park on an excellent and elevated building site, and the lawn has been planted to blue grass and is adorned with fine oak trees. Shrubs and flowers also add to the beauty and attractive appearance of the place, and the home is tastefully and handsomely furnished, while within its walls an air of refinement and cordiality abounds. There is a large rock cellar and a spring-house upon the place, and the excellent spring water is piped to the residence and also to the barns for the use of the stock. There is a fish pond on the farm, besides all the necessary buildings, which are substantial, commodious and always kept in good repair. The farm is of rich bottom land and woodland and a creek crosses the place, which is well watered thereby. For twenty-five years he has operated a steam thresher and has found this profitable work, in addition to which he derives a good income from his own richly cultivated fields. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born four children: Frank, the eldest, is married and lives upon a farm of his own near the old homestead; Lizzie, the wife of George Stewart, of Powell, Nebraska, died August 21, 1904, at Indianapolis, Indiana, and she was buried in the Keeney cemetery, near Powell; Mollie is the wife of Homer Bacon, of Eureka precinct; and Charles, who is in the railroad service, makes his home in Alton, Illinois. They also adopted a daughter, Viola. Their children were carefully reared and have become useful and valued members of society in the various communities in which they reside. Mrs. Stewart had two children: Mira Eudora and Cameron Stewart, while Mrs. Bacon has a daughter, Mary Elizabeth Bacon. Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a patriotic, public-spirited citizen, deeply interested in the welfare of his community and doing whatever he can for its improvement. His business career demonstrates the possibilities which this state offers to the man of determination and energy, for through well directed activity Mr. Smith has won a very desirable measure of success.