Title: William Sherman Smith
Dates: 1903-1914
Collection Number: 2014-P-010
Quantity: 13 items (including duplicates)
Abstract: Images of William Sherman “Jersey” Smith, his wife Julia Ann, their daughter Myrtle (Smith) Kleinsmith, Myrtle’s husband Ernest H. Kleinsmith and neighbor Sue Moses on William Smith’s homestead in Sauk Prairie Township, Ward County (ND). The collection includes images of the sod house, threshing, groups loading hay into a barn with horses and wagons, and the homestead and farm. William and Julia came to Kenmare (ND) April 16, 1897, some of the earliest pioneers in the area. They remained on the homestead until 1936.
Provenance: The collection was donated to the State Historical Society of North Dakota by John Mogren on April 15, 2014.
Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researchers should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94-553, Title 17, U.S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection number, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
William Sherman Smith was born December 15, 1864 in Westminster (MD) to Adam Nelson and Elizabeth (Wagner) Smith. He moved to Dayton (OH), where he married Julia Ann Stutz on December 5, 1886. Julia was the daughter of John B. Stutz, born October 24, 1866 in Montgomery County (OH). William and Julia came to Kenmare April 16, 1897, and homesteaded in Sauk Prairie Township, Ward County (ND). They had one daughter, Myrtle Fern (later Mrs. Ernest H. Kleinsmith).
William was familiarly known to his friends as “Jersey” Smith. He was one of the earliest settlers and knew the hardships of pioneering life. When he came to Kenmare, he lived for a week in a freight car on the Soo Line tracks and could relate many stories of those early days.
Julia Smith died April 7, 1936 in Kenmare (ND). William married Nettie Pake September 19, 1936 in Carrington (ND). They moved to Pelican Rapids (MN) where the resided until moving to Moorhead. William died August 20, 1954, in Felton, Clay County (MN). He was buried at Rosehill Cemetery, Kenmare, ND.
Sources:
William Sherman Smith, homesteader Sauk Prairie Township, Ward County, ND, by John Mogren.
Smith’s obituary, Kenmare News, August 25, 1954, p. 1.
INVENTORY
2014-P-010-001 William S., Myrtle (Smith) Kleinsmith and Julia Ann Smith outside sod claim house on W. S. Smith homestead, Sauk Prairie township, Ward County (ND), ca. 1911 (main part of sod house sided up on outside and lived in until 1932)
2014-P-010-002 Hired man, Myrtle (Smith) Kleinsmith, hired man, Julia Smith and W. S. Smith with horses in front of a partially finished barn filled with hay, W. S. Smith farm, Sauk Prairie Township, Ward County (ND), 1911
2014-P-010-003 W. S. Smith, Myrtle (Smith) Kleinsmith, hired man, Julia Smith, Ernest H. Kleinsmith (on wagon) and hired man with horses and wagons in front of a partially finished barn filled with hay, W. S. Smith farm, Sauk Prairie Township, Ward County (ND), 1911
2014-P-010-004 Sue Moses, Myrtle (Smith) Kleinsmith and Julia Ann Smith outside sod claim house on W. S. Smith homestead, Sauk Prairie township, Ward County (ND), 1903
2014-P-010-005 Threshing scene on Smith farm, Sauk Prairie Township, Ward County
(ND), 1903
2014-P-010-006 W. S. Smith farm, Sauk Prairie Township, Ward County (ND), 1914 (house where Myrl and Cleora Kleinsmith were born is marked [they were the grandchildren of W. S. and Julia Ann Smith])
2014-P-010-007 Threshing scene on Smith farm: W. S. Smith’s Hart Parr tractor engine and Advance separator, W. S. Smith on engine, and his son-in-law Ernest H. Kleinsmith at separator, Sauk Prairie Township, Ward County (ND), 1910
2014-P-010-008 William S. Smith, Julia Ann Smith, Sue Moses, Myrtle (Smith) Kleinsmith outside sod house, Sauk Prairie Township, Ward County (ND), 1904
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