A history of Pickford Area Pioneer Families Daniel Morrison

SMITH (SONS OF WILLIAM)

Five sons of Mr. and Mrs. William Smith of Harrison, Ontario, came to this country in 1886. They came on the boat, The Tub Murry, to Stirlingville on October 7th. They homesteaded and cleared land and made their living farmirg and working in the woods during the winters. Four of these Smith sons were manied to four Smith sisters, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith of Canada.

Andrew J. Smith married Martha Margaret Smith and cleared the land and lived on a farm onehalf mile north of Pickford (site of the James Stewart farm). They had 14 children. Many of these children had no milk to drink when they were small. For a long time they used nothing but maple sugar and syrup for sweetening their food. The sugar was made in large cakes and stacked on the pantry shelf. Mr. Smith once carried a 100-pound bag of flour from the Soo to Pickford on his shoulder by resting at intervals and carrying as far as possible. Their children were as follows:

DAVID never married and lived all his life dn the home farm. He kept a team that was extra good at pulling. It won many prizes at the home fairs and also won at the Escanaba State Fair.

NATHANIEL married Margaret Janet Watson. Their children were Cora (Mrs. William Stirling), Verna (Mrs. Whitford Armstrong), and Milford who graduated from Pickford High School and retired after 30 years with the Detroit Post Offices. He died in Pickford May 15, 1968.

JULIA married William Watson. They farmed two miles northwest of Pickford foc many years, then moved to Manistique, and later to Detroit for the rest of their lives. Their family were Russel, David, and Millie (Mrs. Rudy Pouch), who all make their home in Youngstown, Arizona.

CLARISSA (Mrs. Robert Brown), lived in the vicinity of Pickford as long as he lived. He did butchering and farming. Mrs. Brown died in July, 1972. Their children are Gordon, Hazel (Mrs. Ross Clow) who died at 54, Fern (Mrs. George McDonald), Everett Doran), Edna (Mrs. Glen Henry), Tressa (Mrs. Al Scozzafave), and Cleve.

ELIZA (Mrs. George Stirling) and her family made their home on a farm two miles west of Pickfotd (now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Zwolinski). When they retired, they moved to Pickford. After Mr. StirlingPs death, Mrs. Stirling moved to Sault Ste. Marie. Their children are Herman, who lives in Colorado; Marquerite (Mrs. Edmund Bowers) of Illinois; Ada (Mrs. Charles Wallis) of Rudyard; Marie (Mrs. Ennis Bumstead) of Sault Ste. Marie; and Freda (Mrs. John Korman) of Detroit.

ELIZABETH was their first child born at Pickford. She married Thomas Tompkins. They had son, Otto, of Sault Ste. Marie. After Mr. Tompkins' death, she married James Anderson and had one stepdaughter, Mrs. Myron Perron.

BERT SMITH married Margaret Crawford. Their children were Glen (deceased), Keith of Lansing, and Dorothy of Hessel. Several years after Margaret's death, he married Belle Sims (deceased). Bert has barbered in Pickford since 1906 and still works at it.

MARY married Taylor Gough. They farmed for many years in different localities, then he finished his active life working on Mackinac Island. After his death, Mary lived in het home 4 miles south of Pickford for a number of years, then moved into town. Their children were Herman, Emma (Mrs. Elmer Dodds) of Pickford, Jack (deceased), Burton of Cedarville, Gladys (Mrs. Lewis Anderson) of Mt. Pleasant.. One son, Bernard, met a tragic death when he was drowned and the body not found until later. Two sons, William and Irvin, died when they were teenagers.

EMMA married Bert Clegg. Their children were Orville (deceased) and Floyd of Sault Ste. Marie. After Mr. Clegg's death, she married Albert Dennison and they had a son, Harry. She is now Mrs. Ed Suggit of the Soo.

ANDREW J. SMlTH married Minnie Leach and they were the Sault's only man and wife barbering team and worked for many years before retiring. Andrew died in 1963 and Minnie now lives in Pickford.

TRESSA married Floyd Bassett. They lived for many years in Rudyard where he owned and operated a blacksmith shop. They now live in Delton, Michigan. They have one son, Dean.

IDA, CARLINDA, and CHESTER died when they were small.

CLARENCE LAND was a foster son whose mother died of burns when he was a few months old. His father had no home for him, so Mrs. Smith raised him as one of her own. He was a veteran lighthouse keeper for 40 years and made his home in Cheboygan where he last worked on Rock Ages Lighthouse. He and his wife, Marie, had severalchildren. He is deceased.

George Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Smith, married Carlinda Smith and they farmed in the area two miles east of Pickford. Their children were:

LILLIAN married William Cockran and lived near her parents. Their children were George, Elsie (Aho), and Chester (deceased).

CHESTER married and spent most of his life in St. Paul, Minnesota. They had no family.

WILLIAM (BILL) married Ethel Moore and their family was Leonard, Austin (deceased), Howard, Bill, and Alice (Bumstead). His family was raised in Sault Ste. Marie.

ROY SMITH married Nellie Hill and also farmed most of his life southeast of Pickford. He also worked at framing barns and framed many of the hay barns around Pickford. It was well known that he was much at home nailing the highest points of the rafters together as he was on the ground. He now lives in Pickford. His family are Mary (Mrs. George Sims) of Stalwart, Hazel (Mrs. Chester Droulard) of Detroit, Pearl (Mrs. Vern Leach) of southwest Pickford, and Ervadeen (Mrs. Roger Schmidtke) of California.

Sylvester Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Smith, married Sarah Smith. They had one daughter, ETTA McGauley, of the Sault.

James Smith married Elizabeth Smith and farmed one mile north of Pickford (known as the Paddy Batho farm). His family were GEORCE ROBERT, JAMES, SIDNEY, SANDORD, TOM, IDA, and PEARL. Most of the family left Pickford in time, except GEORGE ROBERT. He married Bertha Sawyers and later moved to Montana. After living there several years, he returned to Pickford and lumbered for several years. Finally both he and his wife died in Montana. Their children are LEONARD, FERN and JEWELL of Seattle, Washington, HAZEL (Mrs. Lorne Hillock) and ZETTA (Mrs. Clarence Hill) of Pickford, EDNA (Mrs. William Parker) of Mackinac City, ETHEL and ESTHER of Helena, Montana, and GEORGE, JR., of Oregon who died in 1970. Hazel died in 1973.

Mary Ann Smith (Mrs. Thomas Bennett) and her family also lived in the southeast area of Pickford and farmed. They had five sons: ELMER, OLIVER, MILTON, CHARLES, and MELVIN.

Nelsan Smith was the fifth son of Mr. and Mrs. William Smith that came at that time. He married Ann Reeves in Canada. He farmed three and one-half miles northwest of Pickford. Their children were:

WILLIAM SMITH married Margaret Sawyers. They had two children, Blanche (Mrs. Gordon Peffers)- now Mrs. Reuben Carr of Florida- Bertha Greiser of Ohio.

LORENZO (RENZIE) SMITH farmed next to his father until his death. After the death of his brother, William, he married his widow, Margaret Smith. Their children were Annie (Mrs. Reuben Carr, deceased); Luella (deceased); Emily Gilbert; Florence (Mrs. MerrirlHamilton) of Pickford; Margaret Therrian of Pontiac; Levina Brown of West Virginia; Eva Curry of Pennsylvania; Rita Smith of Califomia; Jewell Mason of Sault Ste. Marie; and Howard of Pontiac. Mrs. Smith passed away in 1970.

JANET SMITH married Henry Farrish. They lived two miles north and one mile west of Pickford. Their family were Robert (deceased); Pearl (Mrs. William Peffers); Mabel (Mrs. Frank Peffers) deceased; Lizzie Vollick; Etta Anderson; William and Nelson (both deceased).

JOHN SMITH married Barbara Young. Their daughter, Hazel, naK Mrs. Reginald Long, lives in Sault Ste. Marie.

MARTHA SMITH (Mrs. James Penfold) lives in Soo, Ontario.

SARAH ANN SMITH (Mrs. Tom McGill) had Pearl, Earl, William.

HENRY SMITH married Nellie Anderson and they have one son, Basil. They now live in Brimley.