Memories of the Old Fort Days ~ Index
Historical Sketch of Smithfield, Utah
There is no spot so dear to our hearts as along the banks of the beautiful stream of water, known on the map as "Summit Creek," that comes gurgling, singing, splashing and dashing from the mountain vales fed by the winter snows that pile in huge drifts on the craggy breast of Mount Naomi, the lofty peak that stands so majestically at the head of what is known as Main Canyon. It is dear to our hearts we of the present generation, thrice dear was it to the noble band of pioneers who in 1859, seeing a place to build homes rested near the "Cotton Woods" that lined the banks of this stream. As they gazed to the east they saw the virgin forests that covered the secluded spots within the canyons from which they selected the logs to build their houses and poles to fence the lands they wished to till. All around them lay the rich and fertile soil they were to redeem by clearing the sagebrush and turning water upon it. Still further southwest and northwest were the natural meadows and marshes from which they could secure forage for their animals, so necessary in subduing the barren wastes of this intermountain region.
The first thought of our pioneers was "Water" the next like unto it "Grass" without which they could not have builded so well. Stout hearts were they of the original band of 1859. Few in number, twelve families in all consisting of Robert Thornley and wife, John G. Smith and wife, Seth Langton and family, Dudley Merrill and wife, Virgil Merrill and family, Eziekel Hopkins and wife and her son, Thomas Mather, Marshal Hunt and wife, Ira Merrill and family, Robert Langton, John Thornley and wife, Mrs. Walmsley and family, consisting of five sons, as well as those who followed in the early sixties.
The spring of 1860 saw many more settlers arriving from the southern settlements in and around Salt Lake and Davis County. The soil was plowed, after ditches made, homes built up and down the banks of Summit Creek. Brigham Young always advised the early settlers to build in Fort Lines as a means of protection from Indian raids, not that the Indians were always unfriendly, but to be on the safe side, not knowing when they might be provoked to make an attack, for said Brigham Young, If you do not build in fort lines, the Indians will make you.
And so it was in the case of the settlement of Smithfield. (The settlers failed to follow the advice of that great pioneer leader and was busily engaged in building homes where their best judgement dictated.)
July 23rd, 1860 was a day to be remembered by the hardy people, the sound of the Indian war whoop, the crack of the rifle, the roar of the old musket, the barking of pistols, shouting of men and boys, the frightened screams of children as they were hurried into the homes hovered for protection by pale anxious mothers, was the signal for the beginning of Indian troubles. Along the banks of the Summit in which two white men and one Indian were killed and three white men wounded.
The story is told by Sister Margaret Sant who was a resident, in the following words:
"In the spring of 1860 quite a number more settlers came and made their camps where they liked. Some had wagons, some tents and others dugouts. After the men had got their crops in and were thinking about getting logs to build their houses there were some Indians came and camped where James Roskelley's house is today, east part of the city. On the 23rd day of July the settlers were going to unite and celebrate the 24th and were making preparations for the same, here I will write what Robert Fishburn and Moroni Price testified to who are two of the living witnesses who were here when the Indians fuss started. Some of these Indians had stolen a pony from Richmond and the headman or chief of the Indians was arrested for stealing and was taken to the home of John G. Smith and held a prisoner. After being a prisoner for two or three hours five young Indians came to the house to rescue their chief. One of them dismounted, went to the house and talked to him, telling him to leave the house and go with him but those who were in charge and had made the arrest told him to stop, but he did not do so. The one in charge said "Fire" to the guard. He fired and the Indian fell dead.
This precipitated a general fight. There were six white men and Robert Fishburn and Samuel Cousin standing side by side when one of the Indians shot at him, Samuel Cousin, and wounded him severely and he dropped to the ground, he was shot through the breast. The Indians started then for the brush, the white men following after them firing at one another all the time. When the Indians came near where the east gate of the tabernacle is, there were two men camped for noon. The Indians killed one, James Read of Franklin and wounded the other, Arthur Cowan. Then they started up the creek for the hills and there met Ira Merrill and his brother, Sylyman who had been for a load of brush. They fired and killed Ira and wounded Sylyman Merrill across his right arm and across his bowels. They were going to scalp Ira Merrill but his brother threw rocks at them with his left arm which prevented them from scalping him. This occurred just east of where George Hind lives today, east of the city.
The Indians were followed up to what is now known as Indian Canyon where they got behind a cliff of rock so the men could not follow them, the men returned and held council to see what had best be done. While the men were running across prairie to find houses and dugouts for protection, for they did not know where to go to be safe. The men thought best to move all the wagons close together so they could better guard them so there were three or four rows of wagons put as close as they could be put and then men stood on guard that night. And so the Prophets words came true the settlers were compelled to build a fort, which was began immediately and during the winter of 1860-1861 there were sixty-eight houses build in fort lines.
A diagram of which has been carefully drawn from the memory of the living pioneers of 1860-1861. Accompanying this sketch.
The ecclesiastical ward was organized in 1859. John G. Smith was the first bishop and as counselors, Dudley Merrill and Samuel B. Merrill, and named Smithfield in honor of its first bishop. Bishop John G. Smith moved away and Samuel Roskelley succeeded him as bishop in 1863. A choir was organized at the same time, Robert L. Fishburn, its first leader, his wife Priscilla, George Done and his wife, Alice Done and Samuel Taylor being the first members.
A saw mill was built in 1860 by Ezra G. Williams and a Mr. Brusen, about seven miles up in the main canyon. Mr. Bursen sold his interest and home in the fort, to Alonzo P. Raymond who also was a pioneer grist mill builder associated with Thomas Hillyard and Thomas Tarbet of Logan. They erected the first flour mill in 1865 on the present site of the Smithfield Roller Mills. John Ahrers was the first miller, Sylvester Low was an experienced pioneer miller, succeeding him in the fall on 1865.
James Meikle and his brother, Robert built a tannery in 1860-1861 on or near the property now owned by the Utah Condensed Milk Company, used for a reservoir site. Erection of a schoolhouse was began in 1861. However, it was not completed until the fall of 1862, and then not in time to commence school until January of of 1863. It answered a double purpose for a great many years. A house of worship as well as a "Temple of Learning." It stood in the middle of the street in front of the present school building almost directly in front of the "red brick building." Here the boys and girls attended school for three months in the year during the winter season and on Sunday the settlers gathered with their families to worship God. Sometimes business meetings were held at night, such as water meetings to discuss the division, regulation and distribution of water, cow herd meetings where the hiring of a town cow-herder was accomplished, also the designation of grazing districts, and herding fees.
James S. Cantwell, Sr., father of James Cantrell was the first school teacher in 1863. Fr. Patterson taught in the winter of 1863-1864, then came the teacher so dear to the memory of most pioneer children, Charles Wright, who continued for a number of years, who is also known throughout the state of Utah and southern Idaho for his devotion to the cause of education, having lived and died a teacher.
The first boy born in Smithfield was Seth A. Langton. The parents were Seth Langton and Sarah Caine Langton. The first girl was Eliza Lemmon, daughter of Willis and Annie Homer Lemmon, born November 18th, 1860, for many years it has been thought that Pricilla Toolson, daughter of Andrew Toolson was the first girl born in Smithfield, but a search of the records show that she was born on Christmas Day 1860, thus the honer passed to Eliza Lemmon Knoop, now a resident of Idaho. The first men called by the church to go to the Missouri River for immigrants was Samuel Adam Merrill, Richard Bradshaw and Lacy Larami who made the trip in 1861. In 1863 James Meickle, George G. Merrill, Weber Walamley, Willis Lemmon, Nathan, Sidney Weeks and Peter Richards also went back for emigrants. The first couple married in Smithfield was Reuben Collett, son of Daniel Collett and Althura Merrill, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Merrill.
The first store was conducted by a Jew, near the bank of the creek east of the bridge on main street on what is now the residence property of the late James Mack, whose stock of goods was afterwards purchased by Bishop Samuel Roskelley in 1866 and formed the beginning of the cooperative store which occupied the corner where Miles Store now stands. In the winter of 1865 William Douglass and Thomas Richardson formed a partnership and opened a general merchandise store on the Douglas property on Manin Street about where the McCracken furniture store stands. The first Sunday school was organized in 1866. Francis Sharp was the first superintendent.
A city charter was obtained thru an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved February 6th, 1868 and an election was held May 20th, 1868 for the purpose of electing a municipal officers under the charter for Smithfield City. Hon. George Barber was elected mayor, Andrew A. Anderson, Preston T. Morehead, Alonzo P. Raymond, Edmund Homer and Robert Pope, councilmen. Andrew McCombs and Jeremia Hatch, justices of the peace. June 8th, 1868 they took the oath of office and appointed the following to office: Evan M. Greene recorder, Sylyester Low treasures, Francis Sharp assessor and collector, Thomas G. Winn marshal, Harrison A. Thomas street supervisor, John Althem surveyor, Charles Jones sexton, Jeremiah Hatch sealer of weights and measures.
As the settlement grew surveys were made and divisions of land was allotted to settlers, first of all the townsite, a mile square, then a tier of two and one-half acre lots around the southwest of the town, then a tier of five acre plots, then a tier of ten acre plots, then, twenty acre plots, each settler receiving an allotment in each tier. The farming was crude as we now view it, yet the harvests were abundant, many of the plows were made by the blacksmiths, any old piece of iron was valued highly, especially if it had width to it, out of which the "Smiths" would beat a plow-shear. The harrows were made of wood, an "A" shaped frame built of poles with holes bored in it into which was driven wooden teeth made of native hardwood such a maple, hawthorn, etc.
The first threshing machine was owned by bishop John G. Smith and Jim Hill of Mill Creek. A horse power affairs known as a Chaff-Piler. It merely thrashed out the grain, the separation was accomplished by three or four men with hand rakes, who raked the straw away carefully shaking out the grain and chaff which was piled in a pile awaiting the fanning mill crew who followed the thresher and cleaned the grain from the chaff. Sometimes it would take all the winter to get the grain threshed and cleaned, therefore, great care was give to stacking the grain and protecting the piles of threshed grain from the wet until it could be cleaned.
The first threshing machine in Cache Valley. In 1868 E.R. Miles, Sr. and his father, Albert Miles went back to Nebraska, taking about four months time and brought three separateing machines, the first in the valley. In 1865 work was began on the Logan and Richmond Canal."1
- Memories of the Old Fort Days and Historical Sketch of Smithfield, Utah, published by the Smithfield Sentinel, Friday, May 12th , 1922.