Charlevoix County MI Archives Photo Tombstone.....Smith, Stephen H. 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Marilyn King msmarly@yahoo.com May 25, 2015, 4:47 am

Cemetery:           Brookside Cemetery
Name:               Stephen H. Smith

Date Of Photograph: May 18, 2015
Photo can be seen at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/charlevoix/photos/tombstones/brookside/smith182479gph.jpg
Image file size: 155.0 Kb

Father
Stephen H. Smith
1849 - 1941






Michigan Marriage
Name: Stephen H Smith
Spouse's Name: Hattie V.  Liscomb
Event Date: 29 Nov 1877
Event Place: Charlevoix, Charlevoix, Michigan



Michigan Death Certificate
Name: Stephen H Smith
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 20 Aug 1941
Event Place: Charlevoix, Charlevoix, Michigan
Gender: Male
Age: 92
Marital Status: Widowed
Birth Date: 11 Feb 1849
Birthplace: Redford, Michigan
Father's Name: Thomas Smith
Mother's Name: Phebe Hull




Additional Comments:
OBITUARY
Courtesy Charlevoix Library

STEPHEN A. SMITH PIONEER, IS DEAD

SUCCUMBED THURSDAY AT AGE OF 93 YEARS

Was Resident of Beaver Island During Mormon Reign; Eye-Witness to Battle of Pine
River

Charlevoix and northern Michigan lost one of its first and most illustrious
pioneers Thursday in the death of Stephen H. Smith, 93.

As a youth, Mr. King was a resident of Beaver Island during the reign of "King"
James J. Strang and is believed to have been the last surviving eye-witness to
the historic battle of Pine River between the Mormons and mainland fishermen.

Mr. Smith, born at Redford in 1849, was taken to Beaver Island at the age of 3
when his father, Thomas, was appointed lighthouse keeper there. The island then
was occupied by the Mormon colony. Before Smith's family was driven off the
island because of refusal to join the Mormons, "King" Strang was a frequent
visitor at their home.

Mr. Smith witnessed the first Fourth of July celebration ever held in northern
Michigan. The event at Cross Village in 1855 drew 200 persons. Purpose of the
gathering was not so much to celebrate Independence day as to make plans to
combat Mormon depredations.

History relates that such trouble came to a climax in June 1856, when the
historic battle of Pine River was fought between Mormons and mainland fishermen
at a point on Lake Michigan near the present coast guard station. Smith, then a
boy, was an eye witness. The fishermen, seeing Mormon boats approaching,
concealed themselves in the woods. The Mormons landed and went to a house where
the fishermen's wives were holding a quilting bee. When they threatened to kill
the fishermen, the concealed men opened fire, wounding several Mormons and
driving them off. Smith, then 7, was sheltered behind Louis Gebeau when the
shooting started. In the exchange of gunshots, a bullet wounded Gebeau on the
knee of the leg Smith was clinging to.

The Smith family came to Pine River, now Charlevoix, in 1854. They are believed
to have been the first white colonists at this point on the mainland. In 1864,
Mr. Smith cut the first trail from Lake Michigan into the wilderness to a
location in Marion township where they homesteaded a farm.

Stephen Smith married Hattie Liscomb in November, 1877. They had four children,
three of whom preceded him in death. Mrs. Smith died 12 years ago. Mr. Smith
operated grocery stores in Detroit and here until Mrs. Smith's death. He had
been a member of the Masons for 34 years.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/charlevoix/photos/tombstones/brookside/smith182479gph.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/

File size: 3.8 Kb