Bio of Christopher C. STITH (b.1845), Wright Co., MN

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Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Glen Pettit
Transcribed by: Glen Pettit

This Bio is from the HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY, Volumes I and II,
Published in 1915 by Franklin Curtiss - Wedge.
Surname Index for The HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY can be found at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/wright/wright.html
Under HISTORY.

NOTE: This file was scanned and changed to text so there may
be some typos.

Christopher C. STITH

Christopher C. Stith, a respected and influential citizen of 
Victor township, veteran of the Civil War, and early settler, 
was	

Page 1062	HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY

born in Lawrence county, Kentucky, July 6, 1845, son of Jesse 
and Eliza J. (Hatten) Stith, of ancient Virginian and Kentucky 
families. Jesse Stith was born in what is now Wayne county, West 
Virginia, son of John and Anna (Neuman) Stith, natives of North 
Carolina, who came as young people to what is now West Virginia. 
Jesse was the oldest of a family of five boys and one girl. He 
was married on the border of Virginia and Kentucky to Eliza J. 
Hatten. During the war he served as a river pilot on the Ohio 
and Big Sandy rivers, operating big log and lumber fleets. After 
the war he determined to bring his family to the North. Accordingly, 
on April 25, 1866, he reached St. Paul on the maiden trip of the 
steamer, "Phil Sheridan." With him was his family and his brother, 
Perry Stith. They went by boat up the Minnesota past Ft. Snelling 
and Shakopee to Carver, in Carver county. From there, with seven 
horses, they went overland by way of Young America to Glencoe. 
For one summer the family settled a few miles north of Glencoe. 
In the fall of 1866 they moved to eighty acres on section 24, 
Stockholm township, Wright county. The tract was covered with 
woods, and no roads had been built to it. They bought a yoke of 
oxen for $175.00. The oxen were much better than horses in breaking 
the land. A log house sheltered the family, while a log barn of the 
most primitive kind protected the cattle from the elements. 
In after years a hewed log dwelling took the place of the original 
log cabin. Jesse Stith was a man of probity and worth, and served 
for many years as a justice of the peace. He was also school 
officer for many terms. In the family there were seven children: 
Christopher C., Commodore Perry, Frances Susan, Johnson D., Samuel, 
Oliver and John. John was born in what is now West Virginia, and 
the rest were born in Kentucky. Christopher C. Stith was born in 
Kentucky, and was there reared. At the age of eighteen he joined 
Company D, 68th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, a company that was 
formed for the protection of government property. Christopher C. 
Stith was sergeant of the company. The members of the company were 
assigned for duty at the county seat of Lawrence county, Kentucky. 
After three months the danger was past and the company disbanded 
without the formality of a discharge or a muster-out. Mr. Stith
thought no more of the matter. In 1912, however, when he visited 
his old boyhood home, he met his captain, Joseph Hatten, who was 
his cousin also, and Captain Hatten informed him that on account 
of the informality of the disbanding of the company that he (Mr. 
Stith) had no standing as a veteran. Congressman C. A. Lindberg 
interested himself in the matter, and in 1912 Mr. Stith received 
his long-delayed honorable discharge. After the war, Mr. Stith 
came to Minnesota with his parents and the rest of the family, 
and made his home with his father for several years. In

Page 1063         HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY	

1869 he homesteaded a tract of eighty acres in section 18, 
Victor township. He was married the same year to Louise Caldwell, 
daughter of William T. and Martha Caldwell, who came from West 
Virginia in the same boat with the Stith family, and located
on the south branch of the Crow river in McLeod county. After 
the marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Stith lived in a log cabin on their 
claim in Victor township. About a year and a half later, Mrs. 
Louise (Caldwell) Stith died, leaving one son, George P., now 
living in Wisconsin. Mr. Stith later married Louise J. Martin, 
born in Logansport, Ind., daughter of Grabel and Barbara (Binbaker) 
Martin, and stepdaughter of George W. Custer, who brought the 
family to Minnesota. Mrs. Louise J. Stith lived to celebrate 
the twenty-fifth anniversary of her marriage and then died. She 
and Mr. Stith had no children. By her former marriage to John 
Martin, she had one daughter, Jennie, who married C. H. Corey, 
of Medford, Ore. After her death, Mr. Stith married Sarah Precious 
Powell, a widow of James Turman. She was born in Boyd county, 
Kentucky, daughter of Burwell Powell. By her marriage to Mr. 
Turman she has five children: Charles, Nancy, Benjamin, William 
and Clarence. Mr. Smith is a member of Howard Lodge, No. 82, A. F. 
and A. M., at Howard Lake. He was formerly a member of the Eastern 
Star before the chapter was relinquished. He belongs to the Farmers' 
Shipping Association. He has been assessor and justice of the peace, 
and has served many terms on the school board.