Caldwell County MO Archives History .....THE SMITH FAMILY IN PLUM CREEK DISTRICT 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mo/mofiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Karen Walker khw4@yahoo.com August 30, 2008, 4:13 pm

THE SMITH FAMILY IN PLUM CREEK DISTRICT
	Narrator:  Joseph Smith, 84, of Hamilton, Missouri

               Smith Farm                         Plum Creek School
               Plum Creek Churches                Boyhood Games

     Mr. Smith was born 1850 in Seneca County Ohio, son of John Smith and 
Angeline Groves.  They came to Caldwell County 1857 seeking a cheap home.  
John Smith enlisted in the Union Army and he is buried at Lone Jack, 
Battlefield, Missouri where he fell.  His wife is buried at Carrollton.
     John Smith bought three hundred acres of land at $12 an acre, north west 
of Mirabile, lying over against the Clinton County line.  Joseph's brother is 
now on part of that land and the rest is in the hands of strangers.
     Mr. Smith attended Plum Creek district school located then on the present 
site of Plum Creek cemetery.  The present school is a quarter mile farther up 
the road.  The school (old) had puncheon logs arranged across the room, thus 
differing from the usual pioneer type where the puncheon logs were around the 
sides of the room.  No backs were made to the seats and the youngsters had to 
sit up or be scolded.  He used the blue spelling book, which one had to know 
by heart in that district before going into the first reader.  They had five 
to six months school tax-supported.  His wife added that in her district often 
there were winter subscription schools if the taxes were too scanty to pay a 
teacher; or there might be six months school paid by taxes and two months paid 
by the subscription of so much per pupil and paid by parents sending children.
     At Plum Creek School two churches held services, turn about on Sundays; 
the Christian and the Latter Day Saints or Mormons as they were commonly 
called.  Every body went to church regardless of the doctrine preached, in 
true pioneer style.  The Mormons were left over from the Mormon expulsion of 
1838 and were not Brighamites, i.e. did not believe in polygamy.  Some of 
these Mormon Settlers at Plum Creek were very interesting.  Old George Strope 
(1812 War Veteran) was a Mormon preacher but could not read.  Mr. Smith has 
seen him holding up a spelling book and expounding the Bible from it.  The 
Bozarths (often pronounced Bozer) were also earnest saints.  Bill Bozarth used 
to preach at Far West in the Mormon Church.  Sarah Bozarth married a Sackman 
and Miss Carmelia Sackman married Bill Clevenger, but the Mormon faith did not 
get beyond the Bozarth name.  The Whitmers of course were Saints, since the 
original Whitmer in the county was a witness to the finding of the gold plates 
and that meant that Mrs. Chris Kerr (a Whitmer) was a Saint although she 
married outside.
     He recalled his boyhood games.  They were games for the timber boy.  They 
played "deer."  That meant that one boy was the deer and others "hounds" and 
they chased with much baying.  Then the boys used to climb trees and run races 
in jumping from branch to branch.  Then there was town ball played with a 
twine ball, much like baseball but took less players.  Mr. Smith married 
Mahala Jones, daughter of Billy Jones of Kingston township.
     Interviewed  July 1934.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/caldwell/history/other/smithfam88gms.txt

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

File size: 3.7 Kb