Cowlitz County WA Archives Biographies.....Smith, Nat Robbin July 26, 1892 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wa/wafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com October 22, 2009, 4:47 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 57-58 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company One of the successful business men and highly respected citizens of Kelso, Washington, is Nat Robbin Smith, who has conducted a modern funeral parlor here for several years and commands to a marked degree the respect and confidence of the people of this community. Mr. Smith was born at Kelso, then known as Catlin, July 26, 1892, and is a son of Nat Robbin and Emma (Johnson) Smith, the latter a native of Michigan. His grandfather, also named Nat Robbin Smith, brought his family across the plains from Illinois to Oregon in 1843. Nat Robbin Smith, the second, was about six years of age when brought to this state, and was here reared and educated. For fifteen years he served as a steamboat captain on the Columbia river, but later engaged in sawmill operations on the Cowlitz river. During his journey across the plains he witnessed the army service against the Indians and in later years here he rendered appreciated service as a caravan guide for the newly-arriving settlers in Oregon and Washington, conducting them from The Dalles to their destinations. He was an early justice of the peace at Monticello and took an active interest in the development of that community. He provided the material and tools and assisted in supervising the construction of the first Protestant church in Cowlitz county at Monticello. His death occurred in 1892, at the age of fifty-five years. Nat Robbin Smith, the third, attended the public schools at Kelso and in 1912 graduated from a business college in Portland. On September 5, 1917, Mr. Smith enlisted for service in the World war and was sent to Camp Lewis, where he became a member of Company K, Three Hundred and Sixty-first Infantry Regiment, Ninety-first Division. He was made a sergeant and embarked for overseas service July 6, 1918, sailing on the steamship "Scotian," which arrived at Glasgow, Scotland. From there he went by rail to Southampton, England, thence across the channel to La Havre, France. He participated in the front-line operations at St. Mihiel, Ypres and the Meuse-Argonne, and was wounded at Esnes, in the Argonne drive, on September 28, 1918, being hit in the hip by a machine-gun bullet. He was sent to Field Hospital Nine, from there to Evacuation Hospital Eleven and finally to Base Hospital Fourteen at Navarre, where he remained until February, 1919, when he was returned home and was honorably discharged at Camp Lewis, March 17, 1919. Mr. Smith was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery under fire, having led his platoon against an enemy machine-gun nest after receiving his wound. He captured two machine-gun crews and twenty-two other prisoners, stopping the machine-gun fire on the flank of his regiment until it could move forward into position. At that time he had been on reconnoitre patrol, but was forced to become combat control. Mr. Smith was offered a commission, but refused it. On returning to civil life he entered the Cincinnati College of Embalming, from which he was graduated in 1919, and in 1924 he engaged in his present business as a funeral director at Kelso. He has a well equipped establishment, has won a high reputation as a careful, painstaking and capable undertaker and commands his full share of the business in his line in this section of the county. On August 1, 1920, in Ostrander, Washington, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Ina Alma Brashier, who was born at Gault, Missouri, March 13, 1900, and is a daughter of William and Martha (Tharpe) Brashier, both of whom were natives of Spickardville. Mrs. Smith is active in the club and social life of Kelso, particularly in matters affecting the welfare of the American Legion, and is a very popular member of the circles in which she moves. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of two children, Helen Lou, born in Portland, Oregon in 1922, and Patricia Ann, born in Kelso, Washington, in 1926. Mrs. Smith's father, who is of French descent, is a railroad maintenance crew foreman. Mr. Smith is an active supporter of the republican party and is a director of the Red Cross Society and the Salvation Army. He is a member of Guy Rathbun Post, A. L., of which he is a past commander, and is also a past district commander of the Legion; and Cowlitz Valley Post, V. F. W., of which he is commander. He has shown a helpful interest in local public affairs and rendered capable and appreciated service as mayor of Kelso during 1925-6, because of his skill as a violinist. He became one of the men of prominence and military record and his courteous and unaffected manner, he commands to an unusual degree the respect and good will of his fellowmen and is numbered among his community's representative citizens. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wa/cowlitz/bios/smith106gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wafiles/ File size: 5.4 Kb