SMITH --- At 3 o'clock p.m. Sunday, April 5th, there were interred in the Fairview cemetery, five miles north of Savannah, the mortal remains of one who for the last twenty years has held the distinction of being the oldest resident of Andrew County.
In 1838 there emigrated from Indiana to the then far west, four young, married men, whose wives were sisters. The names of these men were Elijah M. Smith, Henry Foster, Ralph Dixon and Noah Garren. The maiden name of their wives was Copple. These four families, with three others, constituted at the time, the entire population of the territory that is now Andrew County. The hardships and deprivations that these sturdy pioneers underwent, we who are enjoying the fruit of their labors will never know. They secured, each, a tract of land --- that same land which today is ready sale at prices ranging all the way from $50 to $100 per acre --- this land they bought from the U. S. government, under the administration of James K. Polk.
One by one, during the years that have come and gone, these persons relinquished their hold upon, not only their land, but upon all earthly things and passed into the presence of Him who created the land and all things. The last to pass away was Susannah, the wife of Elijah M. Smith; he having died Aug. 26, 1860. She was the mother of six boys and six girls. Those living are Joseph D., William, George, Mrs. J. C. Goforth, Mrs. Sanford Rhoades and Mrs. Thos Simpson, all of Nodaway County, Jno. C. who resides on the old homestead, five miles northwest of Savannah, and Mrs. Robert Hopecraft of Cumberland, Maryland. She had 58 grand children, 100 great grand children and 2 great great grand children. She was born in Indiana, January 15th, 1816. Obeyed the Gospel of Christ in 1849 or 1850, and lived a devoted Christian to the end.
A large number of persons attended the funeral services, which were conducted by her pastor, Eld. W. A. Chapman, at the Fairview Church, of which she was a charter member, and from which she was only dismissed by death. Truly a mother in Israel has fallen asleep. --- "Asleep in Jesus; Blessed sleep! Form which one never wakes to weep."
W.A.C.
Note: This obituary was printed in the weekly Savanah newspaper 10 April 1903. The newspaper continues as a weekly paper, as of January 2001.
The initials W.A.C. are presumed to be those of W. A. Chapman, the pastor.
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