Appendix A.

The following is taken from: Good Old Times in McLean County, by Dr. E. Duis, published in Bloomington, Illinois, June lst, 1874, Pages 140-141.

Jacob Smith Jacob Smith was born April 21, 1821, in Switzerland County, Indiana. His father's name was Charles Smith, and his mother's name before her marriage was Elizabeth Adams. Charles Smith was of Irish descent; that of his wife Elizabeth is not known. Charles Smith was not confined to one occupation. He was sometimes a farmer and sometimes a flatboat man on the Ohio River. He was a captain in the militia and held this position until death, which occurred in the fall of 1832. During the spring of 1833 the Smith family of seven children, four girls and three boys, came with their mother to the head of the Mackinaw, about five miles above where Lexington now is. Their journey was a hard one, as it was rainy and muddy. They broke down on one Sunday, and an old Quaker on his way to church stopped and helped them to mend the wagon. That was the way the spirit moved him. They bought a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land, with a cabin on it and twelve acres fenced and broke. But during the latter part of the summer the family took the ague; it was a family affair and all came down with it. This discouraged them so much that in the fall of the year they went back to Indiana. There they remained a year, and in December, 1834, started again for Illinois. At Indianapolis it began snowing and continued until eight inches of snow covered the ground. They stopped in an old shanty for a week, by which time the roads became broken and smooth and they again started on their journey. When they came near Terre Haute they found it difficult to get a place to stop, but at last a good man named Steele took them and charged them nothing for entertainment. When they arrived at Cheney's Grove they had twenty-five cents in money, which they used to buy a bushel of corn meal. They went on to the head of the Mackinaw, where they stayed one year and then moved back to Cheney's Grove, where they made a permanent location. Mr. Smith has lived near Cheney's Grove ever since. For the last twenty-eight or nine years he has lived on his place, about a mile west of the grove, in Arrowsmith township. He farmed for a while on old Jonathan Cheney's place. For a long time he was not rich enough to afford a strap for a line with which to guide his horses, but used linn bark. Mr. Smith has hunted deer, wolves and wild hogs. The latter he considers very dangerous game, as their tusks grow out long, forming the most effective weapons for fighting. At one time, while hunting, he saw a dog take a wild hog by the ear; but the hog threw up its snout and struck its tusk into the breast of the dog, penetrating to the heart at one stroke, killing the dog instantly. Mr. Smith married in April, 1842, Rosanna Newcom. He has had seven children, but only three are living. Ethan Allen Smith, the eldest son, enlisted in the 116th Illinois Volunteers, during the late war, and died at Memphis, Tenn., of typhoid fever. Charles W., Annie J. and Joseph Smith live at the homestead with their father. Albert, Mary Ellen and Lucinda J. Smith are dead. [Note by Vicki Smith: This is an error. The names of Annie J. and Lucinda J. should be switched.] Mr. Smith is about five feet and eleven inches in height, has brown hair, rather gray whiskers, and light grayish-blue eyes. He is broad-shouldered and very muscular. He has worked hard, has saved his earnings and never gone security for any one. He would rather pay a debt or lend the money than go security for it. He has never sued any one or been sued. He has a fine farm, well arranged, and certainly ought to enjoy life.

Appendix B.

The following is taken from: The History of McLean County, Illinois, by Wm LeBaron, Jr. and Co., 186 Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL, 1879, page 956[A reproduction by Unigraphic, Inc., 1976, 1401 North Fares Avenue, Evansville, Ind. 47711].

JACOB SMITH, farmer, Sec. 24; P.O. Saybrook; owns 258 acres of land, worth $10 per acres; was born in Switzerland Co., Ind., April 21, 1817. Resided on a farm with his parents, assisting his father in farming; worked out by the month. Came to this county in the spring of 1833, being the first settler in this township, helping to change it from a barren wilderness to a fruitful field of plenty. He was married to Rosana Newcom April 20, 1842. She was born in Clark Co., Ohio, April 9, 1820. They are the parents of seven children, three living and four dead, viz.: Charles W., Lucinda J., Joseph P.; deceased - Ethan A., died in the late war, of typhoid fever, March 25, 1864; Albert R., Anna J. And Mary E. Mr. Smith has held the office of School Director twelve years; held the office of Commissioner of Highways two terms, which office he still holds, and held the office of Supervisor of this township three or four years. Mr. Smith had but very little property when he came to this county; it did not exceed $200; but, by industry, economy and perseverance, has accumulated about $15,000 worth of property, consisting mostly of land. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been very liberal in donating money for benevolent purposes. Mrs. Smith donated $50 to assist in building a church.

Appendix C.

The following story was written about Jacob in June, 2000, by Pat Barker, 2122 E. 50th South, Wichita, KS 67216.

I wanted to relate a story that my dad liked to tell about Jacob Smith. My dad was six years old when Jacob came to stay with them. Dad said Jacob arrived with a duffle bag type of luggage and two trunks. One of the trunks was decorated ornately and Jacob also kept a strap around it with a lock. He would let my dad and uncle look in the other trunk but when ever they came close to this fancy trunk he would holler at them and take a swipe at them with a cane. Dad remembers Jacob real well and said he would spend all day whittling and carved them animals. It was at grandma's that Jacob died and my dad said after his death the adults were all in the parlor so dad and uncle Joe got the key to this fancy trunk and opened it up expecting all kinds of treasures. It was full of nothing but 4" x 4" wooden blocks that he used to carve.

Appendix D.

An Obituary for Jacob Smith

Jacob Smith was born in Indiana, April 21, 1821, and died at Kinsley, Kansas, March 4, 1906, age 84 years, 10 months and 13 days. He came to Mackinaw Timber in 1833 and stayed just one year and then returned to Indiana. In 1835 he came again to Mackinaw Timber. In 1836 he moved to Cheney's Grove, and to Arrowsmith in 1844 and took up the homestead now owned by his son , Joseph, and resided there till 1884, and then moved to Kansas, where his wife died several years ago. Since then he made his home with his children and grandchildren. He was married to Rosanna Newcomb on April 20, 1842. To the union there were born 7 children, viz., 4 sons and 3 daughters. All but Charley, of Kansas, and Joseph, of Arrowsmith, have preceded him to the land from whence none ever return. He was a veteran pioneer; even in his old age he loved the pioneer life, having sold his farm and was going farther in the unsettled part of Kansas. He held the office of supervisor several terms. He was one of the charter members of the U. B. Church in this section of the state. He was received into church relationship by the Rev. Soddart. He was a consistent Christian and lived to the world that which he professed.

Appendix E.

An Obituary for Rosanna Newcomb Smith

Excerpt from: The Bloomington Daily Pantagraph on Monday, Jan. 24, 1887, Vol. XXXI, No. 20, Page 3, Column 4.

Mrs. Jacob Smith Word was received at Saybrook announcing the death of Mrs. Jacob Smith at Pleasanton, Kan. The remains arrived at Arrowsmith for interment.

Appendix F.

The following is taken from: Good Old Times in McLean County, by Dr. E. Duis, published in Bloomington, Illinois, June lst, 1874, Pages 415-419.

Joseph Newcom Joseph Newcom was born August 25, 1814, in Clark County, Ohio. His father, whose name was Ethan Newcom, was a Jersey Yankee, and his grandfather, whose name was also Ethan Newcom, was a Jersey Yankee and a Revolutionary soldier. Ethan Newcom, Jr., the father of Joseph, married a widow, Mrs. Mary Woods, whose maiden name was Mary Marsh, and she was a Jersey Yankee, too. Joseph Newcom says that nothing of importance occurred during the first fourteen years of his life, and thinks that children did not know as much and were not as smart as the children are at present with all the advantages that schools can now give. In the fall of 1828 the Newcom family came to Sangamon timber, Illinois, to what was afterwards called Newcom's Ford. There they arrived one evening tired and hungry, and the next morning Ethan Newcom found a bee tree before breakfast. The family went on to Blooming Grove, but after staying there for two weeks, went back to Newcom's Ford, which took its name from them. During their first winter at the ford they hauled corn from Blooming Grove, forty miles distant. Newcom's Ford was a stopping place for travelers, and the Newcom's kept a house of entertainment. Sometimes, in the fall of the year, twenty-five or thirty teams would stop there at once. The price of entertainment was eighteen and three-fourths cents per meal and fifty cents for keeping a man and horse over night. They went to Eugene, on the Big Vermilion River, near the Wabash, for their flour and groceries. But, notwithstanding some little inconveniences, the Newcoms lived well and happily. At one time Joseph Newcom went with his sister on horseback to Big Grove, fifteen miles east of the ford, to a wedding. While there the weather turned cold and everything was frozen up. On their return they found the sloughs all easy to cross, except one, which the horses refused to touch. It had frozen over and had fallen and the crust of ice on top was held up by the grass, and the horses refused to cross it. Joseph Newcom was obliged to go into the water up to the waist to break the ice while his sister followed on horseback. People often had great difficulty in crossing at Newcom's Ford, and were frequently obliged to swim the creek with their teams. A man named Henry Pitts had a horse drowned in crossing the creek, as it did not swim well, but went to plunging when it struck the deep water. The hogs belonging to the settlers would run wild when turned loose for any length of time, and were sometimes very dangerous. On one Sunday, Ethan Newcom went out to hunt bees, when he saw a hog in the distance coming towards him. He thought he would let it come up to within a short distance of him and then frighten it, but when the hog approached it began to bristle up its hair and walk sideways, and Mr. Newcom saw that he must "get out of there" very quickly. The timber was about fifty steps distant, and he broke for it on the keen run with the hog after him. He reached the timber in quick time and sprang up a tree, and the disappointed hog could do nothing but walk around and raise its bristles. Such was Ethan Newcom's attempt to frighten a wild hog! While the Newcoms lived at Newcom's Ford the flies were very bad on the horses and cattle. For about six weeks in the year the large green-head flies prevented all travel by day. Everybody was obliged to travel by night, and even then they were troubled with the flies at moonlight. The flies were so thick and so bad that they would kill a young horse if it were turned loose. They would drive it nearly crazy and suck its blood; but now they are comparatively rare even in the worst part of fly time. The long prairie grass on which they used to breed has been eaten off and has become almost a rarity. Joseph Newcom says he has many times been obliged to travel by night, and would bend forward and sleep with his arms around his horse's neck. During the winter of the deep snow Joseph Newcom was sent to Cheney's Grove to school. He boarded at the house of Benjamin Thomas, and went to school to Mary Cheney. He rode to school on a blind horse with two of Mr. Thomas' little girls, one on behind and one on before. He was obliged to break the road a great many times, but always succeeded in keeping it clear. On the last day of February, when the snow was about to melt, he walked home to Newcom's Ford on the crust. Had he delayed another day he could not have gone home for a month, as the melting of the deep snow kept everything swimming. A year or two afterwards Mr. Newcom went to school at Blooming Grove, to old Billy Hodge. The Newcoms were great bee hunters and found many trees. The bees were very different in their dispositions. Some would allow their honey to be taken very easily, and would make no trouble; some would fight, but would be cowed by smoke, and some would fight and pay no attention to smoke. At one time Ethan Newcom and Joseph each found a bee tree, and as they were in the vicinity of other bee hunters, decided to cut the trees immediately, although the day was a warm one in September. They cut Ethan Newcom's tree first, and when it fell the hollow burst open and the bees fought desperately all the time the honey was being taken out. Joseph Newcom was stung again and again. He was in his shirt sleeves, and wore shoes without stockings. As the day was warm the perspiration made the sleeves of his shirt cling to his arms, and the bees stung through it again and again. They lit on his legs and crawled up his trousers and lit on his face and nearly stung him crazy. At one time he ran off, whipping bees with his hat, and accidentally threw it in some high grass, but kept on running and whipping at the bees. When he became free from them he hunted for his hat, but never found it, and was obliged to go bareheaded for two weeks. They took twelve gallons of honey from the bees and a great deal more was wasted, as the gum had split open in falling. The next tree they cut yielded about eight gallons of honey, and the bees fought harder than the first swarm. Joseph was obliged to cut it and take out the honey alone, as the flies were very bad, and his father had to attend to the oxen. He was sore for several weeks after this bee hunt. Honey was the most abundant article raised. Mr. Newcom once took a thousand pounds of honey and sixty pounds of beeswax to Chicago in one load. He received six cents per pound for the honey and twenty-five cents per pound for the beeswax. In October, 1835, the Newcoms came to Cheney's Grove, to the north side, and settled where John Newcom now lives, and went to farming. They bought their place from Henry Pitts. Mr. Newcom was a great hunter after wolves and coons. During one fall he and his father killed twenty-five wolves and twenty-eight coons. Ethan Newcom killed the wolves, and Joseph and his dog, Ring, killed the coons. During the spring of the year, when Harrison was elected President, a snow came two feet deep and stayed on for eight days, and during that time everybody hunted for wolves. Every grove in the country was alive with hunters, but Cheney's Grove beat them all, for the hunters there killed sixty-eight wolves. The Newcoms are in the habit of making maple sugar, as that was the only sugar used. During one spring they made two thousand pounds of sugar and a barrel of syrup. They made eleven hundred pounds in seven days and nights with eight kettles, and could have made a third more if all the sap had been saved. The Cheneys made about fifteen hundred pounds. The sugar sold for ten cents per pound. Ethan Newcom had eleven children in all, and of these five lived to have families. They are: Mrs. Mary Vanscoyoc, wife of Perry Vanscoyoc, Joseph Newcom, whose sketch we are writing, Mrs. Rosanna Smith, wife of Jacob Smith, lives in Arrowsmith township, John Newcom lives at the old homestead, and Mrs. Elizabeth Arbogast, wife of William Arbogast, is now dead. Joseph Newcom married, February 2, 1844, Eliza Jane Devor. He has had eleven children, nine of whom are living. They are: Nicholas, born January 26, 1845, Mary Ann, born August 16, 1846, Nancy Jane, born March 22, 1848, Ethan Allen, born January 1, 1850, Joseph Aaron, born May 28, 1851, Isaac Luther, born May 8, 1853, Owen, born February 24, 1855, Mereposa, born August 14, 1856, America Catherine, born September 23, 1858, Jesse, born January 4, 1861 and Sarah Elizabeth, born June 29, 1862. Isaac Luther and Owen are dead. The latter died in infancy. All who are living reside at home, except Nancy Jane, who is married to Richard Ball, and lives in Howard County, Kansas. Joseph Newcom is five feet and eleven inches in height, is rather slender in form and has bright, humorous eyes. He believes in getting up early in the morning and going to work. He is honest himself, and will not deal with any one who is not also honest and truthful. At one time a person who was known to be a good workman and an industrious man, and had formerly worked for Mr. Newcom, wished to come back again. But although no fault could be found with the young man's work, he was not permitted to come back, as Mr. Newcom would not allow anyone around his premises who could not be relied upon to tell the truth.

Appendix G.

The following is taken from: A Standard History of Champaign Co., IL (Volume 1), by J. R. Stewart, page 523.

*Newcom's Ford is not far south of a sharply deflected bend from a southeasterly to a southwesterly direction of the river at the crossing of the Sangamon by the old Danville and Fort Clark road. Ethan Newcom and Other Settlers It (Newcom's Ford*) was named after Ethan Newcom, who came to the neighborhood in the early '30s and gave his name not only to the ford but to the township (plus the "b"). Newcom's Ford, which was also a favorite camping place for the old-time knights of the road, was almost midway between Fisher, which abuts into East Bend Township, and the station and settlement of Dewey. It was in this neighborhood, in the timber fringe of the Sangamon, that Mr. Newcom, Franklin Dobson, the Devores and others first settled in 1837-40. Fifteen or twenty years afterward came such as Harmon Hilberry, Alfred Houston, Richard Chism, Benjamin Dolph, C. M. Knapp, Gardiner Sweet, Harvey Taylor and others, and, with the coming of the railroad, in the early '80s, the immigration was so large as to discourage the mention of individuals.

Appendix H.

The following is taken from: Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McLean County, , edited by Newton Bateman, Paul Selby, Ezra M. Prince and John H. Burnham, Munsell Publishing Company, Chicago, 1908, pages 1296-1297.

Smith, Joseph P., who is most favorably known throughout the Township of Arrowsmith, McLean County, Ill., where he has long been successfully engaged in farming and stock-raising, and where he has acquired a substantial competency of this world's possessions, was born on a farm, which is still his property, in Arrowsmith Township, June 16, 1861. He is a son of Jacob and Rosanna (Newcomb) Smith, his father born in Indiana, and his mother in Ohio. Jacob Smith first came to Illinois in 1833, returning to Indiana in 1835. In the following year he again came to Illinois, settling in Arrowsmith Township and entered a tract of 220 acres of land, to which he later added about fifty-six acres of timber land. Subsequently, he and his wife went to Kansas, where the latter died in 1887. He died in McLean County, Ill., March 4, 1906. They had a family of seven children, two of whom are still living. One son, Ethan, died in the army during the Civil War. Jacob Smith came to Illinois with his mother, who had six children. She died in McLean County at the age of eighty-five years. The maternal grandfather, Ethan Newcomb, came to Illinois at an early period, settling at Newcomb Ford, where he remained until the time of his death. Jacob Smith, the father, was a Democrat in politics, and a man of local prominence and influence, having served as Supervisor of Arrowsmith Township two terms, and held other township offices. He and his wife were members of the United Brethren Church. Joseph P. Smith was reared on the homestead farm, and received his education in the public schools. He owns a farm of 175 acres, on which he built a fine home in 1906. He is engaged to a considerable extent in the breeding of Shorthorn cattle, and has been very successful in this line. On November 18, 1880, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Foulk, who was born in Macon County, Ill., a daughter of John and Mary (Pierson) Foulk. Mrs. Smith's parents located in Decatur, Ill., in 1850, and moved thence to McLean County in 1878, where the father died March 10, 1894. His widow still survives, being a resident of Saybrook, McLean County. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had eight children, as follows: Rollis J., one who died in infancy, Perry O., Leata May, Rosanna, Edna Pearl, Ora Lee and Roy Earl. Politically, Mr. Smith is identified with the Prohibition party and he and his wife are members of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Smith is a well-informed and useful citizen, taking an intelligent and public-spirited interest in the welfare of his community. He and Mrs. Smith are highly esteemed for their many worthy traits of character. [Note by Vicki Smith: I question the dates that Jacob came to Illinois. Other sources state 1832 and 1834. Secondly, records show that Jacob's mother had a total of seven children, not six. Lastly, "Rollis" is "Rolla."]

Appendix I.

An Obituary for Joseph P. Smith

The following is taken from: The Daily Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL. Wed. October 11, 1933, Page 2, Column 2.

Joseph P. Smith ARROWSMITH. - Joseph P. Smith, 72, died at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Johnson hospital here following one year's illness. He was born in Arrowsmith township, the son of Jacob and Rosa Ann Smith, early settlers. He married Elizabeth Foulk and the couple resided on the farm where he was born and reared. Following are the surviving children; R. J. Smith, P. O. Smith, Mrs. Will Follick, Edna and Roy Smith, Saybrook; Mrs. E. J. Williams and Ora Smith, Arrowsmith. Mr. Smith was a member of the Saybrook United Brethren church.