Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis
Pub. Co. 1893.  p. 903
 
B. F. SMITH

     One of the prosperous and successful farmers of Polk county, came to Oregon
in 1846, when a boy of six years of age.  He was born in Missouri, May 4, 1840,
and was the son of James Smith, now deceased who was one of Oregon's most
honored pioneers of 1846.  He was a native of Virginia, born October 18, 1802.
His ancestry were early settlers of Virginia, but he removed to Tennessee and
later to Missouri, finally settling in Polk county, Oregon.  The father of
James, John Smith, married Elizabeth Thomas, by whom he had eleven children, of
whom James was the third.  James came to Missouri when he was twenty-one years
of age and married in Pike county, Miss Maria Kiel.  They had five children,
three of whom now reside in Oregon, namely:  John H.;  Minerva, now Mrs. John
Long;  Henry Samuel, who died in his eleventh year;  and Maria, who married Mr.
Madison Smith.  The mother died in 1831 and Mr. Smith married again, and this
time his choice fell upon Miss Elizabeth M. Wright, of Montgomery county,
Missouri, the ceremony occurring December 28, 1831.  They lived in Missouri
until 1846, seven children being born to them, as follows:  James D., Eliza
Ann., Margaret Elizabeth, Benjamin F., G. W., Cordelia C., and Elza D.  In 1846
Mr. Smith and his wife and children, Mr. John Long and one of Mrs. Smith's
sisters and husband, Henry Smith, brother of Mr. Smith, all started together,
April 27, 1846, for the great West.  Mr. Smith's outfit consisted of two wagons,
with four yoke of oxen to each.  They had a hard, long trip, but all lived to
see the promised land, although Mrs. Smith and the children were sick on the
way, and they were without bread for six weeks, and they lost several head of
cattle and horses on the prairies.  As the teams became weak from over exertion,
the load had to be lightened and Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Long emptied their three
nice feather beds, and in the days that followed, when they were in their little
pioneer cabins, how longingly did their minds return to those same comfortable
beds.  They came to a canyon in southern Oregon where it was impossible to get
their wagons through with the force of men they had, and they gathered around a
camp-fire to hold a council, and while in this council William Smith died with
heart disease, leaving his wife with a large family of small children to finish
the journey as best they could.  He was buried in the timber.  The widow rode an
ox and carried two children.  There were two men killed out of the company by
Indians.  On the trip the company had several fights with them, and the Indians
stole horses and cattle at different times.  The little company arrived in Polk
county, Oregon, the last of December.  Here they camped out on the Luckamute, on
New Year's night, 1847.  It rained hard and blew that night and they had to lay
their log chains on the tent to keep it from blowing away.
     They crossed the Little creek and lived in a little log hut for three
months, with Mr. Joe George.  After this they purchased the right to the
donation of Mr. John White, who had taken it.  It was only 574 acres instead of
the 640 they thought they had, but as others had taken up the land all around
theirs they could say nothing.  A part of this original claim is still in the
family.  Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in Oregon, namely:
Francis Marion, who resides on a portion of the old home place, which he owns;
Louisa Evaline, now Mrs. H. C. McTiminous;  and Rachel H., who now resides at
the home farm with her mother.  Mr. Smith and his wife were worthy members of
the Methodist Church, acting out in their lives the precepts taught by that
denomination.  Mr. Smith resided on his farm until March 25, 1872, when his
death occurred.  His widow still survives him, now in her eightieth year.  She
is a fine specimen of the brave Oregon women of 1846, and she enjoys the love of
her children and the high esteem of a wide circle of the early settlers of
Oregon.
     The son, B. F. Smith, whose name heads this sketch was reared on his
father's donation claim, attending school in the district and at Dallas.  Here
he remained until he became of age, and in 1862 went to the Florence mines,
remaining one summer and the next going to the mines in British Columbia.  In
1864 he returned to Oregon and went to the Owyhee mines in this State.  While in
the mines he was engaged in mining, packing and teaming, in which business he
made some money.  In 1864, tiring of the excitement of mining, he sold out and
retired.  He bought 240 acres of land, where he now resided, with his money, and
never was money better invested, as it now is one of the finest farms in the
county, with its neat farm buildings and all appliances of an affluent farmer.
He has added to his original purchase some 204 acres and has eighty acres of
timber land.  He was Postmaster at Lewisville three years, and was appointed by
Governor Moody on the Agricultural Board for three years.
     In addition to his other ventures Mr. Smith has been four years in the
mercantile business, at Lewisville, in which business he met with fair success,
but was burned out.  He then returned to his farm, where he has since resided.
He has the reputation of being one of the most enterprising men in the
community.
     Mr. Smith was married October 6, 1864, to Miss Rachel M. Burns, who was
born in Illinois, but came to Oregon in 1848, with her father, William Burns.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three children:  Laura S., died in 1870;  William Wright
and Mary Elizabeth, both at home with their parents.  Mr. Smith and his wife are
charter members of the Grange, which was organized in 1873.  This order has a
fine hall, first built in 1874 and was burned in 1887 and rebuilt in 1890, which
Mr. Smith aided very materially to build.  He is a strong Democrat in politics
and no one is spoken of in any higher terms of respect than this noble adopted
son of the soil, B. F. Smith.
     

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in October 2005 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.