"A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of the City of
Seattle and County of King, Washington." New York and Chicago: Lewis Publishing
Co., 1903.  p. 96.
 
ERASMUS M. SMITHERS

     The gentleman whose life history we now take briefly under review has the
distinction of being one of the honored pioneers of the Pacific coast and the
founder of the attractive and thriving little city of Renton, King county,
Washington, since he settled on the land where the town is now located in 1853,
his farm being fifteen miles distant from what is now the great city of Seattle,
while at the time of his location here there was not a white settler other than
himself at a point nearer than the city mentioned, which was then a mere
frontier settlement. In a retrospective way those of the present generation may
gain from the narratives and reminiscences of Mr. Smithers an idea of the
wonderful transitions that lave taken place since he first located in what is
now a great and opulent state, and it is a satisfaction to here enter a
perpetual record concerning the life and labors of this honored pioneer, though
the limitations of this publication will not justify the entering into the
manifold details of his experiences, though the record could not fail to prove
of interest.
     Erasmus M. Smithers is a native of Virginia, where he was born on the 17th
of February, 1830, the family being of English origin and representatives of the
name having been numbered among the early settlers in Virginia and North
Carolina. His father, Samuel Smithers, was likewise born in Virginia, and there
he married a Miss Hale, also a representative of one of the old families of that
great commonwealth, where was cradled so much of our national history. The
father was a planter and was a man of strong mentality and sterling character,
both he and his estimable wife having passed their entire lives in Virginia.
Erasmus M. was reared to maturity in Virginia and his early education was very
limited in scope.  He has, however, gained the valuable lessons of
experience through personal application and through active association with the
practical affairs of life, being thus self-educated, even as he is the architect
of his own fortunes. When nineteen years of age he left the old home and
set forth to become one of the venturesome and intrepid pioneers of the great
west. It may be said that he had no intention of coming through to Oregon, his
starting forth on the long journey being largely a matter of accident, as a
friend had informed him that two young ladies were about to start for this
section with a company, and that one of the members of the party desired to
secure the services of a young man to aid him during the journey across the
plains. The information thus conveyed indirectly led Mr. Smithers to have an
interview with the man mentioned, Green Olds, who was a brother of the captain
of the company. Our subject was at that time a slender youth, his appearance not
indicating that he could endure much hardship, and after looking him over Mr.
Olds stated that he did not want him. Mr. Smithers then asked what he would
charge to take him along with the company, and upon a price of fifty dollars
being set he immediately accepted the proposition. On the 8th of May, 1852, the
company, with twenty wagons drawn by ox teams, started on the long and perilous
journey, Mr. Smithers doing no active work on the start, as he had paid for his
passage, but he soon grew weary of his inactivity and began to assist in the
work incidental to the trip and proved not only his endurance but his marked
facility in discharging the duties which he voluntarily assumed.  While enroute
they encountered many vast herds of buffalo, and our subject killed a number of
these noble beasts and other game, with which to supply the larder of the party.
That was a year of extensive emigration, and many died of cholera while making
their way to the far west, but the company of which Mr. Smithers was a member
fortunately escaped the ravages of this scourge. When fifteen miles west of
Omaha, Nebraska, a large band of Indians met them at a bridge and demanded a
payment of one dollar a wagon before they passed on. The captain refused to pay,
and drove his team across the bridge, and as Mr. Olds hesitated, fearing
results, our subject took the whip and drove the wagon across, this having been
the second to make the attempt, and the oxen in the lead was seized by one of
the Indians, who held it by the horn until he was felled with a whip. The
savages gave the war cry, greatly frightening the women of the party, but the
men showed their determination to fight and the Indians finally withdrew, though
they continued to follow the party for three or four days, rendering it
necessary to maintain a guard every night. During the last of the trip Mr. Olds
was ill, and Mr. Smithers made himself very useful and helpful, a strong
friendship being thus cemented. Our subject has lost trace of his old-time
friend, whom he pronounces one of the best men he has ever known, and he
expresses the wish that this tribute be incorporated in this article, hoping
that Mr. Olds is still living and that this acknowledgment of his kindness may
come to his vision. Six months were consumed in making the trip from Iowa City
to The Dalles, Oregon, from which point they continued their way to Portland,
where Mr. Smithers secured employment in connection with the building of a mill.
In April, 1853, he came to Seattle, and here secured employment in getting out
piles, which were shipped to San Francisco. He brought with him from Portland
three yoke of cattle, and with these he hauled the first logs that were used in
the building of Fort Madison mill. When the Indian war of 1855 broke out, he
volunteered for service, and continued a member of the volunteer militia until
1856, having rendered valuable assistance in the protection of the lives and
property of the pioneer settlers.
      In November, 1857, Mr. Smithers was united in marriage to Mrs. Diana
Tobin, a native of Maine, and shortly after this important event in his life he
came to his present location, taking up homestead and donation claims and
securing a total of four hundred and eighty acres. At the time he came here five
hundred or more Indians were encamped near, engaged in fishing. The land was a
veritable wilderness, and the nearest white neighbors were at Seattle, fifteen
miles distant, as has already been noted.  He and his young wife were without a
dollar when they established their home in the primitive wilds, the land being
covered with a dense growth of trees and vines. They built a little shack, which
constituted their home during the first years of their happy married life, and
there their children were born. Their son, Edward M., is now the superintendent
of the shoe department of the company store at Roslyn, and the daughter, Ada,
who is the widow of Robert L. Thorn, is living at the parental home, as are
also her four children,Robert Maxwell, Herbert E., Jeanette and Vivian.  Mr.
Smithers is now passing the evening of his useful and honorable life in an
attractive and commodious residence which he erected in 1875, and is enjoying
that independence and freedom from care which is the just reward for his earnest
and indefatigable industry during a long, active and worthy life. The city of
Renton is located on a portion of the land which he secured from the government
in the early days and which he has brought under a fine state of improvement. He
platted the town and placed the lots on the market, and it has been a great
pleasure and satisfaction to him to witness the development and progress of the
city of which he was the founder and in whose affairs he has maintained a lively
interest. He also discovered the deposit of coal here and inaugurated the work
of development, finally disposing of the mine at a figure which insures him
independence for the residue of his life.
     Notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Smithers began life in the woods of
Washington as a poor man, such was his reputation for honor and integrity that
he received necessary accommodations from merchants who refused credit to
others, and his life has been ever directed upon a high plane of rectitude, so
that he commands unqualified confidence and esteem in the state of which he is a
worthy pioneer and representative citizen. He has given his allegiance to the
Democratic party from the time of attaining his majority, his first vote having
been cast in support of Hon. Isaac I. Stevens for governor of the territory. He
is a member of the Washington Pioneer Society and during the war of the
rebellion he was initiated into the mysteries of the Masonic fraternity, being
one of the first members of St. John's Lodge, No. 9, A. F. & A. M., of Seattle,
one of the first lodges instituted in the territory. He is a stockholder and one
of the board of trustees of the South Prairie Coal Mining Company, and has other
important capitalistic interests. He was appointed by Governor Terry and once by
Governor Solomon a trustee of the State University and was elected president of
the board of regents. Mr. Smithers was appointed one of the administrators of
the estate of his friend C. C. Terry, of Seattle, which at the time of his death
was involved to the amount of nineteen thousand dollars, the property owned
extending from Yessler Way to Madison street, in the city of Seattle, and being
a large and very valuable tract.  The administrators paid off the indebtedness,
kept the family in the meanwhile and finally turned over to the five children
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, each, the fidelity shown in handling the
affairs of the estate causing the judge who discharged the administrators to say
that it had been managed with eminent ability and honor.


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Transcribed for the Washington Biographies Project in August 2007 by Diana
Smith. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individuals featured in the biographies.