The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 903 

C. A. SMITH.

C. A. Smith, editor and proprietor of the Yakima Valley Farmer, an agricultural
publication which he is successfully conducting, was born in Cheboygan,
Michigan, on the 15th of March, 1878, his parents being Edwin and Mary
(Wheelock) Smith. The father was a lumberman and in 1883 left Michigan for the
northwest settling in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, where he is now living retired.

C. A. Smith of this review, putting aside his textbooks at the age of sixteen
years, entered the newspaper field by securing a position in a newspaper office
at Kingston, Idaho. In 1898 he published the Idaho State Tribune at Wallace,
Idaho, and later he pursued a business course in Heald's Business College of San
Francisco. In September, 1900, he removed to Butte, Montana, where he became
secretary for the Western Labor Union, and in 1905 he entered the cigar selling
business, in which he continued for two years. On the expiration of that period
he became identified with the purchasing department of the Anaconda Mining
Company and so continued from June, 1907, until May, 1911, when he was made
chief clerk. His next position was that of first assistant treasurer of the city
of Butte, in which capacity he served until 1913, when he was elected a member
of the city council. He was afterward engaged in the advertising business until
October, 1914, when Mayor Duncan of Butte was ousted from office and Mr. Smith
was elected to serve as mayor for the remaining period of the term, covering
seven months. Thus he continued as the chief executive of that city until May,
1915. After retiring from office he removed to the Yakima valley and purchased
the Tribune, a paper published at Toppenish. This he continued until 1917, when
he bought the Yakima Valley Farmer, which was established on the 1st of
December, 1917, as successor to the Freeman's Farmer, which had been launched in
Missouri by Leigh R. Freeman, who was a pioneer settler of the Yakima valley,
coming across the country with ox team in the '70s. He located in the city of
Yakima and afterward removed his building to North Yakima when the new town was
started. He brought forth the Freeman Farmer as a monthly publication, with a
circulation that extended throughout the northwest. It was published as a
general agricultural paper by Mr. Freeman until his death, which occurred in
February, 1915. His wife and daughter afterward conducted the paper for two
years, at the end of which time Mrs. Freeman was called to her final rest and in
1917 the paper was sold, Mr. Smith becoming proprietor. This is the oldest
publication in Washington. Mr. Smith is the manager and editor as well as the
owner of the paper, which is now published weekly and has a circulation of over
thirty-five hundred. It is the only farm paper issued in the Yakima valley. It
presents everything of interest to the farmer concerning the cultivation of the
land and the development of the crops and is a most progressive journal, proving
of great value to the farming people of the community. The Yakima Valley Farmer
is unique in that its publisher insists that it is a "farmers' paper" instead of
the ordinary "farm paper." The publication and its publisher are especially
active in furthering farmers' organizations, giving particular attention to the
marketing feature, which Mr. Smith insists is the weakest link in the nation's
agricultural system, and which must be solved before the farmers of the country
can assume the position of dignity and influence to which their economic
importance entitle them. The shop is supplied with all modern printing
equipment, including the latest improved presses and other machinery. and he
employs from three to six people. He also does a large amount of job printing,
catalogues and other work of that kind.

On the 3d of July, 1902, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Bessie E.
Hughes, of Butte, Montana, and they have one daughter. Helen, now fifteen years
of age.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.