My Genealogy Hound

H. K. SMITH. Of the many young men who came to Buffalo county, Nebr., early in the seventies, few, if any, have been more successful than the subject of this brief biographical notice. Every dollar Mr. Smith posesses has been earned by hard work. Whatever he undertakes to do he does, and does it right, too. He is intelligent as well as energetic and is noted for his ability as an excellent manager. He was born in Lawrence, county, Pa., October 11, 1856, and is a son of J. P. and Sarah (Fox) Smith, both of whom are natives of the Keystone State and of German descent. His father is one of the honored pioneers of Buffalo county, having immigrated from Pennsylvania in the spring of 1871, and was the first actual settler to build a frame house north of the Wood river in Sharon township. Wild game and Indians, too, were plenty. The settler had to watch the game to kill it, and had to watch the Indian to keep from getting killed. The senior Smith came near being a victim of the terrible blizzard in April in 1873. He was some distance from home when the great storm began, and it was with much difficulty that he succeeded in reaching it safely, so blinding was the storm. It was only by the most heroic exertions that the cattle belonging to Mr. Smith were prevented from perishing during that awful storm, which lasted three days and nights. Mr. Smith shared the usual fate during the grasshopper raid, but soon recovered from its effects, and since that famous raid he has not suffered from an entire failure of crop.

When Mr. H. K. Smith was twenty-five years of age he purchased a quarter section of the best land in Sharon township. Since that he has purchased more, until he has now three hundred and sixty acres of fine land. In 1886 he began contracting with the great seed house of D. M. Ferry, of Detroit, to furnish vegetable seeds. He has been engaged in this enterprise since and is making a complete success of it. In 1890 he raised twenty-five acres of cucumbers, seven acres of tomatoes, fifteen acres of squashes, and thirty acres of sweet corn.

Mr. Smith was married August, 1884, the lady of his choice being Miss Fannie M., daughter of Jacob and Eliza (Trip) Herr. She was born in Illinois, August 14, 1868. This union has been blessed by the birth of three bright children, namely — Earl, born July 4, 1886; Lavena May, born January 12, 1888, and Elsie Grace, born September, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and enjoy the confidence and esteem of all who know them.