~ Biographical Sketch ~

     Emmet Willard Smith was born on Wednesday, March 2, 1898 in the family's log home - on the "John Smith Farm" on Goshen Ridge, in Turkey River, Millville Township, Clayton County, Iowa, son of John Smith and Sarah Louisa Minger. As a child, Emmet grew up on the "John Smith Farm" on Goshen Ridge in Turkey River, Iowa.¹

According to the US census of June 13, 1900, Emmet was living at home with his parents in Millville Township, Clayton County, Iowa. He was two years old.²

He appeared on the Millville Township census of April 28, 1910 living at home with parents. He was 12 years old and had been attending school.³

He was still living at home with his parents in Millville Township in 1920. According to the census which was taken February 23, 1920, he was 21 years old and working on the home farm.⁴

While at a Sunday school picnic with some of her girl friends at Union Park, near Dubuque, she was introduced to Emmet Smith. About a year later, while traveling by train from Zwingle to Bellevue, the train stopped at the LaMotte station. It was April. Grace was 17 years old and still a senior in High School. Emmet was working in LaMotte as the section foreman on the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad at the time. He came to the coach window and talked with her. He asked that she would let him know later, but she didn’t. She was afraid that her father wouldn’t approve. Then he asked her again on a subsequent trip and she was so thrilled and she said, “Yes.” On a Sunday afternoon, they went to a movie, then to a nice restaurant and again to a movie. She thought that great. She wasn’t used to going to nice restaurants. She and the other kids just ate 5¢ hot dogs. They didn’t have much money. They had many dates after that.

They always dated on Sunday and Wednesday evenings but never on Saturday nights. They went to movie shows and ate at good restaurants. Emmet would often bring her big boxes of candy. They were always chocolate covered fruit and nuts. She recalled that they were so good. He also bought her a camera and a jeweled clock. Then her first Christmas present from him was a beautiful walnut cedar chest, which she still had as long as she lived. Her father said, “ Grace, you shouldn’t accept that.” She supposed that he was afraid of losing her. She sure wasn’t going to give up that present.

Emmet was good looking and mannerly. Grace stated that it was fun to be with him. He had a good job. (In those days, many were unemployed.)

Grace’s father also liked to visit with Emmet. He could talk on any subject. Grace had to admit that sometimes she’d get a little provoked as she thought he spent too much time with her father instead of being in the kitchen with her. She had kept house for her father and brothers for about four years following her mother’s death. Emmet had eaten at their place many times, and he knew that she was a good cook. After about a year, he gave her a diamond. She was thrilled.

Emmet was transferred on the railroad to a town a long ways away to West Union. This made them decide to set a date for wedding.

Grace’s sisters had a big shower for her on the Saturday before she was married. They had a nice delicious supper for 60 lady guests. Some came by horse and sleigh from the country. She received many nice gifts.⁵ He lived in LaMotte, Jackson County, Iowa, when he met and courted his wife to be.

At age 28, Emmet married Grace Elda Lenhart on Tuesday, November 30, 1926 at Harmony United Reform Church, in Zwingle, Jackson County, Iowa. Grace was 19 years old. She was the daughter of Joseph Rush Lenhart and Elizabeth Willamenia Hachmann. The ceremony was held at eight o'clock in the morning. The wedding invitations were printed on white vellum cards with black thermographed lettering. As Grace's mother was no longer living, her father issued the invitations. A note on the invitation added that the couple would be "At Home" after December 15th, at West Union, Iowa. Emmet’s folks did not attend the wedding because of distance and lots of snow. All of the schoolteachers and students were among those attending the wedding. Grace recalled that their wedding day was very cold with lots of snow, but she was happy. Grace wore a blue and taupe cut-velvet on chiffon dress. For travel, she had a tan suit and hat, matching shoes, and a blue coat.

The wedding ceremony was had in the early morning so that the couple could have their pictures taken at the photographer's studio and travel 15 miles to catch the 12:00 noon train. When the train stopped made its stop at Turkey River, north of Dubuque, Emmet's mother, two sisters, a sister-in-law and their children were there to congratulate the newlyweds. They had packed a delicious hot chicken dinner, which the couple later ate on train. Grace and Emmet then traveled on to Seattle, Washington. They had a railroad pass.

When the railroad Road Master heard they were getting married, he said to Emmet, “Why don’t you take a big trip, I’ll get you a pass.” So, he sent for one. It came to the office in Dubuque. The man in the office said, “He’s not married” and he sent it back and ordered a single pass. So he found out that Emmet was getting married and he reordered a pass and it came just in the nick of time before their wedding. "It was a good honeymoon," Grace added.^6,7

On their wedding trip, they visited Emmet’s brother and wife in Montana and then went on to Seattle. The visited several places and one was the Navy base. They went all through the Battleship Arizona. It was docked there for repairs and being painted. That ship was later sunk at Pearl Harbor by the attack by Japan. They were glad they had the chance to see it and tour it.⁸

Their first home was at West Union, Iowa. They rented an older home. It was cold. They only lived there for four months. Emmet got transferred back to his former job and would be working out of La Motte, Iowa again. So, they moved back to Zwingle. It was in this home that their first son was born.⁸

An announcement in the LaMotte News for the marriage of Emmet and Grace read:

Miss Grace Lenhart
A November Bride

One of our late November weddings was that of Miss Grace Lenhart, youngest daughter of Mr. J. R. Lenhart, and Mr. Emmet Smith of Elkport formerly of LaMotte.

The event taking place in the Harmony Reformed church. The former pastor, Rev. J. M. Newgard, now of Wilton, Iowa, officiated. The ceremony being read at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday November 30, 1926. The couple were unattended and left shortly after the breakfast at the bride’s home for the immediate family, on their honeymoon trip to Seattle, Washington and other points of interest on Pacific coast as their destination.

The bride was handsome in a gown of beautiful creation of electric blue georgette crepe embroidered in fawn colored cut chenille shading to silver. Her slippers and other accessories in fawn shade.

Emmet worked as a railroad foreman, a farmer for 20 years, a blacktop superintendent, and later was the owner of his own blacktop business in Dubuque, called Smith Blacktop.

Emmet was 30 years old when Grace gave birth to their son Don Emmet (Sr.), on Saturday, March 3, 1928, at home in a two bedroom bungalow (the old parsonage), on the south edge of Zwingle, Jackson County, Iowa at 4:30 in the afternoon. His mother recalls that she was in almost 18 hours in labor. He weighed 8 1/4 pounds, was 21 inches long and had brown hair. He had "cut-out" marks on the back edge of his ears just like his father had. His mother wrote in her memory book that he was a fussy (colic) baby..

Emmet worked at La Motte for one year and then quit the railroad. They moved to his home place in Turkey River, on his father’s farm. This wasn’t a good move. They shared the income with his father and there wasn’t a good living in it for them, so Emmet decided to find other work. He wrote his former road master on the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad and asked if he had an opening. He phoned back and said, “Be at Roundout, Illinois as soon as possible.” So off they went. This was at the start of the depression and the railroad company kept laying off the foremen – doubling up sections. Emmet would get bumped off and then he would bump someone else until he couldn’t any more. He went to the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company in Joliet, Illinois, and got on right away. He had very good recommendations. They lived at North Chicago, Illinois and were there for a while, but finally Emmet got laid off when the sections were doubled up.⁸

Their son Galen Cecil was born on Friday, February 19, 1932, at 11:15 P.M. in North Chicago, Lake County, Illinois. Emmet was 33 years old.

In the meantime, Grace’s father had passed away (he had kidney trouble). Grace’s brother, Art Lenhart, was living alone on the family’s home farm so he wrote asking Grace and Emmet to come back to Zwingle to live with him and work for him. They went back and Emmet helped Art with the farm work. Galen was two years old. Emmet got 50¢ a day for working for Art. But at least they had a place to live, and part of their food was furnished. They stayed on the farm for one year.

Grace had inherited some money from her father and they bought the Gerber farm. It was about three miles south of Zwingle. They made a down payment and borrowed the rest from the Federal Loan Bank. They had to agree to raise their own food. The first thing the bank did was to take money from the loan and buy a large canning pressure cooker for them. The loan program required Grace to can 20 quarts of tomatoes per person (they knew that Grace and Emmet couldn’t afford oranges for Vitamin C). She had to can 100 quarts of tomatoes and lots of other vegetables. She canned 400 quarts of fruit and vegetables and 100 quarts of beef. They had pork and 400 chickens. The loan program wanted them to be well nourished. It was a good program and they kept checking on them. They wanted them to succeed. In 1989 Grace shared the following thought, “Too bad they (government) don’t make the welfare people earn their living these days, instead of just handing out money for free.”

There was lots of work on the farm and they really worked. Emmet often said, “I laid awake at night, and wondered if we could hold on to the farm.” (This was still during the depression.) Emmet would saw lumber and firewood for people to make enough extra to make the loan payments and pay taxes. No wonder he suffered from ulcers. When he would go to do field work, Grace would make him a thermos bottle of eggnog and he would take a few crackers. When his stomach would pain, he would take a little eggnog and a cracker and that would ease it. It was on this farm that Grace’s brother-in-law, Harry Cueno (Ruby’s husband), had his spinal cord broken. Emmet had so much corn in that year (1942) and the hay had to be made, so he let Harry and his son, Fred, put it up on shares. The hay wagon wheel went into a little hole or rut and tipped the wagon. Harry fell off and his spinal cord was severed. He lived about three months.⁸

Emmet was 37 years old when Grace gave birth to their daughter Darlene Grace, on Tuesday, June 18, 1935, at six o'clock in the morning. in Finley Hospital, in Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa. She weighed 8 1/4 pounds and was 20 inches long.

Emmet and Grace lived on a farm south of Zwingle. They raised chickens on their farm and sold eggs to the Kretz' Cafeteria in Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa. Occasionally, they would bring in a hog from their farm and sell it to the meat packers in Dubuque in order to have enough money to buy their groceries.

When they lived on the farm, they had a special shepherd dog named Rover. He was good with the animals on the farm. One-day Emmet’s team of horses ran away. Rover took after them and the horse kicked him and he died. Grace lamented, “We loved him and missed him so much.” Later on the family had a fox terrier. In later years, Grace and Emmet had a poodle named Punkie, and then a spitz named Chipper. They trained him to do lots of tricks. They really loved him. He was a good companion for Grace in her later years when Emmet died. Unfortunately, about a year and a half later, Chipper became ill from a deer-tick bite and died. Grace recalled that she really grieved for him and still missed him for the rest of her life.^1,5

His daughter Darlene recalls that whenever he was sick to his stomach, Emmet would ask for sauerkraut juice to relieve his discomfort.¹

On July 1, 1949, his son, Don, married Janet Grace Neuendorf.^9,10

On October 5, 1955, his son, Galen, married Anna Mae Scheckel.^11,12

On May 18, 1957, his daughter, Darlene, married Richard Frank (Sr.) Julson.^11,1

Emmet is listed as a survivor in the obituary of his brother, Irvin Ralph Smith.¹³

Emmet is listed as a survivor in the obituary of his brother, Ferman John Smith. Emmet was living in Dubuque at the time and Ferman was farming in the Guttenberg area.¹⁴

During their marriage, Emmet and Grace lived in numerous locations including West Union, IA; Turkey River, IA; Zwingle, IA; Round Out, IL (near North Chicago); Jolliet, IL; Tipton, IA; and Maquoketa, IA; finally settling in Dubuque, Iowa, where they lived together in the home that they built on John Deere Road until his death.^6,15

They had a special shepherd dog named Rover. He was good with the animals on the farm. One-day Emmet’s team of horses ran away. Rover took after them and the horse kicked him and he died. Grace lamented, “We loved him and missed him so much.” Later on the family had a fox terrier. In later years when they lived in Dubuque, Grace and Emmet had a poodle named Punkie, and then a spitz named Chipper. They trained him to do lots of tricks. They really loved him. He was a good companion for Grace in her later years when Emmet died. Unfortunately, about a year and a half later, Chipper became ill from a deer-tick bite and died. Grace recalled that she really grieved for him and still missed him for the rest of her life.⁵

Emmet died at age 89 on March 16, 1987 at his home in Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa. The cause of death was a heart attack. He was laid to rest on Thursday, March 19, 1987 in the Linwood Cemetery in Dubuque, Iowa. The funeral service was held Thursday, 10:30 A.M. at the Dubuque Bible Church with the Rev. Timothy Jeske officiating. The soloist was Rae Jean Draper singing "In the Garden" and "Safe in the Arms of Jesus." Linda Eberly was the organist and Evie McCready was pianist. Pallbearers were Tom Thurston, Rick Julson, Tom Julson, Randy Smith, Dan Kubitz, Duane Kubitz, and Don E. Smith, Jr. The viewing (wake) was held Wednesday, March 18th (the evening before) at 8:00 P.M., at Egelhof-Casper-Strueber Funeral Home, 1145 Locust St., Dubuque.^15,16

According to the Social Security Death Index, his social security number was 480-12-5865, issued in Iowa. Death residence localities were Asbury, Dubuque, Iowa, Center Grove, Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa Eagle Point, Dubuque, Iowa, Julien, Dubuque, Iowa, Key West, Dubuque, Iowa, Massey, Dubuque, Iowa, Rockdale, Dubuque, Iowa, Sageville, Dubuque, Iowa, and Shawondasse, Dubuque, Iowa. (Zip code 52001).<sup>17

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View additional photograhs ~ John Smith Family, Smith Brothers.