History of Early Pioneer Families of Hood River, Oregon. Compiled by Mrs. D.M. Coon

EZRA LEONARD SMITH             1876

     Ezra Leonard Smith, the only son of Ezra Smith and Avis Barker Smith, was born at Craftsburg, Orleans Co., Vermont, on the 17th of September 1837.
     After the death of his mother in 1847 and of his father in 1849 Ezra Smith lived under the guardianship of Lyndal French at Glover, Vermont, where he attended first the public school and later the Orleans Liberal Institute, of which Professor Isaac A. Parker was principal.
     In 1858 Professor Parker was appointed Professor of Ancient languages at Lombard College, located at Galesburg, Illinois. In company with Professor Parker young Smith went to Galesburg and entered Lombard College in the fall of 1858.
     Here he met Georgiana Slocum also a student of Lombard. A three year college association of Ezra Smith and Georgiana Slocum eventuated in the marriage of these two March 4, 1861, at Woodstock, Ill., the home of the bride's father and mother, Ira Slocum and Marietta Sheldon Slocum. Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Smith went to New York City, where they took passage for California, via the Isthmus of Panama. After some forty days en route they reached San Francisco and thence went to Georgetown, Eldorado County, California, where they made their first home in April, 1861. Here Mr. Smith engaged in mining and began the active part he always thenceforth took in public affairs.
     Associating himself with the political party of Lincoln, he was elected to and served through the California legislature of 1864 and 1865, and is proud of the fact that he was a member of the joint special committee which took the initial step for the organization of the University of California.
     At Georgetown the first child of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Jesse Benton, was born December 17, 1864. Here also was born the second daughter, Avis Myra, December 1, 1864. The third daughter, Georgiana, was born in San Francisco, January 22, 1866.
     Mr. Smith, in 1867, took his family to Olympia, Washington, where he had been appointed to serve as Secretary of Washington Territory. At Olympia the family resided for nine years and was there augmented by the arrival of two more daughters Laura, born January 4, 1868 and Annie Conger, born July 19, 1873.
     The business of banking, in which Mr. Smith was engaged after completing his term as Territorial Secretary, proved inimical to his health and by advice of his physicians he sought outdoor employment; this led him to Hood River, where he purchased a farm which had its north boundary near the State road and its south on what is now the Belmont Road and included the present site of the Frankton School, a hundred rods west of where the Frankton school house now stands was located the first Hood River home of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Here they brought their family of five little daughters March 1, 1876.
     Always interested in horticulture the beautiful orchards of apple, peach and cherry, surrounding this home, was the lodestone that drew Mr. Smith here and the ever increasing spread of the orchards of Hood River has been a charm to hold him.
     Here on this farm was born the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Irving McKinney the little boy, born February 1879, was permitted to stay but a short time, being taken from them January 1881 at the age of 23 months.
     Except for the few years, 1883 to 1886, during which time Mr. Smith served as registrar of the land office at The Dalles, and his wife and daughters resided with him there, the family have made their continuous home in Hood River. It was during this brief residence at The Dalles that the "Grim Reaper" a second time plucked a precious member from this family, Laura, the fourth daughter, a charming girl of fourteen years, died there December 10, 1883. It was also during the residence at The Dalles, November 1883, that George and Roy Slocum, orphaned sons of Mrs. Smith's brother, became members of this family.
     Mr. Smith, always active in local government affairs, has several times been honored by the Electorate of his state. In 1889, while representing Wasco County in the Legislature, he was elected speaker of the houses and again in the presidential campaign of 1896, he was chosen a member of the electoral college which cast the state vote for Pres. McKinley.
     In 1876 Mr. Smith established a general merchandise store, at what is now the junction of the Belmont planer and State roads. In 1882 this store was moved to the newly located town of Hood River and for many years was wider the able management of the late George P. Crowell.
     The present residence of Mr. Smith, occupying the sightly block at 6th and State Sts., was erected and became the family home in March, 1886. Here the four remaining daughters were married. Jesse Benton became Mrs. F.J. Watt April 26, 1886. To Dr. and Mrs. Watt is given the precious memory of a daughter, Avis, who was taken by death at the age of 15 years, Oct, 4, 1902. Mrs. Watt and her husband are now the companions of her father at the family home.
     Avis Myra, was married to Wm. M. Stewart November 30, 1886. The present home of Mr. and Mrs. Stewart is on State St. in Hood River. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have an adopted daughter Catherine.
     Georgiana became the wife of James Elmer Rand September 27, 1891; the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rand in Portland is graced by the presence of a daughter Laura, aged 20 years; the first, a son, Everett was claimed by death at the age of 14 years, January 29, 1907.
     Annie Conger married Oscar J. Nelson April 6, 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are living in Portland. They have two children, Avis aged nine years and Smith Jamison aged seven.
     The wife of Ezra Smith and the mother of his family, born Georgiana Slocum, at Troy, N.Y., May 22, 1842, departed this life in the family home at 6th and State St., Hood River, December 10, 1911. At the death of Mrs. Smith, Hood River mourned the loss of one of its best known and best loved citizens. An appreciation of the life of Mrs. Smith is felt throughout the Northwest, where her acquaintances were widely extended and especially among the residents of Hood River is there full conception of her work and influence in the promotion of education and good citizenship, by all who knew her Mrs. Smith is given the tribute of a wise and honorable woman and a well-nigh perfect wife and mother.
     Mrs. Amadon, Mrs. Smith's mother, was an inmate of the Smith home for many years. The little things that make the "warp and woof" of every day life are not easily preserved in printer's ink, but to those who knew her and loved her, Grandmother remains a blessed memory. She passed away in the winter of 1879 and was buried in the family burial grounds at Frankton.
     The following beautiful poem was composed by Mr. Smith and recited by him at the Pioneer's annual reunion September 17, 1918, that date being Mr. Smith's eighty first anniversary of his birth, as well as the day for the Pioneer's meeting.

"WHERE ROLLS THE OREGON"

O come! and let us go
Where garnered waters of an empire flow
Through chasm dark and deep and vast,
Cut in the eons of the past,
A channel of divine decree,
From Eastern plain to Western sea.

On yonder height now let us stand,
And look abroad on wonder-land;
See those broad volcanic cones,
Which lift their heads to frigid zones,
While lesser heights in forest green
Add wondrous beauty to the scene.

See the sunlights, as they play
From early dawn to close of day,
With changing hues for every hour
On tree and shrub and blooming flower.

Look westward, a mountain chain
Some mighty force hath rent in twain;
Through this rift a river glides
To mingle with old ocean's tides,
And to this place from every land
Shall ever come a pilgrim band.

Amazed, they look, and then exclaim,
"God's wonderland! Blest be His name!"
The Romans built the Appian Way
To lead their conquering legions o'er;
They built for war, which we abhor,
We built for Him whom we adore.

Praise be to those who wrought,
And praise to those who planned,
Who graded down the rocky cliffs,
And all their canyons spanned,
That all the world might view
The glories of Columbia's land.

     Mrs. Smith, her children and her grandchildren were interred in the family plot near their early home by the side of Grandma Amadon. Mr. Smith had thought much upon the proper manner of disposing of the remains of our loved ones and became convinced that cremation was the better way and requested that his body be cremated and his ashes scattered on the waters of the Columbia River. His wish was complied with and the bodies of those long buried were disinterred and treated in the same manner. Mrs. Jessie Smith Watt passed away in 1925 and her body cared for in the manner chosen by the father
     Mr. Smith died January 22, 1921, deeply mourned by all.

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