- John Smith was born March 31, 1820 at Newton, Mid Lothian, Scotland to Nicol and Beatrice Innis Smith. From early youth he was a coal miner. In Scotland, he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintes (1845) and married Sophia Fortune November 21, 1851 (later sealed in Endowment House in Salt Lake).
With Children Isabella and NIcholas, they sailed from Liverpool December 7, 1854 aboard non-passenger ship 'Clara Wheeler', crowded with Henry E Phelps company of 101 adults and 170 children of Church members emigrating to Utah. They arrived at New Orleans January 11, 1855; sailed up the MIssissippi River to Gravois (East St. Louis), Illinois where John worked in a nearby coal mine 15 months to obtain funds for outfit to travel to Utah. He left Gravois May 7, 1856 arriving in Spanish Fork, Utah, October 6, 1856, to make their permanent home. The first winter they lived in a dugout; the second in a shelter of mud walls and mud-covered willow branches roof. It was 12 by 14 feet, 6 feet to the square with one foot below ground level. Walls were built of mud, and the roof was supported by ribs, or stringers, of green cottonwood, covered with willows and then dirt. The weight of the dirt made the roof sag, so that when it stormed the water would run into the house. Here, in mid-winter during a very wet season, with much water leaking into their house, their third child was born.
John farmed but for several years grasshoppers and crickets got most of the crops. John was active in church and community affairs, served in the Home and Territorial Militias, and was a popular singer and poet. There were eight children. He died at Spanish Fork May 25, 1871. Sons of Utah Pioneers Ancestor Album
Spanish Fork had been the habitat of the Ute Indians and this was their hunting and fishing area. The first settler was Enoch Reece who took up four hundred acres of land in the river bottoms near the Leland area. Some of his employees came to Spanish Fork during the fall of 1850 and spent the winter there taking care of Reece's cattle. About the same, John H. Redd came there bringing some negro slaves. In 1855, a city charter was granted and city officers were elected. The city encompassed, generally, the area from Springville on the north to POnd Town (Salem) on the south. The eastern border was the foothills of the east mountain and the western border was Utah Lake. The community was made up of settlers from the east and south parts of the US, from Canada, Scotland, England, Wales, and the Scandinavian countries. Two immigrants from Iceland came in 1855. Other Icelanders came later to establish in Spanish Fork what would be the largest Icelandic settlement outside of Iceland.
Fort Saint Luke, which had been built in 1854 for protection against marauding Indians, was still located and being used at third wouth and Main street. A bowery had been built on the corner of the public square and a bridge had been built across the Spanish Fork river about a mile south of the city. There were a handful of homes built of lumber from Payson canyon, and there were perhaps a few adobe structures. The vast majority of residents were still living in dugouts and the city was referred to often as "Gopher Town". An Indian Farm, with a Federal agent, was located south of Spanish Fort river near the present town of Leland, an experiment in Indian affairs that was destined to failure. The Walker Indian War, which started in Springville over a trade of some fish for flour, had been settled and Chief Walker had died. There were, however, sporadic raids by Indians on a continuing basis. But perhaps the worst obstacle for those settlers was the grasshopper plague where millions of hoppers hatched in the spring of 1855 and devoured the young growing crops. It is said that 800 acres of crops were destroyed. Famine stared the settlers in the face. They obtained some bran and shorts from Fillmore, and with that, plus rations of pig weeds and fish, they were able to survive. About this same time the settlers discovered a saccharine substance on the leaves of trees along the Provo river which was carefully gathered, soaked in water and reduced to a brown sugar.
It is not known how many people were residing in Spanish Fork when John and Sophia arrived. The city of Palmyra with a populatoin of about 400 was merged into Spanish Fork. Probably there were about a thousand residents. Into this city of poor people came John and Sophia. Not a very inviting situation for a man who had purchased fine, stylish clothing in St. Louis which he had hoped to sell in Utah. John Smith-Nicol Hood Family Organization
Member of John Banks Company; 9 July 1856 - 22 Sept 1856 departing Florence, Nebraska; 300 people with 60 wagons; Age: 36
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1820 - 1871 (51 år)
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