SKETCH II
NORFOLK’S FIRST WHITE MAN- BILLY SMITH
If the tradition handed down in the first Smith family be true in fact, no doubt would remain as to who was the first white man that established a residence in Norfolk, remaining and afterwards becoming a permanent settler.[1] This man’s name was William Smith, familiarly known in pioneer times as “Uncle Billy” Smith. He was the eldest son of old father Abraham Smith,[2] who settled temporarily at Fort Erie, in 1785: and who came on, in 1793, to Long Point, with his family, and settled in the Creek valley, in the front of what became lot 15, 5th concession of Charlotteville. An account of father Abraham’s settlement is given elsewhere.
It is said that “Uncle Billy” left the parental roof the year following the settlement at Fort Erie, and wandered up into Long Point country where he lived among the Indians. This was in 1786, some four or five years previous to the earliest date claimed for the first settlement. During these years William Smith was, no doubt, the only white man living in Norfolk County, who became, subsequently, a permanent settler. Of course, he frequently visited his own people, but he spent the most of his time among the Indians. That portion of the Creek valley referred to was an Indian village. The sunny hillside was dotted with their wigwams, and the Creek valley resounded with the shouts of hundreds of hearty young “bucks” as they chased each other up and down the stream, or rolled and tumbled underneath the wild plum and crab-apple trees. The Indians of Long Point country were peacefully inclined. Very few instances of treachery are recorded. They extended a welcome hand to their white brothers, and sought their friendship when they made their first appearance among them. The preceding wars, resulting in the complete downfall of French domination on the American continent, had left an impression on the Indian mind that the English were a mighty nation governed by a powerful chief who avenged all wrongs inflicted on his people, and protected those who were friendly towards him and treated his people as brothers. There is a certain dignity displayed in the Indian idea of bravery and tribal integrity that is admirable; and it was but natural that they should be favorably impressed with the dignified bearing of the English and the honor and business integrity which marked all their dealings with them.
“Uncle Billy” Smith is described as a man who possessed peculiar and, in some ways, striking individual characteristics. He was as brave as a lion, and as playful and frolicsome as a lamb.
He was as invincible as the “Rock of Gibraltar” when occasion required it, and yet as sympathetic and tender as a woman. His fund of good humor was inexhaustible, and his jovial, sunny disposition served as a sure and certain passport to the good-will of all with whom he came in contact. The “noble red men” like fun as well as their white brothers, and they were greatly amused by “Uncle Billy” and became his fast friends from the first. He was an athlete, and his marvellous feats of strength awed the Indians. He taught them white men’s tricks, and they taught him the best known Indian methods of hunting, trapping, healing diseases, etc. He was one among them in the chase, in their dances and other amusements; in fact, he lived with them and learned a smattering of their language.
“Uncle Billy” was not a large man. He was of medium height and weighed only about one hundred and sixty five pounds, and yet he was a man of prodigious strength. If all the stories told of his wonderful lifting powers were written down they would fill a volume. If he had been crossgrained in disposition, he would have been a dangerous man, especially at that time when all matters in dispute were settled at the bar of fisticuffs.
The writer of this sketch has no desire to detract, in the least, from the great reputation which the author of “Gullivers Travels” won for spinning yarns, yet he cannot slip the opportunity of repeating, for the benefit of the reader, a few of these wonderful stories. Those given are among the mildest and will do the least violence to the reader’s credulity; and, furthermore, they were obtained from an elderly gentleman of good memory, whose father was a near neighbor and intimate friend of “Uncle Billy.”
Hugh McCall, John Bray, Solomon Sovereign and Joseph Kitchen—all large powerful men—were, on a certain occasion, testing their lifting powers on the big bark-wheel used by the latter in connection with his tannery. The wheel was six feet in diameter, eighteen inches thick, solid, and made of oak timber. In addition to the weight of this ponderous wheel was that of the propelling shaft, or lever as it was called, around which the wheel revolved. When it is considered that this shaft was about fifteen feet long, passing through the wheel four feet from the outer end where the lifting was done, the difficulty of the task may well be imagined. One or two of the contesting parties were just able to lift it clear of the crushing floor, and while thus engaged “Uncle Billy” came upon the scene. He saw what the best man in the party could do, and then, without making a test, he offered a wager that he could lift it three times in succession with all four of them on top of the wheel. The wager was accepted, and “Uncle Billy” won with the greatest apparent ease. He lifted it three times, letting it drop with a heavy “thud” each time.
In these early days “Jake” Sovereign kept a tavern on lot 15, 6th concession of Charlotteville, a little west of “Uncle Billy’s” place. By the way, the reader must not infer that the venerable old ex-warden of Delhi is the man who kept this tavern, for he is the little grandson of the sturdy old pioneer who kept this pioneer tavern. Well, “Uncle Billy” and “Jo” Kitchen took a barrel of whisky to Jake’s tavern on one occasion, and when they arrived “Uncle Billy” shouldered the cask and carried it in. The bar-room door, like all pioneer doors, was low, and so Billy had to double himself up to get through with his burden. It required Jake and two or three others to relieve Smith of his burden, and while the cask was being rolled across the door it went crashing through and “fetched up” at the bottom of the hole underneath which served as a cellar. It is said that this same “Uncle Billy” Smith could pick up a fifty-gallon cask of whisky and drink out of the bung-hole. On one occasion, while in Gustin’s mill, below Vittoria, he offered a wager that he would write his name on the side of the wall with a sixty pound weight hanging to his little finger. He won the wager in the presence of several men. He was the champion back-hold wrestler in the settlement. There was no human vertebral column that could resist the force of his muscular arms. But he seldom exercised his great strength on hand-to-hand contests with his fellow-beings, not through lack of courage, for there was not a cowardly hair in his head, but by reason of his exceeding good-nature. His physical powers were brought to bear on things inanimate, thereby injuring no one, except, quite possibly, himself.
William Smith married Jane, daughter of Samuel Barber, the grand ancestor of the Barber family, of Townsend. He settled on Lot 19, 6th concession of Charlotteville, where his wife died,[3] leaving him with a young family consisting of four sons—Burdsey, Daniel, William and Joseph K. and three daughters—Jane, Rachel and Clarissa. The home circle was broken up after the mother’s death, and the children found homes among friends. Subsequently, “Uncle Billy” married Fanny Oaks; and after his death she married Barney Hackett, of Vittoria.
Burdsey Smith, eldest son of William married Maria, and subsequently Delia, daughters of James Dolan, of New Jersey. He settled as a pioneer in “the land o’ Goshen,” Middleton, on Lot 12, 2nd concession, N. T. S. Here he lived until the rough edge of pioneer life was worn off, and then the family moved to Washington, Ill. He left a number of sons and daughters.[4]
Daniel Smith, second son of William, married Mary Chadwick, and settled on Lot 15, 4th concession of Charlotteville.[5] He was a deacon of the Baptist church of Vittoria, for many years, and led a most exemplary life. He and his wife are both dead. He had five sons—Primus, William, Charles, Arthur and Daniel; and four daughters—Maggie, Aggie, Mary and Ella.
William Smith, third son of William,[6] married Mary Robinson and settled on Lot 11, 7th concession of Townsend. He had four sons—Walter, Adaniram, Louis and William; and three daughters—Rebecca, Lorinda and Jane. Adaniram occupies the old homestead. All the others, including both parents, are dead.
Joseph K. Smith, fourth son of William, married Sabina Sinden and settled on Lot 22, 13th concession of Windham. He was a deacon of the Fredericksburg Baptist church for a good many years, and no one of Windham’s pioneers led a more consistent Christian life, or left a cleaner record of life’s work behind him than Deacon Joseph K. Smith. In his old age he retired from the farm and purchased a fine home in the village of Waterford, which his widow at present occupies. He left two daughters—Mrs. Roger Crysler, of Delhi, and Mrs. Samuel Cunningham, of Waterford.
Jane Smith, eldest daughter of William, married Solomon Sovereign, and settled on Lot 24, 7th concession of Charlotteville. Subsequently the family moved to the western States. Mr. Sovereign died quite recently in California, having reached his ninety-sixth year.
Rachel Smith, second daughter of William, married William Huff, of Port Royal, by whom she had one son, William, and one daughter Ellen. Subsequently she married Jacob Bowers, of the same place, by whom she had several children. After Mr. Bowers’ death the mother settled in Michigan among her children, where she died.[7]
Clarissa Smith, youngest daughter of William, married William Cowan, and settled on Lot 19, 4th concession of Charlotteville. Mr. Cowan is still living. She had five sons—John, William, David, James and Alexander; and five daughters—Janet, Jane, Agnes, Margaret and Mary.
As Burdsey Smith was the eldest son of Norfolk’s first white man, and one of the Goshen pioneers, it may not be out of place to add a few historical notes in this connection pertaining to the settlement of that favored spot in the township of Middleton. Although the township, as a whole, may not rank among the best in the vast territory that once constituted the London District, that portion of it known as Goshen is not excelled anywhere in the comfort and elegance of its homes or the fertility of its soil.
The petition for the opening of a public road through this rich section of wilderness, known as the “Goshen Road,” was signed by Frederick and Henry Sovereign, James Brown, Peter Mabee, Chris. Buchner, Lot Tisdale, James and John Ronson, Geo. Byerlay, Wm. McLennan, Burdsey W. Smith and five Bayham settlers. A survey was made and published according to law as evidence by the following certificate:
“I, Francis L. Walsh, surveyor of highways for the County of Norfolk, make oath that I did on the 25th day of September, 1835, affix a copy of the foregoing report in a conspicuous manner on the house of George Reid, and in like manner on the same day did affix another copy thereof on the inn of Sidney Bowlby, both of Middleton, and near the commencement of said new road.
“F. L. Walsh, H. W.”
Among the early pioneers in Goshen were John McDonald, the Ronsons, the Mabees, Burdsey W. Smith and Henry Wade. These were followed by the Shepherd, Cowan, Sandham, Jeffrey and other families. It is said that Mr. McDonald slept under a log every night for three weeks while chopping on his land, and never saw a human face during that time. The present home of William Shepherd was the first brick house erected in the township of Middleton, outside of the village of Delhi, the old home of James Whiteside, Esq., being the first. The original Goshen pioneers have all passed away, and but few are left of those who came later.
[1] William (Billy) Smith, of colourful character, was definitely a man who could be the “stuff” of legends. While William “Billy” Smith appears to have been a colorful character, several parts of this sketch seem fanciful. William “Billy” Smith was born in September 1777 (according to his Vittoria Baptist Cemetery tombstone) or c. 1779 (according to the 1799 Charlotteville Township Militia Muster Rolls). These birth dates would make him seven or nine years of age when he supposedly settled in Norfolk. In researching this sketch 75 years after Billy Smith’s death, E. A. Owen relied on reminiscences of “an elderly gentleman” whose memory may not have been accurate. Owen himself acknowledged (before discounting) this possibility.
[2] William Smith was actually the third son of Abraham Smith, his older brothers being Isaac, born c. 1771 (Muster Rolls of the Charlotteville Company of the Norfolk Militia) and Samuel, born on 31 Jul 1777 (gravestone in Vittoria Baptist Cemetery).
[3] Jane (Barber) Smith’s Vittoria Baptist Cemetery gravestone says she died in October 1820.
[4] Burdsey Smith settled first in Roseville Township, Warren County, Illinois located near the Missouri boundary west of Peoria where he was recorded in the 1850 Census and later lived in Washington, Tazewell County, Illinois at the time of the 1880 Census. In the 1850 Census his children were Joseph Smith, born c. 1830, Maria Smith, born c. 1832, Aaron Smith, born c. 1834, Charity Ann Smith, born c. 1837, Martha Jane Smith, born c. 1839, William Smith, born c. 1842, Lucelia Smith, born c. 1844 and Emeline Smith, born c. 1848.
[5] Daniel Barber Smith farmed in Lot 13, Concession 4, Charlotteville Township, not Lot 15. He was listed there in the 1852 Agricultural Census and his name shown on the lot in the 1877 Historical Atlas of Norfolk County.
[6] The 1852 Census of Windham Township lists Joseph aged 45 and the 1852 Census of Townsend Twp., lists William C. Smith aged 43. This makes Joseph older than William.
[7] The names of Rachel Smith’s husbands are erroneous. She married first on 16 Apr 1831, Charles Hough (London District Marriage Register). Rachel married second on 25 Nov 1846, Henry Baumwart (Talbot District Marriage Register).