In the spring of 1880, Amos Smith, his family, and his brother Tom, came to Wawanesa. They travelled by oxen and Red River cart from Winnipeg when the railroad was just beginning to wend its way through Manitoba.

They finally reached Souris City and located land. Amos purchased section 13 from the C.P.R. and Thomas bought section 18. They broke eighteen acres of land and built a log stable and a log shanty each and put up hay for the next summer. In the fall they returned to Ontario, Amos selling his 100 acres for $5,000 and his wife selling her 100 acres for $3,000.

In 1881, they all returned to the west with a carload of settlers' effects which included furniture, machinery and livestock.

In 1883, Amos Smith's youngest daughter Esther was born and her motherdied. She was buried in the family graveyard. Mr. Smith died in 1904 and the farm was taken over by his two sons, Wesley and George.

Other members of the family were: Noble, Albert (better known as Armand), Edward, Thomas, Jane (now Mrs. Kent), Sarah (now Mrs. Miller), Caroline (now Mrs. Cooley), and Esther is now Mrs. Fred Brightwell.

Mr. John Smith came from Newtonville, Ontario, on March 19, 1881, travelling by train to Portage la Prairie and then walking to his homestead, being sections 18-07-17[-W1]. He lived in a sod shack while building a log house and the next year he went back east and brought his wife Lucy back with him. There four children born of this union: Reuben, Linda, Ethel and Stanley.

Mr. Smith, like many other pioneers, endured numerous hardships, one of which was having to draw his grain a distance of twenty-five miles to Brandon as this was the closest market. He drove a heavy team to Brandon in the black night sitting on the front bob of a sleigh in bitterly cold winter weather to summon a doctor to come to his young son Reuben who had pneumonia.

(Source: Oakland Echoes 1879-1970, pp 53f [1970; Adapted])

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NOTE: Many relatives of the people interred in this cemetery, can be found in the Smith Family Cemetery located near Newtonville, Ontario, Canada.

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This land was purchased from the C.P.R. in the early 1880's by Amos Smith. It is now owned by the Smith Cemetery Inc. but is surrounded by the rest of the section which is owned by the Green Acres Hutterite Colony.

(Source: Manitoba Genealogical Society [2001; Adapted])

This small cemetery was established in 1883 by the Rueben Smith family. It is located on private land but with public access.

(Source: Manitoba Historical Society [Adapted])

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Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD07-13-07-18-W1

In the Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa

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As noted above, a part of the family's story, and those of its inhabitants, from the early days of European settlement through roughly 1970 is told in the volume "Oakland Echoes 1879-1970", especially on the cited pages. A free digital version of this and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".

A list of burials in this cemetery is available from the Manitoba Genealogical Society (reference #0136), transcribed by a member or members in 1984 and updated in 2001. Also available to MGS members is a searchable online database named the "MGS Manitoba Name Index" (or MANI). Some additional information is contained in the 1996 MGS publication "Carved in Stone: Manitoba Cemeteries and Burial Sites" (revised edition, Special Projects Publication, 106 pages).