Sarah Lavina Smith died at the age of 79yrs from myocarditis. Check the obit site of John C Smith for more info about the family. John Charles Smith was born in Loganport, Ind. He married Sarah Lavina Fink who was 15yrs old, they had 7 children. They sold everything and came to SD by train ending at the end of the rail in Ashton, Spink, SD. He took claim 11 miles north and built a sod house. He farmed by hand and with tools made of wood. They had no transporation so he had to walk or catch a ride. One time he walked 10 miles with 50#'s of flour. In the winter they took turns twisting straw for the fire. He slept upstairs and ate sitting on a washboard, the gophers ate crumbs he dropped. There was no plow to far with so they planted seeds in badger mounds. 1888 brought one of the worst blizzards ever. About 10 in the morning everyone was out and the children were in school. The storm came so fast no one had time to get in, it lasted for 3 days. It froze everything that was outside. In the spring they found they found the people and animals that were buried in the snow. One teacher tried to go home by a fence line, in the spring they found her and the children frozen by the fence. Charles had gone to town that day, and with a neighbor. They were trying to get home, but couldn't see anything, a one of the oxen broke loose so they were left there and walked until they fell against a house. They stayed in this house till the storm stopped. Later their house burned and they moved to Mellette, Spink, SD, where he got a job as a section boss on the railroad, where he worked the rest of his life. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Sarah Lavina Smith died at the age of 79yrs from myocarditis. Check the obit site of John C Smith for more info about the family. John Charles Smith was born in Loganport, Ind. He married Sarah Lavina Fink who was 15yrs old, they had 7 children. They sold everything and came to SD by train ending at the end of the rail in Ashton, Spink, SD. He took claim 11 miles north and built a sod house. He farmed by hand and with tools made of wood. They had no transporation so he had to walk or catch a ride. One time he walked 10 miles with 50#'s of flour. In the winter they took turns twisting straw for the fire. He slept upstairs and ate sitting on a washboard, the gophers ate crumbs he dropped. There was no plow to far with so they planted seeds in badger mounds. 1888 brought one of the worst blizzards ever. About 10 in the morning everyone was out and the children were in school. The storm came so fast no one had time to get in, it lasted for 3 days. It froze everything that was outside. In the spring they found they found the people and animals that were buried in the snow. One teacher tried to go home by a fence line, in the spring they found her and the children frozen by the fence. Charles had gone to town that day, and with a neighbor. They were trying to get home, but couldn't see anything, a one of the oxen broke loose so they were left there and walked until they fell against a house. They stayed in this house till the storm stopped. Later their house burned and they moved to Mellette, Spink, SD, where he got a job as a section boss on the railroad, where he worked the rest of his life. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
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