MRS. ARETHUSA E. SMITH. – Arethusa E., the daughter of Daniel Lynn, was born near Warsaw, Benton County, Missouri, June 12, 1834. As a child of six years she removed with her parents to Platte county, in the same state, remaining until 1844, the year memorable for the great flood. Mr. Lynn, being very fond of a pioneer life, determined to settle in Texas, but was unable to proceed farther than the White river country, and, being ill suited with that country, returned to Platte county. He had long heard of Oregon, and decided to cross the plains thither and in the spring of 1850 made the start. But this proved a fatal step for the hardy pioneer; for cholera attacked him on the Platte plains, and terminated his useful life. The bereaved wife and mother, Mrs. Ann Lynn, continued with the train, and arrived at Portland, almost the first of October. Soon after her arrival her daughters made homes of their own, with the exception of Miss Arethusa, who in 1851 accompanied her mother to the Umpqua valley, and lived with her at the new home near Yoncalla, where also resided Jessie Applegate, a friend of the family.
On the 21st of October, 1852, she was united in marriage to Mr. Thomas Smith of Winchester, and in that delightful spot of the Umpqua has lived for nearly forty years, making a home for her husband and rearing twelve children, four of whom are girls. Two of the sons are deceased. Their home bespeaks the comfort and refinement of a well-regulated family, under the guidance of a careful and kind mother.