By Gracia and Ivor Jones
When we set out, in November 2001, to find the grave and William Smith, we first had to find the tiny northeastern Iowa town of Osterdock in Clayton County. We discovered that pinpointing Osterdock on a map was far easier than finding our way through the maze of country roads to the actual location.
Once we arrived, we found it consisted of a small community of scattered homes and one bar/grill type café. We could not see a cemetery anywhere in the area so we went into the café to ask if anyone could give us directions.
Nobody there had ever heard of William Smith. However, one person remembered that there was an old cemetery at Bethel Church, about three miles south of town. Somewhat skeptically, we drove across a small bridge and took the road that wound through the hilly countryside. Fall colors were rampant on the trees which grew in thick clumps along the gullies which cut into the rather steep hillsides. When we felt almost sure we were heading nowhere, suddenly the ground leveled off, and we found ourselves approaching a picturesque little white church surrounded with gravestones.
There was not a soul around. After wandering among the graveyard for some time, we almost gave up finding William Smith’s stone. A bit nervous that we were trespassing, we tried the church door and found it was unlocked. Inside, on one wall there was a large map of the graveyard. We searched through the layout. At last we found not only the name of William Smith, but also other names we recognized as belonging to members of his family. It was easy, once we located the spot on the map, to go outside and find William’s gravestone.
To those who may wonder about the initial “B†in Williams’s name: We find that when William joined the military during the Civil War, there were so many William Smiths, he added the initial to distinguish him from the others.
The stone is fairly new, having been placed there several years ago by Buddy Youngreen and some other members of the Smith family. It is a pretty stone of red and gray granite. It is engraved with this inscription:
WILLIAM B. SMITH
Brother of the
Prophet Joseph Smith
Born at Royalton, NY
MARCH 13, 1811
DIED AT OSTERDOCK ON
NOVEMBER 13, 1893
We went from Bethel Church on over more winding, hilly roads to Elkader, where we met Vernon Shaw, a great-great grandson of William and Eliza Sanborn Smith. Vernon made us welcome. We stayed with him for two nights at his farm house near Volga, Iowa. He took us all around Clayton County showing us the location of many family graves.
William has a large posterity, and they are scattered far and wide across the country. Finding William’s grave site was an achievement for us. But even more satisfying was meeting his living descendant and learning more about this branch of the family who have been out of the touch for too long. We hope to see more of this family at future Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family gatherings.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
We would very much like to receive contact from those living descendants of William. If you know of any please send us their contact information, or you can pass this newsletter to any of them.