Biography of Smith Hines of Hopkins Township

Smith Hines, born in 1865 in Warren County, Iowa, was a respected and successful farmer in Hopkins Township, Nodaway County, Missouri. Son of William and Louisa (Chapin) Hines, he was raised in Iowa and moved to Nodaway County in 1904, where he purchased and developed a 400-acre farm. Married to Katherine Barton in 1889, they had seven children: Frank, Henry, Cassius, Lora, John, Eunice, and Wallace. Hines was known for his progressive farming techniques and community involvement. A committed Republican and member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, he was esteemed for his integrity and contributions to local agriculture.


Because of his sterling qualities of character, marked business ability and genial disposition. Smith Hines has attained to an enviable position among his fellow-citizens of Hopkins township, Nodaway county, Missouri.

He is the owner of a fine farm, which he has so managed as to realize gratifying returns for his labor and he enjoys an excellent reputation as a hustling, progressive and enterprising farmer. Mr. Hines was born in Warren county, Iowa, in 1865, and is a son of William and Louisa (Chapin) Hines. These parents were natives, respectively, of Virginia and New York, their marriage occurring in the state of Illinois. They remained in the latter state until 1864, when they removed to Warren county, Iowa, making the trip from Illinois with teams. There they entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, which they improved and developed into a good farm, which was their home during the remainder of their lives. They were honored and respected residents of Warren county and enjoyed the esteem of all who knew them. William Hines was a stanch Republican in his political affiliations. They were the parents of six children, of whom all are living but the second born.

Smith Hines was reared under the parental roof-tree and secured his education in the common schools of the home neighborhood. As soon as old enough he took up the work of the farm, where he proved an able assistant to his father, with whom he remained until 1898. In that year he bought eighty acres of land in Nebraska, to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted himself during the following six years. In 1904 Mr. Hines came to Nodaway county, Missouri, and purchased four hundred acres of fine land in Hopkins township, the land being in one tract, known as the Washburn place. This is one of the best farms in the township and here Mr. Hines has met with a gratifying measure of success in his chosen line of work. He carries on general farming, raising all the cereals and other products common to this section of the county, in connection with which he also gives considerable attention to the raising of livestock, in which also he has been successful. He is wide-awake and energetic, possessing a thorough realization of the advantages of “progressive” farming, and he. therefore, keeps in touch with advanced ideas relating to the science of husbandry, not hesitating to adopt new methods when their practicability has been demonstrated by experience. His place is well improved and presents an inviting appearance, the comfortable and attractive residence, commodious barns and other outbuildings giving the place an air of thrift and prosperity.

In August 1889, Mr. Hines was united in marriage to Katherine Barton. a native of Cass County. Iowa, who has, in the truest sense of the word, been to him a helpmeet. They have become the parents of seven children, named as follows: Frank, Henry, Cassius, Lora, John, Eunice and Wallace, all of whom are living.

Politically, Mr. Hines gives an intelligent support to the Republican party, in the success of which he is interested, though he is not a seeker after public office. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to the subordinate lodge at Hopkins. He is a stanch supporter of every movement which promises to be of benefit to the community in general and because of his sterling integrity and enterprising spirit he is numbered among the representative men of his township.

Source

B. F. Bowen & Company. Past and present of Nodaway County, Missouri. Indianapolis, Indiana: B. F. Bowen & Company. 1910.

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