Samuel C. Smithers, a leader in breeding and promoting the use of Belgian draft horses throughout the Middle West, died Saturday night in the St. Elizabeth hospital, Lafayette, after an illness of eight days. He had been taken to the hospital with a ruptured appendix.
Mr. Smithers, who lived on a farm near Clarks Hill, was born July 28, 1885, near Lafayette. He was a son of Cassius and Theresa Stidman Smithers. On August 9, 1905, he was united in marriage with Nancy Mae Lauchner, who survives. He had lived all of his life in Tippecanoe county and was a retired farmer and breeder of horses. Year after year he exhibited his prize-winning Belgian draft horses at the Indiana State Fair. He was a member of the Belgian horse Association of Wabash.
Mr. Smithers was a member of the Methodist church, the Masonic lodge and Eastern Star chapter, all of Clarks Hill, and the Past Matron and Past Patron club of Tippecanoe county.
Last rites were held Tuesday afternoon in the Goodwin Funeral Home, Frankfort, with the Rev. Donald Rudat officiating. Burial was in the Fair Haven cemetery, Mulberry.
Survivors are the widow; a daughter, Mrs. Paul Galvin of Lafayette, and a niece, Mrs. W. L. Gross of West Lafayette. A sister, Mrs. Turner Thompson, preceded him in death.
-- The Mulberry Reporter, March 24, 1960
Family Members
Parents
Cassius M. Smithers
1863–1932
Theresa V. Stidham Smithers
1865–1940
Spouse
Nancy Mae Lauchnor Smithers
1885–1980 (m. 1905)
Siblings
Lillie Mae Smithers Thompson
1883–1953
Children
Beulah Evelyn Smithers Galvin
1907–1987
