THEO. SMITH ANSWERS CALL OF THE MASTER
 Died Saturday Evening at His Home in Houston, Texas
 Was Pioneer Settler of Phillips County

While knowing that our good friend, Theo. Smith, was quite ill at his home in Houston, Texas, and that he was in a very critical condition, yet, when his son, Karl, telegraphed to the city last Sunday that his father has passed to Great Beyond the previous evening, the news was passed around among the friends of the Smith family with a touch of sadness which is beyond our power to describe.

The last time we saw Mr. Smith he was in splendid health and enjoying every minute of his visit in this city among his many old-time friends and acquaintances and it seemed impossible for one to imagine him as one who had departed this life for the Great White Way.

Mr. Smith was a pioneer settler of Phillips county, coming to Phillipsburg in the year 1889. Being of exceptional business ability, he at once saw the possibilities of this great western country of ours and established a hardware business, later on, as the country grew, he established a branch store at Glade, and as the years began to roll around, this combined business grew and kept growing, even beyond Mr. Smith’s most fondest dreams?.

As soon as his son, Karl, left the High School he was taken into the business as an equal partner, and as he began to master the more important details of the business, the elder Smith, now getting along in years, entrusted in the hands of his son the management of the stores in this city and at Glade.

Several years ago Mr. Smith moved to Texas, first locating at Collegeport and later on moving to Houston.

He was a man of keen judgment of human nature, and being of a mild and gentle disposition, made friends with all who were fortunate to come in contact with him. He loved his home and home surroundings more than glittering fashion and sought to honor in the consciousness of doing good, and it was a trait which clung to him through life.

His form is one that will remain sacred in memory’s gallery and his face is one which can never be erased. This man who dear to us all, gentle to both friend and foe, and who loved us ere we knew what love was, and taught us the right ere we knew the wrong, goes from the walks of mankind to seek his nitche in the palace built by his Master with sublime smile upon his calm face and the assurance, that his work here, below has been well done, and that, by his kind deeds and gentle words, he has made a place for himself in the hearts of mankind that can never be filled.

The body was shipped from Houston to Toledo, Ohio, last Sunday, where interment was made in the family cemetery.

Phillips County Post, April 1, 1918
 

History of the Smith/Mowery/Canfield Home

Mowery Family

The house was built in the Mission Style, and was constructed of the finest materials available, using the balloon framing technique. Magnificent windows of Kokomo leaded glass grace the staircase landing. A butler’s pantry joins the kitchen and dining room. Lath and plaster cover the inside walls, and stucco finishes the exterior. A red tile roof tops the house. Downstairs the floors are oak over pine and upstairs the floors are quarter sawn pine.  Bathrooms have hexagonal floor tile and claw foot tubs. The house was originally built with indoor plumbing and was wired for electricity. Much of the original wiring is still used today. The Smith family named the house “La Casita del Mar” (The little house by the sea).
 

Former Theo. Smith Home c 1921
Courtesy of Margaret Ann Hodge

J. V. Brasfield purchased the Smith home in 1920 and there was a series of transfers of title to: Texas Bull Calves Hunting Club, Inc. (1921), Turner Rice & Irrigation Company (1923), Mad Island Lake Game Preserves, Inc. (1923), Sheriff of Matagorda County (1931) and Mae M. Mowery (1931).

This house was home to Ben and Mae Mowery from the 1920’s until about 1966. Ben Mowery came to Collegeport where he managed the Collegeport Rice & Irrigation Company. Under his supervision a grand hunting lodge at Portsmouth was being built, as the Matagorda County Tribune reported in March of 1929.  It is believed that the Crash of 1929 caused the plan to fail as it never developed.
 

Copyright 2006 - Present by the Smith Family
All rights reserved

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