Wilbur had one leg and walked with crutches for the rest of his life after the accident. Wilbur had to have his leg amputated by, "Ol Doc Lumus," because of a gunshot wound while working in Lost Springs for the Rail Road. Wilbur and some men were hunting jackrabbits from a pump car, against RR rules, and the gun dislodged and shot him in the leg. They bandaged it up but when he finally went to the Doc it had gangrened and had to be amputated. They say that when Doc took the bandage off there was still jeans material in the wound and the day it was amputated, you could hear him scream clear on the other side of town. Wilbur then went into the insurance business in Lost Springs.
Doc Lumus had his practice, hospital, in his home. The top floor was the hospital while the living quarters and office were on the first floor. The home is still there at the corner of Crane and Berry across from the SW corner of the school. It is the nicest and most well-kept house in Lost Springs.
In 1992 one of Wilbur’s niece’s, Viola Appelgate, told me that when she was a little girl she asked her Uncle Wilbur where his leg was, and with a twinkle in his eye he said, "I keep it under the bed and if you ask me again I'll go get it and hit you with it."
The Smith home is on Berry Ave. Start at the center of town (or at Al's Café) go South on Berry till you get to the RR tracks and it's the first house on the left after you cross the tracks. The veranda has been removed and it's been remodeled several times. Dora raised piglets and bought it for $600 from a Sears & Robuck catalog. It came by rail in numbered pieces and assembled on the site. It had 5 outside doors & a summer & winter kitchen.
Wilbur’s daughter-in-law, Jessie Shafner, said that she liked her inlaws and that Wilbur had a very laid back, easy, disposition, which seems to be the characteristic of most if not all of the Smith men.
PARENTS: both from Dearborn County, Indiana.
John William Smith (1836-1894)
Mary Jane Ewbank (1836-1911)
SPOUSE:
Orpha Idora (Dora) Mowrer Smith (1871-1937)
CHILDREN:
Verne Eldridge (Moody) Smith (1893-1961)
Marie Hazel Smith Belton (1896-198)
Cecil Elmo (Zeke) Smith (1899-1993)
Zueletta Bernice Smith Bond (1902-1978)
Kirvin Rupert Smith (1906-1966)
Burwell Perry William (Bub) Smith (1910-1991)
Esmond Verele Smith (1912-1937)
Doc Lumus had his practice, hospital, in his home. The top floor was the hospital while the living quarters and office were on the first floor. The home is still there at the corner of Crane and Berry across from the SW corner of the school. It is the nicest and most well-kept house in Lost Springs.
In 1992 one of Wilbur’s niece’s, Viola Appelgate, told me that when she was a little girl she asked her Uncle Wilbur where his leg was, and with a twinkle in his eye he said, "I keep it under the bed and if you ask me again I'll go get it and hit you with it."
The Smith home is on Berry Ave. Start at the center of town (or at Al's Café) go South on Berry till you get to the RR tracks and it's the first house on the left after you cross the tracks. The veranda has been removed and it's been remodeled several times. Dora raised piglets and bought it for $600 from a Sears & Robuck catalog. It came by rail in numbered pieces and assembled on the site. It had 5 outside doors & a summer & winter kitchen.
Wilbur’s daughter-in-law, Jessie Shafner, said that she liked her inlaws and that Wilbur had a very laid back, easy, disposition, which seems to be the characteristic of most if not all of the Smith men.
PARENTS: both from Dearborn County, Indiana.
John William Smith (1836-1894)
Mary Jane Ewbank (1836-1911)
SPOUSE:
Orpha Idora (Dora) Mowrer Smith (1871-1937)
CHILDREN:
Verne Eldridge (Moody) Smith (1893-1961)
Marie Hazel Smith Belton (1896-198)
Cecil Elmo (Zeke) Smith (1899-1993)
Zueletta Bernice Smith Bond (1902-1978)
Kirvin Rupert Smith (1906-1966)
Burwell Perry William (Bub) Smith (1910-1991)
Esmond Verele Smith (1912-1937)
Wilbur had one leg and walked with crutches for the rest of his life after the accident. Wilbur had to have his leg amputated by, "Ol Doc Lumus," because of a gunshot wound while working in Lost Springs for the Rail Road. Wilbur and some men were hunting jackrabbits from a pump car, against RR rules, and the gun dislodged and shot him in the leg. They bandaged it up but when he finally went to the Doc it had gangrened and had to be amputated. They say that when Doc took the bandage off there was still jeans material in the wound and the day it was amputated, you could hear him scream clear on the other side of town. Wilbur then went into the insurance business in Lost Springs.
Doc Lumus had his practice, hospital, in his home. The top floor was the hospital while the living quarters and office were on the first floor. The home is still there at the corner of Crane and Berry across from the SW corner of the school. It is the nicest and most well-kept house in Lost Springs.
In 1992 one of Wilbur’s niece’s, Viola Appelgate, told me that when she was a little girl she asked her Uncle Wilbur where his leg was, and with a twinkle in his eye he said, "I keep it under the bed and if you ask me again I'll go get it and hit you with it."
The Smith home is on Berry Ave. Start at the center of town (or at Al's Café) go South on Berry till you get to the RR tracks and it's the first house on the left after you cross the tracks. The veranda has been removed and it's been remodeled several times. Dora raised piglets and bought it for $600 from a Sears & Robuck catalog. It came by rail in numbered pieces and assembled on the site. It had 5 outside doors & a summer & winter kitchen.
Wilbur’s daughter-in-law, Jessie Shafner, said that she liked her inlaws and that Wilbur had a very laid back, easy, disposition, which seems to be the characteristic of most if not all of the Smith men.
PARENTS: both from Dearborn County, Indiana.
John William Smith (1836-1894)
Mary Jane Ewbank (1836-1911)
SPOUSE:
Orpha Idora (Dora) Mowrer Smith (1871-1937)
CHILDREN:
Verne Eldridge (Moody) Smith (1893-1961)
Marie Hazel Smith Belton (1896-198)
Cecil Elmo (Zeke) Smith (1899-1993)
Zueletta Bernice Smith Bond (1902-1978)
Kirvin Rupert Smith (1906-1966)
Burwell Perry William (Bub) Smith (1910-1991)
Esmond Verele Smith (1912-1937)
Doc Lumus had his practice, hospital, in his home. The top floor was the hospital while the living quarters and office were on the first floor. The home is still there at the corner of Crane and Berry across from the SW corner of the school. It is the nicest and most well-kept house in Lost Springs.
In 1992 one of Wilbur’s niece’s, Viola Appelgate, told me that when she was a little girl she asked her Uncle Wilbur where his leg was, and with a twinkle in his eye he said, "I keep it under the bed and if you ask me again I'll go get it and hit you with it."
The Smith home is on Berry Ave. Start at the center of town (or at Al's Café) go South on Berry till you get to the RR tracks and it's the first house on the left after you cross the tracks. The veranda has been removed and it's been remodeled several times. Dora raised piglets and bought it for $600 from a Sears & Robuck catalog. It came by rail in numbered pieces and assembled on the site. It had 5 outside doors & a summer & winter kitchen.
Wilbur’s daughter-in-law, Jessie Shafner, said that she liked her inlaws and that Wilbur had a very laid back, easy, disposition, which seems to be the characteristic of most if not all of the Smith men.
PARENTS: both from Dearborn County, Indiana.
John William Smith (1836-1894)
Mary Jane Ewbank (1836-1911)
SPOUSE:
Orpha Idora (Dora) Mowrer Smith (1871-1937)
CHILDREN:
Verne Eldridge (Moody) Smith (1893-1961)
Marie Hazel Smith Belton (1896-198)
Cecil Elmo (Zeke) Smith (1899-1993)
Zueletta Bernice Smith Bond (1902-1978)
Kirvin Rupert Smith (1906-1966)
Burwell Perry William (Bub) Smith (1910-1991)
Esmond Verele Smith (1912-1937)
Inscription
WILBUR J
1871 - 1937
There is a tall monument with "SMITH" inscribed that shows that all headstones in that plot are Smith's.
Gravesite Details
There is one large chunk out of headstone from the grass mower.
Family Members
Spouse
