John F. Smith, a traveling salesman from Bloomer (Chippewa County), was elected Department Commander at the June 1909 Dept. Encampment, held in Eau Claire.

Br. Smith had helped reorganize Bloomer's Sons Camp as Gen. Lucius A. Fairchild Camp #15 on February 7, 1903 and served as its commander. The Camp was formed to support of the town's Nathanial P. Lyons GAR Post 147. Terms on the Dept. Council in 1906-07 and as Dept. Sr. Vice Commander in 1907-08 followed.

Smith was born Johann Fred Schmidt to German immigrants Johann Friederich and Elizabeth (Papenhagen) Schmidt, the oldest son of ten surviving children. Johann, Sr. had served as a private in Co. D, 44th Wisconsin Infantry from September 1864 to July 1865. The unit took part in the Battle of Nashville and provided garrison and guard duty at Nashville and Paducah, Kentucky. The younger Johann was born in Watertown on October 17, 1864, while his father was serving in the Army. Later, the family anglicized its name to "Smith."

Br. Smith married Augusta Wilhelmina Kruse of Hubbleton (Jefferson County) on May 17, 1888. They had five children, three of which survived to adulthood: Eva Dorothy Schnoor (1890-1957), Leticia Louise Erickson (1895-1962), and Rollin Detain (1901-1937). They raised one foster daughter, Dolores. The Smith family resided in Appleton, Sun Prairie, Meredosia, Illinois, and Duluth before settling in Bloomer in 1899. There he clerked in a store for a year before becoming a traveling salesman.

Camps were instituted at Amherst (A.J. Smith Camp #3) on December 3, 1909; Appleton (W.H. Chilson Camp # 30) on December 15th; Platteville (James A. Garfield Camp #9) on /January 11th 1910; Plainfield (R.H. Ruscom Camp #4) on March 25th; and Clinton (Lincoln Camp #6) on April 29th.

Additionally, DC Smith tried to organize a camp in Stevens Point. Despite his efforts and the new Camps, Department membership varied little between 1908 and 1911. However, this attention to the Order's membership helped minimize the impact of the Panic of 1907.

DC Smith presided over the 1910 Dept. Encampment, held in Fond du Lac. After his term as Department Commander, Smith served on the Camp #15 Council. His father passed away in 1912, which took his attention away from Sons activities. The Camp soon fell on hard times. Camp #15 was suspended and reinstated in both 1914 and 1915. It was reorganized in 1924, but finally disbanded in 1928 when Post 147 went dark.

PDC Smith was a member of the United Brethren Church and was an active member of Bloomer's Odd Fellows Lodge 151. And interestingly, he raised chickens, competing in his community's poultry shows, beginning with the first one in 1912. He regularly took several awards. In the 1918 show, benefiting the Red Cross, he took 1st place in white shelled eggs!

After he suffered a stroke on one of his sales trips, he was brought home, where he suffered a second, which proved fatal. He died March 12, 1932 and was buried in the Bloomer City Cemetery, where his wife was buried the preceding October. During the service, music was provided by the male quartet that Br. Smith was a member of.

Written by PCinC Steve Michaels with research assistance from PDC Kent Peterson

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