The Jay and Ruth Smith
Story of their move to Florida
Jay and Ruth Smith with Grandson Freddy - about 1950
It has been many years since "Grandpa Smith" passed away which was in Nov 1953. Grandma Smith live another 17 years later and passed away in Feb 1970. I was only 2.5 years old when Grandpa passed away so I only know him from stories. Grandma Smith lived next door to us until she passed away so we were close to her. Their children have all since passed away so before another generation is gone, I am document their story - relying on information available to me.
The Move - The Jay Smith family moved to Fort Myers (actually North Fort Myers) in about 1932. The stories of the move were vague but we know they are from Vincennes, Indiana. I asked our dad (Huber Smith, the second to the youngest children) a few times and he did not like to talk about it. But I learned enough to know that they probably "skipped town" because of lack of money to pay rent. It was the time of the great depression and times were tough. Our dad was a teenage and mentioned that their landlord in Vincennes was not easy to work with and probably Grandpa just was at the point of running away. It does not appear he was a "quiter" but everyone has a breaking point.
I asked how they ended up in Fort Myers and it was the end of the road, so to speak. The pavement for Highway US 41 ended just south of Fort Myers. I am not sure how long they were in Fort Myers before settling on Bayshore Road but I remember Dad saying land was cheaper in North Fort Myers than Fort Myers.
The Family - The Jay Smith family was made up of Jay and Ruth Smith, the oldest son Manley, who was married with a family, Jay A. Smith, the second oldest who was in college and remained in Vincennes, Huber F. Smith a teenager who moved with his parents and Laura Ruth who also moved to Fort Myers.
The Homestead - The Smith family settled on Bayshore Road, a couple of blocks east of US 41. I am not sure if Bayshore Road was paved at the time, but it was the main road to the original wooden bridge crossing the river to Fort Myers. The property they settled was 20 acres on the corner of Bayshore Road and Ixora Drive.
The property was bought on a contract for deed for $1,800 in 1939. They sold the back 10 acres in 1942 for $1,000. I have heard stories about the "quality" of the property and it was probably typical for rural south Florida. There was a house on it and the only thing we know about the house is that it was a shack.
The New House - Our grandparents house was probably built once they moved there. I do not find any information about when it was built, but based on the style and construction, probably in the early '40s. My assumption is that our grandparents lived in the old house for a few years, decided to buy the property in 1939, and built the house at that time. It was concrete block construction, a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, kitchen, dining room, living room and nice porch.