2011 Summer Newsletter

Lost Local History Due to Misspelled Name When I first came to Paola, I was asked to research information on a possible 19th century wine producer, J.J. Smith. It all started out with an old Miami Republic newspaper article from 1872, which stated that J.J. Smith produced over 4,000 gallons of wine and hoped to produce 5,000 gallons the following year. The news article also stated that he lived northwest of Paola…so I had the hints and the hunt was on. I started with the Miami County Museum which produced a few more hints that a J.J. Smith produced wine, but nothing really concrete to prove anything of really historic value. I then went through more old newspa pers, but still nothing, as well as contacting the Kansas Wine and Grape Growers Association, who explained to me that wine was not produced in Miami County in the 1870’s. I then turned to a colleague with my problem and he gave me some ideas where to look. I then checked in an 1878 Miami County Atlas and there I found the missing key to the puzzle. The newspaper articles referred to the wine man as J.J. Smith, but after looking at the old Atlas which featured his farm as a vineyard. The atlas also listed the owners name as not as “J.J.” Smith, but possibly as J.U. Smith; the second “J” was actually a “U”. Once I found this, I researched for his obituary and all the history fell from the sky faster that I could catch it.

J.U. Smith or John Ulrich Smith emigrated from Switzerland when he was a young man and came to America, first landing in New York then mak ing his way to Ohio, where he met and married his wife, Martha. While in Ohio, he took to busi ness as his profession. He then made his way to Kansas and set up in the mercantile business and later moved on to Ellsworth, Kansas, selling supplies to the railroad. John and Martha even tually settled in Miami County, establishing his vineyard northwest of Paola by the time he was about 39, in 1869. Three years later he produced his first wine from his farm’s winery. Unfortunate ly his dreams as a vintner ended in 1881 with the passing of the Kansas prohibition. His obituary listed that his only failure in life was when he had to rip up his vineyard. Known locally as “Wine Smith”, J.U. Smith contin ued to prosper in other business ventures until he passed away in 1899. The 1878 Miami County Atlas lists him as one of the top businesses in the county, specializing in wine production and cattle. He and his wife never had any children to carry on his farm or business, but did raise a niece who later married and moved to Kansas City. His obit uary stated that he left a large estate to his wife, left no debt to anyone and continually donated to local county charities. As a testament to his wealth after his death, his wife Martha donated $10,000 to have the current stone Paola Free Library built in memorial to him. The library that today serves town’s residents has a brass memo rial plate hanging above its fireplace dedicating the library to John Ulrich Smith.

“Wine Smith”, aka John U. Smith

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