General Notes

BIOGRAPHY
[BO:[UL:The Story of Jakob Smidt:UL]:BO]
     Jakob Smidt was bo rn at Rorichum, Ostfriesland, Germany, on the Ems River near the border of Holland.  Rorichum is a very old town and was well known in the 15th Century, as well as nearby Oldersum, which was the larger trading center at that time.  The Rorichum Church is one of the oldest in East Friesland, having been built in 1347.  The church is a heavy walled "baked stone" rectangular structure, with a figure of a rooster on top of the mast, denoting the Calvinist faith.  There is a separate high and very old bell tower and adjacent to them is the Freidhof (Kakehof) or cemetery.  In 1812, Kreis Aurich, which included Rorichum, wa s annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia.  The
Ostfriesians didn't like the Prussians due to their military activities, so in 1815 Kreis Aurich reverted back to the Havover Province.
     Jakob Smidt was not from a wealthy family, his father being a shoemaker.  As was customary, Jakob was conscripted into the Prussian army in 1812, at the age of 19.  In 1815 he was with the Prussian Infantry in Belgium getting ready to invade France.  Napoleon had escaped from exile, reactivated his army, and was determined to destroy the Allies on the Northwest be fore they could begin the
invasion.  The Prussians, in their dark gray uniforms and very high helmets, were deployed along the banks of the Sambre and Meuse Rivers with headquarters at Namur and Leige.  They were led by the tough 72 year old General Marshal Gebbard von Blèucher who coordinated an attack from the east while Wellington's army prepared to advance from the north and west.
      On Thursday, June 15, Napoleon crossed the French border south of Charleroi w ith about half of his army of 126,000 veteran soldiers. Regiment after regimen t of light cavalry dashed into Belgium. Wellington was actually napping in Bru ssels when the French army engaged the Prussians further to the east.  The Pru ssian outposts were soon swamped and by early afternoon the French had crossed the Sambre and headed for Ligny where the principal early Prussian engagement took place the afternoon of the next day.  Jakob Smidt was with the troops that had arrived that afternoon evening, having been delayed by French troops u nder Marshal Grouchy.  He was with the troops near Ligny that were overwhelmed by the French cavalry.   During the course of the battle, Jakob received a bullet through his hat and several more through his clothing.  His regiment was  overwhelmed by the French infantry and the survivors were taken
prisoner.  Now started the long, difficult prisoner's march along the one hundred and sixty miles to Paris.  The guards on horseback prodded the men along the sides of th e roads which were clogged by military gear being rushed in the opposite direc tion.  With the rain and mud, and the strenuous events of the past two days of battle that had fatigued the already hungry prisoners, the journey became a
virtual death march.  The badly wounded and fatigued men that could not keep up with the march were put to the sword or bayonet, since powder was scarce and too valuable to waste.
     Finally, on the second day of the march, with Paris still a long way in the distance, Jakob was rapidly becoming exhausted and was slowly slipping back to the end of the line of prisoners. He knew that his end was probably very near.  While passing through a small French village, he finally fell to his knees from sheer exhaustion.  He was a very religious man, and knowing that this may be his final moments, he began to pray.  A young French girl watching the line of prisoners through a window of her home, saw him praying and ran outside to hand him a glass of wine and two small biscuits.  This kind offering gave him the strength and stimulation to keep up with the other prisioners for the remainder of the march. They finally reached the prison camp situated on the low hills at the northeast side of Paris.  Because of his experiences and narrow escapes, Jakob Smidt had become known as "Little Iron Man" among his fellow prisoners.
     On Sunday, June 18, the day that Jakob and his fellow prisoners reached Paris, Napoleon engaged the British troops under the Duke of Wellington near the town of Walerloo, just south of Brussels in Belgium, hoping to defeat them before the remaining Prussians could arrive.  But General Marshal Blücher and his troops joined in the final victory battle at Plancenoit with the LaBelle Alliance on Napoleon's right flank, thereby taking pressure off Wellington at Mount Saint Jean below Waterloo.  The casualties on both sides were heavy, but the French were finally forced into a rout and the Allied armies joined in the pursuit of the broken and confused Imperial Guard.  Napoleon to abdicate his throne and be deported to the island of St. Helena. On July 7, 1915, the allies marched into Paris and there was great rejoicing the next day as Jakob Smidt and his comrades were liberated from the prison camp.
     Jakob  returned to his home in Rorichum and was given a hero's welcome for his part in helping to defeat the tyrant Napoleon.  He soon married his childhood sweetheart, whose name is now unknown.  She died shortly after the birth of a daughter, Heike.  After several years the young widower married Frauke (Fanny) DeGrave, daughter of Tjark DeGrave, also of Rorichum.  The people of this area spoke a dialect called "East Frisian Low German".  West Friesland is just across the border in Holland.  "Low German" means one of several different local dialects which have no written language.  The classical written language taught in schools is called "High German".
     After the war Jakob Smidt followed the shoemaker trade.  But the family was discouraged with conditions in their area and took an interest in the great opportunities that they had heard about in the German settlements of northern Illinois in America.  The two oldest daughters of Jakob were sent to America to investigate and verify these opportunities. There was great anxiety when they didn't hear from them for several months, and the family feared that they may have perished.  But the "Tourist Class" sailboat available in those days was very slow, and it was over six months before the family finally heard from the girls,  who had made it to the Middle West.  The rest of the family then emigrated to America and after three months on the ocean, they arrived in the autumn of 1856, settling in Lincoln Township, Ogle County, Illinois, near Haldane, a village southeast of Forreston.  At that time George was 17 years of age and Clara was 14.
     With the help of other early pioneers Jakob built a two room log house.  When some of their friends, the John DeVriese family of eight children from Simonswolde, about 10 miles northeast from Rorichum, came to this country they all moved in with the large Smidt family.  All lived in this small two room house until the DeVrieses could build their own home.
     Jakob Smidt is buried next to his second wife, Frauke in the Haldane Cemetery.  The name engraved on the tombstone is Schmit, which is pronounced the same, but is not the correct spelling of the name.

INFORMATION SOURCES - Family History of Rev. Jackson E. Smith, Richard Smith, Matilda Hindt Onken, Al Buss and Kate Buss