Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, William Worthington Lassengree Smith married his wife, Anna Scott Evans Smith (born in Evansville, Ill.) on May 19, 1845. They came to California from Illinois by wagon train in 1853, via the Nobles Trail, and settled in the Shingletown area. Smith was 31 years old when he led the wagon train without mishap from Illinois to California. They left old Fort Kearny, Alton, Illinois on March 22, 1853 and arrived in the Sacramento Valley on August 8, 1853. His party of 15 all arrived in good health. Anna Elizabeth, 7 years old, brought with her a doll which had been given to her by Abraham Lincoln.

The Smiths had eight children:

Anna Elizabeth	b. 1846
Ruthalia	b. 1849	d. 1850
William H. "Harry"	b. 1852	d.1932
Nevada L.	b. 1856
Frank S.	b. 1859
Thomas J. May	b. 1862
Ada V.	b. 1865	d. 1867
Elba H.	b. 1868

William W. Smith built many fine homes in the Shingletown area and developed sawmills and ranches. For a number of years, William W. Smith and Anna Smith operated a stage stop in the area called "Foot of the Mountain" where immigrants traveling the Nobles Trail stopped to rest before continuing up the mountain. At this location, Smith built a large rooming house, which the Smiths operated until 1865.

During this period Smith also operated a sawmill known as the "Dry Mill" and constructed another hostelry in the area known as "Deer Flat" which became a favorite stopping place for cattlemen and sheepmen bringing stock from summer pasture over the summit of the mountain range. He also owned a cattle ranch in Parkville. Around 1855, Smith became active in county government and was appointed to the public Highway Board, he was appointed supervisor, District 17.

From 1876 through 1879, Smith was a Parkville school trustee and in 1880, the district clerk. In 1890. The Smiths sold the Deer Flat stage stop and decided to settle down on his ranch in Parkville, a community northeast of Anderson, to raise his stock and farm.

Anna Smith died in Cottonwood in 1890 and William in Parkville in 1893. Both of them are buried in the old Anderson Cemetery, near the railroad.

Source: Shasta Historical Society