down into nine routes. The average miles per route is over 200 miles. The business has grown from part-time in the evening to 10-12 full-time employees. The success is attributed to service. Luann has worked over 20 years at the Print Shop at Luther College.

Luann “loves” Teddy Bears and has several hundred in her collection. The entire house is furnished with Teddy Bears, many having names and stories to go with them. She has collected Teddy Bears for about 16 years enjoying each one “beary" much and has done numerous Teddy Bear programs throughout the area.

The First Lutheran Church has been their place of worship and most of their social life has been there. In 1994 because of many factors at First Lutheran Church, Norman and Luann joined Peace Lutheran in Ridgeway, Luann's home church.

Smith, William and Sarah (Hutton)

(Jeanne W. Smith)

William Smith was born in 1795 to George Smith and Clara Maw of Thornton, Yorkshire, England. In 1823 he married Sarah Hutton of Bubwith, England. Sarah, born 11 Apr 1792, was the seventh child of 12 born to Abraham Hutton and Elizabeth Thompson. Two sons and five daughters were born to William and Sarah. George William, the oldest child, was born 23 Aug 1823 in Bugthorpe, Yorkshire about 12 miles northeast of the city of York. Following him were Sarah (b. 18 May 1828), Clara (b. 11 Jul 1830), Matilda (b. 29 Apr 1832), Rebecca (b. 10 Nov 1833), Ann (b. 22 Feb 1835), and William Hutton (b. 24 Mar 1837). William Smith, the father, worked as a tailor in his native Yorkshire. He died on 12 Oct 1850 and is buried in the church cemetery in Bugthorpe. After William's death, Sarah, his wife, continued working as a draper to support the family.

In 1847 the older son, George William, left Yorkshire for America. He entered through the port of New Orleans and worked his way up the Mississippi River plying his trade as a stone mason. From a rather crude diary he kept on his trip, it appears he traveled around quite extensively, perhaps going up into Canada before settling in Winneshiek Co. in 1852. He homesteaded property on the Upper Iowa River in Bluffton Twp. In 1855 the remainder of the family followed George to Winneshiek Co. Sarah purchased 40 acres of land in Canoe Township, next to her son George’s farm. Her younger son, William, farmed this land for his mother. The log cabin built for the mother and family still stands, though more precariously with each passing year, on the east side of the Scenic River Road north of Decorah on land now owned by George Smith, grandson of this first George William Smith. Sarah died in 1862. Her tombstone in the Russell Cemetery north of Decorah makes note of her husband being buried in England.

Sarah Smith, oldest daughter of William and Sarah, married William Sharp of Canoe Twp. William Sharp was also born in Yorkshire and emigrated to America in 1850. William and Sarah had eleven children: Elizabeth Ann, William II, Ralph, Andrew J., Clara, Ellen, Marian Sarah,

Josephine Josie”, Matilda “Tillie”, Edward J. and Charles. A twelfth child, John, died in childhood. William Sharp died 31 Mar 1880 and Sarah, his wife, died in 1895. Both are buried in Russell Cemetery. Known spouses for the children include: Andrew J. married Elizabeth Headington; Clara married Philip Halse; Ellen married William Headington; Marian Sarah married Milo Emery; Josie married Fred Denver; Tillie married Ed Burrack; and Charles married Stella Headington. Elizabeth Ann and William II never married.

Smith cabin

Rebecca Smith married Robert Burrows of Bluffton Twp. who was born in Suffolk, England in 1824. He came to this country in 1836 with his parents who settled in Monroe Co., New York. In 1840 they moved to Canada West (now the province of Ontario). In 1854, after his first wife died, he migrated to Decorah with his three small daughters and homesteaded. In all, the Burrows had nine children who included: Olive, Fred, David, Matilda, Sarah, Eva, Minnie and John William. Olive married Ed Metcalf; Minnie married Bartlet Bucknell; Eva married John Wicks; and Sarah married Will Morrison. Rebecca died in 1879 and is buried in Russell Cemetery alongside her husband. The youngest of this family, John William, homesteaded in Hay Springs, NE in 1884. He married Elvina Sandoz, who had emigrated from Switzerland in 1888. Some of his descendants still farm in Hay Spring as of this writing.

Ann Smith married Thomas D. Webster shortly after the family arrived in Winneshiek Co. The Websters moved to the Riverside, CA area. Five children were born to the couple: Thomas Robert, Sarah Alice, Lucy, Annie Clara and James.

Clara and Matilda Smith never married. They made their home with their youngest brother, William Hutton, who also never married. Clara died in 1900 and Matilda in 1913. Both are buried along with other family members in Russell Cemetery.