Charles Allison Smith ^{2 3}

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Census in 1950 in Eaton, Delaware, IN. ⁴ The 1950 census recorded on North Street in Eaton: Charles Smith, garage manager & mechanic, 46, living with wife Edith, 56. They were born in Indiana.

2. Newspaper: Muncie Star Press: Volunteer Fireman Charles A. Smith, 14 Mar 1970, Muncie, Delaware, IN. ¹ A RECORD . . . If he wished, Charles A. Smith, of Eaton, might claim to be the oldest volunteer fireman in point of service in our State of Indiana. He is reasonably certain this is true as he is within a few months of 45 years of continuous service. Charlie arrives at another anniversary, and that today, when he will observe his sixty-sixth birthday. "A volunteer fireman had to be 21 and I joined the department a few months after that birthday," he says. IN THAT time he has answered not merely scores but hundreds of calls to extinguish blazes ranging from grass fires to huge conflagrations. He thinks the fire that destroyed the Butterfield Canning Co., Aug. 12, 1929, was the biggest fire he ever fought. VOTED INTO the department June 1, 1925, Charlie saw his first action when fire damaged the Charlie Richey residence the following July 17. In addition to this long period with the department Smith has operated a service station since 1924 and now runs a Phillips 66 station. The business is known as the Eaton Garage, though Charlie no longer does garage work. A THIRD SERVICE he renders to the community is as a driver of a school bus, a post he has held 30 years. A native of Eaton, the son of Ed and Sadie Foorman Smith, Charlie was born March 14, 1904, and has lived all his life in the community. In 1945 he married Edith Beecher. THE DEPARTMENT of which Smith is a member has 14 men and is directed by Charles W. Smith, chief, who is not related to Charles A. Smith, who was chief from 1951 to 1964. It Is well equipped: A pumper owned by the Town of Eaton, a tank truck owned jointly by Hamilton and Union townships and a pumper by Union Township. Alarms in Union, Hamilton and Niles townships are answered. WHEN THE siren at Town Hall has sounded each volunteer fireman hurries to the station to learn the location of the fire. Every fireman has in his home a radio that can receive calls from the Muncle Fire Department. At City Hall, Charlie is proud in showing a visitor the three trucks, all as red and shiny as well-run fire departments keep their equipment. On pegs along a wall hang the coats and helmets, each of the latter having the name of the owner. Below on the floor are the boots. CHARLIE SMITH does not know when the Eaton Volunteer Department was organized but is certain the year was prior to 1923. He has a record book beginning with that year. This shows the calls made, the firemen who responded, the nature of the blaze and extent of damage and the notations on the monthly meetings. For each run a volunteer makes he is paid $3 and for each hour after the first hour $1 is added, so the compensation is nominal In consideration of the service. The organization insists on attendance at its monthly meetings and if a fireman has an unexcused absence the fine is 50 cents. Formerly it was a quarter. Inflation, so to speak!.

3. Obituary: Muncie Evening Press: obituary of Charles A. Smith on 22 Nov 1971 in Muncie, Delaware, IN. ⁵ Injuries Fatal To Former Fire Chief at Eaton (photo)
Funeral services for former Eaton fire chief Charles A. Smith, 67, 400 E. North, Eaton, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Pitman Funeral Home with Rev. John Vicrey officiating. Burial will be in Union Cemetery. Mr. Smith died Sunday night at Ball Hospital after being injured in a one-car accident at Washington and Meridian streets in Eaton Saturday afternoon. Coroner Rodney Qualkinbush said death was due to cardiac arrest resulting from complications following surgery. Smith was the 30th traffic victim in Delaware County during 1971. On this date a year ago, 20 persons had died on county highways. Eaton Deputy Marshal Ronald Nantz said Smith's car hit a chuckhole, went out of control, crashed into a utility pole and crossed the street before coming to rest in a ditch. Mr. Smith was pinned in the car for a time and later underwent abdominal surgery at the hospital. WAS NATIVE OF EATON. Mr. Smith was a native of Eaton and owned the Eaton Garage. He served as chief of the Eaton Volunteer Fire Department from 1951 to 1961 and was a member of the department for 46 years. He retired in 1970 after 30 years' service as a school bus driver in Union Township and the Delaware Metropolitan School District. He was a member of First Christian Church and Muncie Moose Lodge and a former member of the Union Cemetery Board. Surviving are his wife, Edith; a stepson, Charles Beecher, Green Bay, Wis.; two stepdaughters, Mrs. Ted (Betty) McCleery, Eaton, and Mrs. Murletta Riegel, Wabash; two brothers, Willis and Frederic, both of Eaton; four sisters, Mrs. Susan Allen, Indianapolis, Mrs. Elizabeth Ballard, Kalamazoo, Mich., Mrs. Doris Strine, Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Oren (Charlotte) Thurman, Muncie; six step-grandchildren and 20 step-great-grandchildren. Friends may call at the funeral home from 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. Tuesday and prior to services Wednesday.

Charles married Edith Sarah Barrett, daughter of John H. Barrett and Susan, on 23 Dec 1945 in Muncie, Delaware, IN.¹ (Edith Sarah Barrett was born on 3 Sep 1893 in Eaton, Delaware, IN,^{6 7 8} died on 9 Sep 1979 in Muncie, Delaware, IN ^{2 8} and was buried on 12 Sep 1979 in Eaton: Union Cemetery, Delaware, IN ⁸.)