The log house which is now on display at the Medicine Lodge Stockade was
  built by the father of Gordie Smith. He was Robert Marvel Smith. The original
  site of the home was 14 miles southwest of Medicine Lodge. It was built in
  1877.
     Robert M. (Uncle Bob) was born in 1834 and was raised in Sussex County,
  Delaware. His father, Chalton Smith, Jr., was also born in Sussex County, as
  was the grandfather, William Smith. The great-grandfather, Chalton Smith, Sr.,
  was a native of Virginia, his birth having occurred in the old Dominion when
  King George III was ruler of the country. John, his father came to Virginia
  in its earliest history.
     Robert M. Smith was married to Sarah Elizabeth Richards in Delaware in 1858.
  The covered wagon was the mode of transportation for his family of four sons
  and one daughter, when he moved to Harvey County, Kansas, in 1871. Six years
  and three children later, he traveled south and west to more fertile lands with
  running streams, and constructed his home near the Gypsum Hills of Barber
  County. Cedar logs were used for the foundation of their new home, and cotton-
  wood logs, hewed and notched by the builder and his sons, were the basis of the 
  exterior walls.
     Gordie Smith was born in this house, as were his two older brothers, Howard
  and Alpha. On July 7, 1907, Gordie was united in marriage to Lavera (Vala)
  Bernard, at the home of the bride's parents in Moore township. As was reported
  in the Barber County Cresset: "No community can lay claim to a more industrious,
  cordial, whole-souled young man, and his success is well merited. His bride is
  the daughter of Mrs. A. Demott. She is one of Barber County's most beautiful
  and charming young ladies. The happy couple will live on the Smith ranch.
     Vala Smith wrote in her private memoirs of the early day hardships of country
  living. Butchering time was her least favorite, as it meant rendering lard
  and soap, and curing the meat. Water was hauled from the creek for laundry,
  cooking, and bathing. The meals, prepared on the old wood-burning stove, served
  many besides the immediate family. There were always extras - cowboys on a 
  cattle drive, or neighbors and friends who came to assist at harvest. 
     There were happy times when friends and relatives would come for special
  weekends. Then there were chicken dinners and homemade ice cream, with much
  laughter, music, and dancing. The church and school were also major sources of
  social activities, with their box suppers always happily anticipated by all.
  CHILDREN
  
     Bernard (Bernie) Gordon Smith - 1908-1957
     First married to Gertrude Murphy. Daughter - Carol. First married to Don
  Shelite. Children: Belina Shelite - married Greg Cleveland, Anthony: Pamela
  Shelite; Don Shelite deceassed, Carol married Don Mackey, Anthony; Dan Mackey;
  Wilma Smith, widow of Bernie, Medicine Lodge, Kansas.
  
     Gilbert C. (Mike) Smith - 1910-1968.
     Married Teresa Marar. Children: Mrs. Lawrence Conrade (Joyce), Kiowa, Kansas.
  Annete, Randy, Brenda; Mrs. Charles Hemley (Jane), Kowa, Kansas, Susan, Gill,
  Mike; Mrs. Jim Ross (Judy), Wichita, Kansas, Cory, Kelly, Colby; Miss Dorothy
  Smith, Kiowa, Kansas.
  
     Ethyl Smith Ullstrom - 1912-1968
     Married Elmer T. Ullstrom, Phoenix, Ariz.
     
     Robert R. Smith - 1918
     Married Ruth Ellen Serrot, Medicine Lodge; Robert Serrot Smith, Present
  home Joplin, Missouri.
  
     Thomas H. Smith - 1920
     Married Dorothy Lee Chapin, Medicine Lodge: Thomas Chapin Smith, married
  Nancy Grothusen, Ellsworth, KS., Bryan Thomas, Keri Lynn; Robert Gordon Smith,
  married Glenda Cox, Medicine Lodge, Stacy Lynn, Scott Robert; Ted Willis Smith
  married Trilby Mandacina, Lawrence, Kansas.
  
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 425