Pearl and Fred David
Lillian Pearl Smith & Frederick William David

Pearl (Smith) and Fred David with their three children, Richard, Dorothy, and Donald.
This picture was taken in Killdeer, North Dakota, probably in the late 1920s.

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Pearl and Fred David were homesteaders in Killdeer, North Dakota.

Pearl was born Lillie Pearl Smith on September 7, 1886, in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, daughter of Jesse and Celina (Gregg) Smith. She prefered to be called Pearl and signed documents as Pearl L.  Fred was born Frederick William David on June 9, 1886, in Highland, Wisconsin, son of Julia (Martin) and Joseph David. Both moved to North Dakota in the early 1900s along with parents and siblings.

Besides being a homesteader, Pearl was one of the first teachers in Dunn County and was later the telephone operator in Killdeer after Fred's untimely death from cancer in on August 6, 1929.

They had three children: Dorothy Celina, called Dot;  Richard Frederick, called Dick;  and Donald Joseph, called Don. All three excelled in school where the David boys were known as fine athletes. Both served in World War II, Dick in the Army and Don in the Army Air Corps. Dick, who worked as a devil for the Killdeer Herald, became a weekly newspaper publisher. Don was in research and later management for 3M Corporation. Dorothy, who sometimes modeled, was heavily involved as an adult leader in Rainbow Girls for many years.

After her children were grown, Pearl lived for several years with her daughter & son-in-law, Dorothy & Willard Yule. She died on June 27, 1956.

Click here for a narrative by Richard David about the history of Killdeer and his family there.

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Gabrielle David, creator of these pages, is the granddaughter of Pearl (Smith) and Fred David