In the assessment records of September 21, 1913, Jean Stevenson owned lots 7-14 on Duke Street. In 1914, the east part of lot 11 had a building erected on it valued at $700. It was owned/ built by Harry Graves. No information has been found about him or any indication that he ever lived in the house. The 1914 city directory listed William Walter Schmidt, printer, as living in the house, but he was not listed in the assessment records as living there. He only lived in the house for a year, and by 1915 the city directory listed Wilfred Glaab as owner, but the assessment record had both Fredrick Brock and Wilfred Glaab as owners of the house.
William Walter Schmidt was born in Stratford on December 29, 1887 to William Henry Schmidt and Katherine (Katie) Hesson. Over the years, some family members changed their last name from Schmidt to Smythe. On August 27, 1912 in Mitchell, William married Eleanor Mildred Barnett, born November 4, 1890. They had three boys: William James (1913-1965), Fredrick (1915-1985), and Alfred Barnett (1917-1920). The boys and Eleanor went by the last name Smythe. Eleanor's grave in Woodland Cemetery in Mitchell has her last name also as Smythe.
William's grandfather, James H. Schmidt (Smythe), was one of the founders of The Kolonist, a German language weekly newspaper in Stratford. James was not a printer but a high school teacher who came to Canada with his parents as a child. They lived in Waterloo County before moving to Stratford. James was taunted by the other kids in town because he couldn't speak English. William and his brother George became apprentices at the newspaper which was located on Erie Street. Three generations of Schmidt/Smythe worked at the newspaper. At the height of circulation, the paper printed around 2,000 copies weekly, which included six to eight pages of advertising. By 1906 the circulation dwindled to 800 and the newspaper was sold, but not the printing plant. William and George ventured out on their own and opened a printing shop, Schmidt Brothers Printing, located at 30 Ontario Street. After their grandfather, James, died in 1913 the brothers purchased his printing business and augmented it with their own. They sold the business in 1919, and in the city directory the name of the business had changed to Smythe Brothers.