FOUR: THERE'S LOTS OF GOOD SMITHS IN THE SEA
"SFA" stands for the Smith Family Archives, assembled and transcribed over many years by Leanna Lois Claudia Smith, daughter of Alonzo; her great-nieces Mellie Morris Smith (daughter of Herbert Gustavus) and Gertrude Fairchild Smith (daughter of Maurice Leigh); and great-great-niece Mildred Aileen Nash (neé Mellie Agnes Smith: daughter of Francis See).
"DSN" stands for correspondence with Doris Dolores Smith Norman, webmaster of the site http://users.moscow.com/dnorman/, excerpts from which are represented below as ~archl, ~arch2, ~arch3, ~arch/ancestors, ~smith/jesse, ~smith/jessewill, ~smith/jerome, and ~smith/eugene.
"RTJS" stands for correspondence with Ruth Smith (wife of Thomas Jerome Smith, great-grandson of Jerome Smith and Margaret Turner) who provided many photos and clippings.
Internet sources are indicated by tildes (e.g. ~internet). A complete list can be found on the Sources page. Due to the transient nature of Internet entries, only a few hyperlinks will be provided to outside webpages; such as ~a (www.ancestry.com), ~f (www.familysearch.org), ~g (www.findagrave.com), and ~w (www.worldvitalrecords.com). The United States Federal Census records for 1850 through 1940 cited below are available at ~a (except for 1890's, which was badly damaged in a 1921 fire and later quietly destroyed).
S-1B Susannah and Josiah's Children
● Their Three (?) Sons
Our story so far: on Apr. 20, 1825 in Clermont County OH, Josiah Smith (born c.1806 in New Jersey, the fourth child of Jesse Smith Sr. and Elizabeth Conover) was married to Susannah Lafferty aka Susan Lafferty (born Oct. 8, 1801 in New Castle County DE, the sixth child of Archibald Lafferty and Mary See) by Isaac Covalt JP. In the 1830 census of Clermont County's Goshen Township, Josiah's household appears just after those of his brother Garret and father Jesse, and just before those of his possible uncle John and possible cousin Elias. By 1840, Josiah & Family have moved a few miles southwest to Miami Township; on that year's census their household appears nine names down from that of Susannah's widowed mother Mary See Lafferty.
Josiah | MALE |
FEMALE |
||||||||||||||||||
< 5 | 5 - 10 | 10 - 15 | 15 - 20 | 20s | 30s | 40s |
50s |
60s | 70s | < 5 | 5 - 10 | 10 - 15 | 15 - 20 | 20s | 30s | 40s |
50s |
60s | 70s | |
1830 | 3 [?] |
1 |
1 | |||||||||||||||||
1840 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
1 |
The figures above suggest that Josiah and Susannah had at least four children: three sons born in the 1820s, followed by a fourth son between 1830 and 1835, then by a daughter between 1835 and 1840. We may respectfully submit that Samuel Medary, the 1830 census taker, was mistaken in placing a "3" in that year's Males/5-10 column, since [a] Susannah and Josiah had only been married for five years, and [b] 1840's census has its "3" in the Males/10-15 column rather than Males/15-20. (This clerical error did not prevent Samuel Medary from achieving political prominence, as outlined in the Notes below—though it may have forecast some of the problems Medary had with that prominence.)
How many children DID Susannah and Josiah have, and who were they? These were the answers when Fine Lineage first went online in 2003:
* In the SFA, Susannah and "Peter" Smith were the parents of Alonzo C., Jerome, and Lucian (aka Lucien)
* In DSN's ~archl, Susannah/Susan and Josiah had two sons, James Jerome and Lucian—though DSN's ~dnorman/smith listed three: Jerome, James M., and Lucian
* ~worldconnect/smith included both James Jerome and James M. (the first of whom definitely didn't die before the second was born) along with Lucian—and Alonzo C.
From these sources we could compile a seemingly-complete list of Four Smith Brothers:
* Jerome Smith: born 1827 in Clermont County OH
* Alonzo C. Smith: born February 6/26, 1828 in Cincinnati, Ohio
* James M. Smith: born c.1829-30 in Clermont County OH, died before 1858 (since he's unmentioned in that year's Land Record at the end of this chapter)
* Lucian Smith: born Sep. 29, 1832 in Clermont County OH
Such a roster would account for there being three boys in the 1830 Clermont census, since Lucian was not yet born. But doubts would remain about the existence of one son, "James M.," whose single documented appearance is in the 1850 census of Clinton County OH. (Click on the thumbnail to the right to see an 1875 map of Clinton County, or here to see a Wikipedia map.) Vernon Township is on Clinton's western border, not far northeast of Clermont County. The following Vernon Township household appears on "page 418—dwelling 271" of the original 1850 census:
* Susannah Smith (aged 48), born in Delaware, $2,800 in real estate
* James M. Smith (aged 20), born in Ohio, occupation farmer
* Lucian Smith (aged 17), born in Ohio, occupation farmer
* Mary L. Laferty [sic] (aged 5), born in Ohio
This implies that Josiah has died and the two older boys, Jerome and Alonzo, are living on their own. If the third son James M. vanished after 1850, perhaps he died young (like two of Alonzo's sons would). However:
* DSN was always told her great-grandfather Jerome was named "James Jerome"
* Due to inconsistent census ages, there is uncertainty whether he was born as early as 1827—or in the latter half of 1829, thus "aged 20" in Clinton County's June 1850 census
* In which case, "James M." would simply be a misinterpretation of "James J."—hardly a unique typo in the annals of handwritten federal censuses
Thus we could conclude that the SFA was correct (more or less) and the three sons of Susannah and Josiah were:
* Alonzo C. Smith: born February 6/26, 1828 in Cincinnati, Ohio
* James Jerome Smith: born after June 1829 in Clermont County
* Lucian Smith: born Sep. 29, 1832 in Clermont County
But the 1830 and 1840 censuses indicate another boy born in the (later) 1820s WAS part of Josiah's household; likewise a girl born between 1835 and 1840, who apparently died before 1850. Infant mortality being what it was in the 19th Century, there might have been even more children whose existence was forgotten—born after 1825 and died before 1830, or born and died between censuses in the 1830s. (On the other hand, we should be cautious in jumping to the conclusion that any minors living with Josiah and Susannah must have been their own offspring—as opposed to children taken in from relatives or neighbors.)
The best argument that James M. = Jerome is our inability to locate Jerome anywhere else in 1850 (which is also true of Alonzo). The best argument against it is Jerome's always appearing by that name alone, without initials, in all other records. As for DSN's family tradition that her great-grandfather was "James Jerome," we need only look at the SFA for some longtime inaccuracies—e.g. combining Susannah Lafferty with her sister Mary, and thinking Susannah married Peter Smith of Old Columbia. The present author is now inclined to believe there were four sons: Jerome (born 1827), Alonzo C. (born 1828), James M. (born c.1829-30, died without issue before 1858), and Lucian (born 1832); followed by a daughter (born c.1835-40, died 1840s).
We are also left in the dark as to what became of Josiah Smith. His father's 1842 will left him one fourth of Jesse Sr.'s money and personal property, plus a quarter of the $1,000 that brother Jesse Jr. was to pay his siblings "in three years from the time of [Jesse Sr.'s] decease." As documented at the end of this chapter, Josiah purchased 100 acres in Clinton County's Vernon Township on Jan. 2, 1845, followed by another 39 acres on Mar. 27, 1845. We may presume that his father's legacy helped finance these purchases and the move of Josiah, Susannah & Children from Clermont to Clinton County. In Mar. 1848 they were joined there by Josiah's sister Sarah and her family, who appear in the 1850 census on "page 418—dwelling 268," three households away from Susannah's. Perhaps the Severs relocated to Vernon Township to be of help after Josiah died—leaving his widow fairly well off, but exiting Fine Lineage more nebulously than his descendants would have wished.
● And One Niece: Mary and the Coates
The five-year-old "Laferty, Mary L." shown living with Susannah & Sons in 1850 was a niece, Mary E. Lafferty, born Jan. 30, 1845 in Cincinnati. Who her parents were, what their fate was, and how Mary came to join Aunt Susannah and her cousins is an untold tale. All that Mary's obituary reveals is: "In early life... her home was among faithful Methodist people." (One might guess that Susannah, after raising three or four boys and possibly losing a daughter of her own, welcomed the opportunity to bring up a pious little girl who would grow up to teach Sunday school AND preside over the local Women's Temperance Movement.)
We now know enough about Susannah's brothers (see Chapter S-1) to hazard a guess as to which might have been Mary's father—after dismissing the doubtfuls. One ~f entry said John Lafferty died in Feb. 1847, but his wife Sarah lived till July 1869; moreover their daughter Laurinda had recently married John Barr, had a baby of her own (Arria Andromeda), and in 1850 the three of them shared their home in Jackson Township with Susannah's sister Mary Lafferty. Even if five-year-old Mary might still have ended up with Susannah rather than a mother or sister, the fact that Laurinda was born nearly two decades earlier would seem to negate the chances that Mary was John Lafferty's child. James Lafferty can be eliminated simply because he already had a daughter Mary (Ann), born c.1820, who by 1850 had married Samuel Blair and borne the first two of their seven children.
That leaves Archibald Lafferty [Jr.], who like his brother James was living in Cincinnati. The 1830 census shows Archibald living with a Female/20s, while 1840's shows him living with a Female/15-20. By 1850 his household contained 44-year-old Rachel Lafferty, two Glenn girls aged 12 and 14, and Emaline Watkins (African-American aged 22). On this scanty evidence we might imagine that Archibald was on his second or third marriage; that his current wife had presented him with two stepdaughters and a servant; and that five-year-old Mary E. aka Mary L., having lost her mother between 1845 and 1850, was taken into her aunt's home rather than play Cinderella to Rachel and the Glenn girls. This is guesswork only; but Archibald Lafferty [Jr.], who died Feb. 11, 1853, would seem the likeliest paternal prospect. (In both the 1880 and 1900 censuses, Mary's father is Delaware-born; her mother's birthplace is entered as Pennsylvania in 1880, but simply "unknown" in 1900.)
By 1860 Mary and the Smiths had left Vernon Township, moving twenty or so miles northeast to Paintersville in Caesar's Creek Township, Greene County OH (of which see more in Chapter S-2). There the household was divided: Susannah lived with Lucian's family; Alonzo, his bride and newborn son boarded elsewhere; and Mary found a home with a different set of Smiths:
* Bonsel Smith (aged 38), Ohio-born, farmer, $3,915 in real estate, $490 in personal estate
* Mary Smith (aged 32), Ohio-born
* William Smith (aged 6), Ohio-born
* Emely [sic] Smith (aged 3), Ohio-born
* Mary E. Laferty (aged 16), Ohio-born, "Teacher C S" [church school?]
"Bonsel" was in fact Burrell Smith (born c.1823) who in 1845 married Mary Bales (1828-1882: daughter of John Bales and Sarah Lucas). They had three children: William A. Smith (born c.1854, married Kizzie Thomas); Emily J. Smith aka Emma Jane Smith (born c.1857, married Charles Johnson); and John B. Smith (born c.1865, married Lola Harness); all as per ~kenton/burrell. The family lived in Caesar's Creek Township for at least thirty years, with Burrell appearing in censuses as "Burrel" (1850), "Bonsel" (1860), "Burrell" (1870), and "Burl" (1880), and on an 1863 Civil War registration roll as "Burral" (heavily rewritten). There is no documentation that he was a blood connection of the Smiths of Clermont County.
On Oct. 24, 1865 Mary E. Lafferty maintained her ties with the Vast Legion of Smiths by marrying Elijah Smith Coate. According to ~f, Elijah was christened on Dec. 25, 1841 at the Center MM (Monthly Meeting) in Newberry, Clinton County OH. He came from a Quaker family, his father "an ardent and consistent member of the Friends's Society." Hiram Coate was born Sep. 8, 1815 in Miami County OH, the son of John Coate and Esther Teague. At Clinton County's Center MM on Nov. 22 or 23, 1838, Hiram married Rachel W. Painter (born June 1817: daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth Painter). Besides Elijah they had seven other children: Elizabeth Coate, Ephelia A. Coate aka Ophale A. Coate, Alice S. Coate, Mercy A. Coate, Rebecca M. Coate, Hiram A. Coate, "and one deceased." Hiram and Rachel were both Quaker ministers, and Hiram was appointed clerk to take minutes at the Meetings. (As per ~coates, ~clinton/hiram and ~ancestrees/hiram.) By 1860 they were living near Paintersville in Caesar's Creek Township, where Hiram was a farmer with $6,500 in real estate and $1,300 in personal estate; Hiram died Dec. 7, 1884.
His older brother was Elijah Coate (born July 20, 1812) who married Rebecca Coppock (born Aug. 17, 1813) in 1832. Rebecca's parents, like John and Esther Coate, came to Ohio from South Carolina "on account of their abhorrence for the system of slavery." John's son Elijah did them proud by helping to operate the Underground Railroad in Miami County OH. Converting to Methodism after the Civil War, he spent the rest of his life as a Wesleyan missionary. Two years before his death in Richmond IN on Nov. 24, 1886, the History of Wayne County, Indiana called him "one of the old anti-slavery wheel horses," noting "he is a radical temperance worker, and an earnest advocate of an amendment to the State Constitution prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage. He is also an advocate of the woman suffrage movement" (~wayne/elijah).
His nephew/namesake Elijah S. Coate's Quaker background did not prevent him from serving in 1864 as a private in Company H of the 154th Ohio Infantry National Guard. (Of which Lucian Smith was first lieutenant; see more below.) A year later Elijah married Mary E. Lafferty and took her back to Clinton County, where they lived in Adams Township just north of Vernon. Mary and Elijah had five children:
* Lucian Clare Coate (born c. Sep. 24, 1866; died before 1870)
* William Kirk Coate aka William W. Coate (born c. Aug. 23, 1869; died after 1900)
* Harry Wilson Coate aka Hiram W. Coate (born June 23, 1872 in Ogden OH; by 1900 was a lithographer in New York NY; lived in Rome from Nov. 1902 to Apr. 1903, and in Paris from Apr. 1903 to Apr. 1904; worked as a New York newspaper artist in 1910; exhibited artwork in the 1913 Armory Show; obtained a passport in Nov. 1918 to do "YMCA work" in Great Britain and France; and was a New York "artist, painter" in 1920)
* Vernon Leslie Coate (born Nov. 24, 1876 in Ogden OH; on Jan. 27, 1903 married Angie B. Sterrett [born c.1883, daughter of Frank Sterrett and Josephine Blood of Kansas City MO] in Cuyahoga County OH—though in all subsequent records, his wife was Pansy Belle Coate [born Mar. 30, 1883 in MO]; had two children, Madeline M. Coate [born c.1912 in New York] and Harry W. Coate [Apr. 29, 1916—Aug. 6, 1997]; in 1910 was an "advertising specialist" in Rochester NY; in 1915, a hotelkeeper; in 1918, a traveling salesman for Sterling Products; in 1920, a salesman of roofing; in 1930, a commercial traveler for painting, with Pansy a cook in a public school; in 1940, a roofing and painting contractor ("The Coate Co."); appeared in Rochester NY directories through 1944; Pansy died aged 97 in Mar. 1980)
* Zenas Arching Coate (born Sep. 8, 1880 [as per ~f; recorded in ~a's database of Ohio Births & Christenings as "Jens Arching Coate," child of "May E. Laferty"]; died before 1900)
Ogden is no more than four miles northeast of Clarksville. The Coate family appears in Adams Township, Clinton County OH censuses as follows:
1870: near Wilmington post office
* Elijah Coat [sic] (aged 28), farmer, $3,000 real estate and $969 in personal estate
* Mary Coat (aged 25), keeping house
* William Coat (aged either 1 month or 11 months, depending on whether he was born in July 1869 or 1870)1880:
* Elijah S. Coate (aged 38), farmer
* Mary E. Coate (aged 34), keeping house
* William W. Coate (aged 10), at school
* Harry K. Coate (aged 7), at school
* Vernon L. Coate (aged 3)
(1882's ~history/clinton mentions that a small log schoolhouse built in Adams Township was "a short distance west of the present residence of Elijah Coate.")
1900:
* Elyah S. Coate [sic] (aged 58: born Dec. 1841), farmer
* Mary E. Coate (aged 55: born June [sic] 1845)
* Goldie O. Heill [O'Neill?] (aged 10: born June 1889), status boarder, occupation servant
Elijah S. Coate died in 1905; Mary followed on Feb. 16, 1906, and an obituary appeared in the Wilmington (OH) Journal twelve days later:
...In early life she made the wise choice of accepting the Lord Jesus for her savior... This mother's early married life was much devoted to her children. Later, she gave more interest to the church and Sunday school work. In the Sunday school she made a faithful teacher, interesting her pupils, giving them tokens of love, and encouraging regular attendance. She originated a literary union held once at month at Ogden, where select readings, worthy recitations and original papers were given to the help and benefit of all. On the organization of the Women's Temperance Movement in her vicinity, she was chosen President and acted in that capacity for some years. In later life she was appointed to the station of Overseer in the church and in connection with her loved companion, were this serving when he was called away from earth less than one year ago. The loss was a very deep grief to her and in some things she did not seem to take hold of life the same as she had before... During the winter she had been able to get out some to attend church services and seemed to enjoy them. Her last illness was not of long duration. Only about a week of suffering and her spirit was released from the tenement of clay, passing on to her reward...
Jerome Smith (aka James Jerome Smith; but see above) is the best-represented of the Smith brothers on the Internet, having sired a sizable progeny in Texas. According to DSN:
The family stories about Jerome leaving Ohio say nothing about his reason for heading out for Texas—maybe just for the adventure. However, they have said he rode away from home on a donkey and came to Texas [about 1854]. I have been told when he married a "Texas girl" who the family back in Ohio assumed was Mexican, he was never allowed to return home. He did not go back for the settlement of [his parents's] estate—he gave power of attorney to one of his brothers...
~smith/jerome (another DSN site) indicates that Jerome was born in 1829, not c.1827 as recorded at ~arch/ancestors and elsewhere. But while 1829 is the year carved on Jerome's gravestone, that marker was not put in place till at least the 1970s. DSN has tried to estimate a birthyear from Texas census records, only to find them inconsistent: in "the 1860 census of Burleson County TX, Jerome states he is 31 years of age... In 1870 Jerome gives an age of 43, and in 1880 he is suddenly 54." (Perhaps he figured Texas decades pack an extra year or two.)
To recap our earlier discussion: if Jerome Smith had a younger brother named James M., then Jerome was probably born in 1827; if he himself was "James Jerome," he would've been born in the latter half of 1829 and is accounted for in Clinton County OH's 1850 census. If simply Jerome, his whereabouts that year cannot be determined.
~morgan cites The Twenty-Second Annual Circular of Miami Un[iversity] in reporting that Jerome Smith of Clarksville OH was a "Student, Preparatory, Partial Course" at Miami in 1847. This is confirmed by the Miami University Alumni Catalogue: Centennial Edition 1809-1909 (available at ~doyle) which states that Jerome Smith of Clarksville was a student in 1846-47; he is listed among those who enrolled but did not complete the college course. Clarksville was and remains the principal village of Clinton County's Vernon Township, and can be seen in the map excerpt at the end of this chapter; so there is no doubt that our Jerome attended Miami. His studies were likely ended by the death of his father Josiah, requiring Josiah to forego formal education in order to help support his widowed mother and younger siblings—all the more so if he were the eldest son.
Yet life at Miami U. was anything but tranquil in the mid-1840s. ~muohio reminds us that both Animal House and university budget cutbacks have ancient roots:
Controversy over the Mexican War divided the college, and epidemics of smallpox and cholera made it uneasy. The long quarrel between the faculty and the fraternity-ridden literary societies hung over the campus like a cloud. It was a restive, smoldering college.
One summer night some students drove twenty-three cows from the campus (the grounds had been opened again to the village live-stock) into the college chapel. Next morning the janitor got the cattle out and cleaned the floor, but at chapel time the room smelled like a stable. Dr. McMaster read the scripture, preached a brief and earnest sermon, and closed with prayer. Then he made a sarcastic comment about Miami students who were at home only in the barnyard and should have stayed there. It was not the way to win students or to keep them.
In 1847 the enrollment fell to 137. To attract more students the trustees tried to add new departments of study. They asked the Ohio Legislature for $40,000 to support a chair of agriculture, a chair of law and a law library—request denied. Then in the first days of 1848, came the famous and almost fatal Snow Rebellion.
If Jerome happened to be one of the prankish summertime cattle drivers, that might explain both his leaving college in 1847 and his later heading off on donkeyback in search of Romantic Adventure. And if he was the eldest Smith brother, we might speculate that this latter departure was as much a factor in his "never being allowed to return home" as Jerome's choice of bride—especially since that bride's family hailed not from Mexico but Troy in Lincoln County, Missouri. (Though perhaps Jerome's mother Susannah declared, "I count that AS Mexico.")
After leaving Ohio, Jerome spent several years traveling through central Texas east of Austin, living at times in Bastrop County, Lee County, and Burleson County. In Burleson on Apr. 30, 1857 he married Margaret Turner (born 1840 in Arkansas: daughter of Adam Turner [1807-1900] and Letitia Hunter [c.1813-1891]). DSN remarks:
Jerome taught school in one of the first public schools in Texas, where he met Margaret as a student. Jerome was said to be a very intelligent, well educated man. He was much loved in the areas of Texas where he lived. At one time he was elected Justice of the Peace in Wise County, Texas until the close of the Civil War when everything changed in Texas. He went from Wise County to Denton County, then on to Brown County, where Adam and Letitia Turner came to live in their golden years near their daughter Margaret.
If
there were estrangement between Jerome and his family in Ohio, it didn't discourage him from naming
sons after his father and one (or two?) brother(s).
Moreover, DSN speculates that her grandfather Eugene's middle name
"Sue" might have been intended to be "See"—unless it was a peculiar remembrance of
Jerome's mother. Fortunately, "Eugene Sue had a great sense of humor and
ability to make people laugh and be happy," says ~smith/eugene. (Evidently he coped much better than Johnny Cash's
Boy Named Sue, who had to fight his whole life through.)
The six children of Jerome Smith and Margaret Turner were:
* James Smith: born circa 1859; died before 1870
* Alonzo Claud/Claude Smith: born Feb. 7, 1863 in Pilot Point, Denton County TX; married Mississippi-born Louella Rachael Brooks (1866-1964) in 1881; had six children†; died aged 34 on Nov. 1, 1897 in Holder, Brown County TX; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery in Brown County TX
* Ann Zillah ("Dollie") Smith: born Apr. 4, 1865 in Wise County TX; married Daniel Thomas Granad (1857-1899) in 1882; had five children‡; in the 1900 census was a young widow with five children; died aged 68 on Apr. 8, 1933; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery; click here to see pictures of Zillah's family
* Josiah Juan ("J.J."/"Joe") Smith: born Sep. 28, 1867 in Pilot Point, Denton County TX; married Tennessee-born Fannie Hesseltine/Hassentine Gammon (1880-1946) in 1903; had four children§; worked as a farmer; lived in Holder, Brown County TX; died aged 82 on Oct. 17, 1949 in Brownwood Memorial Hospital; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery; click here to see pictures of J.J.'s family
* Eugene Sue Smith: born in May 1870 in Pilot Point, Denton County TX; married Telula Turentine "Lula"/"Lulu" Roberts (1873-1959) in 1890; had seven children††; died aged 59 on May 7, 1929; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery
* Adah/Addah Augusta "Addie" Smith: born Aug. 24, 1872; in 1898 married Georgia-born Otis/Odis Britton Fomby (1874-1963); had four children‡‡; died Nov. 17, 1948 in Brown County TX; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery
In the 1860 census Jerome's family lived near Blue Branch post office in Burleson County TX:
* Jerome Smith (aged 31), farmer, Ohio-born, $381 in personal estate
* Margaret Smith (aged 20), Arkansas-born
* James Smith (aged 1), Texas-born
In 1867 (according to Zillah's obituary) the family moved to Denton County TX, and in the 1870 census lived there near Pilot Point post office in "Precinct 2":
* Jerome Smith (aged 43), farmer, $600 in real estate, $300 in personal estate
* Margret [sic] Smith (aged 30), keeping house
* Claude A. [transcribed as "Chande"] Smith (aged 7)
* Zilla A. Smith (aged 5)
* Josiah J. Smith (aged 3)
* Eugene S. Smith (aged 29 days)
In 1873 (again as per Zillah's obituary) the Smiths moved to Brown County TX, and in 1880 were living near Byrds Store southeast of Abilene:
* Jerome Smith (aged 54), farmer
* M. Smith (aged 40), keeping house
* A. C. Smith (aged 17: male), at home
* A. Z. Smith (aged 15: female), at home
* J. J. Smith (aged 12: male), at home
* E. S. Smith (aged 10: male), at home
* A. A. Smith (aged 7: female), at home
Within a few years all but Zillah settled in nearby Clio (later known as Owens). Margaret Turner Smith died there in June 1887, and Jerome Smith followed (aged at least 60) on Jan. 5, 1890. Both were buried in Brown County's Pleasant Valley Cemetery; photos of their latter-day grave markers can be viewed at ~smith/jerome and ~smith/margaret. On Jan. 8, 1891, Jerome's son Alonzo C. Smith wrote Jerome's brother Lucian:
Dear Uncle:
I received a letter from you a few days ago addressed to my Father. I was glad to hear from you. But sorry to inform you that my Father is dead. He was taken sick about the middle of August 1889 and died January 5, 1890. He died at my house. I had taken all the care I could of him and had the best Doctor in the country to attend him but with all we could do nothing to relieve him. He was taken with apoplexy, hemoplegia. He was confined to his bed about 4 months. I would have written to you of his death before now but I did not know the Post Office address of any of you... I will close at present. Yours very Respt. Alonzo C. Smith
● Doctor Lucian
Lucian forwarded this news to his brother Alonzo C. Smith on Feb. 20, 1891. The laconic cover letter read:
Dear Brother:
I wrote a letter some time ago and directed it to Clio, Brown Co., Texas to Jerome Smith and received a letter in reply from Jerome's son, Alonzo C. Smith, a copy of which I enclose to you. By it you will see that our Brother, Jerome, died over a year ago. We are all well. Josie has a new boy born February 15 at Columbus where they live. Write to us and we don't know your post office address but will send this to Mingo. We would like to hear from you. Hope you are all well. Yours, L. Smith
Evidently the Smith Brothers were not champion correspondents.
Lucian Smith aka Lucien Smith, the youngest brother (however many there might have been), was born in Goshen Township, Clermont County OH on Sep. 29, 1832—a good fixed date. After the family relocated to Clinton County's Vernon Township, Lucian married a local girl on Sep. 14, 1857: Mary M. Hadley (born Dec. 13, 1832 in Sligo OH, daughter of Simon Hadley [1796-1870] and Ann Kersey [1790-1843], both from North Carolina).
The three children of Lucian Smith and Mary M. Hadley were:
* Anna Cora Smith (usually called Cora): born Aug. 1858; married farmer/widower Harvey C. Faulkner (born c.May 1843) c.1918 when she was aged about 60; lived on Mason Road in Caesar's Creek Township in 1920; died Aug. 12, 1924 in Greene County OH, aged 66
* Josephine Rebecca "Josie" Smith: born May 21, 1860 in Paintersville OH; married Joseph Hurst (Nov. 1857—Mar. 1916) in Greene County OH on June 11, 1879 and had eight children§§; lived in Columbus OH at 1181 E. Fulton St. in 1900; with her father and older sister in Lumberton, 1910; and with her youngest child Charles in Lumberton, 1920; died of myocarditis Oct. 4, 1939 in Lumberton OH, aged 79, and was buried in Wilmington OH
* Charles Howard Smith: born Nov. 10, 1862; in Wilmington OH in 1891, married Jennie M. James (born Apr. 7, 1873: daughter of Benjamin Franklin James [1837-1912] and Asaneth/Asenath [many variant spellings; aka "Maria"] Oren, 1839-1918); had six children†††; ran a general store/grocery in Gurneyville, just south of Lumberton in Clinton County OH; died of myocarditis on Apr. 16, 1952 aged 89, and was buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery; Jennie followed on Feb. 17, 1962 and was buried with Charles
Like the other Smiths (except Jerome), Lucian's family relocated to Paintersville, Caesar's Creek Township, Greene County OH. In the 1860 census their household appears as:
* Lucian Smith (aged 27), farmer, with $1,850 in real estate and $800 in personal estate
* Mary M. Smith (aged 27)
* Anna C. Smith (aged 2)
* Josephene [sic] Smith (aged 1 month)
* Susan Smith (aged 57)
Mother Susannah's birthplace is here a ditto'd Ohio rather than Delaware. Also her age—like Chapter P-2's Mary Ann Wikel and Chapter P-4's Lydia Upp, in the same 1860 census—has shed a year or two. (Perhaps the children with whom these ladies lived didn't know their exact ages, or were afraid to ask.)
Lucian graduated "as a doctor of medicine from Starling Medical School, later Ohio State University in Franklin County, Columbus, Ohio" (~ohfrankl/1999). RTJS provided a 2003 printout from http://bones.med.ohio-state.edu/heritage/Grads/chron.asp (a website no longer available in 2012) which shows Starling Medical College awarding an M.D. to Lucian Smith of Lumberton in 1856; but no documentation of his practicing medicine is found until 1863, nor of Lumberton till considerably after that.
From May 9 to Sep. 1, 1864, Lucian Smith served as a first lieutenant in Company H of the 154th Ohio Infantry, another National Guard regiment of "Hundred Days Men" (about which see Chapter B-6). Company H was recruited from Paintersville, and one of Lucian's enlisted men was his cousin Mary Lafferty's soon-to-be-husband Elijah S. Coate. Like other Hundred Day regiments, the 154th provided guard, picket, and scouting duty in West Virginia, engaging in occasional skirmishes with the Confederates (as per ~154th). RTJS provided copies of Lucian's service on the 154th's Company Muster Rolls: these state that he enlisted in Paintersville on Aug. 1, 1863; that he was 5'9½" tall, with sandy hair, hazel eyes, a light complextion—and occupation as physician. He was mustered at Camp Dennison the following May 9th, for 100 days, and mustered out on Sep. 1st, having "filed affidavit of nonindebtedness to gov."
In the 1870 census, Susannah Smith has shifted from Lucian's household next door to Alonzo's (about which more in Chapter S-2). While still in Caesar's Creek Township, the families are now recorded near Spring Valley's post office rather than Paintersville's:
* Lucian Smith (aged 37), physician, $10,000 in real estate, $600 in personal estate
* Mary M. Smith (aged 37), keeping house
* Anna C. Smith (aged 12), attending school
* Josephine Smith (aged 10), attending school
* Charles H. Smith (aged 7), attending school
By 1880 the family has moved to East Second Street in Xenia OH's 3rd Ward, where Dr. Lucian's household has acquired a son-in-law:
* Lucian Smith (aged 47), physician
* Mary Smith (aged 47), keeping house
* Anna C. Smith (aged 21), at home
* Charles H. Smith (aged 18), clerk in drug store
* Joseph Hirst [sic] (aged 23), clerk in drug store
* Josephine Hirst (aged 20), at home
In ~a's 1890 Veterans Schedule, Lucian Smith has settled a short ways southeast, just across the Clinton County line in Liberty Township. The 1900 census locates his household there in Port William Village:
* Lucian Smith (aged 67), no occupation listed
* Marry M. [sic] Smith (aged 67: birthmonth entered as Nov. rather than Dec. 1832)
* Cora Smith (still aged "21," since her birth is entered as Aug. 1878 rather than 1858)
Also living in Port William Village is Lucian's son "Charly Smith" (aged 37, occupation general store) with wife Jennie M. Smith (aged 28) and children Elsmer [sic] (aged 7), Mildred (aged 5), and Lucian (aged 1). Meanwhile the Hursts have moved to Columbus OH's 4th Ward: Joseph Hurst (aged 42, salesman, groceries), wife Josephine Hurst (aged 40), and children Lucia (aged 20, saleslady, dry goods), Mary (aged 13), Florence (aged 11), Emma (aged 7), Leona (aged 3), and Margaret (aged 1).
By 1906 Lucian and May lived in Lumberton, west of Port William in Liberty Township: just a few miles southwest of Paintersville. Mary died aged 73 on Aug. 10, 1906 and was buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery in Wilmington, the seat of Clinton County. By 1910 daughter Josephine and her three youngest children are sharing Lucian's home. (Josie's husband Joseph Hurst is absent from that year's census, though Josie is marked as married rather than a widow):
* Lucian Smith (aged 77), widowed, physician, office practice
* Anna C. Smith (aged 51)
* Josephine R. Hurst (aged 49), married
* Leona Hurst (aged 13)
* Margarett V. [sic] Hurst (aged 11)
* Charles S. Hurst (aged 8)
Still living nearby were Lucian's son Charles H. Smith (aged 47, merchant, general store), wife Jennie M. (aged 37), and children Elsmere (aged 17), Mildred (aged 15), Lucian B. (aged 11), Charles H. (aged 9), and Oren H. (aged 5). Grievously, Lucian was obliged to sign death certificates for his grandchildren Elsmere in Dec. 1911 and Mildred in Nov. 1913, when both succumbed to tuberculosis while still in their teens.
Dr. Lucian Smith, the last of the Three (or Four) Smith Brothers, died aged 83 of a diabetic coma on Mar. 16, 1916 in Lumberton. RTJS provided two obituaries: the first evidently from a Xenia newspaper, which calculated Lucian's age by year rather than birthdate:
AGED RESIDENT OF LUMBERTON DIES. DR. LUCIAN SMITH, AGED 84 YEARS, PASSES AWAY—SON-IN-LAW DIES JUST SIX DAYS PREVIOUSLY. Dr. Lucian Smith, aged 84 years, died at his home near Lumberton, Saturday. He had been suffering from Bright's disease and heart trouble, but was only confined to his bed a week before his death. Mr. [sic] Smith was a well known physician, and had passed all his life in the vicinity where he died, practicing his profession throughout that community. His wife died eight years ago. Mr. Smith's daughter, Mrs. Josephine Hurst, whose husband died and was buried just a week ago Monday, lived with her father. He leaves two other children: Mrs. Faulkner, of Paintersville, and Charles Smith, of Gurneyville, Clinton county. Funeral services were held at 10 o'clock Tuesday morning at the Lumberton M.E. church, and burial was made at Wilmington. The Masonic lodge assisted in the service, a number of members from this city going down for the funeral. Dr. Smith was a member of the Xenia Masonic Lodge many years. He was a veteran of the Civil War, having served as first lieutenant of Co. H, 154th O.V.L.
The other appeared in the Wilmington Daily News. (Wilmington is the seat of Clinton County OH):
PHYSICIAN PASSES AWAY. DR. LUCIAN SMITH, WIDELY KNOWN MAN, SUCCUMBS TO LONG ILLNESS, SATURDAY AFTERNOON. One of the best known men in western Clinton county passed away Saturday afternoon at three o'clock when Dr. Lucian Smith died at his home at Lumberton, after a long illness. Dr. Smith practised [sic] medicine about Lumberton for many years and was known to everyone not only in his community but all through the county, where he was called to administer to the ills of his people. The deceased was 84 years of age and his wife passed away about ten years ago. Three children survive, Charles Smith, of Guerneyville; Mrs. H. E. Faulkner, of Paintersville, and Mrs. Joseph Hurst, of Lumberton. Dr. Smith was a member of the Xenia Masonic Lodge for many years, and was a veteran of the Civil War, serving as First Lieutenant... [clipping truncated]
Lucian's death certificate confirmed his having hailed from Clermont County OH; that he was buried in Wilmington's Sugar Grove Cemetery (Section 6, Lot 341, Grave 9: as per ~g); and that his parents were "Susana" Lafferty of Delaware and—once and for all—Josiah Smith of New Jersey.
● Rings Down the Ages
DSN found a transcribed Clinton County Land Record that reads as follows:
Know all men by these presents that Susannah Smith widow of Josiah Smith late of the County of Clinton in the State of Ohio deceased, A.C. Smith; Lucian Smith and Mary Smith his wife of the County aforesaid and Jerome Smith and Margaret Smith his wife of the County of Burleson in the State of Texas, by their Attorney in fact the aforesaid Lucian Smith, parties of the first part in consideration of the sum of four Thousand one hundred eight[y?] one 00/00 dollars to them in hand paid by William Smith and Joseph Smith parties of the second part, have bargained and sold and do hereby grant bargain, sell & convey unto the said William Smith and Joseph Smith and unto their heirs and assigns forever the following described real Estate described as follows to wit, Being part of Military Survey No. 2252, and part of Lot No. 1 of the survey and subdivision of land survey made by Nathan Linton surveyor, Beginning at three White Oaks and small ash south corner to gates survey No. 1632, thence with the line there of N 51˚ E 159 poles to two hickories corner to lot No. 2, thence with the line of Lot No. 2 S. 36˚ E 160 poles to an elm, maple and pin oak, thence S. 55 11/36 W 163 poles to a white oak ash hackberrie and dogwood on the original line of the survey, thence with the original line at 34.30˚ E 101 poles to the beginning, containing 100 acres 2 rods and 20 poles to the same more or less, being the premises conveyed to Josiah Smith by Isaiah Morris & Rhoda his wife by deed dated Jany 2nd 1845 & Recorded in Book "P" pages 307 & 8 of the land records of Clinton County. The second tract described as follows, Being part of Survey No. 1632 bounded as follows, Beginning at three white oaks & a small ash south corner of the Survey, thence with the S.W. line thereof 34˚ W. 73¼ to the middle of the slate and bearing to Columbus, thence N. 45½˚ E. 81 poles 17 links with the service road to the west corner of the lands of Isaiah Morris, thence south with said Morris' line S. 34˚ 583 poles 9 links to two hackberries one of them hacked near the ground corner of said Morris in the original line, thence with said line S. 52½˚ 80 poles to the Beginning Containing 38¾ acres let the same be more or less as conveyed to said Josiah Smith decd. by Ethan & Ruth Griffith by deed dated March 27, 1845, which deed is recorded in Book "P" pages 416 & 17 of Clinton County land records.
To have and to hold the said premises with the appertenses thereunto belonging unto the said William Smith and Joseph Smith and unto their heirs and assigns forever. And the said parties of the first part for themselves and their heirs do hereby covenant with the said William Smith and Joseph Smith and their heirs and assigns that they are lawfully seized of the premises aforesaid; that the said premises are free and clear from all encumbrances whatsoever and that they will forever Warrant and Defend the premises aforesaid with the said William Smith and Joseph Smith and unto their heirs and assigns against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever.
In testimony whereof the said Susannah Smith, A.C. Smith, Lucian Smith & Mary M. Smith & Jerome Smith & Margaret Smith by their Attorney in fact Lucian Smith have hereunto set their hands and seals this twenty fifth day of December A.D. 1858.Signed Sealed and Delivered } Susannah Smith (Seal)
in presence of } Alonzo C. Smith (Seal)
Mordecia [sic] Walker } Lucian Smith (Seal)
John Mason } and Jerome Smith (Seal)
Margaret Smith (Seal)
by their Attorney in fact
Lucian Smith (Seal)
Although we can't make out the three White Oaks, small ash, two hickories etc., "Military Survey No. 2252" is clearly visible in the 1875 map of Vernon Township; with "Survey No. 1632" adjoining it (below the VE in Vernon). Both are just southwest of the Little East Fork of Todd's Fork, a subwatershed of the Little Miami River (~warren/topog). Today these tracts are southwest of Cowan Lake State Park, west of Pansy Road and south of Nauvoo Road.
Unless "their Attorney in fact, Lucian Smith" went to law school and came out a physician, it's difficult to see him as being the youngest son of Josiah and Susannah. Could Lucian-the-attorney have been a family friend or connection, after whom Dr. Lucian was named? That seems feasible—but no other Lucian/Lucien Smith can be found in Clinton County, nor indeed anywhere in Ohio, who wasn't around the same age (or younger) as Dr. Lucian.
Isaiah and Rhoda Morris obligingly appear in Clinton County's 1850 census: Isaiah is a farmer aged 62, born in Pennsylvania; Rhoda is aged 50, born in Ohio; and two alarmingly young Morrises (Thomas and Mary, aged 7 and 5) live with them in Union Township northeast of Vernon Township. Ethan and Ruth Griffith seem to have left Clinton County by 1850.
William and Joseph Smith, who purchased the tracts from Susannah & Sons in 1858, are almost certainly the brothers listed just one name after Sarah Smith Mount Sever in the 1882 History of Clinton County (~sever). They were the sons of John R. Smith and Matilda Henry of Shenandoah County VA, where William Smith was born in 1825. Circa 1828 they moved to Warren County OH and settled first near Pleasant Grove, then near Hicks Station in Salem Township, where Joseph was born in 1832. Around 1835 the family relocated to Clinton County's Marion Township, and in 1840 to Vernon Township. William married Sarah E. Marshall Reeder and had a son, Harley M. Smith; Joseph married Margaret E. Nichols and had four children: Eva, Joella, Gussie, and Francis T. Smith. When William and Joseph's father John died in 1868, Joseph bought the other heirs's interest in the family homestead; in 1882 he owned 120 acres of land and William 82, "sixty of which are under cultivation."
It would be reasonable to guess that Susannah & Sons sold their Vernon Township acreage to kinfolk; but while William and Joseph were their neighbors and fellow Methodists, these brothers turn out to be unrelated members of the Vast Legion of Smiths. As The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames reminds us, Smith ("metal-worker, blacksmith, farrier") is
the primate and patriarch of our surnames, its form unchanged for over 1,000 years... Easiest the commonest surname in England and Wales..., Scotland, and USA, and the fifth in Ireland in 1890... It is thus a frequent victim of hyphenation, either in a sincere effort to avoid ambiguity or in an insincere one to sound distingué; and it has recently gathered to itself many changed foreign surnames. Yet it remains primitive: a smith smites, and his honoured name rings down the ages like an anvil.±
Notes
± Cottle, Basil: The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames (Harmondsworth:
Penguin Books, 1967), pp. 262-263.
†
Alonzo Claud(e)
The six children of
Alonzo Claud(e) Smith and Louella Rachael Brooks were:
Willie Smith (born Nov. 5, 1882; died Dec. 5, 1882);
Margaret Louisa "Maggie" Smith
(born Mar. 29, 1884; married John T. McInnis [1877-1917] in 1902/03; had
six children; died aged 74 on June 8, 1958 in Brown County TX, buried in
Pleasant Valley Cemetery); Anna Dona "Annie" Smith
(born Mar. 8, 1887; died July 2, 1887); Emma M. Smith (born June 1888);
Cornelia S. Smith
(born Sep. 1890); and Jacob Claude "J. Claude" Smith
(born Nov. 13, 1895; in 1922 married Lelia Lathem [1899-1981]; died
aged 64 on Nov. 20, 1959 in Brownwood TX, where buried in Greenleaf Cemetery);
as per DSN, ~rachaelbrooks, ~margaretsmith, and ~jclaudesmith. Willie and
Annie share a marker at Pleasant Valley Cemetery, inscribed "Budded on earth to
bloom in heaven" (pictured at ~g).
In 1900 the widowed Rachael and her surviving four children lived two farms away
from Eugene Sue Smith's family. In 1914 Rachael married Robert Macklin
Wagnon (1848-1926).
‡
Ann Zillah
The five children of Ann
Zillah Smith and Daniel Thomas Granad were:
Samuel Alonzo Granad (born
Oct. 11, 1882; married Blanche E. Meek [1876-1930] in 1902, lived
in Santa Anna, Coleman County TX; died there aged 58 on Nov. 5, 1940; buried in
Whon Cemetery, Santa Anna TX);
Melissa Letitia "Lissie" Granad (born Jan. 12,
1885; married John Brackston Meek [1877-1906]; had two sons [Alvin
Joseph Meek (1904-1976) and James Alfred Meek (born 1906)] who lived
with Zillah after Lissie married John Luther Mallone [1885-1931] in 1910;
died aged 84 on Mar. 31, 1969 in Comanche County TX; buried in Lost Creek
Cemetery in Brown County TX); Josiah Rogers "Joe" Granad
(born Oct. 21, 1891; married Bealie Ann Franky Thomas [1893-1974]
in 1922; had two children; Zillah lived with his family in 1930; died aged 78 on Aug.
9, 1970 in Seguin, Guadalupe County TX; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery);
Ulysses Eugene "Gene" Granad (born Feb. 1,
1895; lived in Springtown TX; married Carrie Belle Bowen, then Naoma
Meador in 1917; died aged 81 on Jan. 12, 1977 in Weatherford, Parker
County TX; buried in East Greenwood Cemetery); and
Correta Myrtle McNeela Granad (born Mar. 9, 1898;
married Charles Raymond Myrick [1903-1969]; had three children; died aged
89 on June 4, 1987 in Abilene TX; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery); as per DSN,
RTJS, ~godsby, ~samuelgranad, ~melissagranad, ~alvinmeek,
and ~corretagranad. According to the 1900 census, two
other children had died by 1900.
§
Joshua Juan
The four children of
Josiah Juan ("J.J." or "Joe") Smith and Fannie
Hesseltine/Hassentine Gammon were: Martha "Neatie" Ola Smith (born Oct.
20, 1903; married Jerry Othel Mitchell [1897-1986] in 1925; died aged 89
on Mar. 5, 1993 in Atascosa TX);
Harvey Lucian Smith (born Feb. 6, 1906; married
Grace Cassels [1908-1995]; had six children; died aged 63 on Jan. 14,
1970 in Brownwood, Brown County TX; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery);
Ina May Smith (born May
10, 1907; married Joe Bailey Pricer [1907-1989] in 1940; worked as a
teacher; died aged 90 on Nov. 29, 1997 in Waco TX; buried in Coleman Cemetery); and
Josiah Jerome "Joe J." Smith (born July 30, 1911;
married Tommy Lavora Pittman [1915-1992] in 1932 and had four children,
including RTJS's husband Thomas Jerome Smith; died aged 54 on Nov. 30,
1965 in San Antonio TX; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery); as
per DSN, RTJS, the Social Security Death Index, and ~harveylsmith.
In the 1910 census Joe and brother Eugene had neighboring farms.
††
Eugene Sue
The seven children of
Eugene Sue Smith and Telula Turentine Roberts were:
Ollie E. Smith
(born 1891, died aged four in 1895, buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery); James Jerome Smith
(born Feb. 14, 1894;
married Phoebe May Rider [1898-1982]; died
aged 83 on April 13, 1977 in Lubbock County TX; buried in City of Lubbock
Cemetery); Elmer Doss Smith (DSN's father: born July
21, 1896;
married Millie Josie Barnett [1900-1953] in 1919, then Johnnie Bell
Baker [1909-1982]; died aged 71 on Feb. 8, 1968 in Coleman County TX; buried
in Coleman Cemetery); Beulah Rachel Smith
(born Apr. 4, 1899;
married Homer Wilkins [1922-1988] in 1922; died aged 83 on Apr. 3, 1982
in Abilene TX);
Johnnie Willis Smith
(born Apr. 24, 1902; married Edna
Earl McDonald [1908-1988] in 1923; died
aged 57 on Feb. 6, 1960 in Hobbs, Lea County NM; buried there at Prairie Haven
Memorial Park); Genie Smith
aka
Jeanie I. Smith (born Oct. 6, 1909;
married Jim Holt; died aged 81 on Sep. 24, 1991 in Hobbs NM; buried there
at Prairie Haven Memorial Park); and Alonzo Coy
Smith (born Oct. 29, 1912; died unmarried aged 72 on Feb. 24, 1985 in
Hobbs NM; buried there at Boone Cemetery); as per DSN and
~g.
‡‡
Addah Augusta
The four children of Addah Augusta "Addie" Smith and Otis Britton Fomby were:
Garrette Ray Fomby (born
July 20, 1899; married Elizabeth Mary Tyson [1911-1981]; died aged 88 on Mar.
19, 1988 in Brown County TX; buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery);
Opal G. Fomby (born c.1903, married Charles
B. Trent in 1939); Forrest Britton Fomby
(born Apr. 7, 1910; lived in Corp[us Christi TX; died there aged 66 on Mar. 30,
1977); and Howard J. Fomby (born
Sep. 8, 1913; died aged 81 on Aug. 4, 1995 in Riverside CA); as per DSN and
various
~a resources.
§§
Josephine Rebecca
The eight children of Josephine Rebecca "Josie"
Smith and Joseph Hurst were: Lucia Corinne Hurst
(born May 1880, a Gold Medal Student at the Capitol School of Oratory and
Elocution in Columbus, "gave readings and entertainments"; married
Charles J. Elias in 1909 and had two children); Mae J. Hurst
(born Dec. 10, 1886 in St. Lucie, Florida; married Herbert F. Kilgore in
1907; died aged 42 on Nov. 29, 1929);
Florence Hurst (born Aug. 23, 1890 in Lumberton
OH; married Thomas A.
Wheeler in 1920 and had two children; died aged 53 on Aug. 17, 1943 in
Danville OH and was buried in Wilmington OH); unnamed [Son] Hurst
(born Feb. 15, 1891; died before 1900); Emma Hurst
(born Feb. 10, 1893 in Columbus OH; married Roy M. Haines [1889-1968] before
1910 and had five
children; died aged 80 on Apr. 30, 1973 in Xenia OH); Leona
Hurst (born June 19, 1896 in Columbus OH; married Loren Troost
and had two children; was living in Fort Lauderdale FL in Sep. 1973);
Marguerite Vivian "Mattie" Hurst
(born Feb. 2, 1899 in Columbus OH; married Harold Finefrock Schory in
1917 and had one child; died
Jan. 1950 in Macomb IL and was buried in Waynesburg OH); and
Charles S. Hurst (born
Mar. 6, 1902 in Columbus OH; married Gwen
[surname?]; worked for Kelly-Creswell Co.; died aged 71 on Sep. 11, 1973 in
Benson AZ). [As per ~hadley/mary, with
addenda from the SFA,
~f,
~a's public family trees, and
Charles S. Hurst's obituary in the Sep. 13, 1973 Xenia Daily Gazette. In a 1973 letter to DSN, Josie's nephew Lucian B. Smith stated she
"had two sons and six daughters."]
†††
Charles Howard
The six children of Charles Howard Smith and Jennie M. James were:
James Elsmere Smith (called
"Elsmere": born Dec. 3, 1892 in
Bellbrook OH, died aged 19 of tuberculosis on Dec. 28, 1911 in Gurneyville OH,
buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery);
Mildred Asaneth Smith (born Dec. 29, 1894;
died aged 18 of tuberculosis on Nov. 4, 1913 in Gurneyville OH, buried in Sugar
Grove Cemetery);
Lucian Benjamin Smith (born Oct. 15, 1898;
engineer with General Motors in Flint MI; wrote DSN a 1973 letter about
Smith family history); Charles Homer Smith
(born May 4, 1901 in Liberty Township; ran a crossroads general store near Wilmington OH;
married Edith Marie Oglesbee in 1920; was alive in
1973); Oren H. Smith (born June 10, 1904 in
Gurneyville OH; ran a
Gamble Store at Milan MI; married Ruth Brackney in 1929 and had one
child; died May 7, 1979 in Ann Arbor MI); and
Harold Hiatt Smith (born Feb. 28, 1912 in Gurneyville OH; accountant at Wright-Patterson AFB
in Dayton; married Clarabel Adams [1912-1997] and had two children; died
Feb. 1974 in Fairborn OH). [Some details taken from
~f,
~a's OneWorldTree, and public
family trees. Baby photos of the short-lived Elsmere and Mildred can be
viewed here.]
● Isaac Covalt JP was born 1793 at "Covalt's Station near
Columbus," the son of Bethuel Covalt, who came to Ohio in 1787. Isaac
served as a corporal in Capt. Daniel Hosbrook's Company (Feb. 5th to Aug. 12th,
1813), as per the "Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812" (~ohio/1812).
He married Susan [surname?] in 1815; moved to Milford OH (on the
Clermont/Hamilton county border) in 1816; had "issue: several chn"; settled in
Cincinnati and died there of cholera on Oct. 12, 1832. His wife remarried
Silas Jordan and moved near Edenton in Clermont County. (As per ~isaaccovalt.)
● Samuel Medary (1801-1864), of Quaker parentage, came to
Bethel, Tate Township, Clermont County OH in 1825 and three years later began
publishing a Jacksonian Democrat newspaper, the Ohio Sun, in Batavia.
He was elected to the state legislature in 1834 and the Ohio Senate in 1836;
then edited the Ohio Statesman in Columbus from 1838 to 1857. In
1844 he headed Ohio's delegation to the Democratic national convention and there
placed James K. Polk's name in nomination. After Polk's election to the
presidency, Medary was offered the postmastership of Columbus, which he
declined; he likewise turned down Franklin Pierce's offer to be
Minister Plenipotentiary to Chile. Medary was Temporary Chairman of the
1856 Democratic convention, where he supported Stephen A. Douglas for president.
The victorious candidate, James Buchanan, appointed Medary as the last
Territorial Governor of Minnesota (1857-58) before it achieved statehood; then
as Governor of Kansas Territory (1858-60). Returning to Ohio, Medary aired
his strong opposition to Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War in a newspaper called
the Crisis. He backed "Copperhead" Clement Vallandingham (then in
exile) for Governor of Ohio in 1863. A mob of soldiers from Camp Chase
damaged Medary's office in 1864; that same year he was indicted by a
federal grand jury for conspiracy against the government, but died in Columbus
before his trial. (As per ~medary and ~ohiohistory/medary.
The present author did not expect to discover any of this as a result of simply
checking out the enumerator's name at the top of an 1830 census form.)
● In Paintersville's 1860 census, Hiram Coate's family appears
on page 14, Alonzo Smith's on page 16, Lucian Smith's on page 22, and Burrell ("Bonsel")
Smith's on page 26.
● Elijah Coate of Underground Railroad fame had a son named
Hiram, just as Elijah's brother Hiram had a son named Elijah.
● The full roster of Mary and Elijah Coate's sons and their birthdates
was provided by ~rodgers/coate. Some "circas" have been inserted by
the present author, since ~rodgers/coate shows Mary born on June 30th
rather than Jan. 30th, and marrying Elijah in Dec. 1865 rather than on Oct.
24th; with Elijah dying "after 1910" and Mary "about 1925." Also, Harry
Wilson Coate is represented as "Hiram 'Henry' W.," which might indeed have been
his birth name, given the Coate habit of alternating Hirams and Elijahs. ~rodgers/coate
thought Zenas was born c.1867, but
~f showed him to be the lastborn child in 1880; and
~a's database of Ohio Births and Christenings agreeing on that date,
though Zenas A. was recorded as "Jens Arching."
● That William Kirk/W. Coate (rather than Zenas Arching Coate) survived till 1900 is deduced from mother
Mary's being shown in that year's census as having had five children, three
living; and a Zenas (or even a Jens) would be much easier to locate than a
William.
● A 1904 "Landscape of Trees," painted by Harry W. Coate in oil on
canvas, was auctioned as Lot 2428 by DuMouchelle's of Detroit MI in Nov 2004,
with a starting bid of $125; and again as Lot 22509 in Feb 2005, with the
starting bid reduced to $50:
as documented by ~harrycoate. Its frame was stamped "Park Ave.
Picture Frame Co. Rochester NY," so perhaps Harry painted it (or had it framed)
while visiting his brother Vernon's family.
● The International Exhibition of Modern Art,
organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, showed at New
York City's 69th Regiment Armory from Feb. 17 to Mar. 15, 1913. As
Wikipedia notes, this was "a legendary watershed date in the history of American
art;" but "many of the original works have been lost and some of the artists
have been forgotten."
● Vernon Coate's full name and birthdate were verified by his World War I
draft registration card at
~a.
● His bride's first name is clearly handwritten as "Angie" (twice) on
their 1903 Cuyahoga County OH marriage certificate. Intriguingly, an Angie
Sterrett born in Kansas c.1880-81, appears in Kansas City KS censuses from 1905
through 1930; in the latter, she lives with 15-year-old daughter Laura J.
Sterrett, with indication Angie has been married at age 21.
● Pansy B. Coate's birthplace, consistently Missouri in every census till
1940, then appears as Minnesota. Daughter Madeline (a department store
bookkepper aged 27) and son Harry (a leather factory shipping clerk aged 23)
still lived with their parents in Rochester NY, as did two lodgers: Robert Mee
and Maude Brown. The 1940 census notes that Vernon had two years of
college; Pansy left school after eighth grade; Madeline and Harry were high
school graduates.
● Pansy Coate's death entry was found in
~a's Social Security Death Index;
as were the birth and death dates of Vernon's son Harry W. Coate (in Loveland
CO) and his wife Elizabeth W. Coate (born Apr. 30, 1921; died June 13,
2003 in Fort Collins CO).
● A number of webgens have merged Elijah and Mary Coate's family with that
of an Ahijah Coate (1848-1927) and Mary Coate (1847-1937)—some giving Ahijah as
the father's name, some rendering it "Elijah Ahjah S. Coate."
● Oxford OH (home of Miami University) is about 45 miles west of
Clarksville OH in Clinton County's Vernon Township.
● The "famous and almost fatal Snow Rebellion" at Miami University
took place in Jan. 1848. Students filled the hallway of the Main Building
with "a dozen huge snowballs," and when President McMaster vowed to find and
expel the guilty parties, a larger crowd of students worked "with greater
determination, excesses and success" to cram the Main Building with "the whole
University stock of fuelwood... old stoves, planks, tables and benches, and that
bristling mass was cemented with some tons of soggy snow." On both
occasions, the "colored janitor" (aptly named Job) had to break into the Main
Building and take on "the formidable task of opening the hallway." After
the second incident 46 students were expelled; they promptly "hired a brass band
and marched through the village... and said goodbye to Old Miami... The
senior class was reduced from twenty to nine, the junior class from twelve to
five." And that fall only 68 students enrolled, down from 137 the previous
year. (As per ~muohio.)
● As handed down in Lucian's family, the legend of
Jerome's emigration was that he "rode to Texas on a mule and married a Mexican
woman." (According to a 1973 letter to DSN from Lucian Benjamin Smith.)
● According to the SFA, Jerome
Smith moved to Port Arthur on the southeast Texas border; but Port Arthur
(now famous as the birthplace of Janis Joplin) was not
founded till 1895.
● DSN provided a photocopy of Jerome and Margaret Turner's
Burleson County TX marriage license. This
states: "To any ordained Minister of the Gospel, or to any legally authorized
Civil Officer of said County, Greeting: You are hereby authorized to solemnize
the Rights [sic] of Matrimony between Jerome Smith and Margaret Turner." (James Hutson, Justice of the Peace of Burleson County,
added that he "Celebrated the
Rights of Matrimony between the above parties on the 30th day of April, A.D.
1857"; the license was filed and recorded the following May 13th.)
● From the initial-heavy 1880 census, ~eitze-smith
appropriated "Jerome T. Smith" of Ohio and four of his children at Byrds Store
TX (A.C., A.Z., J.J., and E.S.) while adding "Abigail Ann 'Annie' 'Boggot'" (who
married William Samuel Smith) in place of last-born Addie Augusta.
●
The photo of
Eugene Sue Smith at left (taken from ~smith/eugene) bears a striking resemblance to his
uncle Alonzo.
● The Byrds Store post office was opened in 1877 at Martin Byrd's
trading post, located near the Pecan Bayou: "a very lovely place. The
grass was green, thick and luscious, and the pecan trees are big and
beautiful... The citizens of Brownwood considered moving Brownwood, the
county seat, to this location. But the election was lost by only one
vote." In 1896 the name "Byrds Store" was abbreviated to simply Byrds TX.
(As per ~byrdsstore.)
● ~clio reports that Clio TX was located eight miles north of
Brownwood in central Brown County. Settled in the early 1870s, Clio's post
office was renamed Owens in 1910 and closed after 1930. Owens's population
dwindled from 100 in 1949 to 60 in 1965, after which no census data was
reported; though two churches and one business remained in 1983.
● J.J. Smith and Fannie Gammon's 1903 Brown County TX marriage license
(photocopy provided by RTJS) ornately authorizes "any Judge of the County or
District Court, Regularly Licensed or Ordained Minister of the Gospel, Jewish
Rabbi or Justice of the Peace in and for said County... to solemnize the RITES
OF MATRIMONY."
● Our Lucian Smith should not be confused with Lucien B. Smith
of Kent OH, who patented barbed wire in 1867.
● Mary M. Hadley Smith's family is well documented by the Official
Database of the Hadley Society—~hadley/mary
and its links—and to a lesser extent by ~illian/smith.
● A photocopy of the Clinton County Marriage License for Lucian and
Mary M. Hadley (provided by DSN) was evidently filled out in a hurry;
its entries are difficult to
decipher. Lucian and Mary may have married on Sep. 14, 1857, but other
interpretations are possible.
● ~g provided
Mary Hadley Smith's deathdate, her son Charles H. Smith's birth and deathdates,
and their burials (along with Lucian's) at Wilmington's Sugar Grove Cemetery.
A tiny clipping on Mary's funeral, supplied by RTJS, documents that she and
Lucian had settled in Lumberton by 1906.
~a's database of Ohio Deaths
determined Anna Cora Smith Faulkner's deathdate.
● ~illian/smith calls Lucian's son "Dr. Charles Smith" (no
details given) and has confused Lucian's daughter Anna Cora with a different
Cora Smith (born 1877 in Iowa) who married James Madison "Jay" Lind. The
SFA and ~hadley/mary agree that Cora was Ohio-born and married a Faulkner.
● Josephine Hurst's death certificate (provided by RTJS) shows her middle
name as Hadley, and gives her father Lucian a unique middle initial of "A."
● ~diannestree provided details on the James family, who
lived in Liberty Township, Clinton County OH. Jennie James Smith had an
older brother, Jesse J. James (born 1863) who married Naomi Belle "Oma"
Holliday (1871-1930).
● Starling Medical College was founded in 1847-48; the Ohio [State]
Agricultural and Mechanical College was created in 1870, and the two affiliated
in 1914. It was DSN's understanding that Lucian's brothers also attended
Starling College—which might be a clue as to where they were (and went
unrecorded) in 1850.
A generation later, Alonzo's sons Hal and M.L. would go on to become a dentist and doctor respectively;
about which see more in
Chapter S-3.
● Present-day details regarding the Smith acreage in Vernon Township
were taken from page 76 of the Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer (DeLorme, 2004).
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Last updated July 22, 2015
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