Grandparent #1: Weaver Harris Smith

Weaver Harris Smith was born 18 December 1895 in Catoosa, Indian Territory.  He was the youngest son of Stephen A. and Fannie Smith and the only child born in Indian Territory.  His mother died when he was almost 10.  While his sister Lou was kind to him, his older brothers did things like filling his Christmas stocking with coal and switches.  One of them recommended he try "toilet water," but didn't explain exactly what that was, leading to an incident that was comical, but probably not to Weaver.  He spent his younger years in Oologah, using the town pump as home base for games of Go Sheepie Go.  We once took him back to Oologah to see his old home, and he remarked that he remembered it as much bigger.  

Smith home in Oologah, Oklahoma

My son at the Oologah water pump, about 1980

He was living in Collinsville in 1917 when he registered for World War I.  He met my grandmother there, courted her for several years, and married her on 30 June 1918.  On their honeymoon the newlyweds visited Waterloo, Alabama, the Smiths’ old home. 

Fannie and Weaver, 1919

Weaver and Fannie at the Beckham home in Waterloo, AL

They rented a house on the corner of W. 41^st St. and S. 26^th W. Ave. in Red Fork and started “housekeeping.”  Grandpa joined the union as a pipefitter and worked at the Sun (DX) Refinery in West Tulsa.  He helped build the gasworks on the Arkansas River.  They had really hard times because he was often on strike, but maybe they did a little better than the other families because Fannie was working as a teacher.  The other men would give him a hard time about it, and he would say, “Well, at least my wife is smart enough to get a job!”  By 1934 Weaver and Fannie had bought a house at 2717 W. 42nd St., just a few blocks from their old rent house.

My grandparents, me and my brother on porch
at 2717 W. 42nd St., Christmas 1960 

Grandpa began to have health problems when he was in his 40's.  He survived a cerebral hemorrhage because the doctor in Red Fork performed an experimental operation, drilling holes in his head to relieve the pressure.  He had several heart attacks and had a leg amputated at about age 70 because of circulation problems.  

Grandpa was a nice-looking man now that I look back on it.  He was wiry and strong and had a shock of heavy hair that I think was just beginning to go gray in his 70’s (although he always wore a hat.)  I think it must be telling that I remember him as tough and strong, because he had health problems from the time I can remember him.  I never thought of him as weak.  In his late 60’s he could still do a trick that he had done all his life.  Holding a matchstick between the fingers of his right hand, he would hold his left hand behind his back, doing a one-handed pushup and grabbing the matchstick with his teeth! My recollection of his toughness might have something to do with the fact that he cussed like a sailor, and though he often seemed to be in a bad mood, I always knew he loved me.  He and my grandmother seemed like the mismatch of the century, but they were completely devoted to each other.


He was helpful around the house in a day when most men weren't.  Before my grandmother retired, he stayed home with my brother and me after our mother died.  He was the family dishwasher.  He used to complain that all he did was "wa' dish, wa' dish."  He and my grandmother hardly ever fussed, but I remember them getting into an argument once in the kitchen when he was washing dishes.  He threw a wet rag at my grandmother and knocked her wig askew, and they ended up laughing, the argument forgotten.

My grandparents washing dishes at the house
on 42nd St.

Grandpa had a lot of colorful expressions.  On 42^nd St., he had his own bedroom at the back of the house that he called the “north 40.”   My favorite was “shoe mouth deep,” indicating the depth of water you were stepping in.  He also talked about being so “poor that you couldn’t buy a mosquito a wrassling jacket,” although I can’t imagine what that means.  Grandpa loved “wrassling”--professional wrestling. He would get so excited watching it on TV that we were afraid he’d have another heart attack.  Although he certainly couldn’t help it, I think that the fragility of his health made a big impression on me as a kid.  Between that and the Smith motto “If anything can go wrong, it will,” I grew up pretty fearful, but also pretty appreciative of all the small things that you can lose at any time. 

Christmas at the house on 38th St., 1965 

It was always hard for me to go away from home to spend the night with somebody, because I was afraid that something would happen to him while I was gone (although what I thought I could do about it, I don’t know.) And then something did.  My dad and brother and I had gone out to eat on a Saturday afternoon.  When we came home, my grandmother had had to call an ambulance to come and get Grandpa.  He had had another heart attack, and this time he didn’t recover.  He died on May 17, 1970. 

Daddy: The Smith * / Castle ** Side of the Family

Jack Francis Smith

My father was a fraternal twin.  He and his brother, Mack Weaver, were born on January 8, 1928, at the Oklahoma Osteopathic Hospital in Tulsa. Their parents were Weaver Harris Smith and Fannie (Castle) Smith.

My grandparents didn’t have names picked out and named the boys for the two ambulance drivers that brought my grandmother home from the hospital: Mack and Jack.  Uncle Mack’s middle name was Weaver for my grandfather; Daddy’s was Francis, my grandmother’s first name, although she always went by Fannie.  They must have already had their own distinctive looks, because they were definitely named for the parent they resembled.  

Jack & Mack Smith

Although they grew up during the Depression, Daddy once said that they didn’t know they were poor.  Their doting parents—they were the only children—tried to give them all they could, including Shetland ponies.  Mack’s was named Queenie, and Jack’s was named Don.

Daddy had asthma, which I suspect is why my grandmother was always so protective of him.  She said she remembered standing out at the front gate and hearing him in the house, trying to catch his breath.  In high school he ran track, which helped him finally get over his breathing problems.  He and Uncle Mack were also in the dance club, and that was an activity that he enjoyed until the very end of his life.

Daddy in group on right, facing camera, Uncle Mack to his left

Jack and Mack graduated from Daniel Webster High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1946.

Mack Weaver and Jack Francis Smith

My dad tried college for a while at the University of Tulsa but didn’t finish.  When he and my mother first married in 1952, he worked at Musick Drug at N. Denver & W. Edison, delivering prescriptions. When I was in elementary school, he worked for Cooper Supply Co., which sold plumbing supplies.  Later he was an insurance investigator, working out of a building at 7^th & Houston. He worked for the Department of Human Services for many years at their offices on Houston, just west of the Civic Center.

His family was the most important thing in the world to him. After my mother died, he never remarried, so he spent more time with my brother and me than most dads. He came home for lunch when he worked for Cooper Supply; it hadn’t been long since my mother’s death, and he took me almost every day to Red Fork Drug for ice cream before he went back to work. When he did field work as an insurance investigator, he often took us with him. He attended all of my brother’s ball games and all my spelling bees and plays. He took walks with us. He was the designated driver on hundreds of family eating expeditions.

He died way too young, at age 57, on October 12, 1985.  I still miss him every day.

*One of the first research jobs I tackled was the Smiths. I still haven’t gotten much further. They came to Oklahoma from Alabama.

**On the Castle side of the family, my cousin Fred was the family genealogist. He did all the work, and I have just enjoyed being able to rest when it comes to that ¼ of my heritage. The Castles came to Oklahoma from Kentucky.

For Maryo

I met a new cousin this week. Well, that's not exactly true. I think we were introduced about 12 years ago at a funeral, but neither of us actually remembers being introduced. We met again when she replied to my message on Ancestry asking who she was. With our 308 cM's of shared DNA, Ancestry had estimated us to be 2nd cousins, but I didn't recognize her name, and she didn't have a tree yet. I told her I thought we must be related on my Smith side because of our Shared Matches.

Her reply affirmed that we are Smith cousins and 2nd cousins, sure enough. Her mother was Billie Virginia Smith Byars, and her grandparents were Owen and Fern (Walker) Smith. Her grandfather, Owen, and my grandfather, Weaver, were the oldest and youngest sons of Stephen Albert Smith and his wife Frances (Fannie). 

To me, our connection is more than just biological, more than just the fact that our grandfathers were brothers. In fact, if it weren't for her grandparents, I wouldn't be here today. In our correspondence with each other Maryo told me that she only knew "bits and pieces," that her sister--who passed away earlier this year--was the one that knew the family history. She wanted to know more about her grandfather Owen and her grandmother Fern. I had a great story to tell her, but I wanted to see if I could find out more before we talked.

Here is the story I already knew. Fannie Castle, my grandmother, got her first teaching job in a one-room school between Owasso and Collinsville, Oklahoma, during World War I. Since her family lived 30 miles away in Red Fork, she boarded with Mrs. Elizabeth Walker in Collinsville during the school week. Mrs. Walker's daughter, Fern, was married to Owen Smith, who ran a soda shop called the Candy Kitchen with his brother, Weaver. My grandmother, the teacher, was introduced to my grandfather, the soda jerk, and they were married in 1918. If my grandmother had gotten a job closer to home, if Fern hadn't married Owen, if my grandparents had never been introduced, I truly wouldn't be here. 

Fern Walker Smith

Fern passed away when her daughter Billie was still very young, and my grandmother and grandfather often spent time with her. Through the years my grandmother kept up with Billie and her son, Roy "Bud" Byars, and many years later I became friends with Bud's wife, Metzie, who was an avid genealogist until her death in 2012. It was at her brother Bud's funeral that I think Maryo and I were introduced.   

We had agreed to talk on Sunday. With a two-hour time difference I was going to call mid-day, which would be mid-morning for her. I stayed up late Saturday night, using marriage and census records on Ancestry to find out more about Owen and Fern and Mr. and Mrs. Walker. If you go all the way back to my very first post on Becky's Bridge to the Past, you will find that this family story was the inspiration for the blog, but that I didn't know much more than the facts I have already given here. I knew that Mrs. Walker's maiden name was Whitmore. I knew that Fern had a brother named Pearcy. I knew that there was someone named Amanda, but I couldn't remember if she was their sister or Pearcy's wife.

So last Saturday night I did a little researching. I found some new facts and was reminded of some I had forgotten. I documented the marriage of Fern and Owen on 16 January 1912 in Collinsville, and of Elizabeth Whitmore and James N. Walker on 31 December 1879 in Benton, Arkansas. By 1900 James and "Lizzie" were living in Valley Center, Sedgwick County, Kansas, with four children: Alonzo, Daisy, Fern, and Pearcy; next door was Oscar Walker, age 32, with wife and daughter. In 1910 J.N. and Lizzie were in Rogers County, Oklahoma. Only Fern and Pearcy were still living at home. Next door was O.U. Walker, about the same age as James; a brother named Oscar?

I got stuck following Elizabeth back to her parents, because I couldn't find her on the 1870 census. James was hard, too, with such a common name, so I tried following his brother Oscar. By using census and Findagrave entries for Oscar, I thought it likely that their parents were William and Virginia Walker of Elm Springs, Arkansas.

I couldn't find the right Alonzo Walker after 1900. I thought Mr. Walker died about 1910, because he never showed up in the census again with Mrs. Walker. However, he remained a rather hazy figure for me; if he died before 1915, my grandmother never knew him, and yet I thought I remembered her speaking of him in a not very complimentary way. I remembered that Metzie had found something out about Daisy, but I couldn't remember what it was. Pearcy died at age 22 in 1916, and I still wasn't sure if Amanda was his sister or his wife. Fern died the same year, leaving Billie who was not quite 4 years old. Billie appeared with Mrs. Walker on the 1920 census, and then Mrs. Walker died in 1926. I couldn't find Billie on the 1930 census.  

I was as ready as I was going to be for my conversation with Maryo. 

Maryo had some questions, and I had a few answers. Some of the answers led to more questions. She had a piece of information that proved to be crucial to further research. 

We talked about her grandparents, Owen and Fern. She was unaware that Owen had been married several times. She only knew about Fern and Rhoda, Owen's last wife, whom we both remembered. I know my grandmother told me he had been married 5 or 6 times (!), but it must have been between censuses, because I couldn't find any other wives' names. However, on the 1910 census (before he married Fern), he was living at the Smith boarding house in Collinsville and was designated as Divorced. As he was 29 at his marriage to Fern, he had had plenty of time to get married and divorced. I told her that the Walkers blamed Owen for Fern's death, and that he had very little contact with Billie as she grew up. Maryo wondered about the date of their marriage and Billie's birth--both in 1912. Was Owen bitter because he had been forced to marry Fern? I could answer that one. Apparently not, as they were married in January and Billie was born in November.

I told her about a photo that Metzie had, showing Owen participating in a wild west show, a popular entertainment of the early 1900's. I have a photocopy that Metzie made for me, and I promised to send it to her.

Owen in Wild West Show (unfortunately, I don't know
which one is Owen)

She wondered who Fannie was. That was a name she had heard and also seen--on the back of a locket that Billie wore. I told her that it could be my grandmother, but it could also be referring to Owen's mother. As his mother died in 1905, she felt sure the Fannie she had heard about was my grandmother. I told her that my grandparents spent a lot of time with Billie when she was young. She wondered how they got together after my grandparents moved to Red Fork. I couldn't answer that question, but my grandmother did. (See below) 

Billie Smith and Fannie Castle

She wondered what I knew about Tom and Ella Arnold, who raised Billie after the death of Mrs. Walker. I didn't know anything. I think that Metzie must have mentioned them to me, but it was one of those things that didn't stick. So, after our conversation it was back to Ancestry to follow up on some leads and tie up some loose ends.

The name Ella Arnold eventually led me to the 1930 census of Stroud, Oklahoma, where Ella was designated "sister" to the head of household, Andrew J. Whitmore. The other members of the household were Andrew's wife Edith and (guess who?) Billie, age 18, designated as "roomer." So apparently Andrew was Mrs. Walker's brother, Ella was Mrs. Walker's sister, and Tom, Ella's husband, had died. With the names Andrew, Elizabeth, and Ella Whitmore, I was able to find them on the 1870 census in Lincoln, Andrew County, Missouri, with parents William and Ann Eliza Whitmore, and a slew of other siblings. (No wonder I had so much trouble finding them as their last name was spelled "Whittemore.") I wasn't positive I had found the right family until I found Ann Eliza on the 1895 Kansas State Census in Wichita, Sedgwick County, living with T.E. (Tom) and Ella Arnold. This seemed to confirm Maryo's recollection of the Arnolds' home in Wichita, which relatives had described as a "mansion." 

I tried to find the final resting place of James N. Walker. There is a James N., born in the same year as our Mr. Walker, buried in Tontitown, Arkansas. Google Maps says that is 2 minutes away from Elm Springs, where he grew up. But this James N. died in 1922. If he is Mrs. Walker's husband, where was he on the 1910 and 1920 censuses? Did he abandon the family, which was the hazy recollection I had from decades-old conversations with my grandmother? 

If I haven't said this before, and I'm sure I have, my grandmother was amazing. I guess because she didn't make family trees and keep meticulous records, I didn't think of her as a genealogist, but she was, and I'm sure she's the reason that I have always been so interested in genealogy myself. In her 80's and 90's when she was home by herself most of the day, she made scrapbooks for her nieces and nephews and wrote about her life in Kentucky around 1900 and her life in Oklahoma in the 1910's and 20's. That is why I shouldn't have been surprised when I found a document answering many of Maryo's questions.

It was in my Smith file, along with a photocopy of Uncle Owen in his Wild West show. I'm the one who put it in the file, but at the time I guess I didn't need all the information it provided. How did my grandmother know that in 2019 I would need to know all about Mr. and Mrs. Walker and their families? Here is the transcription of the 5-page document that she wrote in her beautiful Spencerian script.

Mom's memories of the Walkers
in her handwriting

"In loving memory of a dear fine lady, Lizzie Whitmore Walker. She had 2 brothers, 1 sister: Andrew Whitmore, Frank Whitmore, Ella Whitmore Arnold.

She was married to Jimmie Walker in the 1890's [actually 1879]. They had 2 sons and 2 daughters: Daisy Walker ____?, 'Red' Walker, Fern Walker Smith, Pearcy Walker.

Fern married Owen Smith about 1914 or 15 [actually 1912]. They had 1 daughter, Billie Smith Byars. 

In the autumn of 1915 I went to Owasso Okla. to teach in a one room school. The Walkers lived about a mile east of the school. I boarded with the Pearcy Walker family (wife Mandy & small son 'Pete'). They were making preparation to move north of Collinsville. They told me their in-laws might keep me, so after an interview and looking me over they took me in and made me feel 'at home.' I spent 3 happy years with them. 

During that time I came to know Fern and her baby girl Billie. She told me of her wonderful brother-in-law Weaver Smith-- He proved to be a "super guy"; after a long courtship we were married June 29, 1918. We spent 52 years together before he died. He proved to be all and more than Fern recommended.

While I was living at the Walkers', Fern died of typhoid fever. Billie came to live with Grandma Walker. She was a dear little girl with brown curly hair. I grew to be very fond of her. She spent many Sunday afternoons riding in a buggy with her Uncle Weaver Smith and his girlfriend, 'Miss Castle.'

Weaver Smith and Fannie Castle were married and established a home in Red Fork, then a suburb of Tulsa. Billie spent many vacation trips with us. Mrs. Walker would come down on the Santa Fe R.R. to Tulsa and I would meet them and we would eat at Bishop's on South Main (It was then Tulsa's Best) and see all the movies at the Ritz, Majestic & Rialto. We had many happy times together. In 1916-1917 we saw all the 'old movies' that came to Collinsville. We had a horse & buggy at our disposal and Saturday saw us in Collinsville for lunch and ready for the 'Perils of Pauline' at the 1 o'clock show.

Mrs. Walker was an excellent cook. She taught me how to make Lemon Meringue Pie that is unexcelled. I shall never forget her flaky hot biscuits and homemade strawberry jam and homemade butter.

Lizzie Whitmore Walker and Granddaughter Billie hold a big place in my memory. 

The Jimmie Walker family lived around Cave Springs Ark. Jimmie Walker was Billie Smith Byars' grandfather. He had 2 brothers and 1 sister -- Oscar and Alex Walker were her uncles. The Walkers were the Drug Store owners at Cave Springs for many generations. Jimmie Walker is buried in this area. He died December 4, 1918." [She might have the date confused with Pearcy's death date, which was December 4, 1916.]

Facts my grandmother corroborated or got almost right:

• Mrs. Walker had a brother named Andrew and a sister named Ella.
• She was married to James (Jimmie) Walker and had four children: Daisy, "Red" (who must be Alonzo), Fern, and Pearcy.
• She boarded with Pearcy and his wife, Mandy. (Years later, I was discouraged from naming my unborn child--who turned out to be a boy--Amanda. My grandmother said all she could think of was Amanda Walker, who was a big-boned, country girl, and she didn't want that for her granddaughter's name.) Pearcy and Mandy's marriage license shows her maiden name to be Birdsell, and I found the Birdsells living next door to the Walkers in Rogers County, OK, in 1910. I don't know what happened to Mandy and Pete after Pearcy's death.
• She got marriage dates wrong. The Walkers married in 1879, not the 1890's. Owen and Fern married in 1912, not 1914 or 15.
• The Walkers lived in Elm Springs, not Cave Springs. However, Mr. and Mrs. Walker did marry in Benton County, Arkansas, the same county where Cave Springs is located. There was a brother named Oscar. 
• If I were a betting woman, I would say that the James N. Walker buried in Tontitown with a death date of 1922 is our guy. I think it's significant that he isn't buried with Mrs. Walker, Fern, and Pearcy, who are buried in Collinsville. My grandmother also mentioned the fact that he was buried somewhere else; she just got the place and date wrong.

My grandmother used to tease me about my need to follow the rules; in this case, making sure all the dates and places are correct and documented. She was more in the school of "close enough is good enough." You also have to remember that she was writing down these "facts" at least 60 years after they happened, and she didn't have Ancestry.com, where all the names, dates, and places are at your fingertips. But isn't it great to imagine all of them driving down the brick streets of Collinsville in a horse and buggy to go to the "picture show"?

To genealogists reading this post: While you're filling out your family tree and keeping meticulous records, remember to add some "fun facts" about yourself and the ancestors you remember. To family members--maybe yet to come--those stories will mean more than all the names and dates in the world.

Genealogy on the Road: Waterloo, Alabama

My grandparents, Weaver and Fannie (Castle) Smith spent their honeymoon in Waterloo, Alabama, visiting Grandpa’s relatives there.  Ninety-five years later my brother and I visited Waterloo on their wedding anniversary, June 29.  I know my grandmother enjoyed her trip there—the only real vacation she ever took—because I heard a lot about Waterloo when I was growing up.  On our trip my brother and I remarked again and again that we wished we had just put her in the car and driven her back to Kentucky and Alabama.  She would have complained but we should have just taken her anyway. 

Ella Smith Beckham?, Fannie & Weaver Smith
Waterloo, Alabama, 1919 

Waterloo is a quiet little town with a population of about 200.  It is located on the Tennessee River in the far northwestern corner of Alabama.  It was incorporated in 1832, one of the oldest incorporated towns in Alabama.  According to a historical marker, the town was an important port on the river during the steamboat era. “Following a disastrous flood in 1847, the town was moved from its location on the riverbank, now under Pickwick Lake, to present higher ground.”  

Historical marker, Waterloo, Alabama 

In the 1930s the town was affected again when the Tennessee Valley Authority built the Pickwick Landing Dam just north in Hardin County, Tennessee.  I can’t help but think of my very favorite movie ever, O Brother, Where Art Thou? when Everett says,  “The fact is, they're flooding this valley so they can hydroelectric up the whole durn state. Yes, sir, the South is gonna change.”  I wonder how much Waterloo has really changed since my grandparents were there in 1919.

Waterloo is known, if it is known at all, as the “End of the Trail of Tears.”  Another historical marker on the edge of the river tells that at Waterloo the Cherokees were put on boats to make the final leg of the Trail of Tears.  The marker says: “Thousands of Cherokee Indians passed through Waterloo in the 1830s when they were forced by the U.S. government to move West on the Trail of Tears.  Most came by boat from Tuscumbia and camped here to await transfer to larger steamboats.  During the encampment several births, deaths, and escapes occurred.”

Trail of Tears marker, Waterloo, Alabama 

My great-grandfather Smith followed his Mansell in-laws to Waterloo from Troy in Pike County, Alabama, in the 1870s.  His mother-in-law, Elizabeth Simmons, and her children were supposedly Cherokee, and it was from Waterloo, in the 1890s, that Stephen and Fannie Smith moved to Indian Territory and applied for Cherokee citizenship.  

In one of the applications Elizabeth Simmons Mansell Cotton made a deposition stating that she and her children were Cherokee.  The deposition was dated 1894 and made in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, which used to make me wonder if Elizabeth died and is buried in Oklahoma.  However, on my last trip to Waterloo some Mansell cousins showed me the place in Mount Olive Cemetery where “Granny Cotton” is said to be buried.  After a long drive out into the hills outside Waterloo, I showed my brother her purported resting place.  According to our Mansell relatives, Elizabeth may have come to Indian Territory with the Smith family then returned to Waterloo with some Mansell/Webb family members who came back to Alabama.

Elizabeth Cotton's grave?, Mount Olive Cemetery,
Waterloo, Alabama 

And, again, the Smiths were traveling from Alabama to Oklahoma.  After a stop at the Shiloh Battleground we were on our way home.

Beginnings and Endings

I live about 7 miles from the cemetery where I caught the genealogy bug--closer as the crow flies. How I ended up just miles from the resting place of my paternal great-grandfather is a story in itself. But first, what was it about Ridgelawn Cemetery in Collinsville, Oklahoma, that sparked an interest that hasn't burned out in 50 years?





















I remember the day we were walking around the cemetery, looking for the graves of my great-uncle Owen and his wife Fern, when I noticed a number of graves with close to the same death dates.  I asked my grandmother, who usually had the answers, "Why did so many people die around the same time? Was there a fire or an explosion?"  "No," she replied, "it was the flu." The fact that most of them were young people, not much older than I was at the time, made it all the more poignant. Compound that with the sad story of Aunt Fern and the romantic tale of my grandparents' meeting, and you had a genealogy fanatic for life.

Fern Walker Smith

Uncle Owen Smith and my grandfather owned the Candy Kitchen in Collinsville. Grandpa was the soda jerk. Uncle Owen was married to Fern, daughter of Elizabeth Whitmore Walker. My grandmother was a first-year schoolteacher, teaching in a one-room school outside of town and boarding with Mrs. Walker. Owen introduced his mother-in-law's boarder to his brother Weaver. My grandmother kept Grandpa on a string for a couple of years; he dropped her off at the train station in Collinsville so that she could spend weekends at her parents' house in Red Fork, a small community outside of Tulsa. Her other boyfriend Gilbert dropped her off on Sunday afternoons at the train station in Red Fork. Eventually, however, Grandpa won out--partly because Gilbert told her she was number 2 in his heart after his church, and she wouldn't be number 2 at anything. Owen and Fern's story didn't have as happy an ending. Fern died young of typhoid fever and their daughter Billie was raised by her maternal relatives.

Billie and my grandmother

We visited Collinsville often when I was a young girl, but after Uncle Owen and Grandpa and Grandpa's sister Aunt Lou were gone, we only visited the cemetery once in a while. Flash forward 30 years and my son marries a girl whose grandparents live outside of Collinsville. They buy a little house on Broadway, not far from where my grandpa's father, Stephen Albert Smith, ran his boarding house. Then I become a widow and move 10 minutes away so that I can see them more often. I drive by the cemetery when I leave their house and think about Grandpa Smith, Uncle Owen and Fern, Aunt Lou, Mrs. Walker, and all those young people whose lives were taken by the flu.

(L to R) Uncle Turner, ?, Uncle Albert, Grandpa (Weaver),
Uncle John holding the horse in front of
Grandpa Smith's boarding house in Collinsville

So today I begin this blog about genealogy and my family.  I want to write about events that happened long ago that might still have some relevance for today.  I’ve noticed that some things seem to cross the generations—spirituality and bravery and lost love—and I want to write about those things.  I’ll be thinking about what pushes me to keep searching—to find connections between the past and the present, to be the bridge between my ancestors and my descendants, even those yet to come.    

The Smiths in Oklahoma

My great-grandfather, Stephen Albert Smith, brought his family to Indian Territory from Waterloo, Alabama, in 1893. Making the trip were his wife, Fannie; daughters Molly Ann, Lou Ellen, and Barbara; and sons Owen Stephen, John Jackson, Albert Cleveland, and Turner Lee. His mother-in-law, Elizabeth Simmons Mansell Cotton, may have also made the trip, although that has been questioned.  My grandfather, Weaver Harris, the youngest of Stephen Albert and Fannie’s children, was born in Indian Territory in 1895. Ella Victoria, the second oldest daughter, stayed behind in Alabama with her husband Len Beckham.

Fannie stated her purpose in coming to Oklahoma in an 1896 affidavit for the Dawes Commission: “I left the State of Alabama and came to this Country with the avowed purpose of becoming a Citizen of the Territory and identifying myself with the Cherokees whom I know to be my people by blood.”  She was denied citizenship. In 1905 she died and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Oologah.  In 1907/1908, still living in Oologah, Stephen again made a claim of Cherokee citizenship on behalf of his minor children, and the Smith children who were by then adults applied on their own behalf.  All their claims were denied because no relationship could be proved with anyone listed on the Cherokee rolls.

Headstone -- Oak Hill Cemetery, Oologah, OK

  

I have never been able to find any of the Smiths on the 1900 census, and believe me, I have looked—even searching probable locations page by page.  On the 1910 census the family, still mostly intact, is living in Collinsville, probably at the boarding house pictured in my post “Beginnings and Endings,” because the census lists quite a few “boarders” living with the family. Mollie and her children, Jimmy, Alice, and Ella Scott, and Maggie Kirk; Owen, Barbara, Albert, Turner, and Weaver are all living with Stephen Albert. Lou is living with her husband Albert Barlow near Collinsville in Rogers County.

On October 11, 1927, Stephen married his daughter Lou’s mother-in-law Nancy Barlow at age 80+.  It was written up in the Tulsa World. He died July 27, 1938, in Collinsville.  Because he was one of the last Confederate veterans in Oklahoma, that was written up in the paper, too.  He is buried in Ridgelawn Cemetery in Collinsville.  All of his children, except Ella, lived and died in Oklahoma.

Stephen Albert Smith and children

Headstone -- Ridgelawn Cemetery, Collinsville, OK

I knew my Smith relatives in Oklahoma. We visited Uncle Owen and Aunt Lou in Collinsville.  Uncle Turner came by to visit us.  We saw Uncle Albert's wife Gertrude (he had died in 1953) all the time because she lived near Red Fork in Carbondale, another westside Tulsa community.  I had names and dates of birth, pictures, and funeral cards of the Smith siblings, thanks to my grandmother.  I knew that the Smiths came from Waterloo in Lauderdale County, Alabama.

But then, I found out how little I really knew. 

Smith Cousins

Questions from the past still linger, but there are plenty of Smith descendants out there trying to find the answers.  I have made connections with a descendant of every child of Stephen A. Smith, except for Ella, who stayed in Alabama, and John, who had no children.

Stephen A. Smith and children

I never knew any of Molly’s family growing up, but I have corresponded via ancestry.com with a woman whose children, through their father, are descendants of Molly. (She lives in another state, but because she has an unusual surname, we found that her ex-sister-in-law was someone I knew.  Isn’t the world small?) 

I became great friends with the daughter-in-law of Billie Byars (daughter of Owen Smith--see “Beginnings and Endings”) who was an ardent genealogist.  Unfortunately, she passed away last year but left a huge legacy of genealogical research behind for her daughters.

Weaver and Owen Smith

I grew up knowing the children and grandchildren of Lou Smith Barlow.  At about age 5 or 6, I attended Lou’s granddaughter’s wedding.  Lou’s daughter and son-in-law owned a bakery and made the cake for my wedding.  Then I lost track of them.  Recently, I corresponded via ancestry.com with the daughter of the couple whose wedding I attended in the 1950s.

Lou and Albert Barlow and children
on their 50th wedding anniversary

I got some valuable information from Rosa Mae Martin, daughter of Barbara Smith, many years ago.  She was a favorite of my grandmother's, and I had found her phone number in Temple, Texas, in my grandmother's address book.  A fact she told me, that the Smiths owned a furniture company in Montgomery, Alabama, was confirmed by the Confederate pension application of Alexander Jackson Smith’s widow that I found recently.  Their son was president of the Wheeler-Smith Furniture Co. in Montgomery.  In July I had a message through ancestry.com from a great-granddaughter of Barbara's who has just started doing genealogy.

Application of Alexander J. Smith's widow
for Confederate benefits, listing her
son as president of Wheeler-Smith Furniture Co.

I went to high school with the grandson of Albert Smith.  In the past couple of years I have received messages from both him and his sister on ancestry.com.  Their father, son of Albert and Gertrude Smith, recently died in his 90's.  

Smith boys--Turner, Albert, Weaver, and John

Two of my cousins, sons of Turner Smith, live together in Tulsa.  I may have to call them up, as they reputedly have the only studio portrait of Stephen A. Smith.

There are almost enough of us to have a reunion.  Hmm…  

Old Questions with New Answers

My Smith great-grandparents, Stephen and Fannie, came to Oklahoma in 1894, bringing most of their children with them from Alabama, even those that were already adults. One adult daughter, Ella, stayed behind in Alabama with her husband. The youngest Smith sibling, my grandfather Weaver, was born in Indian Territory in 1895.

Both of my Smith great-grandparents have been a pain, genealogically speaking. I spent years thinking that Fannie's maiden name was Cotton, then I thought it was Mansell, then I found out that it was probably neither. Her paternal line is a mystery because I don't know who her father was--and may never know. I have a few more clues with her maternal line, enough that I may someday figure out who her grandparents were. At least, through the years, there has been some movement on her side of the family.

Not so with Stephen. I know that his mother was named Mary E. and that from 1850 on, she was the single parent of Stephen, his sister Cynthia, and his brothers John, Alexander Jackson, Minor Jefferson, and Moses Calvin. I know a little about Stephen's siblings and their future lives. I long suspected that Mary's maiden name was Williams, and that finally was confirmed by the death certificate of her son Alexander Jackson. I know that Stephen's father was probably named John Smith. And that's it. I don't even know for sure where John and Mary came from before they came to Alabama. In fact, I don't have solid evidence that John ever lived in Alabama.

1850 Coffee Co. AL census
Mary E. Smith and children: Synthia A., John, Jackson A.,
Minor J., and Stephen A.

Then in the last month it seems like every genealogical clue I've been given is about the Smiths. First, I got an email from a Perkins descendant. In my post, "Will the Real Ancestor Please Stand Up?" I talked about the fact that my brother's y-DNA test results show matches, not to Smiths, but to men named Banks and Perkins. (Not only did John Smith have to have a difficult paper trail, he had to have difficult DNA, too.) She related that she had also corresponded with a Banks descendant; all three of us were looking for a connection among our Smith, Perkins, and Banks ancestors.

James Washington Perkins, the oldest known ancestor of the Perkins descendants, was born in Georgia and died in Texas. My Smith family, as far as I know, never lived in those states. The Banks descendant that matches my brother on 37 markers was from Bulloch County, Georgia, where his family has lived for 8 generations. After having their y-DNA tested and results compared, several Banks descendants believe their oldest known ancestor is Charles Banks of Edgefield County, South Carolina.

John Smith was supposed to have been born in Virginia, but I always wondered where he met his wife Mary. On several censuses Mary E. Williams Smith reported her place of birth as South Carolina. A little research on the Perkins family revealed that they also had a connection to South Carolina. The grandparents of James Washington Perkins, James and Rebecca (Corley) Smelley, were from Edgefield County, South Carolina. So I might not have found a person that ties the Banks, Perkins, and Smith families together, but I might have found a place. At the very least, I thought I could narrow my search for Williams and Smith families to Edgefield County, South Carolina, where there are several to choose from.

Next, out of the blue, I got a message on Ancestry.com from a new match who turned out to be a 2nd cousin on my Smith side. His grandmother, Barbara Smith, was the sister of my grandfather Weaver. I asked him to upload his results to Gedmatch, which he did in short order, and I now have a Smith family member to compare matches against. It's also really interesting to compare our DNA on Gedmatch. He is now my largest match, next to my brother, with a whopping 312.8 cM's. He has even more in common with my brother--389.6 cM's.

Using the Triangulation feature on Gedmatch, I found a list of people that match both my Smith cousin and me. I contacted a few of them and heard from one--let's call him Mr. F. I actually realized later that he had once contacted me but we couldn't find the ancestor we had in common. This time I had just researched the Perkins family, so my email to him asked if he had an ancestor by that name. He did; his Ann Perkins (or Parkins), born 1800, married William Orr. Their daughter Rachel Orr was his great-great-grandmother. I compared Mr. F. and several of his relatives on the FTDNA Chromosome Browser and found that they all matched in a certain segment of Chromosome 7. Then I switched over to Gedmatch and compared my Smith cousin to them. (He tested on Ancestry.com so is available on Gedmatch but not FTDNA.) And guess what? He lines up in a great big segment at the same place on Chromosome 7 as Mr. F. and his relatives.

Then within a week--I am serious--I got another message on Ancestry.com, this time from a lady who just wanted to help me with my great-grandmother Fannie's maiden name. I explained that even though Fannie listed Mansil as her last name on her marriage license, she couldn't really be the daughter of John Mansell. I was curious if she was a relative, so I asked why she had been looking at my tree.

Fannie and Stephen's marriage license

It turns out that she also has Smith ancestors in Coffee Co., AL. We determined that we are not related--her family has had y-DNA testing done and they are descended from a known Smith. But what she told me next kindof rocked my world. Her ancestors in Coffee Co., who were next-door neighbors of my Mary E. Williams Smith, were Prescotts and Donaldsons--and they moved there from Edgefield Co., SC, along with several other families, including the Williamses.

1860 Coffee Co. census
Mary E. living near Prescotts, Williamses, and Donaldsons

In light of all this new information, I am completely revisiting what I think I know about John A. Smith. The death certificate of Andrew Jackson Smith, Stephen's brother, lists his parents as John Smith and Mary E. Williams. So at least as far as Andrew Jackson knew, his father's name was John Smith. I think the erroneous information starts with a marriage license issued in Chesterfield, Virginia, in 1828 for a John A. Smith and an Elizabeth Williams. I think people assumed that this was our John Smith and that he came from Virginia. A lot of people on Ancestry.com, and even genealogists in my own family, have listed his birthdate as 1805, but it couldn't be if he is the John Smith in Chesterfield, VA, who was listed on the 1820 census. He would only have been 15 years old.

In 1840 there is a John A. Smith in Pike Co., AL, whose census information has been attached to my John Smith. But again, he couldn't be my John Smith. He has way too many children, and I hate to say, I didn't even question this, but--the Smiths didn't live in Pike Co. in 1840. They didn't move there until sometime between 1860 and 1880. He also is supposed to be buried in the same place as Mary--in Pike Co.--but again he wasn't living in Pike Co. around 1850 when he was supposed to have died.

For this reason, one researcher on Ancestry.com thinks that John Smith, the husband of Mary E. and father of Stephen, is the completely different, and much older John W. Smith, who is listed on the 1850 Census Mortality Schedule with a death date of February 1850 at the age of 87. She has compared the census records of two John A. Smiths in Coffee Co. and concluded that neither of them could be the father of my Smith family. I don't know if I agree with all her conclusions, but she has certainly given me something to think about. It just makes sense to question everything when years of research have gotten you no closer to an answer. What do I know? John Smith may have really been born a Perkins.

Priceless

If you had time to save something from your house in a disaster, what would it be? A lot of people would answer, "Photographs." Judging from the news coverage of several recent disasters in Oklahoma, photographs are the first possessions that people search for in the wreckage of their homes. I know they are the first things that I would grab if I had a chance. It is a little reassuring to me to know that I have saved a lot of them on various computers, flash drives, and on this blog. If, heaven forbid, I should ever lose the originals in a disaster, I still have access to the most precious of them.

Why are our photographs so precious to us? There are lots of reasons. They connect us to our past. They help us remember those we loved who are now gone, and good times that we shared together. In the case of our own children, we can see their progress from gap-toothed first grader to high school graduate to happy groom or bride. Maybe we can even see ourselves in old photographs of our grands and greats. I remember the first time I ever saw early photos of my maternal grandmother, Cora Bell, and realized how much I resembled her. In some cases, if we are lucky enough, we can even meet an ancestor through a photograph.

That's why I was thrilled this spring to receive a letter from my "new" cousin, Paul Ming, that included some photographs. One was a picture of our common ancestor, William Frederick Ming.

William Frederick Ming 1824-1911

The other came with this explanation: "I have enclosed a picture post-card. My aunt Josephine Ming Waterfield gave it to me not long before she died. It was sent to her when she was young obviously by an older person. My aunt was in her 80's when she gave it to me and didn't remember who it was from. She wrote 'John William Wheat, year 1908' on the card but didn't remember who his parents were. Do you know who he is?"

John William Wheat (2nd from left), photo taken 1908

Oh, boy, did I! He was my grandfather, John William Wheat, and this is the only picture I have of him in which he is identified. Among this group of dapper young men, he is the second from the left, pointed out by a big arrow drawn on the photo. What a priceless thing to know what my grandfather looked like! The only other picture of him that I have ever had was of a large group of oil field workers in Seminole OK, posed on and in front of a big flat-bed truck. My aunt Marie thought he was one of the men standing in front of the truck, but she wasn't sure herself which one he was. 

Oil field workers, Seminole OK, about 1927

Another gift from my cousin Paul came in the mail after we finally met in person this March. This one is even more precious because I didn't expect there to even be a picture of my great-grandmother, Cynthia Francis Ming Wheat Rhodes, mother of John William Wheat. In this photo, taken around 1900, she poses with her second husband, Tom Rhodes, who was 30 years older than she was. I don't know why I couldn't have inherited her tiny little figure!

Cynthia Francis Ming Wheat Rhodes
and second husband, Tom Rhodes

Just last week I was the recipient of more photos--this time from my Castle cousin, Linda. I have a lot of Castle and Day family photos, since I inherited both my grandmother's and my great-grandmother's, but I had never seen these. Linda has been going through her parents' photo albums and brought along several when we met for dinner. She was nice enough to scan these photos of Grandpa and Grandma Day; one of the Castle boys with my grandfather, Weaver Smith; and a group shot of the Castle family, including my grandfather and grandmother, in front of Big Mom's house. Talking about inheriting physical features, it's easy to see that the Smith boys--my dad and my brother--inherited their beautiful hair from my grandfather. I can sure see what my grandmother saw in him!

Grandpa and Grandma Day with great-granddaughter Marilou

(L to R) My grandfather Weaver Smith,
Goldman, Warner, and Forrest Castle

Castle family in front of Big Mom's house
My grandparents are in the back row, framed between the two pillars

Want a project to work on that will really make a difference to you and your descendants? 

• If your family photos are in one of those old magnetic or adhesive photo albums, take them out now! Put them in archival albums or boxes.
• Being careful not to damage photos, list the people depicted on the back. Someday you will be gone, and nobody will know who these people were.
• Scan your most precious photos and save them somewhere that will be safe in a disaster. In these days of ever-changing technology, it's hard to know what that is. Computer hard drive, flash drive, the cloud? Use your best judgment.
• Check out an online photo archive like www.deadfred.com. Look for photos of your family, or better yet, post some of your photos there.
• If you are a subscriber to Ancestry.com, post photos there and make them accessible to the Ancestry community.
• Print those vacation photos that are still on a photo disk and put them in an album.
• It's great to have a photo album in your purse or pocket, i.e. your cell phone, but what happens when something happens to your phone? Find a permanent way to save those priceless photos!