A Century of Smiths in Alabama

Traditional genealogy provided all the information to make this post possible, but the motivation for it came from a DNA match. I had contacted him many months ago because our DNA match of 158 cM was one of my largest 3rd-4th cousin matches, according to Ancestry.com. I could see his tree there, but I still had no idea how we were connected. He had responded to me, and we determined that we had a place in common: Coffee County, Alabama, but I still didn't recognize any of the Coffee-related names in his tree. We let it go, until he emailed me last week to ask if I had made any progress in discovering our connection. I went back to the trees and the Coffee Co. censuses to see if I could. I still haven't made a definite connection between the two of us, but the research inspired me to take a close look at several generations of my Alabama Smiths on the U.S. Census. I actually found one census that I have been searching for for years!

The 1850 census of Coffee County, Alabama, has always been the starting point for my Smith family research. It lists Mary E. Smith, age 37, as the head of household, with her children Synthia A., age 18; John, age 16; Jackson A., age 9; Minor J., age 7; and Stephen A., age 4. Stephen A. (Albert) is my great-grandfather. Family tradition said that John Smith was his father (later confirmed by a son's death certificate), but unfortunately, John was apparently dead before the 1850 census. Smith researchers could never identify which John Smith, even among those in Alabama, was the father of this family. 

This time, using a combination of Ancestry.com and HistoryGeo, I think I might have found the right John Smith. First, I did a little research into the origins of Coffee County. I discovered that Coffee County was created in 1841 from Dale County. Thinking that possibly the Smiths lived in the part of 1840 Dale County that became Coffee County in 1841, I compared the four John Smiths that I found on the census in 1840 Dale County. 

One John Smith was 30-39, had a wife 20-29, a son under 5, and another 5-9. No daughter who would have been Cynthia's age in 1840.

Another John Smith was a male 80-89 with a wife 70-79.

Another John Smith was 50-59, had a wife 40-49, and one male 15-19. No children who would have been Cynthia or John, Jr. in 1850.

The fourth John Smith seemed more likely than the others. He was, surprisingly, age 60-69 (more about that later), and in his household were a female 20-29 (his wife?), who was in the age range that Mary would be; a male under 5 and a male 5-9--either could have been John, depending on birth dates, census dates, or faulty memories--and a female 5-9, who could have been Cynthia. If this is our family, one of the sons is missing in our trees; he could have died before the 1850 census or if he was the boy 5-9 in 1840, he could have been old enough to be out on his own by 1850. (We only have six children listed in our trees for this family--Moses C. comes along after 1850--but on the 1900 census Mary says that she had 7 children, so an extra son is a possibility.) 

I decided to utilize HistoryGeo to see if I could try to prove that this is our John and his family. I couldn't find a John Smith as first landowner in Dale or Coffee counties. Using names that were listed on the same page with the probable John Smith on the 1840 census, I looked for them as landowners in Coffee County in the same area where Mary E. Smith lived in 1850. I found Desire Tilman, Allen Lightfoot, Sampson Carpenter, and James Harrell living in Township 7N, Range 20E. I found Mary's neighbors on the 1850 census--Prescoats, Donaldsons, Richburgs, and Lindseys-- living in adjoining Township 6N, Range 19E.

Landowners in area where John Smith lived on 1840 census

John Smith's neighbors on 1840 census (7N 20E) adjacent to
Mary Smith's neighbors on 1850 census (6N 19E)

So, I think it's definitely possible this John Smith on the 1840 census in Dale, soon to be Coffee, County is my John Smith. However, it's also possible the Smiths were not living in Alabama at all in 1840 or that the match-up of adult female and children's ages is a coincidence. And what do I get out of finding John Smith on the 1840 census, since there is so little information there? Well, for one thing, I get his age and a revised birth date, and along with those, some things to ponder. 

Did Mary really marry a man 35-40 years her senior? John's death date is iffy; the only date I have found was from an application that Cynthia made for her husband's Civil War pension in which she stated her father died in 1845. (Cynthia would have been 13, so old enough to remember.) All we really know for sure is that he does not appear as head of household on the 1850 census. Mary was born about 1812; if John was born even as early as 1800, he would have been only 45-50 at his death. Not impossible, but I wasn't really surprised by the fact that he could have been much older. While I doubt I'll be able to follow my John Smith back to his state of origin even with a new birth date, if I find a likely candidate, I won't necessarily eliminate one that could have been born as early as 1775. It's also possible that a man of this age had a first family, with whom I would have a half-relationship, possibly shown by DNA. I also toyed with the idea that this John Smith is Mary's father-in-law. Another option to ponder. 

In 1860 Mary still appears to be living in Coffee Co., Township 6N, Range 19E, with Prescoats and Donaldsons as neighbors. Another possible clue as to her family origin occurs with this census. Next door to Mary's family is Miner J. Williams, age 42, born South Carolina, with wife Martha, age 40, and six children. On this census Mary's second oldest son is Jefferson, age 17; on the 1850 census he was listed as Miner J. For years I wondered if Miner could be Mary's brother and her son Miner's namesake. At that time I didn't even know what Mary's maiden name was; later I would find it listed on her son Andrew Jackson Smith's death certificate as Williams. I still have no proof that Miner was Mary's brother, just a message from another Ancestry user that stated that many Prescott, Donaldson, and Williams families migrated to Alabama from South Carolina at the same time.

1860 census of Coffee Co. AL
Mary Smith next door to Miner J. Williams

I can't find Mary on the 1870 census. One of my Alabama cousins who still lives in the area recently told me that he thinks a small area in the Dale/Coffee border area was missed in some census records, but he didn't say in what years. Another possibility is that she had married and is listed with her husband, but that seems unlikely. I don't find her again until the 1880 census in Pike County, living with Cynthia. (More about that later.)

The 1870 census of Pike County is the first one in which Cynthia uses the surname Linsy (spelled many different ways even in the same area--Linzy, Linsey, Lindsey, Lindsay), and later her children, Amanda and Willis, use it also. On the same pension document in which she gives her father's death date as 1845, she also claims to have been married to Jordan Lindsey. It seems unlikely that she was. 

Jordan Lindsey Sr. was born about 1806 in Georgia and appears on the censuses of 1830 and 1840 in Dale Co. and on the 1850 and 1860 in Coffee Co. with his wife Elizabeth. (Amanda was born in 1850 and Willis in 1853.) Elizabeth didn't die until 1860. Jordan died sometime during or immediately after the Civil War. One of his sons, also Jordan Lindsey, was born about 1840, too young to have been Cynthia's husband or the father of Amanda and Willis. Jordan Sr. claimed the late Jordan Jr.'s "arrears of pay" as a Private in the 18th Alabama, C.S.A., stating that he died "without leaving widow or child" that would be entitled to his pay. It seems likely that Cynthia, whether having had a relationship with Jordan Lindsey or not, claimed his name for her children after his death and after her move to Pike County.

On the 1870 Pike Co. census Cynthia, age 35, is head of household #263. She gives her name as Smithy Linsy, and her children's names as Amanda, age 15, and Willis, age 13. They all appear younger here than they should be, as the ages given on the 1860 census were 28, 7, and 6. I know no reason for the move from Coffee to Pike County, but this is where they will remain. Next door to Cynthia at household #264 is John T. Harrel/Harvill, age 63, with his wife Nancy (Duck), age 51, and children, including a widowed daughter and her children. Their daughter Jane, age 14, will eventually marry Willis Lindsey. At household #265 is Alford Harrel, probably son of John and Nancy. Remember my DNA match at the beginning of this post? These are probably his ancestors, but that doesn't explain our DNA match, since as far as we know, the families are only connected by the marriage of Willis and Jane, neither of whom are our direct line ancestors.

Cynthia Lindsey on 1870 Pike Co. census

I have concentrated on Cynthia's family up until this point because Mary always lived with them, as she will on the 1880, 1900, and 1910 censuses. However, of course, John and Mary Smith had other children, including my great-grandfather, Stephen Albert. In 1870 he was also living in Pike Co. with his wife, Frances, and a daughter, age 1, Sarah. I couldn't find him for the longest time because he is enumerated as Samuel A. Smith. I might not have found him at all, but he is living next door to his mother-in-law, Elizabeth, her husband, William W. Cotton, and the head of household, her son, William A. Mansel. 

The 1880 census Pike Co. census finds Mary back with Cynthia's family. Cinthia Lindsay, age 49, is listed as the head of household #513. And what a household it was--four generations worth. It included her son, Willis Lindsay, age 24; his wife Jane (Sarah Jane Harvill); and their children Lizzie, Thomas, and Malissia; her daughter, Mandy King, age 30; and her children, Cinthia, Jordan, and Willis; and her mother, Mary, age 70. Willis and Jane had married 22 December 1874. Mandy (Amanda) had married Melvin King in 1872. I'm not sure where he had disappeared to by 1880, but in 1891 Amanda will marry William J. Register, her next-door neighbor on the 1880 census at household #512. In 1882 Cynthia will marry James King, probable father of Melvin. Stephen Albert and his family have moved to Lauderdale County. Three of their children, Marry, Willice/Willis, and Martha, never appear on another census, and Sarah, who was age 1 on the 1870 census does not appear either.

Twenty years later and this family dynamic really hasn't changed that much. Cynthia's daughter Amanda has died and Cynthia is raising two of her children, and Willis and his wife have had a few more children. As a matter of fact, by this census Willis and Sarah Jane (enumerated as Sally J.) have been married 25 years. Sally reports that she has had 11 children and 11 are still alive. Almost all are listed with Willis and Sally at household #120: John Thomas, 22; Susy Malissia, 20; Francis, 18; Willis C., 14; William H., 12; Lilla G., 10; Hilary, 8; Archy, 5; Nancy A., 3; and David, 1. Their oldest, Elizabeth, had married George Grantham in 1891. 

Next door at household #121 Sinthy A. King (Cynthia), widow, age 68, is living with her mother Mary, age 90, and two granddaughters, Addie King, age 26; and Mandy L. Register, age 7. Mary reports, as I mentioned above, that she has given birth to 7 children and 2 are still alive. This is interesting as she has 3 living children at this point: Cynthia, Stephen Albert, and Alexander Jackson, who is living in Jefferson County, AL, with his wife, Mary C. (Breggs), and children, Willis, Albert F., Noah W., Mary, and George C. I wonder which one of her children Mary has lost track of. AND WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THE NAME WILLIS? At this point I have counted 5 of them in the families of three of the original Smith siblings: Cynthia, Alexander, and Stephen. *Stay tuned for a future post about Willis Smith, above, son of Alexander and Mary. 

The 1900 census shows that Willis P. Lindsey owns his own farm. HistoryGeo shows him as first landowner in Section 22, Township 11N, Range 20E which he purchased in 1888. In 1901 HistoryGeo lists Cynthia A. King as the purchaser of a parcel in Section 15, Township 11N, Range 20E, and patentees as Amanda Register, Willis P. King, Cynthia A. King, and William J. King. (Remember Willis and William J. (Jordan) King from way back in the 1880 census? They are sons of Cynthia's daughter, Amanda, who married Melvin King.) Cynthia and Willis's neighbors are George Grantham, Jackson W. Register, father of Amanda Lindsey's second husband, William; and William R. Catrett, father of William M. Cartrette, Amanda Register's first husband. People really did marry their neighbors back in those days. 

Land ownership of Lindseys, Kings, and Register
11N Township, 20E Range, Pike Co. AL

Household #87 on the 1910 Pike Co. census, District #0169, Orion P.O., is still multi-generational. Will P. Lindsay is head of household at age 56, with his wife Sarah J., age 54, and children Susie (Susan Malissia), age 30; William H. (Haynes), age 22; Lenna (Lilla), age 19; Hillory, age 17; Arch, age 15; Nancy A. (Addie), age 13; and David, age 10. Puss (Emily Pearl), age 9, and Mary J., age 1, are apparently Susie's children, as becomes evident on the 1920 census. Also included in Will's household are his mother, Smth King, age 81, and his mother-in-law, Nancy (Duck) Harwill, age 92. At household #89 are his daughter, Lizzie (Elizabeth) Grantham, her husband George, their seven children, and hired man, Grady Register. And at household #90--I almost missed them--is Amanda (Register), age 17; her husband, William Cartrette, whom she had married in 1908; Amanda's half-sister, Cynthia King; and Cynthia's daughter, Bertha King, age 5.

In 1910 Stephen Albert, whose wife had died in 1905, is heading his own multi-generational family--children and grandchildren--while running a boarding house in Collinsville, Oklahoma. Alexander Jackson, his wife, a daughter and a niece, are living in Jefferson County, Alabama.

By the 1920 census Willis Lindsay has passed away. A couple of census records in Pike Co. in 1920 show where some of his family members have gone. His son, David Lindsay, just 20, is head of household #66 in Little Oak. Living with him are his mother, Sarah J., age 63; his sister, Susie M., age 38; and Susie's three children, Pearl, Mary J., and J.P. I have not found any marriage records to indicate who the father of Susie's children are, and they go by the surname Lindsay. Next door to them at household #67 is David's sister, Addie, her husband, Charlie Watts, their three children, and Charlie's brother. Also in Pike Co. in 1920 is Cynthia (King), who married Andrew Shaderick Walker in 1914. In their household are their three children, Emie (Emily), Shade, and Willis/Willie, and grandmother Cynthia King, age 92.

I promised you a century of Smiths in Alabama, so we have a couple of censuses yet to go. By 1930 the only one of the original children of John and Mary Smith that is still living is my great-grandfather, Stephen Albert Smith. His sister Cynthia had died in 1922, and his brother Alexander Jackson in 1924. Stephen will live until 1938 and die at age 92 in Oklahoma. 

But there are definitely still Smiths in Alabama, just farther down the line. In the 30's and 40's I found many of Willis Lindsey's children still living in Pike County. Susie, at age 60, is living with her daughter Pearl (Kelly) in 1940. Lenna, who married the hired man, Henry Grady Register, is on the 1940 census. Hillary and wife Katie (Mitchell) are living in Pike in 1930. David, who married Faxie Lee McLeod in 1926, is in Pike on the 1940 census with daughter Mary, son Willis, and twins Herman and Fermon. Addie, her husband, and three children are living in Montgomery. Cynthia King Walker, age 68, is living with her daughter Emmie and husband W.T. Watkins in Pike Co. in 1940. Amanda Register Catrett remarried to I.C. Killingsworth in 1944. I can't find her on the 1930 or 1940 censuses under any of her names, but she lives until 1973. She is buried under the name Amanda Killingsworth in Phenix City, Russell County, Alabama. Alexander Jackson Smith's sons, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Franklin, and Noah Washington, are living in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 1930 and 1940. 

Mary E. Smith, the mother of this expanding brood, died in 1901 and is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery 12 miles north and west of Troy, Alabama. I've been there. What I wish I had known at the time was that I was only a couple of section lines away from Willis Lindsay's land. I also didn't realize that so many people related to the Smiths are buried in that cemetery. 

Willis Lindsey's land in relation to Mount Moriah Cemetery

Mary E. Smith's headstone, Mount M

Mary E. Smith  1 Mar 1810 -- 17 Sep 1901
Cynthia A. King  Nov 1830 -- Sep 1922
W. P. Lindsey (Willis)  Oct. 8 1953 -- Aug. 2 1911
Sarah Jane Harvill Wife of W.P. Lindsey  Feb. 1855 -- Mar. 5 1930
Cynthia King Walker  Dec. 31 1875 -- Dec. 15 1966 (and dau. Bertha, buried as Walker)
Andrew S. Walker  Mar. 16 1886 -- Aug. 28 1939
Mary W. "Emmie" Walker Watkins (and husband Wiley T.) 9 Apr 1911 -- 15 Jul 2005 
Susie M. Lindsey Grandmother of Daphne Kelly Randall (no dates) 
Pearl Kelly (w/husband Will)  29 July 1900 -- 24 May 1989
Lenna Lindsey Register (and husband Henry Grady Register)  1890-1977
Hilary Lindsey (and wife Katie)  14 Jun 1892 -- 16 Oct 1970
Addie Watts 1896 -- 1945
Dave Lindsey (and wife Faxie Lee)  24 May 1899 -- 18 Mar 1971

Plus Catretts (William M.'s mother and father), many Linzeys (any relation?) and Registers (including Jackson W. and William J.)


Probably everybody's tree is this complicated, but I have my doubts. 

Birthdays

In about a week I will celebrate my 60th birthday.  It puts me in mind of birthdays, my own and others', that I have celebrated in 60 years of living.

I was almost my mother's birthday present.  Her birthday was October 10, and my birth came four days later on the 14th.  My dad, followed by his parents, got my mother to the hospital at 7:00 p.m.  He checked her in, went downstairs to tell my grandparents, walked back up to the maternity ward, and the nurses introduced me to him.  It was 7:30.  In my baby book my mother wrote, "Close shave!"

Birthday parties in elementary school were always a big deal and required dressing up, hanging crepe paper, playing games, opening presents, and eating cake.  In later elementary and junior high school the party sometimes took place at the Glider Roller Rink.  One of my friends had a birthday near mine and always included me in the special birthday skate and the extra-large Hershey bar that the Glider gave as a present.  My best friend threw me a surprise party for my 16th birthday that included lots of record playing and Limbo dancing.

My birthday party, age 11, 1964

Surprise party, age 16, 1969

Ten years ago (wow, has it been that long?) I had two wonderful birthday parties for my 50th birthday.  One I gave to myself.  I thought I might as well celebrate instead of mourn.  At the time I was an enthusiastic country dancer, so I threw my party at the Caravan Cattle Company and bought my own "boot-scootin'"-themed cake.  Then one of my best friends took me out to eat at the Olive Garden, where she had assembled all my family and friends for a surprise party.  I was really surprised.

My grandmother was really surprised on January 8, 1928, when she gave birth to twin boys. Through the chloroform haze, she was extremely irritated to hear the nurse say, "Are we going to need a basket?" like my dad and his brother were the first two in a litter of puppies. The boys were written up in the Tulsa World as the first twins born in Tulsa in 1928. 

My dad always liked the idea that he shared a birthday with Elvis, who was born on January 8, 1935, and was also a twin. Daddy would be thrilled to know that our Smith family may have a connection with Elvis's family through the Mansells. My great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Simmons was married to John Mansell. They lived in Pike County, AL, and my Mansell cousins theorize that our Mansells may have visited Elvis's ancestors in Marion County, AL, when they moved to Lauderdale County, AL, in the 1870s. 

I think there might be a little resemblance--at least in the hair.




























My grandmother's twin brothers, Warner and Wardy Castle, were also born in January in 1900. It was always easy to remember how old they were because they were the same age as the year.

I was pretty surprised myself to give birth to my son on February 29, 1976, since his due date was March 10.  He has taken in stride the fact that he only has a birthday every 4 years.  My middle school students have always been fascinated by the idea that there are some people who don't have a "real" birthday every year.

If my son had been born in a non-Leap year, he would have been born on my grandmother's birthday.  Fannie Castle was born on March 1, 1897, in Morgan County, Kentucky.  In 1946 she applied for a "Special Certificate of Birth" from the Commonwealth of Kentucky since birth certificates were not issued in Kentucky until 1911.  The certificate contains a wealth of information, including names and birth information for her parents, and the verifying signature of J.D. Haney, father of Geneva Haney, a lifelong friend of the Castles whose family also moved from Morgan Co. to Oklahoma.  In 1987 on my grandmother's 90th birthday, we threw a surprise party for her at a restaurant in Tulsa.  All the Castle relatives were there, and she was really surprised.

After my son's birthday in February and his wife's birthday in March, there isn't much to celebrate until July, when my niece celebrates her birthday.  When she was adopted, we were delighted to discover that her birth took place on the same date as our mother and dad's wedding.

August brings to mind my Aunt Georgia Castle's birthday on August 4th. One of my best memories of childhood (and of our house at 2717 W. 42nd St.) was the time my grandmother sent me to Crystal City Shopping Center--a very short walk across the railroad tracks from our house--to buy lunch ingredients at Safeway and a cake at Marilou's Bakery for Aunt Georgia's birthday.  I was also tasked with buying Aunt Georgia's present--which turned out to be a big plaster squirrel for her patio.  We moved from 42nd St. the summer before I turned 10, so I couldn't have been more than 9 when my grandmother trusted me with this birthday expedition.

The last quarter of the year brings several family birthdays: mine in October and my brother's in November.  My other Castle aunt, Aunt Jessie, had a November birthday which was usually so close to Thanksgiving that we always celebrated it then.  I was practically grown before I realized that the date of Thanksgiving didn't always fall on Aunt Jessie's birthday!  My Grandpa Smith's birthday was in December, as is my cousin Debbie's.  My Aunt Marie, my mother's sister, and my sister-in-law Tracy shared the same birthday, December 26.

So...happy birthday to all.  Celebrate your special day.  Dress up, do the Limbo, eat some cake, enjoy the surprises that life brings!

Smith Questions

So, where do I go from here?  What are the questions I want to answer about the Smiths?

Who were John A.’s parents?  No idea.  I need a copy of John A.’s will—it exists, but I haven’t seen it.  Not that it lists his parents, but it might give me some clues.  I don’t even know what part of Virginia he came from.  My brother supplied a sample of yDNA but no connections with Smiths yet.

Was Mary E. a Williams, and if so, who were her parents?  On the death certificate of her son, Alexander Jackson Smith, his mother was listed as Mary E. Williams and his father as John Smith.  Was she related to Minor?  It appears not—another researcher I have corresponded with has seen the family Bible of Minor Williams’s family—no Mary listed among siblings.

What happened to Sarah, Martha and Willis?  Probably died young but don’t know for sure. 

Who is the father of Moses?  John A. Smith was alive and bought land in Pike Co., AL, in Sept. 1849 but he died before Nov. 1850 when Mary E. was listed as head of household on the census.  Mary could have been pregnant with Moses when John died.  Interesting note:  It appears that Alexander Jackson Smith and Moses Calvin Smith married sisters, Mary Ann Charlotte Briggs (or Breggs) and Nancy Ann Mathilda Briggs. 

Why does the name Willis carry down through the family?  Any significance to the fact that Cynthia’s son is a Willis, her daughter Amanda named a son Willis, and Stephen and Fannie had a son named Willis?  Jackson is another name that repeats from Alexander Jackson Smith, Stephen’s brother, to John Jackson, Stephen’s son.  Do the names Willis and Jackson go back even further? 

Was Cynthia “married” to Jordan Lindsey?  My guess is that Cynthia had children by a Lindsey, perhaps Jordan.  She didn’t feel free to name her children Lindsey when Jordan’s wife was still alive but by 1870 both Jordan and his wife Elizabeth were dead, and Cynthia could freely use the surname Lindsey.  With all respect to Cynthia, going by the name Smithy makes her sound like a madam.  

Who was the father of Elizabeth Simmons?  According to family trees on ancestry.com, Luke Russell Simmons’ wife’s name was Priscilla.  Was she Priscilla Soles?  Some have listed Priscilla Hargette as his wife but haven’t seemed to notice that Priscilla Hargette died in 1811 before many of the Simmons children were born. 

Why the migration from North Carolina to Alabama?  My cousins in Alabama have written a book about the descendants of Elisha Mansell, Sr. called Pages from the Past.  In the book they relate two theories about the emigration of the Mansells from North Carolina to Alabama. 1) They had made their living from the tar and turpentine derived from pine trees that had become less plentiful in North Carolina. Or, 2) Indians were being rounded up for the Trail of Tears and as several Mansell men had married Indian wives, they decided to remove themselves to Alabama.  The Smiths moved to Pike Co. from Coffee Co. sometime between 1865 and 1868 when Stephen and Frances marry in Pike Co.  I don’t know why.  The Smiths followed the Mansells to Lauderdale Co. in the 1870s.

How are our Mansells related to the Mansells in Marion Co., AL (Elvis’s family)?  Why did the family sometimes use the name Mansfield?  My cousins have a theory that our Mansells stopped off to see the Mansells in Marion County on their way to Lauderdale County in the 1870s but didn’t feel welcome as the Mansells in Marion County had been Union sympathizers.  No one knows if Mansfield was an alias or just an alternative spelling.

Did Elizabeth Simmons come to Oklahoma and then return to Lauderdale County with Joanne Mansel Webb’s family to be buried at Mt. Olive, Waterloo?  Where is she buried?  Family tradition says 1) under the cedar tree, 2) under an unmarked pile of rocks, 3) where Margaret & William Mansell’s headstones were incorrectly laid, or 4) did she really die in Oklahoma?

Who is the father of Frances?  William Cotton or someone else?  How will we ever know?  Could she be Elizabeth’s granddaughter, child of one of her sons?  If so, why did she ever use the name Cotton?

How did Frances die?  In a Rogers County, Oklahoma, county history book, one of the Smith grandchildren stated that she fell into a well and drowned.  That was never a story I heard growing up.  If I remember anything, it is that Fannie died of “female trouble.”

Where were the Smiths in 1900?  Hiding in a cave??  According to family tradition, Stephen’s Civil War pension record, and applications for tribal membership, the family came to Indian Territory about 1893-1894. The youngest child, Weaver, was said to have been born in Catoosa, Indian Territory, in 1895.  The family is living in Collinsville in 1910.

Is there any truth to the story of Cherokee heritage in our family?  Probably moot, as it is apparent we can’t connect to anyone on the rolls. Will we ever know?  My DNA shows up 98% European.  Maybe the 2% Uncertain is native American!!

As these questions are answered, more will have to be asked.  It’s a never ending quest.

Sweet Home Alabama

In the summer of 2011 I convinced one of my best friends to travel to Alabama with me to look at cemeteries, libraries, and court houses.  I had to sweeten the pot by promising to see some non-genealogical attractions, so we 1) ate dinner to live music and shopped the courthouse square in Oxford, Mississippi, 2) made a pilgrimage to William Faulkner’s house, 3) visited Helen Keller’s home in Tuscumbia, 4) saw a restored Frank Lloyd Wright house in Florence, 5) had a couple of quintessential Southern lunches, and 6) shopped for shoes.

Rosenbaum Home in Florence

William Faulkner's house in Oxford, MS

Helen Keller's house in Tuscumbia

Schoolhouse at Old Alabama Town

We met two of my Mansell cousins in Florence, and they took us to the cemetery at Waterloo where Elizabeth Simmons might be buried in an unmarked grave.  We visited Pope’s Tavern, an inn where Andrew Jackson stayed on his way to the Battle of New Orleans, and the Rosenbaum Home, a beautiful restored home-turned-museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  Jean and Laura were the epitome of Southern hospitality. On our way out of town the next morning we finally found—after thoroughly searching the wrong cemetery—the grave of Ella Smith Beckham, the only one of Stephen’s children to stay in Alabama.

Laura, me, and Jean at
Pope's Tavern

In Montgomery we spent the morning at Old Alabama Town, an authentic 19^th century village, and ate the best Southern lunch at a nearby restaurant—baked chicken, fried green tomatoes, and yummy coconut cream pie.

On that trip I also had one of the most perfect days I’ve ever had, genealogical or otherwise. 

After eating breakfast at our hotel in Montgomery, we drove to Troy in Pike County and Elba in Coffee County, two of the towns in which my Smith relatives lived.  Outside of Troy I found the graves of my great-great-grandmother Mary E. Smith and my great-grandfather’s sister Cynthia. 

Mt. Moriah Baptist Church Cemetery outside
Troy, AL

At the wonderful Troy Public Library, the librarian in charge of the genealogy section was so helpful, and in two hours I found a purchase of land by John A. Smith in 1849; Mary E. Smith and Cynthia Smith on the 1855 Alabama state census; and three marriage licenses:  of Amanda Lindsey to Melvin King, of Cynthia Lindsey to James King (Melvin’s father), and of Amanda Lindsey King to W.J. Register.  (I had begun to think that the marriages of all the Smith girls were figments of their imaginations!) 

After a morning in the library we ate wonderful chicken salad at the Byrd Drug Store on the courthouse square.  From there we drove to Elba and then on the highway on our way back to Montgomery we found a shoe mall!  A steak dinner and a swim in the hotel pool put an end to my perfect day in Alabama.

The Smiths in Alabama II

Eventually, I traced Stephen Albert Smith back to Coffee County, Alabama, and found the names of his mother and siblings.  On the 22^nd day of August in 1860, the Smith family was enumerated in Coffee County in the town of Elba.

            Mary E. Smith                        age 48             born SC

            Sintha A. Smith                      age 28             born AL

            Jackson Smith                        age 19             born AL

            Jefferson Smith                      age 17             born AL

            Stephen A. Smith                   age 14             born AL

            Moses C. Smith                      age 9                born AL

            Amanda L. Smith                   age 7                born AL

            Wallis P. Smith                       age 6                born AL

Miner J. Williams, age 42, and his wife Martha lived next door.

At that time, I had no idea what Mary E.’s maiden name was, but I noticed that her next-door neighbor was also born in South Carolina and was about the right age to be her brother.  As became apparent on the 1850 census, her son Jefferson’s name was actually Minor Jefferson.  These clues made me consider that Mary’s maiden name might be Williams. 

Mary E. was also the head of the household in 1850.  The family was enumerated in Coffee Co. on the 19^th of November and included:

            Mary E. Smith                        age 37             born S.C.

            Synthia A. Smith                    age 18             born AL

            John                                        age 16             born AL

            Jackson A.                               age 9               born AL         

            Minor J.                                   age 7               born AL

            Stephen A.                              age 4               born AL

Next door is James King and his family.

By 1880 Stephen Albert had left Mary E.’s home to start his own family, but I found his sister Cynthia as the head of household on the 1880 census in Pike County and some of the family relationships on the 1860 census became clearer.

            Cinthia Lindsay                      age 49             Head of household

            Willis Lindsay                        age 24             Son

            Mandy King                            age 30             Daughter

            Cinthia King                           age 6               Granddaughter

            Jordan King                            age 4               Grandson

            Willis King                              age 4               Grandson

            Jane Lindsay                          age 23             Daughter-in-law

            Lizzie Lindsay                        age 4               Granddaughter

            Thomas Lindsay                    age 2               Grandson

            Malissia                                  age 2 m           Granddaughter

            Mary                                       age 70             Mother

Apparently, Mandy (Amanda) and Willis (Wallis) from the 1860 census were not Mary’s children, but children of her daughter Cynthia.  The household also included Willis’s wife Jane and their 3 children, and Mandy and her 3 children. 

The 1880 census is the first time we see the Lindsay surname for Cynthia and at least one of her children, Willis.  (Amanda used it later—see below.)  Cynthia did not use the Lindsay name for herself or her children on the 1860 census but did on the 1880.  Some have put forth the name of Jordan Lindsay as father for Cynthia’s two children.  Jordan Lindsay is listed on the 1850 and 1860 census with wife Elizabeth Rials.  One of his daughters, born in 1849, was named Cynthia. Circumstantial, but if something was going on between Cynthia Smith and Jordan Lindsay, the timing for the birth of Cynthia’s children is right.  Elizabeth Lindsay died of bilious fever in 1860.  Jordan enlisted in Company A, 18^th Alabama Infantry, in the Civil War.  A muster roll posted in the USGenweb Archives shows his death date as 8 May 1862.

Two years ago in the wonderful genealogy section of the Troy Public Library, I found marriage licenses for Amanda Lindsay to Melvin King and for Cynthia to James King at age 52.  I have never been able to find a marriage license for Cynthia and anyone named Lindsay. 

Mary was still alive, age 90, living with Cynthia on the 1900 census in Pike County.  On that census Cynthia is referred to as “Smithy” King.  On the 1910 census Cynthia was living with her son Willis.  At age 92, on the 1920 census, she was living with Cynthia King who is married to Andrew Walker.

Both Mary and Cynthia are buried at Mt. Moriah Cemetery outside Troy, Alabama.  

The Smiths in Alabama I

I started looking for the Smiths back in the Soundex, microfilm, pre-computer database days.  Knowing that my Smiths came from Waterloo, Lauderdale County, Alabama, that’s where I started.  But of course, I couldn’t start with the 1890 census, just before Stephen Albert’s family came to Oklahoma.  I finally found a family that I thought was his on the 1880 census in Lauderdale County—even though some of the names seemed unfamiliar.

            E.D. 140   Lauderdale County, AL   June 10, 1880

                        Steve Smith                age 34             born AL         

                        Francis Smith             age 30             born AL

                        Marry                          age 8               born AL

                        Eller                            age 7               born AL

                        Willice                         age 4               born FL

                        Martha                        age 2               born AL

Stephen Albert was “Steve”; Fannie was “Francis”.  Marry could be Molly, as that is often a nickname for Mary.  I’m always amused when the census taker spells what he hears, because obviously “Eller” is Ella, spoken in a Southern country accent.  Who the heck were Willice and Martha?  And did that really say that Willice was born in Florida, a locale not ever associated with my Smiths?

Next door are Lizzie Cotton and her son William Mansil.  I suspected Lizzie could be Fannie’s mother because she was the right age (69), and my grandmother had told me that Fannie’s maiden name was Cotton.  I had no idea who William Mansil was, although the census said that he was Lizzie’s son.

That was it.  I couldn’t find anything else.  Back in those days, you really needed to know a county name to find anything on microfilm, and Stephen and Fannie were just not in Lauderdale County in 1870.  That was the only place in Alabama that I knew that they ever lived.  My grandfather and grandmother had died; there was no-one to ask.  I found an old book of phone numbers that belonged to my grandmother and called a Smith cousin, daughter of Barbara, who told me that before Waterloo, the Smiths were from Pike County, around Montgomery.

Now I had somewhere to look.  No wonder I hadn’t been able to find Stephen in the 1870 Alabama census index.  Here’s what I found.

            Pike County, AL         Post Office: Orion      August 15, 1870

                        Samuel A. Smith         age 25

                        Frances Smith            age 22

                        Sarah                          age 1

Living next door are William A. Mansel, William W. Cotton and Elizabeth Cotton.  This helped determine that Samuel really was Stephen.  Just a couple of years ago I was finally able to find Stephen and Fannie’s marriage license.  They were married the 9^th day of January, 1868.  Previously, their daughter Mary (Molly) had seemed to be the oldest child, but she was not born until 1872.  Apparently, they had had a child in 1869, Sarah, who did not survive to be enumerated on the 1880 census.

I had connected Fannie with her mother, if not her father, but I still had questions about her, and I knew nothing about Stephen Albert’s parents or siblings.