The Edwin Smith Family

JACOB SMITH > WILLLIAM CUSTER SMITH > EDWIN SMITH (my great grandfather)

Remember that terrible personal interview I went to a couple of months ago? Well, out of that came getting this photo. Although it's a paper copy, it's still far better than nothing. I've now seen them all.

The Edwin Smith Family, very late 1920s, early 1930s.
Madge, Kate Smull Smith, Bernice, Howard (rear), Nila, Evelyn, Harold (rear), Claude, Vivien, Mary, Verlie, Grace, and Edwin Smith

My uncle Harold Ripley, oldest son of Verlie, had never seen this photo. I've never seen Kate so young and never seen Edwin or Mary before this. I also had no idea Harold Smith was so short!

The youngest three are the ones I knew best - Evelyn, Vivian, and Verlie (my grandma). Bernice is pronounced "Berniss" and I get corrected by my uncle every time I forget and call her "Berneece." Mary's story is told here.

Edwin had done a lot of different work, but farming was never for him. Among other things, he was a day laborer, teamster, and carpenter for the railroad.

Edwin died at age 69 of a massive heart attack while working outside, according to Uncle Harold. He died 10 Jan 1939 in Plainfield, Bremer County, Iowa. His wife Kate, who reportedly put herself in a nursing home after an unsuccessful stay with her daughter Verlie, died at the Waverly Convalescent Center on 04 Mar 1956, due to complications from a stroke. She was 82.