William Custer Smith Family: Eva Elvira Smith

JACOB SMITH > WILLIAM CUSTER SMITH  m Mary Ann Munson > EVA ELVIRA SMITH

L. Scott Baker & Ethel Bryce Wedding

Eva Elvira Smith was the final child born to William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson while they lived in Wisconsin. She was born in Grant County, Wisconsin on 05 Apr 1864 and in the fall of 1865, moved with her parents and sibling to a farm near Plainfield, Bremer County at the edge of Butler County.

On 21 Aug 1881, she married Arthur Marion Bryce, a divorced man with one daughter. Arthur and Eva would have two children, Ethel Marion, born in 1882 and John W. born 24 Feb 1884. Arthur died on 11 Jan 1886.

In 1897, Eva sold her interest in the Smith family farm, previously repurchased from Willliam Custer Smith's second wife and widow, Alice, to her siblings for $2,000. She sold her share back to the siblings for $600.

In 1906, Eva moved to Illinois where her daughter Ethel and son-in-law Lafayette "Scott" Baker were residing. The Baker's relocated to Waterloo in 1910.

Ethel had met Scott while working in the Plainfield school. Scott was the principal and Ethel was his assistant and teacher. Scott was referred to as "Professor Baker." Baker was a native of Island, Nemaha, Nebraska born 16 Apr 1880 to Mr & Mrs Jesse Baker. His family then moved to Fremont County, Iowa. The young couple was married by Ethel's uncle, Rev. Parker Smith, a Baptist minister, on 13 Jan 1906 at Eva's home in Plainfield. They had their only child, Jesse Bryce Baker, in Illinois, on 12 Jan 1907.

Jesse, Ethel, and Scott Baker

Eva's son John also lived in Waterloo in 1910 with the Baker's and plied his trade as a barber. He eventually moved to Fort Dodge and in 1914 was living in the Hotel Logan there and still barbering. He remained there and married Miss Addie Latham on 17 Dec 1921 in Waterloo.He would remain in Fort Dodge for his life and die on 24 Sep 1931.

The Baker's remained in Waterloo until about 1922, when they moved to  Lincoln, Nebraska and then Denver, Colorado. It was in Lincoln that Eva died on 05 June 1924, the first of the Smith siblings to reach maturity to die (young John died at a age 2 in 1881).  Just two weeks after Eva's funeral, which sister Ella Mae Cunningham attended, Ella Mae would die in Moberly, Missouri (read here and here).

While in Denver, Scott died in April of 1944. He was buried at the Fairmont Cemetery in Denver. Ethel moved to California, where son Jesse was living. She eventually married Mr. Al Kramer (of which little is known).

Son Jesse married first Leona Vanderpool in about 1927 or 1928 while living in Denver. They had one daughter born about 1928. They divorced.

Jesse & Inez

He then married Inez Pearl Garrison who had divorced George Howard Wilcox and had two sons, William and George, Jr., at the time of the marriage. Jesse and Inez would go on to have four more children. Jesse in 1930 was an engineer for a radio corporation and in 1940 was a traveling salesman for a mercantile company. Jesse died in Los Angeles County 21 Sep 1971.

Ethel, Jesse's mother, survived him, living until 19 Apr 1977, where she died in Sunland, Los Angeles County, California.

Inez moved in the early 1970s to Bellingham, Washington. She married Arie H. Sluys, her third husband, on 08 Jul 1977 in Whatcom County, Washington. Arie died 25 Oct 1988 and Inez died 12 Mar 1999.