Jacob Smith: Setting the Record Straight

Old Fennimore: Sixty years after the Jacob Smith Family Arrived

This is my response to Ancestry Family Trees that have Jacob Smith dying in May of 1858 in
Fennimore, Grant County, Wisconsin. It is my belief that this is wrong.

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Jacob Smith is my 3GG. It is believed he was born in 1798 in New Jersey or New York (no confirming documents have been discovered) and also that his father was James Smith (reportedly of New Jersey), who later moved to Ohio. There are available records of the existence of both James and Jacob in Ohio. 

Jacob married Mary Catherine "Cathie" Randolph at an unknown location and date. In 1820, Jacob was living in Richland, Belmont, Ohio and in 1840 he was in Smithfield, Jefferson, Ohio. Birth records of his children also detail that the Smith's lived in Guernsey, Ohio (1822) and Harrison County (1826 until at least 1831) before ending up in Jefferson County.

In 1846, Jacob's oldest son James and his wife had their third child, John Richard, in Grant County, Wisconsin; their previous child, Alexander, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio in 1845. So, we can presume, since they all went together, that they arrived in Wisconsin in late 1845 or early 1846. Jacob and children are all reflected in the 1850 census in Grant County.

Oddly enough, there was a second Jacob Smith living in the Fennimore area at the same time my Jacob Smith lived there. It is his death date that is attributed in error to our Jacob Smith. 

This was easily disproved through two documents: The obituary of the "other" Jacob Smith and the probate documents of the same "other" Jacob Smith.

First, the obituary: 

"Mr. SMITH was born in Wayne county, Penn., March 19, 1829, son of Jacob and Sophia (WHEELER) SMITH. His father was born east of the Green Mountains, in Vermont, in 1802, and his grandfather was a clergyman of the Methodist Church, and lived in New England al his life. Jacob SMITH was the youngest son in a family of twelve children, six sons and six daughters, all of whom were given Bible names, as was the fashion of the times. The sons were called Simeon, Reuben, Daniel, Abram, Isaac and Jacob. The names of the daughters cannot now be obtained, as that generation has passed from earth. In 1824 Jacob SMITH married Sophia WHEELER, who was born in Massachusetts, her birth occurring the same year as her husband's. She as a daughter of Simeon and Polly (NOBLE) WHEELER. Her mother was a daughter of Capt. Charles NOBLE, a Revolutionary soldier, who died before the close of the Revolution, from disease contracted in the service. Melford Pratt SMITH therefore is a great-grandson of a Revolutionary soldier. The NOBLE family was long prominent in Massachusetts. Four brothers came from England in early Colonial times, and from them are descended the greater part of the NOBLES in the United States.

In 1826 Jacob SMITH, with his wife and only child, removed to Wayne county, Penn., and in 1853 the parents, with their family, then consisting of six children, came to Grant county, Wis., and settled on a farm in the town of Fennimore. Within six years after their arrival five of the family had passed away. The parents and three of their children, Algernon and Celestial and Cecilia (twins), had succumbed to sickness, and gone on "to join the great majority," The children reached maturity before they died. The mother's death occurred in 1857, and the father's the following year. There are now living of this family, Esther (the wife of O.N. SMITH, of Eau Claire, Wis.), Melford P., and Alfica (of Iowa)."

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Last Will & Testament of the "Other" Jacob Smith

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In the end, we are put in a place that the best we can narrow down my Jacob Smith's death date to between the census of 1850 to the census of 1860, where in 1860 his wife is found living with his mentally disabled son and spinster daughter in the home of their son William Custer Smith in Fremont Township, Butler County, Iowa. 

We may never know what exactly became of Jacob, but there is a high likelihood he did not ever come to Iowa with several other members of the family, but died in Grant County.

 

The Other John R Smith

JACOB SMITH > JOHN R SMITH  m Sarah Randolph

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Is Elnora here too?

Not to be confused with his nephew, John Richard Smith, John R Smith had six known children during his marriage to Sarah Randolph, whom he married 23 May 1854 in Hazel Green, Grant County, Wisconsin. John was born 30 Aug 1826 in Harrison County, Ohio. He came with his family to the Eastern District of Grant County in 1846. This family continues to elude me in getting a sense of who they are. Very little information is available and I would love to meet someone from their family.

John and Sarah stayed in the Grant County area for their lives. In 1880, they also cared for John's mentally challenged brother, Isaac, who had previously and would later again, live with brother William Custer Smith, my 2nd great grandfather.

Elnora Smith was born in Aug 1856 in Grant County. On 06 Mar 1889, she married Charles Simons, a farmer, in Grant County. Charles died on 27 Feb 1912 and was buried in Prairie Cemetery in Fennimore.   She survived until at least 1920, when she and her brother Mark were residing together

Poland-China Sow

on Prairie St in Fennimore. I did not find a stone for her at Prairie Cemetery when I visited, but there was a family stone with no individual names engraved. Charles had a separate stone. They had no children.

Their daughter Elsina was born 28 May 1859 in Fennimore, Grant County. She married Lawrence Zifka, a Polish immigrant, on 01 Feb 1881. They had five children. Zifka raised American Poland-China hogs. The family farmed east of Fennimore and moved into town during their retirement. Elsina appears to be the only one of John and Sarah's children to have children. The Zifka's great-great granddaughter is Olympic judo bronze medal winner and former MMA Bantamweight champ, Rhonda Rousey.

Emma Nancy Smith was born about 1861 in Grant County. She was mentioned in the 1870 and 1880 census, but I cannot locate any further information on her. Have some?  Get in touch.

Mark Smith was born in 1867 in Grant County. He farmed in Burke, Wisconsin and died 10 Nov 1940. His sister Elnora lived with him at the time of the 1920 census.

George McLimans is 3rd from left, 2nd row

Tirza "Tersey" Smith was born 07 Jul 1871 in Preston, Grant County. She married George Oscar McLimans on 14 Mar 1906 in Grant County. George was the son of John McLimans and Sophronia McGhan. John owned a farm just north of the railway tracks on the east side of Preston. In January 1948, Tersey & George had two house fires, the second badly damaging their home in Fennimore.   They also had no children. Tirza died 09 Mar 1951. George was a rural mail carrier and worked out of the Fennimore post office for more than 30 years before he retired. He died 15 Jan 1957.

Sarah "Sadie" Smith was also a life-long single. She was born about 1875 and died after 1940.  In 1940, she was living with the McLimans. Little else is known.

Grant County, Wisconsin

Up at the butt-crack of dawn, I was on the road by 7 am. Overcast and chilly, I had to slip on the utility sports pants over my shorts to stay warm. Glad I decided at the last minute to throw in the rainish jacket.

Train Museum, Fennimore

Fennimore, Wisconsin is a neat little town. Population about 2,500, it sports two good breakfast places and a gas station I lucked into. Inside were three old guys, standing around, chuckling, enjoying their gas station coffee. They meet there every week. I asked the clerk if Prairie Cemetery was to the left as I went out and the guys jumped in to give directions. By the end of the conversation I had a fully illustrated map of all the township cemeteries. It was mostly not productive as the key Smith's I was hunting for seem to be elsewhere. I wonder if they had their own burial ground on their property. But, I did find several of the families that married into the Smith's and that was great.

The train pictured is called a "Dinky," which is a 3 gauge line train which operated from 1878 to 1926. Trains ran daily between Fennimore and Woodman by way of Werley, Anderson Mills and Conley Cut, through 16 miles of Green River Valley and serving as a key link to other railroads. According to the information at the museum, narrow gauge tracks once were scattered across the country, as railroad builders looked for economy in construction and equipment costs to serve remote areas. As I had no cell reception for almost 24 hours while up there, I'd say it's still pretty remote.

Unique Cafe, downtown Boscobel

After several hours tromping around those cemeteries, I grabbed a bite and hit the road for Boscobel. I have no guide map or information on where the relatives were buried in Boscobel City Cemetery, but I thought I'd wing it. Nope. Bad idea. This is a huge cemetery built into the side of a large hill with no apparent rhyme nor reason era-wise as to how burials went. I was overwhelmed by it all after driving up and down the steep roads lined with thousands of graves and just drove into town to look around before heading back to Iowa. I need to locate the Sexton for the cemetery and see if they have any kind of map or resources that are not available on the 'net and make a day of it all by itself.

The Unique Cafe is the highlight of downtown. It's been in business since the 1930s in a building built in the 1860s which previously housed a hardware store.  Most of the downtown buildings are constructed of this cool stone.

And then there was this guy's garage I found as I headed out of town. Definitely a conversation piece.

By the end of my time there I was ready to head out, but thought I'd try one more cemetery in Iowa to help out my mom on the way home. I got there only to find that it was too hot, my feet were killing me and I needed a nap. I headed home and did just that. I need more vacation time - I think I'll tell the boss!