Clan William: Mary Ann Munson and William Custer Smith, Part 1

Photo by Mark Miller and can be
purchased through Fine Art America

As I have researched over the past many years, my posts focus on a piece or part of a story as I find it. I wanted to put to pen, or rather, to blog, the thus far semi-complete story of my 2nd great grandparents, pioneers William Custer Smith and his wife, Mary Ann Munson, daughter of Amos Munson of Clan William.

Mary Ann Munson was born to Amos Munson and Mary Ann Kearney on 08 Jun 1837* in Trumbull County, Ohio. Samuel (2nd) Munson, Freeman's father, and Amos' father Freeman Munson had pioneered into Trumbull County beginning in about 1802 and were some of its earliest settlers. Mary Ann was the third child of the couple's eight known children. 

In 1850, her family moved from Trumbull County to Grant County, Wisconsin. Grant County is in what is called the "Driftless Area." That is the stunningly beautiful formerly mountainous area that was missed by ice sheets shifting down from Canada that flattened the plains starting about 100,000 years ago. Only a small part of SE Minnesota, NE Iowa, and a larger part of Wisconsin were missed.  Over time, the mountains wore down to beautiful green hills. 

The area was also full of mining production. Zinc, Lead, and Iron were mined in this area. Many Cornish miners flocked to the area to work in the mines. The Munsons, I believe, joined thousands of others who found the beauty of the area irresistible. 

Some time between 1852 and 1853, Mary Ann met her future husband, William Custer Smith. They married 30 Jun 1853 in Grant County. 

William Custer Smith's middle name was not derived from General George Armstrong Custer, but from Custer's father, Emanuel Custer. William's father, Jacob Smith and his wife Mary Catherine "Cathy" farmed in the same community as the Custers in eastern Ohio.  It's believed that James Smith, Jacob's father, came from New Jersey to Ohio. William Custer Smith was born on 04 Oct 1831 in Harrison County, Ohio. He was the middle of seven known children. 

Mary Catherine, according to family lore, had the last name Randolph. DNA, however, indicates she is the child of John Lodawick Schmidt and Mary Kinter. We don't know what her connection was to the Randolph family (and for which I have yet to find any link). So, for now, I will refer to her as Mary Catherine "Cathy" Schmidt Smith.

In 1846, Jacob's oldest son James and his wife had their third child, John Richard, in Grant County; 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 earlly 1846. Jacob and children are all reflected in the 1850 census in Grant County.

Oddly enough, there was another Jacob Smith in Grant County during this time, who died in 1850. Many trees in Ancestry reflect this being "my" Jacob Smith. It's not. A review of the deceased Jacob Smith's will shows it wasn't him at all - different wife, different children.  

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 and 1860. 

We may never know what happened to 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. We do know what became of the rest of the Munson and Smith Clans. 

Part 2 will cover the marriage years of William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson.

Click these links for more stories about William and Mary's families.

*-I have yet to prove this date personally, but I'm going with it for now.

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.

Click to enlarge

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)."

Click to enlarge

Last Will & Testament of the "Other" Jacob Smith

Click to enlarge

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.

 

Jacob Smith: Bits and Pieces for Discussion Including the Custer Connection

JAMES SMITH > JACOB SMITH m Mary Catherine Randolph

Rumley Township is at the top in Harrison County
Click to enlarge

I've been incredibly frustrated by my inability to move my SMITH line beyond 3GG Jacob Smith and
his purported father, James Smith. Anectdotally, James is Jacob's father and they were originally from the Monmouth, New Jersey area before moving to Ohio somewhere before 1830.

1830 Rumley Township Census
Click to enlarge

Also, little is known about Mary Catherine Randolph, Jacob's wife, who went by "Cathy" from what I've learned. Jacob's son, John R. Smith married Susan Randolph, who I will guess is a relative of Cathy, but again, I have nothing. I've got a couple lines of inquiry I'm pursuing, but records are spotty in the wilderness during this time and without birth or death records, it's going to be non-definitive, even if I feel I've solved it.

One thing of the family legends I was able to confirm is that my 2GG, William Custer Smith, did indeed most likely get his middle name from George Armstrong Custer's father, Emanuel Custer. The legend had it that the Custer's were great friends of the Smith in Rumley Township, Harrison County and sure enough, I find them both living there in 1830.  Emanuel and Jacob were contemporaries.

Jacob's father, James, may be living in Cadiz Township at this time. In 1820, the James Smith family was located in Belmont County, which is adjacent to Harrison County. In 1820, James and family lived in Belmont County.

A Little About EMANUEL CUSTER

I believe that either Henry Custer or Nevin Custer is the man on the far left 3rd step,
James Calhoun is seated, 2nd from left.
It is probably Thomas Custer next to Calhoun and G. A. Custer is on the top
step, center, his wife Elizabeth Bacon seated to his right. The man below Elizabeth and below Emanuel
I've not identified. Emanuel is in the top right on top step sitting in a chair.
Photo shared on Ancestry by Connie Fullmer

Emanuel Custer was born and raised in Allegany County, Maryland. He was born 10 Dec 1806. His

Emanual and Mary
Image Courtesy 1881 Courthouse
Museum, Custer SD

first wife was Matilda Viers, whom he married in Maryland in 1828. They had three children, two of whom died young. Upon Matilda's death in 1835 in Harrison County, he married Mary Ward Kirkpatrick in 1836. The couple had at least seven children and widow Mary brought a daughter to the marriage. The two oldest, James and Samuel, died before their first birthdays. The arrival of George Armstrong Custer, later youthful West Point grad and Civil War Army General; and later yet, failed battle strategist at Little Big Horn, was the oldest of Mary's surviving children.

Emanuel and Mary were settled in Harrison County by 1830. After serving in the US Civil War himself at a quite advanced age in his 60s, he and his wife moved to Monroe County, Michigan, where they both died. The Smith's moved on to Grant County, Wisconsin in the mid-1840s.

In between, though, the Custer Family rallied at the time of the Civil War and beyond as part of the Cavalry. Four members of the Custer's immediate family died at the Battle of Little Big Horn:  Brevet Maj Gen (Lt Col) G. A. Custer, his brother Boston Custer, brother Capt Thomas Ward Custer (two-time Medal of  Honor winner), and brother-in-law, Lt James Calhoun, husband of Margaret Custer, along with nephew Harry Armstrong "Autie" Reed (a non-military member of the group) and other Custer friends. The historical perspective of G. A. Custer has been tipped on its head in the past decades as the "heroic" nature of their deaths at the hands of Chief Sitting Bull and his army of Native Americans, but it was surely a profound loss to Emanuel and Mary Custer which ranks up there with the tragic loss of the five Sullivan Brothers of Waterloo, IA during WWII in terms of family service tragedy.

Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Quackery

Abner Gile, Millionaire Lumber Man

I was doing some research the other day, and ran across a person who is connected to a line I'm related to only by marriage, but who's family had enough historical interest to follow the bread crumbs. Genealogy is like that, isn't it?

So, way back when, in Wisconsin, three of my Smith fellows married three Monteith women. The Monteith's also married into the Preston family - a more prominent family in the Brodhead area. You can read a little about my family and the Preston connection here.

One of the Preston women, Elizabeth, married into the Tiffany family (yes, that Tiffany family). The  Nathan Tiffany's family ended up in California and I hope to write a little more on another day.

Elizabeth Giles Tiffany's brother Abner Gile was a multi-millionaire lumberman in Wisconsin. Pretty impressive career and achievements in contributing to the growth of his corner of Wisconsin. He'd been born in Wyoming County, New York in 1820. He built a saw mill and lumber business in Illinois in 1843, and in 1850, spent a year in California. On his return, he worked in someone's lumber business and later partnered with NB Holway. He later built the LaCrosse Lumber Company and later yet, built the Island Mill Lumber Co. in 1881, which

Tower Jackson Gile claimed to have an
institute dedicated to the cure of disease through
electro-magnetic treatments. Early quackery
at its best!

he operated until his death. He had his fingers in all kinds of pies from the new utilities concerns to high society and philanthropy.

Abner was also helpful to his family. His brother, Tower Jackson Gile, for example, was the recipient
of his largesse for much of his adult life. When Abner died, Tower was left a bequest, but  Tower did not live long after his brother's death, both dying in 1897.

What grabbed me about Tower is, he went from being Tower Jackson Gile, to "Dr TJ Gile." Tower married Mary Knickerbocker, daughter of Harmon Knickerbocker and Phebe Haughton (or Horton) in upstate New York. Records indicate that they most likely divorced. The couple had at least two children.

In 1875, he left the Wisconsin area and cut a swath through the midwest including Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado with his miracle cures. The references I could find about Tower (I just love that name) show he was into the spiritual use of electro-magnetic healing. He claimed he could diagnose you during a free consultation and would provide you with electro-magnetic cures (which I'm sure came at a pretty penny).

He was the "inventor" of many devices and operated the Globe Electric Company. Its appliances, which included an electric chair, electric vapor bath, and other devices, were stock in trade for his "cures."

After the death of his brother Abner, Dr Gile claimed to have been visited by a visage of his brother. This made it into the book, "Beyond the Vail: Narrations and Illustrations of Spirit Experiences, Spoken, Written, and Made by Full-Form Visible Materalizations"; (1901) Kansas City, MO and is excerpted here:

Abner Gile. 
803. Here is a spirit who, in his earth life, came into pos- 
session of rather a large fortune for a person of his locality, 
Wisconsin. And this fortune, it seems, was accumulated large- 
ly from milling into lumber timber of Government lands, and 
handling lumber so made. 

804. His brother, Dr. T. J. Gile, was less fortunate, hav- 
ing accumulated nothing in a financial way; but had made quite 
thorough search into the merits of Spiritualism, and was one 
of this circle during several weeks of the preparation of "Rend- 
ing the Vail," and about that time Abner Gile passed on to 
spirit life, and now, by invitation of this psychic band, stands 
in materialized form before this circle, saying: 

(a) "I am Abner Gile, and I am glad to be here in this way r 
to tell of some things I found when I got to this country. And, 
of course, about the first thing I learned was that my brother 
was about right in this matter. I thought it bothered him. I 
thought it troubled his mind. I tried to hold him back and 
away from it. But I begin to think it was my own mind that 
was off. I was pursuing dark shadows, and he the light. I was 
piling up treasures that I had to leave behind and their bane 
binds me in dark conditions and shuts me up in dark prison; 
makes of me a 'spirit in prison.' While my brother was casting 
bread upon the waters for which I now hunger, and of which 
he may eat and be satisfied, my wealth, instead of a blessing,, 
is a great curse to me. I cannot explain to you how I have 
been confined in darkness. What light I had was of itself the 
most profound darkness, for I find the church dogmas are abso- 
lutely false. 

(b) "I wish I had known these things, but I did not. I 
would not try to know the truth of future life and its relations, 
but scorned whoever did try to learn. So I had no teacher 
when I got here, but have to work it out alone. Each must 
work out his own salvation. I wish all your world could know 
what I know now. But T helped to keep the world in ignorance,, 
and now must try to turn on the light." 

Tower died in 1897. If he's making his own spirit known, I haven't heard.

Tower Gile
La Crosse, Wis., Jan. 22. - Intelligence has reached the city of the death at Cleveland of

Tower J. Gile, aged 73, a brother of the late Abner Gile, the millionaire lumberman of this city. The deceased gained considerable prominence after leaving here in 1875, through his belief in spiritualism and magnetism, and traveled through the country preaching his views and acting as a magnetic doctor. During his travels he was supported almost entirely by his wealthy brother at La Crosse. When Abner Gile died he left a legacy for his brother in his will. The deceased went to Cleveland a few weeks ago, and died there on Thursday last. [Source: Wisconsin Weekly Advocate (25 Jan. 1900)]

Mapping it Out

I do better with visuals. I tried to map out the immigrant path - still a lot of incomplete information even after all these years of work. Here is how it went down with my four sets of great-great grandparents on my dad's side.

Includes Cappoens, Meserol, Fontaine, Leroy, Miller, Linsey lines
antecedents of my paternal grandfather, Leo Linsey
(Click to enlarge)

Abraham Owens and Zachariah Holler. This family joined with the Miller family with the marriage
of David Owens and Sarah Holler. This is the paternal side of my grandfather Leo Linsey's family.

UNK Smull immigrant who was father to Brush Valley, PA's Brothers Smull. The Quaker Cooper's of Pennsylvania and the Quaker Beams family of Whitley County, Kentucky joined  with the marriage of William Lloyd
Cooper and Elizabeth Beams. This family  joined the Smull family with  the marriage
of Johnathan Smull and Mary Jane Cooper, maternal 2GG of my grandmother Verlie Smith Michaelsen Linsey.

James Smith is the earliest located Smith originally believed to be from Monmouth, NJ
The Munson family goes back to Munson immigrant who arrive in Connecticut in 1637. Grant County, Wisconsin
was the site of the joining of the Munson and Smith families when William Custer Smith
married Mary Ann Munson. This is my maternal grandmother Verlie Smith Michaelsen Linsey's paternal grandparents.

Robert Smith & Flora Hinmon

JACOB SMITH > JAMES SMITH > JACOB SMITH m Elizabeth Monteith > ROBERT SMITH

Elizabeth Monteith Smith

Elizabeth Monteith was one of three of Edward Boyd Monteith's girls who married Smith's during this era. Jacob Smith and Elizabeth Monteith had three children: James Edward, Robert Alexander and Agnes.

Robert Alexannder Smith was born 04 Jun 1869 in Bremer County. He married Flora Hinmon on 01 Jan 1890 in Bremer County. Flora was born in July 1873 in Le Grand, Marshall County, Iowa. Her parents were George and Delilah Fuller Hinmon. Flora's sister Mary Elizabeth "Polly" married Andrew Jackson Surber, of whom I wrote previously. Flora's brother Alfred would marry Robert's sister Agnes as well!

Robert lived five years in Aberdeen, South Dakota, then primarily in Plainfield, until the couple moved permanently to Waterloo in 1916. While in Plainfield, he worked as a section man for the Illinois Central Railroad.

Rath Packing, Waterloo

Rath Packing Co. was a highly successful packing plant that was started in the mid-1800s in
Dubuque, Iowa. When the small plant burned down, the City of Waterloo lured the Rath's to Waterloo, where an operation was built and operated successfully until the 1960s/1970s, when packing plants experienced struggles. By the 1980s the situation was dire and the company became employee-owned. Finally, it collapsed completely in the mid-1980s. Robert spent 23 years working for Rath, as did  many of the citizens of Waterloo, as Rath was one of its major employers.

The couple had three children: Charles Henry, Florence Elizabeth, and Lucile D.

Back row: Charles on Left standing
Front row: Florence Smith, below teacher in bow tie, on left
Plainfield HS 1909

Robert died in Waterloo 17 Aug 1942 in Waterloo. His wife died of complications of a stroke on 07 Dec 1958, also in Waterloo.

Smith Family Stories

This is sorted by the children of Jacob Smith and Mary Catherine "Cathie" Randolph

Jacob Smith Line: Mary Catherine Randolph, Sarah Jane Smith Doole, and Isaac Smith

JAMES SMITH

JACOB SMITH
Jacob Smith: Setting the Record Straight
Personal Interviews: When an Interview Flops
The Edge of Madness: Unraveling the Mystery of Bertha McKinney, Part 1
The Edge of Madness: Unraveling the Mystery of Bertha McKinney, Part 2
Robert Smith & Flora Hinmon 
Bit and Pieces and the Custer Connection
ALEXANDER SMITH
Little House on the Prairie: Saskatchewan Edition
JOHN RICHARD SMITH
  Alfred Smith
  Raid at Cabanatuan: Japanese Prisoner of War Spencer Clinto Goodbla, WWII
  The Double Tragedy of the Alfred Smith Family of South Dakota
  Harriet Smith
  Losing the Trail: Harriet Smith
  Ollie Smith
  The Other Newcombs of South Dakota  
  Florence Newcomb & L Arthur Larson: The Perfect Match
  Nancy Smith
  Bad, Bad Henry Burton
WILLIAM LAWRENCE SMITH
Pioneering Nebraska & the Twister of 1933: Agnes Smith Callander
Jesse James, Buffalo Bill Cody, and The Keeley Cure: Agnes Watson Smith Bowers
Sundance, Wyoming & the Bowers Family

JOHN R SMITH

The Other John R Smith

ISAAC SMITH

Jacob Smith Line: Mary Catherine Randolph, Sarah Jane Smith Doole, and Isaac Smith

WILLIAM CUSTER SMITH

Clan William: Mary Ann Munson & William Custer Smith, Pt 1

Clan William: Mary Ann Munson & William Custer Smith, Pt 2

Clan William: Mary Ann Munson & William Custer Smith, Pt 3

The Family Farm of William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson
Connecting the Story: More on the William Custer Smith Farm
Mystery Muddle: Who is Alice Simmons?
Smith/Munson Side: Minor Discoveries 
The Gossip Mill - Coming 10/14/17

WALTER SMITH
Smith Family: Capt (Ret) Grant Joseph Walker

William Custer Smith Family: Walter Smith
Capt Grant & Mrs Mary Jane Scoles Walker
How My Dog Got Her Name: Frankie Smith 

MARY MADORA "DORA" SMITH
B F Lichty & Sons, Waterloo

HARLAND SMITH
William Custer Smith: Harland Smith
Going Beyond the Details: The Nashua Reporter
Walter Kermit Spurgeon Gets Robbed
William Lowell Smith
The Magoons: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

EVA ELVIRA SMITH
William Custer Smith Family: Eva Elvira Smith

ELLA MAE SMITH
All Aboard! The Railroad Men of the Wabash Railroad
The Long Road to Moberly, Missouri
A Sad Turn in the Tale of the Cunningham Family
Trail Blazing Women: Gertrude Bouque Nichols

A. Dorsey Bouque Moves to Indiana

It Must Have Been in the Blood: Cunningham Railroad Men 

EDWIN SMITH
Edwin Smith Family

Mystery Muddle: The Many Marriages of Marie/Mary Adaline Smith
Johnathan Smull Family: Katie Smull
The Cappoens/LeRoy Line: Leo Linsey
Edwin Smith Family: Vivian Catherine Smith
Edwin Smith Family: Evelyn Joyce Smith
WWII  Brought Home: Harry F Bradshaw, USN
Zola Bebee, Grandma's Best Friend 
Remembering Janis Michaelsen Pedersen Ladnier
Dixie Lee Michaelsen Pedersen Pedersen 
Remembering Harold James Ripley
Leland Barr and World War II
Madge Smith Scoles

REV PARKER SMITH
William Custer Smith Family: Rev Parker Smith
The Gossip Mill 

MIRT SMITH
William Custer Smith Family: Mirt Smith

JOHN SMITH - He died at age 2.

CATHERINE SMITH 

Eureka! A Big Find

ELIZABETH SMITH - Believed to have died young. No mention is made of her in sister Sarah's obit.

SARAH JANE SMITH
Jacob Smith Line: Mary Catherine Randolph, Sarah Jane Smith Doole, and Isaac Smith
Hang Down Your Head, Frank Doole

The Monteith's married three ways into the Smith family early on. They are pretty interesting!

THE MONTEITH FAMILY STORIES

Andrew Monteith Family of Wigtownshire, Scotland
William Boyd Monteith
Beloved Mary Welch Monteith Meets a Tragic End
The Great Chicago Fire & the Alexander McCullochs
Edward Boyd Monteith: Father of the Smith Wives
George Monteith of North Dakota
Jane Monteith, Nurse & Her Husbands
Race to the Finish: Fred C Monteith & Martin Rector
Sideroad: The Preston Family
Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Quackery

THE LICHTY FAMILY STORIES

The Lichty Family of Somerset County, Pennsylvania had many of its members pioneer in Black Hawk County. Most of them became exemplary citizens, leaders, captains of industry, lawyers, doctors, and highly successful farmers. Many held crucial roles in the development of the city of Waterloo.

Sideroad: Gabriel Bickley Lichty, MD, Abortionist  

Sideroad: Lewis Lichty, Servant of the People  

Jacob Smith Line: Mary Catherine Randolph, Sarah Jane Smith Doole and Isaac Smith

JACOB SMITH > ISAAC SMITH
JACOB SMITH > SARAH JANE SMITH m Frances Doole

My 2nd great grandfather, William Custer Smith (married Mary Ann Munson), came from a family

of seven children: James, John R., Isaac, William Custer, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Sarah. Elizabeth, born about 1836, is presumed to have died young. Their parents, Jacob Smith and Mary Catherine "Catherine" Randolph, moved from Ohio to Fennimore, Grant County, Wisconsin, where they settled in 1846. Jacob is believed to have died prior to 1860, but the Jacob Smith many people have listed on Ancestry.com is not our Jacob (more on that another time--view the probate records for that "other" Jacob, frequently confused with ours, here).

Isaac, born about 1827 in Ohio, was classified as an "idiot," who did not read and write. He was listed as living with his parents 1850 and with his mother "Cathie"  and sister Sarah in 1860 in Fennimore.

Sarah was born 03 Jul 1842 in Jefferson County, Ohio.

Fennimore, Wisconsin

In 1870, Cathie, Isaac and Sarah were living with William Custer Smith and his wife Mary Ann Munson in Butler County, Iowa. Cathie is not seen after 1870. I need another trip to the courthouse to see if there's a death record.

Isaac was living with brother John back in Fennimore in 1880, but by 1885, was back in Butler County with William. Sarah was with William in 1870 and 1885, but not with him in 1880.

No trace of Isaac is seen after 1885.

Sarah, on the other hand, finally married for the first time at age 45 to Frances Doole. They were married 27 May 1887 in Floyd County. Francis "Frank" Doole  was born in about 1812 in Ireland. He had two previous wives and was 75 years old when he married Sarah.  The name Doole in reference to Sarah is spelled alternatively, Duell, Dewell, Deull, and Dual; none of which is correct. Frank appears to have been an entrepreneur:

"A "Blind Pig" which has been successfully operated for the past two years at Floyd by Frances Doole was raided and a large quantity of beer and whisky seized. Doole is in jail at Charles City."

Atlantic Daily Telegraph December 26, 1888

A "blind pig" is an after-hours illegal drinking establishment. Clearly he was a sparkling citizen.

Sarah divorced.

She lived in the Bremer County Poor Farm and Asylum from at least 1895 until her death of old age in 1924. She was not buried in the Poor Farm cemetery as many paupers were, so someone in the family ponied up for a burial, but there is not stone that I can find. She was buried in Willow Lawn Cemetery in Plainfield, where William and Mary Ann and many of their children are buried.

Johnathan Smull Family: Jennie Elnora Smull

PETER SMULL > JOHNATHAN SMULL > JENNIE ELNORA SMULL m Jacob Smith

Click on image to enlarge

James & Jennie Wedding

Jennie Elnora Smull was born 27 Jul 1869 in Stephenson County, Illinois. She came to Bradford, Chickasaw County in 1876 with her parents and they later moved to Plainfield in Bremer County after Johnathan's death.. She met James Edward Smith, son of Jacob Smith and Elizabeth Monteith, and married him 09 Oct 1890. Jacob Smith is the brother of my 2nd great grandfather, William Custer Smith.

James Edward Smith was born 09 Oct 1867 in Bremer County, near Plainfield. In 1920, he was working as a section gang foreman for the Illinois Central railroad and work there for 43 years. He retired with a pension in 1937. Jennie spent a lot of time visiting with her sisters, to whom she was very close. Saidee Smulls daughter Jane Scofield, recalled in a 2015 interview, "She was very tiny, small-built, wore long-sleeved print dresses, lace collar, broach, and apron."

In 1939, this notice was posted in the paper: "Mr & Mrs Clifford Smith motored to Rochester, Minn., on Sunday and visited his father, Jim Smith, a patient in the hospital. Mr Smith is doing nicely, but it will be necessary for him to remain for another operation." 

James & Jennie 50th Anniversary

James died 12 May 1941 in Plainfield and Jennie died 09 May 1956 in Des Moines, Iowa. Her daughter Myrl lived in Ankeny, nearby.

The couple had seven children:

1. Clifford Ulysses Smith:  Born 31 Oct 1892 in Plainfield, he married Faith Edith Beine on 18 Nov 1916 in Plainfield. She was born the daughter of Charles Beine and Anna Elizabeth Toepfer on 15 Oct 1897 in Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa. 

In 1918, Clifford was appointed as a rural postal carrier. In 1920, he was working at an auto garage, As far back as 1929, he is seen working as manager at an electronics shop  as a radio repairman. Faith's father Charles owned a dry goods store in Plainfield. Clifford died 27 Sep 1972 in Plainfield and Faith in September 1991 in Clarksville.

The couple had one son, Lester, who was a bit of a bad boy, with minor skirmishes with the law. He married and settled down, moving to California, where he worked at a Lockheed bomber plant in Los Angeles. He died of complications of appendix surgery at the age of  25. They had one child. His wife, Jeanette Theresa Heck, returned to Iowa and remarried. 

Clifford & Faith 

2. Lawrence Leith Smith:  Born 29 Dec 1894 in Plainfield. He married Gertrude Lucille Ogbin on 15 Feb 1917 in Waverly, Bremer County. She was born 05 Nov 1899 in Bremer County to Dr. Eugene Ogbin and Stella Oberdier. Lawrence was a barber. He died 26 Mar 1974 in Waverly and she 26 May 1968 in Janesville, Bremer County. They had one child, Gwendolyn (Jeanne) Smith. 

3.  Myrtle Smith:  Born 01 Apr 1897 in Bremer County and she died in 1898.

4. Gailerd Leroy Smith:  Born 01 May 1900 in Plainfield, he married Helen Viola Smith (a different Smith line - the Lloyed Smith line) on 20 Apr 1924 in Waverly. Gailerd was employed by the Illinois Central railroad for 47 years. He died 29 Sep 1963 in Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, Iowa. Helen died 16 Jul 2002. They had three children. 

Jennie Irene & Don Shadbolt

5. Myrl Elizabeth Smith:  Born 26 May 1904 in Plainfield. She married Anton "Tony" Juhl, son of Nils Juhl and Jessine Kristene "Christina" Morgensen, on 02 Jun 1925 in Emmetsburg, Palo Alto, Iowa. Tony was born 02 Jun 1902 in Hampton, Franklin, Iowa. Anton ran Juhl Insurance Agency in Ankeny for over 40 years. He died 31 Oct 1977 in Ankeny and she died August 1995 in Ankeny. They had one daughter.

6. Jennie Irene "Irene" Smith:  Born 23 Jan 1907 in Plainfield. She married Donald Richard Shadbolt on 24 Jul 1941 in Schuyler County, Missouri. He was born 21 Jul 1913 in Lafayette, Allamakee County, Iowa to Rolland Shadbolt and Jessie Mabel Richards. Donald was a career Navy man who served during World War II and served as Chief Commissary Steward at various installations for the remainder of his career. He died 27 Feb 1987 in Norfolk, Virginia. Irene died in Reynoldsburg, Franklin County, Ohio on 07 Jun 2001. They had one son.

Jack & Jimmy

7. Devere "Jack" Smith:  Born 19 Oct 1909 in Plainfield. He marriage Leona Ruth Thompson. He worked as a railroad section foreman for the Illinois Central in 1930 and 1940 was listed as working in "private business." He and his wife divorced and his wife remarried. He had a heart attack and died 05 Oct 1949. His only child, James "Jimmy" Devere Smith, died tragically on 21 Jan 1950 of a heart attack at the age of 13 while shooting hoops in the gym at Plainfield High School.

Personal Interview: When an Interview Flops!

Where the Smiths-Smulls First Collide
James Smith & Jennie Smull Wedding
My interview subject's grandparents

JACOB SMITH > JAMES SMITH > JACOB SMITH > JAMES SMITH

PETER SMULL > JOHNATHAN SMULL > JENNIE ELNORA SMULL

I had traced a woman, who was still living and in her 90s, AND was willing to talk to me after a brief phone call. She is related to me on both the Jacob SMITH and Jonathan SMULL sides of the family so I thought this was going to be a major score. The trip would be 300 miles round trip to the southwest part of the state and would take an entire day of my copious free time.

I arrived and was let into their home by their 69-year-old son who I'm sure wanted to be there to ensure I wasn't an ax murderer. The couple I would speak to were both from the Plainfield area originally and lived there from the 1920s through the 1940s with stops in Cedar Falls and Ames. They maintained close ties to their extended family and the town where they started. They settled in another small Iowa town, where he worked as a large animal vet. The Dr., though a couple years older, seemed to have better recall than his wife.

The problem was that the Mrs.was lost in specific stories, which she repeated verbatim throughout the time I was there and then asked me repeatedly who I was and who I was related to. It reminded me a great deal of conversations I had with my great grandmother as she slipped in and out on a dime into her Alzheimer's ravaged mind.

Jennie Smull & James Smith
She is my great grandmother's sister.
That looks like a wedding cake
for an anniversary
but then look none too happy, do they? 

Her recollections and storytelling ability were naught. The Dr. was able to fill in some blanks and I was able to pull some information out of him without too much effort, but it had entirely shifted the focus of the interview. And, they were lovely and gracious people, I'd just arrived 10-15 years too late.

I spent about an hour there and got a few little nuggets on them, but little else. With the exception of a photocopy of a photo that ended up making this 300-mile trek part of the discovery of 2016 for me. I'm not going to publish that here yet.

They handed me a sheet of paper with a photo of my entire family - my great grandparents and all of  their kids, including my grandmother. It was taken, it appears, in the late 1920s  and is the only photo in existence that includes all of them. I'd never seen Edwin Smith, my great grandfather, nor Mary, who I've written about here before. And, now I've seen them.

After I left there, I traveled back towards home, but veered even further north and went to the Willow Lawn Cemetery in Plainfield. I'd been there once before, early in my genealogy work, and took selective photos of those I knew were related. I had no idea where the journey would end up taking me then and went home with a few dozen photos.

This time, I walked the cemetery again and again focused only on those I knew were related to me and it took 2.5 hours to take all the hundreds of photos.

I'll not look at this as a wasted day.

Jacob Smith Tree