David Elijah Smith - A Real Character

Was a Very Interesting Man

What do we know about David Elijah Smith?  We know that he was born in Arkansas City, AR as the 10th and last child to Thomas H Smith and Agnes Arnold on September 8, 1858.

David Elijah Smith was a man with rugged, masculine, handsome looks.  Some have said that his looks were a mix of Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot.  My Grandpa, Fred Burke Smith, used to say that his Daddy was a big, red headed, Irishman.

David Elijah Smith and his son Frank

Dave married C J Long on January 23, 1881 at the age of 23.  I don't have any details about C J, but I know that their marriage didn't last for very long and they didn't have any children together.

D E Smith married M F McGill in Paris, Logan, Arkansas, on September 18, 1884 according to the Arkansas County Marriages Index for 1837-1957.

Dave and Margaret "Tinny" McGill Smith had the following children. 

Robert Carriston 1885-1972, known as Carriston, died at age 87
Frank Thomas 1893-1971, died at age 78
Adalai H 1894-1966,  died at age 72
Augusta Caroline, 1900-1981, known as Callie, died at age 81
Fred Burke, 1903-1990, died at age 87
Charles Hilliard 1905-1979, died at age 54
Ralph W 1906-1941, died at age 35

Fred Burke was my Grandfather.  He lived to be the oldest out of all of his siblings other than his brother, Carriston.   My Grandpa was the last one to pass away out of all of his siblings.

David Elijah remarried for a third time at the age of 63, October 14, 1921, the following year after my great grandmother, Tinny passed away.  I don't think this marriage lasted very long.  They did not have any children together. I don't remember my Grandfather ever mentioning this marriage.

Dave was a socialist who ran for office once under the socialist ticket.

Dave was a savvy businessman who obtained a business loan to obtain equipment for his farm. 

David Elijah was my Great Grandpa.

Another thing we know about David Elijah Smith.  He liked to be married.

He was living with his son, Charles when he passed away on May 20, 1933 at the age of 75. 

More to come about David Elijah later.  He was quite a character of course.  How could he not be coming from this line of Smiths?

Watermelon Party

Not A Happy Camper

I'm not sure what happened to Helen Jane (me) here, but it looks like she isn't a happy camper.  She is crying while her cousin, little Manny looks on.  I suspect that my little sister might have helped herself to a bite of my watermelon.

This photo was taken at my Grandpa Johnson's house in Stockton.  I guess we were stripped down for easy clean up.  I don't remember how we were cleaned up.  Maybe they took us outside and hosed us down. 

Manny is my first cousin and my Dad's sister's son.  Manny is six months younger than me.  I think both of us were about four years old here.  My baby sister's leg and arm are barely visible in the photo by my hand.

                                                     

Left to right, little Manny, Helen, and Tudy's arm and leg

Unexpected Genealogy Gift

A Gift From A Cousin

My husband Frank and I flew to Dallas a couple of weeks ago to attend our nieces wedding.  As we arrived, there was a very bad thunder storm with lots of lightning.  For safety reasons, all of the ramps had been closed down.  We had to wait for about an hour and a half before we could collect our luggage and our rental car and be on our way.

While we were waiting, I checked my email and my Facebook.  One of my cousins that lives in Oklahoma and who is from my Smith line had sent me a photo of my Grandma and Grandpa Smith that I had never seen before.                                                 

Left to Right is my Grandpa Fred Burke Smith, his sister Augusta Caroline (Callie) Smith Butcher, and my Grandma Stella E Marie Holland Smith

I was extremely close to my Grandparents and they practically raised my sister and me until I was eleven and she was nine and we moved from Poplar, CA to the San Francisco Bay Area.  We would still visit them frequently and spent a month every summer with them.

I couldn't find a date on the photo, but I believe it was taken sometime in the 1960s so that would have put my Grandparents somewhere in their early 60s.  This photo was taken when they went back to Oklahoma to visit relatives.

This is how they always dressed for most of my life.  Later on Grandpa started wearing striped overalls sometimes.  When he went outside, he would wear a straw cowboy hat.  Near the end of his life, he would wear slacks, a shirt, suspenders and a dude hat when he went to the doctor.

Grandma told me that when they met, Grandpa was known as that big eyed Smith boy.  Grandpa did have big eyes...big blue eyes.  One of his eyes had a little bit of brown in it though.  My Grandma had very, very, deep blue eyes....almost purple or violet at times.  They were a beautiful shade of blue.

Thank you so much, cousin Medessa Cook Montgomery for the lovely gift that you shared with me.    It turned an otherwise somewhat challenging day into a wonderful, blessed day!  It also gave me one more photo to share with my other Smith cousins.  Medessa's Grandmother was my Grandpa's sister, Aunt Callie.

I heard a lot about Aunt Callie.  My Grandma would talk on the phone to family members and would relay the conversations to my Grandpa who wouldn't hardly ever get on the phone. 

I miss them both so much and think about them every day, sometimes, I think about them several times a day.  They didn't have much money and they didn't have much formal education, but they taught me so much, and gave me unconditional love.  That was priceless!!!

Johnson News

Johnson Brothers Visit

The article below was found in The Walnut Grove Tribune (Walnut Grove, Missouri) printed May 05, 1915, Wednesday page 5.
It tells of how Josiah Johnson (my second great grandfather) came from Oklahoma to visit his brother Jap (Jasper) Johnson and other friends and relatives.  Joe (Josiah) and Jap were both sons of Williamson Johnson and Elizabeth (Betsy) Perryman Johnson, my third great grandparents.

Jump genealogy : an American family from colonial times

Jump Genealogy

The title of this post is also the title of a genealogy book written about my Jump line.  It also mentions other Jump lines that we may or may not be related to.

I have a copy of this book and have included a copy of the Table of Contents of the book here. 

I used this book to help me prove my lineage to John Jump who served in the Revolutionary War. 

If anyone believes they are descended from the Jump line and if you have any questions, I would be happy to look the information up for you.  Obtaining a copy of this book is not easy.  I was able to get a copy from a member of the Polk County Genealogical Society in Bolivar, Missouri.  I am very grateful to Carolyn for helping me out!

Thank you to Janet Pease and others who worked so hard researching the Jump Surname.

Please feel free to send me an email or contact me through this blog.

Ellen Jane Johnson Simao

My Aunt Ellen

 

Aunt Ellen was my Dad's sister. She was next to the youngest in a family of five children and the only girl.  I remember when I was little and we would visit, she loved to pat my legs and tell me that she loved my fat little legs. 

When I was little I didn't understand why she loved my fat little legs so much.  I hadn't given too much thought to my legs at that time.  It was later that I realized why she liked my fat little legs so much.  Aunt Ellen was tall, about 5' 5" (taller than my Mom), and thin.  She was built up like my Dad.  Both of them were tall and thin with thin legs.  Of course, I thought her leg were fine.  See the photos below of Aunt Ellen in her youth wearing summer clothes and a bathing suit.
                                           

Ellen Jane Johnson with unknown sailor

I don't know how old Aunt Ellen was in the above photo, but she looks to be in her teens.

                                            

Ellen Jane Johnson

Now check out those legs!  I used to wish I had legs like Aunt Ellen!
                                                   
Aunt Ellen was one of the most generous people ever born. She was always helping someone out, especially her family, friends, friends of friends, and friends of her children. She would give the shirt off her back to someone even if she didn't have another one.  If someone got into trouble, they went to Ellen. If someone needed money, they went to Ellen.  If someone needed someplace to live, they went to Ellen.  She had a huge heart. Of course she and her family were taken advantage of several times, but that didn't stop her from helping people.  Her daughter, Patricia Simao Nicolia is just like her in that respect...always helping people.  They were born with the helping gene.

I loved my Aunt Ellen very much and loved staying at her house.  This is one of the aunts that I was named after.  Her name was Ellen Jane and my name is Helen Jane.  She was a real character....she was funny and kooky.  She had red hair and wore her lipstick like Lucille Ball.

Aunt Ellen had my cousin Margaret Ellen at a young age.  She is shown in the photo below with my cousin Margaret (Marge), and my Grandma Cora Lee Meek Johnson Sinclair.

                                              

Ellen Jane, Margaret Ellen, Cora Lee Meek Johnson

In the photo above, I am guessing that Aunt Ellen was about nineteen or twenty.  Marge looks to be about three or four.  Grandma Cora would have been about forty two or forty three. 

When Aunt Ellen was about thirty six, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  The docs performed surgery, but they couldn't get all of the cancer.  She was terminal.  It hit everyone in the family hard. Her oldest daughter was grown and out of the house. Her son was about thirteen and her youngest daughter was about eleven.

She lived for about four years after the diagnosis.  She had treatment for the cancer, of course.  She became paralyzed on one side and wasn't able to walk unless someone supported her.  It was painful for us all to see her decline and very scary for her young children.

Aunt Ellen and my Dad, Lawrence, aka John, were very close. Daddy was about two years younger than her.  He was devastated by her illness and spent a lot of time with her. 

In the photo below, my Dad is laying on the bed with her.  Back in those days, everyone smoked in the house.  In this photo, Aunt Ellen is about 39 and my Dad is not quite 37. 

                                               

Ellen Jane Johnson Simao and Lawrence Gerald Johnson, Jr., aka John or Johnny

Aunt Ellen was born January 9, 1933 which happened to be her big brother Charles Paul Johnson's birthday.  My wonderful aunt succumbed to cancer on September 21, 1974.  She was 41 years old. Like a Johnson, she fought hard. Like a Johnson, she kept living long after the docs said she should have died.  The docs would give her so many weeks, or so many months, more than once and she just kept going. Like a Johnson, she didn't know how to give up because that wasn't in her nature.  But, God saw his child was weary, that her little body was worn out, and he called her home.

Until we are all together again...

John 14:1-2

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

My Cousin Booger

Adventures with Booger

My maternal grandparents had over 30 grand kids.  My cousin, Booger was one of those grand kids and one of my many playmates when I was young.  I'm not sure exactly how he got the nickname of Booger, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was our Grandpa Smith that gave it to him.  I will refrain from saying what his given name is here, but those in the family will know who I am talking about.

Booger was an active kid and was blessed with red hair, freckles, and blue eyes.  He is about two and a half years older than me, and I remember that even as a child he had definite ideas of what he did and didn't like.  He is still like that to some extent.

I remember he and I were sitting next to each other one morning at Grandma and Grandpa's house having our breakfast.  Booger was quite active to the left of me, giving a lot of attention to the food on his plate.  I asked, "Whatcha doing, Booger"?  He said, "I'm mixing my egg (fried), gravy, and potatoes (fried) together".  I asked, "Why"?  Booger said, "Cause its good"?    I thought it looked like a big mess to me, but since my big cousin, Booger said it was so good, I thought I would give it a try.  I proceeded to try and create the same kind of mess on my plate as Booger had on his.  I ate some of it, but that was the last time I ever tried out one of Booger's recipes!  I wasn't as impressed with it as Booger was.  Lol

I remember my Grandpa telling about another Booger adventure as I was growing up.  Grandpa liked to tell how Booger was expelled from Kindergarten and then he would laugh and laugh about it.  Back then, if a boy stood up for himself, it was a good thing.  I could be wrong, but I don't think Booger was expelled.  I think he might have been suspended for a couple of days.  I don't know what he did, to be kicked out of school for a couple of days, but most likely he was just being active or maybe had a skirmish with another kid.  Remember, Booger always was a little stubborn, knew what he did and didn't like.  I think it goes with the red hair. 

None of us had very many toys, but I remember one time, I had gotten a doll for Christmas and I believe it was Booger had gotten a gun.  It might have been one of his brothers, but I think it was Booger.  I wanted to play with the toy rifle.  I always thought that boy's toys were so much better.

Booger is a good guy, who is highly intelligent, has a great sense of humor, was a good Husband, is a good Father, and is a good Grandfather.  He always has loved his family.

I always looked forward to visits with Booger and his family.  I am so blessed to have had so many cousins, playmates, and friends in one family. 

Booger definitely left an impression on me!