Grandma Stella Smith and Chickens

Hatching Chickens

My Grandmother, Stella Smith somehow knew when a hen was ready to set. She also knew which eggs were fertilized and would put the eggs under her. I guess Grandma knew all about the science of chickens hatching. She would watch the hen and the eggs. If any of the chickens were having trouble getting out of the egg, Grandma would help them a little bit. She would have my sister and me come over to where the hen was sitting and the chicks were being born. We would watch along with Grandma very quietly. Thinking back on it now, it was all so miraculous. 

Once the chicks were old enough, they would be released into the chicken pen. Grandpa would buy special food for them but we also fed them scraps from the table. It was fun watching them grow up but we knew that they would someday be food right from the start. They would either become food or they would produce food.


Getting Ready for the Table

At one time, my Grandma was a very large woman but she was always on the move and always working. Grandma would kill the chickens as a first step for getting them ready for the table. The way she would do it was to wring their necks which would break them. I remember Grandma getting out in the chicken pen with a chicken in each hand. She would swing her wrist around in circles until the chickens necks broke. Sometimes, she would do this to several young fryers so she could prepare them for the freezer in order to have chicken for the winter. I remember chickens flopping all around Grandma in the chicken pen.


Time to Pluck

I loved my Grandma so much that I wanted to be just like her and do everything that she did. She took care of my sister and me when our parents worked which was a lot. I followed my Grandma around everywhere she went and slept in the same bed as her often. 


When Grandma killed the chickens and plucked them, so did I. I remember that I was probably about 4 to 6 years old and I was helping Grandma to pluck chickens. My baby sister was almost exactly two years younger than me and I don't remember her doing any chicken plucking. If she was 2 or 3, I can see why she wouldn't or even 4 or 5. Tudy and I were different. Maybe she was hanging out with Grandpa but he was still working in the fields at that time so maybe she was taking a nap. I just don't remember her being there. I do remember helping Grandma to pluck chickens 2 or 3 times.


I remember that this chicken plucking took place when the house was still two rooms. Grandma would heat a big pot of water on the stove. She would give me a small aluminum tub and she would have one. She would dip a dead chicken into the water to soften up the feathers to make them easier to pull out. Then she would put the dead chicken legs in my little hand and I would go to plucking. I loved plunging my hands into the feathers and I was being just like my Grandma. I know that I must not have done a great job of plucking but Grandma told me that I did. Once all of the chickens were plucked, she would clean them, and burn the pin feathers off by holding them above the burner on the stove. She would then cook some up and freeze the others if she had killed a bunch of them. 


Fast Forward to Today 2023

Please Do Not hand me a dead chicken now to pluck!!!

Grandma Goes Hunting

Grandma's Hunting Stories

As my sister and I were growing up, my Grandma, Stella Ethel Marie Holland Smith would tell us what her life had been like in Mountain Home, Arkansas when she was a girl.

Grandma loved Mountain Home and missed it. She was one of the older children and I know Grandma took care of her younger siblings also.  Her mother, Minnie Bell Kirkland Holland was sick much of the time.

Anyway, Grandma would tell us about how she would wear her hair in two braids and go hunting with a slingshot.  Sometimes she would go with her brother. If she got a squirrel, she would take it home, and they would have a nice squirrel stew.  I would wonder what squirrel stew tasted like and wonder what Grandma looked like as a young girl hunting for squirrel and rabbit or whatever with her slingshot. 

I know Grandma could be quite fierce in the chicken pen when we were going to have chicken for dinner.  She would go in there with the chickens, grab one in each hand and wring their necks.  After they stopped flopping around, we would take them in, pluck their feathers, cut them up, fry them up, and eat them.  Nothing like raising your own food.

I have been wanting to go to Mountain Home ever since I was little because I know that is where my Grandma was born and how much she loved it.  My 2nd Great Grandpa, Martin Holland is something of a legend there with all of his shenanigans. He is called Uncle Mart in those parts. My dream will come true very soon.  I am so excited.

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?

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!!!

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!

Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Smith's House

A Smith Family Thanksgiving

One of my happiest memories as a child was spending Thanksgiving day at my Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house in Poplar, CA.  Although, I spent almost every day at their house, Thanksgiving was even more special because there would be so many Aunts, Uncles, and cousins visiting. 

Grandma would stuff and cook the turkey early in her stand alone electric oven so it would be ready to eat by noon.

Grandma's stuffing recipe:
cornbread
white store bought bread or stale biscuits
chopped celery
giblets
chopped onion
minced garlic (optional)
couple of boiled eggs
couple of raw eggs
milk
sage
salt and pepper to taste
Boil giblets until done.  Let cool, and chop liver, heart, and gizard meat.  Remove meat from neck and chop. 
Crumble cornbread, and tear bread into small pieces.  Mix in large bowl with chopped meat, chopped boiled eggs, celery, chopped onion, water from giblets, seasoning, milk, until the right consistency and taste.  Add a couple of raw eggs to help hold stuffing together before stuffing bird and putting remainder of stuffing in pan to be cooked. 

I still make my stuffing like this but sometimes add spinach to it.

We would always have mashed potatoes, gravy, sometimes green beans and corn or some other vegetable.  We would always have pumpkin pie, always have banana pudding and sometimes we would have a cake.

Sometimes the Clay cousins (family of 9 kids), and the McKay cousins (family of 7 kids) might be there at the same time.  Aunt Betty and Uncle Bill Smith had 2 kids.  Aunt Betty and Uncle Don Smith had 4 kids.  Aunt Pat and Uncle Junior Smith had 5 kids, and my Mom and Dad had 2 kids. Grandma and Grandpa had six kids and thirty one grand kids.  The house was only two rooms, but I don't remember it being crowded at all when there was a lot of people.  Of course, I spent a lot of time outside playing with my cousins. 

Grandpa later added two bedrooms and an indoor bathroom.

We didn't have many toys, but we would play Red Rover, Red Rover, Dog Pile, Jump rope, Chinese jump rope, marbles, etc. 

It was so much fun with so many of my cousins there and the food was so good!

I am very Thankful to God for blessing me with my Grandma and Grandpa Smith, my Mom and Dad, my sister, my children, my grandchildren, my aunts and uncles, and all of my cousins that I grew up with.  I'm also Thankful for good health and all of my other cousins that I have.  I have so much to be Thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Transgressions of Charity and John Hollon/Holland

Background

Before I start filling you in on Charity Brewer and John Holland, my 4th Great Grandparents, I would like to remind you about my background and upbringing.

My Grandmother was Stella Holland Smith.  Grandma was very strict with the girls.  She didn't want our hair cut, we weren't allowed to wear shorts, and we weren't supposed to notice if a woman was pregnant and if we did, we weren't supposed to mention it or even know what it meant.  Grandma wouldn't even wear a dress with any red in it, when I was growing up, because only women of the night wore red.  She relaxed a little later in life and started wearing more colorful clothing.

Grandma came from a large family.  Two of her sisters had their own churches.  Aunt Rosie had a church in Stockton, CA, and Aunt Nellie had a church in Poplar, CA, (my home town). 

I attended Baptist and Pentecostal Churches.  My Grandpa Smith's family were mostly Baptist, but Grandpa didn't go to Church.  My Grandma's family were Pentecostal.  I was raised more in the Pentecostal faith.   Although, if you ask me, I can't see a big difference.  But then again, I'm not a religious scholar. 

Anyway, we weren't supposed to do anything that was fun, like going to dances, movies, etc.  Women weren't supposed to wear pants or makeup.  Women weren't supposed to do anything that might make themselves more attractive to the opposite sex either. 

I think you all might be getting the picture.   But, I had a little Mama, that liked to break the rules, so she didn't enforce any of that.  I guess you could say, Rosie Mae Smith Johnson was a little Hell Raisin' Holy Roller.

Even with being brought up in such a rigid religious environment, I still have a very strong faith that has helped me through many bad situations throughout my life.

I also must tell you that I had the best Grandparents ever.  They gave my sister and me so much love, I don't know where I would be today if I had not had them in my life.


Speaking of Hell Raisers.  Since John and Charity were my 4th Great Grandparents, they were my Mom's 3rd Great Grandparents.   Oh and here is the good part!  They were my Grandma Stella Holland Smith's, Aunt (Reverend) Rosille Holland Snow's, and Aunt (Reverend) Nellie Holland Snow Ozner's 2nd Great Grandparents.

Oh, I almost forgot.  Their other sister, Argie Alice Holland Simpson Robinson, used to tell me all the time when I was growing up, that the devil was going to get me.  I don't know why she would tell me that.  I might be playing outside or going around in circles getting dizzy, and all of a sudden, Aunt Argie would be telling me that the devil was going to get me. She may be right about that since I can't help but enjoy the story I'm about to tell you.

Below are two photos.  The first photo is of Aunt Nellie and my Grandma.  I did think that the other person was Aunt Argie but it isn't. I think the other woman is their sister in law. 
                                            

Nellie Holland, Stella Holland, and Sister in law, I think.

The next photo is of my Grandmother, her Father, John Wesley Holland who is sitting in the middle, and her siblings. 


                                                  

Back row, left to right.  Rosie, Argie, Nellie, Stella.  Sitting in the middle is John Wesley Holland, their Father.
In the front are the brothers.  One of them is probably Clift and she had another brother named Claud Orville.  I'm not sure who the extra guy is.  To the left in the background, it looks like it is either Jr. or Don.  One of my Grandma's sons.

The photo above was taken after they came to California from Arkansas and Oklahoma, I think.

S  C A  N  D  A L 

There are many tales, and family legend surrounding Charity Brewer and John Hollon.  If you google their names, you will come up with tons of info.  Not all of it is true, however, some of it is.  Several book articles and newspapers articles have been written about them.

Lets get started.  First let me tell you a little about John Hollon and Charity Brewer each.

John's surname is found on records spelled as Holland, Hollon, and Hollin. John Hollon, my 4th Great Grandpa, was born April 24, 1777 in Montgomery County, VA.  That part of the county is now Grayson. 

There are several different versions, according to family legend, John was betrothed to Charity Brewer, who was born September 26, 1777, in what is now Ashe County, North Carolina.  It is just across the border from Grayson County. 

It is believed that Charity was the daughter of Ambrose Brewer, (she named a son Ambrose, so I believe this to be true) who was the brother of Lewis Brewer of Grayson County.  John Holland's aunt Agatha married Lewis Brewer.  There is a good chance that John and Charity knew one another as children.

John ordered a survey of land in Grayson County in October, 1799, on Middle Fork Creek, but withdrew the survey.  Instead, he went to the Kentucky wilderness to stake a claim.  He planned to return and marry Charity. 

When John did not return at the appointed time, family convinced Charity that he was dead.  She married another man, with the surname of Maynard.  They were married long enough for Charity to give birth to a child.  When John Hollon returned alive and well, she left her child and husband behind to go to Kentucky with him.

Their home site was in present day Wolfe County, Kentucky.  Charity gave birth to the first white child in the region about 1804.  One of the family legends says that Rebecca was born in the cave on Holly Creek, since their cabin was not finished yet.  Please see photo of the Cave below.

                                              

Cave where John and Charity lived while cabin was being built and where their first child was born

John and Charity had 9 children and over 100 grandchildren. Their children were Rebecca, William, Fannie, Ambrose, Lucinda, Phoebe, Andrew Jackson "Jack" (my 3rd great grandpa), Hiram and John Jr.  Many of their descendants hold reunions each year in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Texas.  At one point, over 3,000 descendants had been identified.  I don't know what the count is up to now.  I'm sure Timothy J Barron has a better idea than I do what it is.  He is a distance cousin of mine from the Holland line.  He is also the source for much of the information in this article.  

Here is the Scandalous Part

 

A marriage record from Floyd County, Kentucky, shows that John Hollon and Charity Mains (should have been Maynard) were married May 21, 1820, by Daniel Williams.  This means that their first eight children were born out of wedlock.  Charity may have still been married to her first husband.  Furthermore, she was about seven months pregnant with their ninth child, John Jr., at the time of their marriage.  

John and Charity are honored as the founders of Wolfe County in the County Historical Society in Campton, Wolfe County, Kentucky.
                                                

    John and Charity are buried together in the Hollon Cemetery on top of a hill in Hollonville, Wolfe County, Kentucky.  They are buried in cairns which is an unusual design in Kentucky. 

                                                     

Story about Charity's First Child

Timothy J Barron proved that the legend of Charity having another child that she left behind is true.  His DNA matched with a descendant of Mahalia Maynard Brewer, Charity's first born that she had with her first husband, Shadrack Maynard. My DNA also matched with a descendant of Mahalia's at a later time.

The articles written to date....

1958 Book article about John Hollon & Charity:  "Hollon and Related Families in Wolfe County" written by Clay Hollon, appeared in "Early and Modern History of Wolfe County" pages 115-116

1958 Book article about John Hollon & Charity:  "The First Hollon to Settle in Wolfe County" written by Capt. James I. Hollon, appeared in "Early and Modern History of Wolfe County", page 128

1961 Book article about John Hollon & Charity: written by Clay Hollon, appeared in "Fragments of Knowlege from Around the Globe"

1967 Newspaper Article about John Hollon & Charity: "Cave House on Holly Creek Birthplace of First white Child Born in Wolfe County" written by Steve Swango, appeared in unconfirmed newspaper.

1979 Book article about John Hollon & Charity:  appeared in "The Pence Genealogy: Early Pioneers of Wolfe County, Kentucky including Pences, Hollons, Brewers, Banks, Tomlinsons and many others and who was who," by Sally Singleton page 15

1989 Newspaper article about John Hollon & Charity: "The Saga of Charity Brewer"  written by Athelene (Jackie) Genge of Spooner, Wisconsin appeared on March 3, 1989 in the Wolfe County News from Wolfe County, Kentucky. 

1995 Book article about John Hollon & Charity:  "John Hollon and Charity Brewer" written by Sandra Lake Lassen, appeared in "Bicentennial Heritage Grayson County, Virginia" page 246

So there you have it.  Charity and John created quite a stir, and were a scandalous couple.  I'm not exactly sure when the Hollands got religion.  Maybe John and Charity had religion but I haven't read anything about it, if they did.

Who was Thomas Hilliary Smith?

Thomas H Smith was a....

Cheating, lying, horny toaded goat, mean, old man who ran off and left his first wife, Agnes Arnold Smith, with a bunch of kids to support by herself.  He supposedly married a younger woman, but proof of the marriage has never been found.  Oh, and he was my second Great Grandpa from my Mother's side.

Thomas and Agnes came from Missouri into Arkansas. They had ten children together.
1) Christoper Columbus Smith (1842-1898) married 1) Martha Nix, 2) Martha Harger, and 3rd) Rachel McGraw. 16 children altogether.
2) Mary C Smith (1844-?) married James Marsh
3) Malinda Frances Smith (1845-?) married Abraham Eukley
4) Della Agnes Smith (1847-?)
5) Martha Jane Smith (1849-1921) married Zedoc Stutchman, 8 children.
6) Larkin Robert Smith (1851-1913) married 1) Margaret Ross, 2) Mary Chastian. 10 children altogether.
7) Charles B Smith (1852-?) married Sarah Fletcher
8) John Thomas Smith (1853-?) married Elizabeth Hobbs
9) Prudence Agnes Smith(1857-?)
10) David Elijah Smith (1859-1933) married 1) CJ Long, 2) Margaret McGill. 7 children with Margaret.

Larkin and John both were born in Missouri in 1852 and 1853 according to the 1860 census.  Charles B was born in 1855 in Arkansas according to the Census record.  I am not really sure which year is correct for Larkin, John and Charles (Charles was also called Black), but apparently, the family lived for three to four years in Missouri before moving to Arkansas.

David Elijah Smith who shows up as number ten on the list was my Great Grandfather and Margaret (Tenny) McGill was my Great Grandmother.  David and CJ Long did not have any children.

On the 1870 census, Agnes is listed as head of household. On the 1880 census, Agnes' marital status is listed as widowed.

On the records for Thomas, people had listed his death date as 1860 and his death place as Arkansas.  I guess it was because he was last listed in the census records in 1860 in Arkansas.  In more recent years, his descendants have looked for his grave but, of course they never found one since the information they had to go on was false.

There have been some rumors about what may have happened to Thomas but, we didn't know if any of it was true or not.  One of the rumors was that a couple of Agnes' brothers hunted him down and killed him for leaving Agnes and fooling around on her.  Another rumor was that either a couple of her brothers or a couple of their sons hunted him down and found him living with an Indian woman.  They tried to get him to come home and he refused.

In any case, it sounds like the family new that 'ole Thomas wasn't dead but waited for twenty years after he left before listing Agnes as a widow on the census records.

All of this time though, his descendants didn't know what had happened to him, until....

I matched up with a fourth cousin through my DNA on ancestry dot com.  This fourth cousin claimed that her second Great Grandpa was Thomas Hilliary Smith but, this Thomas had a different wife.  His wife's name was Minerva Catherine Buck Smith. 

Apparently, Minerva was a widow who lived either in the same county as Thomas and Agnes or the county next to them.  She had a couple of children from her previous marriage.

Here is a photo of Thomas H Smith with his second wife and several of their children.  One thing we do know for sure about Thomas is that he was very prolific!  He and Minerva had another nine kids.

Not only did my new fourth Smith cousin match my DNA but, she also matches with several other Smith cousins from Thomas H Smith's first Smith family.  Oh Yes!  We always need more Smiths don't we....Lol.  Thomas sure did his part in supplying the world with Smiths.  One thing we know is that DNA Does Not lie even though 'ole Thomas did.

Thomas told Agnes that he was born in 1820 and told Minerva that he was born in 1812.  We know he died in 1897 in Cooke County, Texas and we know about where he is buried.  I am tempted to dig him up and do some DNA testing on him but, I guess I will just have to be satisfied with DNA test results from his descendants.

I have heard stories from his second family of descendants that tell how mean he was, how he took what he wanted, but he could also be quite charming.  Thomas was a Hell Raiser for sure!

If the research done by others is true, he came from a well to do, well respected military family that emigrated from England to Virginia in the 1600s.

One thing I can say about my Smiths is that they were a lively bunch!  More to come on Thomas and other Smiths later.

Lucy Allen Smith

Lucy was the third child of Christopher Columbus Smith Sr. and his third wife Joanna (McGraw) Smith. 

Lucy was born with normal eyesight.  However, by the time she was five she had started to lose her eyesight. 

Florence Smith Yandell on the left and Lucy Allen Smith on the right

Lucy lived with her Mother, Joanna until her Mother's death in 1936.  After Joanna passed away, Lucy went to live with her sister Florence and her husband Oscar Yandell who lived on the Smith home place.

Lucy, like most other people who's sight was impaired, was highly developed in other ways.  She had a fantastic memory and it is said that she never forgot anything.

Lucy had Joe Cole write down the names of her Father's sister and three of his brothers.  She was hoping that someone would find them since she and her family had lost track of them after her Father, Dr. Smith passed away.  Their names were Jane, Bob, Dave, and Black.

Jane (Martha Jane) married Zedoc Stuchman.  Bob (Robert Larkin) married Margaret Ross first and Mary Chastian second.  Dave (David Elijah) was my Great Grandpa.  He married CJ Long first.  They did not have any children.  He than married my Great Grandma Margaret "Tinney" McGill.  They had seven children together.  Black (Charles B) married Sarah Fletcher.   They must have all visited Dr. Smith at his house  in Yell County, AR for Lucy to have remembered all of their names.

I would love to talk to anyone who remembers Lucy or any of the others mentioned here.

Christopher Columbus Smith

Christopher Columbus Smith was the first born child of Thomas H Smith and Agnes (Arnold) Smith.  He was born January 20, 1842 in Tennessee, and died in Yell County, Arkansas in 1898.

CC Smith was the oldest brother of my Great Grandfather, David Elijah Smith, and the Uncle of my Grandpa Fred Smith.

CC Smith packed a lot of living into the 56 years of his life.  He was married three times, served in the Civil War as a Confederate Soldier, and became a doctor.

He is listed on the Register of Physicians and Surgeons 1881-1896 certified to practice in Yell County, Arkansas.

He is buried in the Smith Family Cemetery near his farm in Yell County, Arkansas.

More to come about this amazing man who lived his life to the fullest!

Smith Family Cemetery, Yell County, Arkansas

Mama Rosie's Hot Potato Salad Recipe

My Mom made the best potato salad ever!  Since it was so delicious, I make mine the same way.  I 'm going to share her recipe with you but I don't have the exact measurements for anything.

Rosie's Hot Potato Salad

-Russet or Red potatoes, peeled and cubed (enough to fill a 2 quart sauce pan) add water and boil
-6 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped - you may save one for garnish if you wish
-chopped red onion or yellow onion to taste
-mayonnaise to taste (you may use light mayo)
-red or white vinegar to taste
-salt and pepper to taste

Once potatoes are cooked, (I like mine semi-firm) mix with chopped eggs, copped onion, mayo, salt, pepper, and vinegar.  I always add the vinegar last. 
You may use a potato masher if you want your potato pieces a little smaller, but don't mash too much.  You still want your salad chunky. 
You may want to garnish the top of the salad with one of the boiled eggs, sliced and sprinkle with a little paprika.

Serve salad hot.  Um-um Good!

Smith Cousins - Mama's Side

Uncle Don and Aunt Betty's Girls
  
My Grandma and Grandpa Smith had six kids. Uncle Don was the first one to marry, although, he was the third one born out of the brood.

In this photo is Edna Mae, (the oldest out of thirty Smith grandchildren) Donna, and Barbara.  I'm not sure where the photo was taken.  I thought it might have been taken in Poplar, CA at the left front of my Grandma and Grandpa's house; but after looking at the surrounding background, I have determined it wasn't.  It might have been taken somewhere in Stockton, CA. 

I always thought Edna Mae was so wonderful and so pretty.  She was such a sweet person.  I miss my big cousin.

 

Is Great Grandma Really Buried There?

I have run across a few challenges when trying to find the graves of my ancestors. 

One of them is my maternal Great Grandmother Minnie Belle Holland, maiden name Kirkland.  I looked and looked for information on her burial place and couldn't find any information.  I remembered what her name was from listening to my Grandmother, Stella. 

After really analyzing the census records of 1930, I noticed that the Holland family, lines 25-30, lived on Coke Hill in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Coke Hill as it turns out, was a Shanty Town at Belle Point in Fort Smith close to where the Poteau and Arkansas rivers meet. My family lived in the slums. 

A shack at Coke Hill is threatened by flood waters on April 15, 1927, near the mouth of the Poteau River.  Belle Point is where the first Fort Smith was located.  

Once I tracked down where Great Grandmother Minnie lived when she passed away, I contacted the genealogy department at the Fort Smith library and asked them if they had an obituary for her.  I also sent away for a death certificate.

I hit pay dirt with my obituary request.  It was published in the Southwest American paper on March 29, 1930.  I did have to make a second request to find out where and when the obit published as the information wasn't originally given to me.  

From the obituary, I was able to ascertain that Grandmother Minnie was buried at the Noland Springs cemetery.  The cemetery is also known as Nolan/Newland springs.  The other information in the obit is either off or not fully correct.  G Grandmother Minnie was 47 when she passed away, not 50.  She was survived by more than just her husband who was John Wesley Holland, known as Wes Holland.  She had several adult children and as you can see from the 1930 census, she was survived by several younger children as well.  

She was buried less than 24 hours after she passed away.  There was no death certificate recorded.

I posted a request on findagrave.com asking if someone could look for her grave and take a photo of the stone if there was one.  A very kind woman responded, and told me that she couldn't find a stone for G Grandmother Minnie.  She even took it a step further and went to the library looking for a city death record or a funeral record, but didn't find anything.  It is possible, I suppose that the family may have buried her themselves.  Its also highly likely that they couldn't afford a stone to mark her grave with.

I read somewhere that the county would help to pay for some people to be buried in that particular cemetery if the family didn't have the funds.  I still need to do more research, but at this point, the most information I have for G Grandmother Minnie's burial place is her obituary.

The cemetery is an old one and doesn't have many markers apparently.  It is kept up to some extent and the grass is mowed.  It was described to me as being a deserted cemetery....is there such a thing?  A deserted cemetery?  There are people there even if they're dead....

Most of us don't think about what the place where we might be buried might end up looking like after a period of time.  It is up to people like us to keep track of those who came before us, so we can share the information with those who come after us.