Homestead food memories

Last week I mentioned the vintage soap dish reminded me of the kitchen in our Atlanta house on Macon Drive. A lot of food came out of that kitchen, with both Mama and Daddy cooking. Seven people lived there, two adults and five children. In addition, my uncle Clark Lankford lived with us for a while, although I don’t remember for how long. I’m sure money was tight and Mama had to work hard to stretch the food budget. But we made do and never went without.

Our kitchen was small and narrow and only had a little counter space. It had built-in shelves on one end to hold pots and pan. Underneath the shelves was a chute that went to the laundry room in the basement, directly below the kitchen. You could easily get your dirty clothes to the laundry room but you had to carry them up the stairs to put them away. For a while, we had a Hoosier cabinet that contained a flour-bin with a sifter. Mama said she did in fact store flour in the bin and just had to walk over and sift flour into a bowl when baking. Today the cabinet would be considered vintage. The photo above is Daddy cooking in the Macon Drive kitchen. It doesn’t show much of the kitchen but you can see how narrow it was, as well as the shelves I mentioned.

Of course, growing up in the south, biscuits was our bread of choice for many meals, definitely for breakfast and often for dinner. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mama make canned biscuits. I remember sitting on the countertop watching the master perform her magic with self-rising flour, Crisco, and buttermilk. As many times as I did that though, I still can’t make biscuits. You would think I could whip up a pan myself, but that was not meant to be, and that’s probably a good thing. To go along with all those biscuits, we usually had a hearty breakfast that included some form of meat—bacon, sausage, streak-o-lean, ham, or pork chops. Mama needed to cook a meat so she had grease to make gravy for the biscuits. For a sweet treat, we mixed sorghum syrup with softened margarine (I don’t remember ever having actual butter), and spreading that on a biscuit. We ate lots of eggs—fried, scrambled, or poached. Sometimes Mama even made scrambled eggs and brains (yuk!). Grits was a staple but occasionally we had rice, probably leftover from dinner the night before. And of course, we sometimes had French toast or pancakes. I remember spreading jelly on my pancakes instead of syrup, something I’m not the least bit interested in doing today.

Davis Grocery from our front yard

When I think of lunch from that time in my life, I think about egg salad or pineapple sandwiches. I’ve previously written about Mama buying bologna from Davis Grocery next door but I don’t remember that at all. I also don’t remember buying lunch at school. I only remember carrying my egg salad sandwich or a crushed pineapple and cream cheese sandwich, always on Colonial bread, in a brown paper lunch bag along with a Moon pie for dessert. Sometimes at home we had a sliced pineapple and mayonnaise sandwich, or even just a mayonnaise sandwich. On Sunday, we ate our big meal mid-day, after church.

Dinners included your typical southern fare—chicken, pork chops, roast beef, spaghetti, cubed steak, porcupines (meatballs with rice in a tomato sauce), pork and sauerkraut, liver and onions (yuk!), and ham. Mama bought whole chickens and cut them up herself. You wouldn’t know which piece you were eating if I attempted that! When Mama worked the late shift, she’d often start dinner before leaving and left it up to us girls to finish. Mama said she used to buy one box of frozen shrimp and everyone got one to two pieces each. I don’t eat seafood so she cooked a pork chop for me. On weekends, Daddy sometimes cooked. I remember him cooking things like spaghetti, baked beans, curried chicken, BBQ ribs, and deer meat. I especially remember him cooking a cow tongue on several occasions. He put the tongue in a Dutch oven and filled it with water. It didn’t take much water because the tongue was huge. At least it was to my younger self. I probably ate a pork chop those nights as well. If we didn’t have biscuits with dinner, we had cornbread.

I remember the vegetables more than I remember the meats. Daddy always had a large garden in the backyard and what he didn’t grow, he or Mama went to the Atlanta State Farmers Market in Forest Park and brought home bushel bags full of vegetables. We’d sit on the back porch and shell peas, snap beans, and shuck corn till the cows came home. We had pole beans, butter beans, crowder peas, and purple hull peas. Uncle Clark helped us on Sundays. One time my brother stuck one of the peas up his nose. That was probably after he tried to slide through the laundry chute and got stuck. The corn was usually homemade creamed corn, something I still make. One of my favorite vegetables was fried okra. If I had to pick a last meal, it would probably consist of fried okra, creamed corn, and crowder peas, along with one of Mama’s biscuits. Mama made a lot of macaroni and cheese, but never out of a box. She once told me she made it because it was cheap and went a long way for our large family but everybody loved it and it became a staple. Cooked cabbage, coleslaw, squash, rice, white potatoes, and sweet potatoes were often on the menu. To this day, if I eat white rice as a side dish, it’s got to have butter and sugar on it. Mama made sure we ate good in the winter months as well. The chest freezer was filled with beans, peas, corn, okra, squash, and fruits. Mason jars filled with tomatoes, soup mix, pickled peaches, and jellies lined the shelves in the dirt side of our basement. My great-grandfather (James Stewart Shields or Pappy to the great-grandchildren) gave Mama several red plum trees that Daddy planted along the backyard fence. We always had good homemade plum jelly for our biscuits. An apple tree gave us apple jelly too. We had two cherry trees but they never produced enough to do anything with. Mama said we had a grapevine in the backyard when they moved to the house but Daddy took it down because of bees. And we had a pear tree, but it didn’t produce much fruit either. Luckily, Mama bought pears from the farmers market and then made pear preserves. Have you ever had pear preserves? They’re delicious! Another good thing to put on biscuits. 

And let’s not forget about sweets. Ours was not a cookie baking household. Instead, Mama made cakes, cobblers, and pies. Not one of my favorites, but everyone else loved her coconut cake with seven-minute frosting, cooked over a double boiler. She always used frozen coconut vs. the bagged variety. I remember having pound cake too. For a treat, Mama added cornstarch and red food coloring to a can of fruit cocktail which she heated until the sauce thickened. Once it cooled, we’d spoon the mixture over pound cake. We loved that. My favorite was, and still is, a pineapple upside down cake. Back then, it was always round, cooked in a cast iron skillet. And of course, carrot cake at Christmastime. Cobblers were a favorite—peach, strawberry, blackberry—whatever fruit was in season or she had stored in the freezer. I still love her apple pie. One of our favorites was fried peach pies Mama made using dried peaches. She added a little water to the peaches, cooked them down, and added a little sugar. While that cooked, she made a pie crust that she rolled out and then cut out circles of dough using a cereal bowl turned upside down. Fry that baby up, then while it’s still hot, rub it with a stick of butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top. Delicious! This was one treat that Mama and I made together when she’d visit me in Virginia years later. I was in charge of the butter and cinnamon sugar and she did the rest. I always remember divinity at Christmas. We made homemade ice cream in the summer and all had to take a turn at cranking the freezer filled with ice and rock salt. For a quick snack, Mama spread peanut butter over soda crackers, topped them with a marshmallow, and then toasted them in the oven until the marshmallow was golden brown. A great, cheap, sweet treat that I still make today.

Marshmallow, peanut butter on soda cracker treats

Such good memories!

References

• Hoosier cabinet; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosier_cabinet.  
• Cake photo by Kathy Osborne.

Vintage Soap Dish

One of the few items I have that can connect me to my past is this vintage soap dish. Well before being diagnosed with dementia, Daddy started passing his treasures on to his five children. It may have been something you expressed interest in at some point or something he just wanted you to have. Daddy happily passed his possessions on, that way he knew they had a home and would be taken care of after he was gone. I can’t speak for my siblings, but Daddy often shared the history of the item he gave me, particularly if it was a family heirloom. Early on, I didn’t have sense enough to document what he told me so unfortunately, don’t remember the history of this dish. I do, however, remember it sitting on the counter by the kitchen sink of the Atlanta house I grew up in.

I’ve kept the dish on my bedroom dresser for years until recently moving it to the living room. The dish is china, a small oval measuring 5 ¾ x 4 ½, and has four dogwood blossoms in the bowl. “Ivory Lamberton Sterling” is stamped on the bottom. It’s in good condition, with no visible chips or cracks, however, does have rust spots in the bowl so must have a hairline crack somewhere.

I don’t know if it has any monetary value, if so, I doubt its much. A quick google search tells me maybe $8 to $10. But that really doesn’t matter, it’s a family treasure to me.

William Harris McCarty

William Harris McCarty, son of John McCarty and Rena Harris, was born in Jackson County, Georgia on April 1, 1838. There were at least nine children in William’s family—Nancy A. E. McCarty, John McCarty, William Harris McCarty, Jesse McCarty, Mary A. Luvina McCarty, Elias McCarty, Bradley Walker McCarty, Demaris McCarty, and Marion J. McCarty. He is the husband of my 3rd great grand aunt, Marian Langford Hobbs Jenkins McCarty. We have no common relative. He apparently went by Bill but for the purpose of this sketch, I’ll use William.

On October 1, 1850, William and his family lived in Subdivision no. 45 of Jackson County, Georgia. His father John worked as a laborer.

I looked all over the place for William in the 1860 census and believe I finally found him on June 6, 1860, living with Terrell Benton and his family in Schull Shoals, Greene County, Georgia. The age is right—since William was born in 1838, he would have been 22 years old in 1860, which is how old this William was. William worked as a pitcher. I tried, but didn’t find, a definition for this occupation but believe it has something to do with pitching hay. Mr. Benton was an overseer which meant he worked on a farm. Makes sense to me. This record puts William in Greene County where he would meet his future wife, Marian Langford Hobbs Jenkins. 

William in the 1860 census (click to enlarge)

William and Marian, daughter of Nathan Augustus Hobbs Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Lankford, were married in Greene County, Georgia on July 8, 1860. Marian, a widow, had previously been married to John Jenkins. 

William McCarty and Marian Hobbs Jenkins marriage license

William and Marian were still newlyweds when the Civil War broke out in 1861. On May 5, 1862, at the age of 26, William enlisted as a private at Crawfordsville, Georgia in Captain James M. Griffin's Company, 55th Regiment Georgia Infantry, Company B for the period of three years or the war. He mustered in at Camp Stevens on May 13, 1862. William remained with his company until September 9, 1863 when they were surrendered at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. By April 30, 1864, William was serving in Company A. On June 22, 1864, he was detached as a butcher by order of General Winder. On August 26, 1864, he was issued new clothing for the third quarter. After the Civil War ended, it was said he did not like Yankees and would never wear the color blue.

About April 1870, William and Marian had their first child, a daughter they named Mattie. On June 22, 1870, William, Marian, Mattie, and an eight-year-old black female named Margaret Lankford lived in Penfield. William was a farmer with a personal estate valued at $250. Marian was keeping house. On October 11, 1874, their second daughter, Gussie Annette McCarty, was born in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. 

On June 14, 1880, William, Marian, and Gussie lived in Penfield, Greene County, Georgia. He was enumerated as Bill McCarter, working as a farmer. Marian was keeping house while 10-year-old Gussie worked as a laborer, presumably helping her father on the farm. His father John died at the age of 67 in November 1880 in Oglethorpe County. William was apparently well thought of in Penfield. On September 1, 1881, The Greensboro Herald published a short item in a section called “Penfield Dots” that read:

Penfield Dots.—Wm. McCarty says he has a cow that, with good attention, will give four gallons of milk per day. We believe it, for Bill is a good judge of that kind of stock.

Marian took ill in 1882. Another short item was published in the Penfield Dots section of The Greensboro Herald on March 9, 1882 that read:

Penfield Dots. By Senior. We regret to learn that Mrs. W. H. McCarty is quite sick.

She survived whatever illness she had in 1882 and lived another seven years. After 29 years of marriage to William, Marian died in Penfield on November 1, 1889. She was buried at Penfield Cemetery there in Penfield.

On June 12, 1900, a widowed William, his daughter Gussie, son-in-law James E. George, and his granddaughter Willie Marion George (enumerated as a grandson named William M. George and labeled as a female) lived in the Branch District of Greene County, Georgia. At age 63, William still farmed. James, who had been married to Gussie for two years, was also a farmer. All three adults were able to read and write.

Willie Marian George, William McCarty, and Mary Lou George (1910)

William filed an indigent pension application in Greene County on September 14, 1903. Joseph Boswell, a friend for 40 years and member of the same regiment, acted as a witness on William’s application. In his statement, Joseph said he lived a mile from William and knew that he had no property, effects or income, and that he didn't have as much as $5 at any time during the period 1896 to 1902. He further stated that William had no occupation because he was very feeble from old age and physical weakness. During the years 1898 to 1902, Joseph said that William did a little work but was otherwise supported by the help of friends almost altogether. During that period, William managed to bring in an income not exceeding $10 a year. Finally, Joseph said that William was a delicate man naturally and added to this the infirmities of age rendered him unable to support himself. On September 14, 1903, Dr. J. Fielding Wilson certified that William was unable to earn a living due to cardiac trouble which physically disabled him from doing daily labor.

On April 15, 1910, the tables had turned and William now lived with Gussie and James on Main Street in Penfield. As he had 10 years earlier, William still farmed on a general farm but James now worked as a sawyer in a saw mill. William had four grandchildren living in the home to keep him company—Marion, Raleigh, Mary Lou, and Otis George. James’ brother Hayden Edgar George also lived in the home. Hayden worked as an agent for Gloria Light. They all lived next door to James’ sister Julia Cleo George Clark and her husband Augustus. Living next door to Julia was Mary Lankford, my 2nd great grandmother, along with her son Oliver and daughter Della. Mary was the wife of James C. Lankford, nephew of William’s wife Marian.

On January 8, 1920, William continued to live with Gussie and James but they had moved to Bowling Green Road in the Bowling Greene District of Stephens, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. At age 77, William had finally given up farming. James was now an operator in an auto garage. Grandson Raleigh contributed to the family by working as a farmer on a general farm. Mary Lou and Otis (enumerated as James O. George) were both in school. William had been blessed with one more grandchild since the last census was taken, a boy named Guy. Guy would later describe his grandfather as having blue eyes, and being thin, tall and straight as a ram rod.

William died of dysentery at the age of 86 in Penfield on June 20, 1923. Upon his death, James filed an application for pension due to a deceased pensioner to pay $105.30 for William’s funeral and final medical expenses which consisted of:

$90.00 for a casket and hearse ($75) and a burial robe ($15) from Roy Boswell

$13.00 for medical services rendered by J. A. Stapler, M.D.

$2.30 for underwear, one shirt, hose, collar, and buttons from A. J. Boswell General Merchandise in Penfield

The Pension Office approved and ordered paid $100.00. William was buried beside Marian at Penfield Cemetery.

References

• Family memories shared by Kenneth George.
• Penfield Dots, The Greensboro Herald, Greensboro, Georgia, March 9, 1882.
• Penfield Dots, The Greensboro Herald, Greensboro, Georgia, September 1, 1881.
• Personal visit to Penfield Cemetery, Penfield, Georgia.
• United States Federal Census, Bowling Green, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1920.
• United States Federal Census, Branch, Greene County, Georgia, 1900.
• United States Federal Census, District 148, Greene County, Georgia, 1880.
• United States Federal Census, Militia District 140, Greene County, Georgia, 1870.
• United States Federal Census, Penfield, Greene County, Georgia, 1910.
• United States Federal Census, Subdivision 45, Jackson County, Georgia, 1850.
• W. H. McCarty death certificate no. 17535, Georgia State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
• William H. McCarty, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia.
• William H. McCarty, Georgia, U.S., Confederate Pension Applications, 1879–1960.
• William McCarty and Marion L. Jenkins, Georgia Marriages, 1699-1944.
• William McCarty, Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865.

1923 road trip to Gettysburg

Among the items left behind by my husband’s grandmother, Bertha Edna Smith, are a good number of photos and a church program. The program was for a July 8, 1923 service at the Presbyterian Church in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She, along with her brother John Milton Smith, his girlfriend Virginia Johnston, brother George Nelson Smith, and his girlfriend Verda Hilty apparently attended the service that day. I know very little about the trip but thanks to the fact that she took the time to mark names on the program and labeled a particular photo, I was able to put the two items together to document the trip. At the time, they lived in the Washington Township of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, which is about 163 miles from Gettysburg. By today’s standards, that’s just under a three-hour trip. But in 1923, I’m sure it took a lot longer so my guess is they stayed overnight. As it turns out, Gettysburg had just finished celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg so perhaps they had gone there to join the festivities. 

Virginia Johnston, John Smith, Verda Hilty, Bertha Smith, George Smith

A news article published in The Chronicle in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania on July 5, 1923 reported the following:

Gettysburg Celebration Attracted Entire Nation. Gettysburg, Pa.,—Tourists from all parts of the country have been in Gettysburg this week drawn here by the 60th anniversary of the battle, the celebration of which ended Tuesday. A number of Shippensburg people spent Monday on the Battlefield.

On July 7, 1923, the church published the following information in The Gettysburg Times about the service:

Gettysburg Presbyterian. Rev. W. C. Robinson, pastor. Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. Theme: “Our Communion Reunion.” Reception of new members and baptism, C. E. at 6:45 p.m. Theme: “The March of the Sacramental Hosts.” Preparatory service Friday evening at 7:30 o’clock. Sermon theme: “The Three Alternatives—Self Examination, A Divine Judgment, and Chastisement Condemnation.”

This is the church program with her handwritten notes down the middle of the page.

click to enlarge

References

• Gettysburg Celebration Attracted Entire Nation, The Chronicle, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1923.
• Gettysburg Presbyterian, The Gettysburg Times, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 7, 1923.

Zora Louise W. Seibers

Zora Louise W. Seibers, daughter of William L. Seibers and Missie Belle Boles, was born in Tennessee on February 2, 1915. Zora was the third child of seven—Ruby S. Seibers, Gladys Elizabeth Seibers, Zora Louise W. Seibers, Ida Lee Seibers, Allen Derod Seibers, Patsy Reba Seibers, and Frances Juanita Seibers. She is the sister-in-law of my maternal grandfather, Samuel Jackson Holland, who married Zora’s sister Patsy. We have no common relative. Zora shared her February 2nd birthday, although not the year, with Patsy.

Zora's mother Missie and sister Ruby
(shared by Melissa Ivey)

On January 2, 1920, Zora (5), her parents, and sisters Ruby (10), Gladys (7), and Ida (2 6/12) lived in a rented home of the Butler’s Landing Precinct (District 3) of Clay County, Tennessee. Her father worked as a farm laborer. None of the girls were attending school at the time, and had not since September 1919. Zora’s father was unable to read or write, however both her mother and sister Ruby could. Zora’s mother died in Tennessee about 1929. She would have been 37 and Zora 14.

On April 29, 1930, for reasons unknown to me, Zora was listed as an inmate at the Tennessee Industrial School located in the Sixth District of Davidson County, Tennessee. According to a story published on December 30, 1917 in The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, “… The school was started in 1886 by Col. E. W. Cole” … “for the purpose of making better citizens out of the children who had been forced to stand the hard knocks of life.” In 1930, it took 18 full pages for the census enumerator to record the inmates living there so it was a good-sized school. 

Zora gained a stepmother on November 2, 1930 when her father married Mattie (Strong) Collins in Clay County, Tennessee.

On June 7, 1933, 18-year-old Zora gave birth to a baby girl at Nashville General Hospital in Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee. Born prematurely at 5 ½ months and a breech delivery, Baby Seibers only lived five minutes. No father was listed on her death certificate. Instead, the word “unknown” was written in. The baby was buried in the Potters Field the next day. At the time, Zora lived at 408 Second Street in Nashville.

Malcolm "Mac" Crabtree,
Cooper-Martin Store Manager,
The Tennessean,
Nashville, Tennessee
September 22, 1960

I have searched and searched for Zora in the 1940 census but have been unable to find her. I’ll keep looking but if you’re reading this and have found her, I hope that you’ll share that piece of information. About 1945, Zora married Malcolm Allen Crabtree, son of Marshall Bowers (or Barren) Crabtree and Minnie L. Bates. I can’t find a marriage record so have estimated the marriage year after not finding Zora listed with Malcolm in the Nashville City Directories in 1942, 1943, and 1944. The 1945 city directory posted in ancestry.com is incomplete so can’t be checked. I finally found Zora and Malcolm in 1946 living with his parents at 1117 North Second Street in Nashville, his childhood home. Malcolm was a branch manager at a Market Basket Store. The two couples lived at the same address in 1947 and Malcolm still worked at Market Basket. In 1949 and 1950, both couples still lived together on North Second Street. Malcolm had changed jobs and was now a branch manager at Cooper-Martin Inc., a grocery store. Malcolm’s father passed away in November 1954. Four years later, the family was in mourning again when Zora’s father died at the age of 76 on February 20, 1958, in Celina, Tennessee. He was buried at the George R. Drury Cemetery in Lafayette, Macon County, Tennessee. Zora, Malcolm, and his widowed mother Minnie remained in the same house and Malcolm continued to work at Cooper & Martin through at least 1959. Zora was a housewife.

On December 18, 1964, 49-year-old Zora died at Park View Hospital in Nashville. The doctor recorded her cause of death as uremia, due to chronic nephritis on her death certificate. Zora apparently suffered from kidney disease, as well as emphysema, bronchial asthma, and a partial intestinal obstruction. Zora’s funeral was held at the Cosmopolitan Chapel on December 20. My grandfather, Sam Holland, was a pallbearer. Other pallbearers included Charles Crabtree, Marshall Crabtree, Ed Beasley, George Drury, and Robert L. Crabtree. Zora was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery. 

It’s not until you read Zora’s obituary that you learn she had a son named Danny. 

The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee, December 19, 1964

That’s confirmed a year later when a “memorium” was published in The Tennessean on December 18, 1965 to remember Zora:

In Memorium

CRABTREE

In loving memory of Mrs. Zora Louise Crabtree who passed away December 18, 1964.

“You are not forgotten, loved one,

Nor will you ever be, 

as long as life and memory last.

We will remember thee.”

Sadly missed by Husband and Son.

Another newspaper article was published on December 29, 1965 in The Tennessean announcing Malcolm’s second marriage. This article included a sentence that read “David Crabtree was his father’s best man.” So now we don’t know if the son was named Danny or David. When Malcolm died in 1996, his obituary noted that he was survived by his wife, stepson, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter but no mention of a son, either living or deceased. The boy wasn't listed as a surviving grandchild in Malcom's father's obituary in 1954. I’ve searched for other records but have been unable to find any. We may have to wait for the 1950 census to be released to learn more about Danny. Another mystery I found in Zora’s obituary was the third survivor, listed immediately after Malcolm and Danny—Hugene Seibers of California. I can’t figure out who he is. Hopefully, I’ll be able to figure both of these out someday. 

An April 17, 2021 update from Zora’s (Louise) niece (my aunt): HUGENE SEIBERS was Louise’s son and I believe he was raised by Louise’s father, Will Seibers He was born prior to her marriage to Malcolm Crabtree. Hugene visited us in Atlanta in the late 1940s when I was about 5 years old. I do not know who his father was. DANNY CRABTREE was adopted by Louise and Malcolm in the early 1950s. I remember him as a baby. He visited Mother and Daddy in the 1960s at their home on Roberta Circle in Gainesville.

References

• Baby Seibers, Certificate of Death no. 11290, State of Tennessee, State Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics.
• Clay County, Tennessee Census, 1920.
• Crabtree, Vick Vows Said, The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee, December 29, 1965.
• In Memorium – Crabtree, The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee, December 18, 1965.
• Louise Crabtree, Certificate of Death no. 64-33260, State of Tennessee, Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Statistics.
• Malcolm “Mac” Crabtree, Store Manager, The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee, September 22, 1960.
• Malcolm Allen Crabtree, U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007.
• Marshall A. Crabtree obituary, The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee, April 19, 1996.
• Marshall Barren Crabtree obituary, The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee, November 15, 1954.
• Marshall Bowers Crabtree, Certificate of Death no. 54-23964, State of Tennessee, Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Statistics.
• Nashville, Tennessee, City Directory, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1959.
• Nephritis; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephritis.
• Resigns Superintendence of State Industrial School: W. C. Kilvington Severs His Connection with Institution to Which He Has Devoted Thirty-one Years of His Life, Making It What It Is Today, The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee, December 30, 1917.
• United States Federal Census, Celina, Clay County, Tennessee, 1940.
• United States Federal Census, Civil District 3, Clay County, Tennessee, 1910, 1920.
• United States Federal Census, District 1, Clay County, Tennessee, 1930.
• United States Federal Census, District 6, Davidson County, Tennessee, 1930.
• Uremia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uremia.
• Zora Louise Crabtree obituary, The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee, December 19, 1964.

Elsie Augusta Smith

Elsie Augusta Smith, daughter of Erastus C. Smith and Jane Rachel Anderson, was born in Apollo, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania on September 27, 1869. She was the oldest of four children—Elsie Augusta Smith, Mary Jane Smith, Florence G. Smith, and Barton Richard Smith. She would be the first cousin 2x removed of my husband Charles Murphy. Their nearest common relatives are John Thompson Smith and Jane Gordon, his 2nd great grandparents. I’m not sure if she went by Elsie, Augusta, or Gussie—I see them all in the records—but for this sketch, I’ll use Elsie.

Elsie was baptized on May 11, 1870 at the First Presbyterian Church in Apollo. She was listed as Elsie Augustus (Smith) in the Register of Baptisms.  

Register of Baptisms and Baptised Persons, U.S., Presbyterian Records, 1743-1970 (click to enlarge)

On June 24, 1870, the Smith family lived in the Kellys Station community of Apollo. Elsie’s father was a painter, her mother was keeping house. She was enumerated as Elsie A. Smith, age 8/12, born in September. Elsie’s maternal grandfather, Samuel Anderson, a 67-year-old laborer, lived with the family. The census enumerator did not record any real or personal estate information for Elsie’s father Erastus. Her grandfather Samuel was enumerated as having real estate valued at $1500 and a personal estate valued at $300.

On June 21, 1880, the Smith family still lived in Apollo. Elsie’s father, now 36 years old, still painted houses, but was noted as having been unemployed for six months that year. Jane, her mother, age 37, was keeping house. Elsie, age 10, was at home, along with sister Mary, age 6, sister Florence, age 4, and brother Frank, age 1. When Elsie was 16, her father Erastus died in Apollo on April 13, 1886 at the age of 43. His cause of death was from erysipelas, a superficial infection of the skin typically involving the lymphatic system. He was buried at Riverview Cemetery in Apollo.

Elsie married James Elmer Wible, son of Robert Wible and Sarah Bowsed, in Mahoning, Ohio on November 18, 1896. They had one child, a son they named Harry Anderson Wible, born in Apollo on January 31, 1897. 

Wible-Smith marriage license

On June 12, 1900, Elsie, enumerated as Gussie, and her 3-year-old son Harry, lived with her mother and brother Barton in Apollo. The census record shows Elsie had one child, who as noted above, was living in the home. Her birth was shown as September 1870. Her brother Barton, now age 20, was an opener in a steel mill. It appears that no one else in the home was working. The census enumerator noted that she had been married four years, but there was no sign of her husband on the census record. I’ve looked but have yet to find him in the 1900 census. I did find James listed in the 1902 Pittsburgh City Directory; however, the directory didn’t list spouses. At the time, James lived on Brushton Avenue with his brother George G. Wible.

At the age of 37 and a half years old, Elsie died on March 30, 1907 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. She had been diagnosed a year earlier with pulmonary tuberculosis when she succumbed to the illness. Elsie was buried at Prospect Cemetery in Apollo. At the time of her death, she lived at 7825 Bennett Street in Pittsburgh, the same address James was listed in in the 1904 and 1906 Pittsburgh City Directories. Elsie shares a tombstone at the cemetery with her sister Mary who died of heart disease in Apollo on January 12, 1908, less than a year after Elsie’s death. The Apollo Sentinel reported Mary’s death on January 17, 1908:

Death of Mary Jane Smith—after a lingering illness Miss Mary Jane Smith died at the home of her mother, Mrs. J. R. Smith, on North Sixth Street, on Sunday, January 12th 1908, aged 33 years, 9 months and 8 days. The deceased was a Presbyterian by faith and was well liked by all who knew her. She is survived by a mother and a brother, Bart Smith, and a sister, Florence Smith. Funeral services were held Wednesday. Interment was made at the Prospect cemetery.

The daughters in this Smith family would not be allowed to grow old. In just three years, all three young women were gone. Like Else, her sister Florence also contracted pulmonary tuberculosis and died on December 7, 1909. Florence was buried at Prospect Cemetery with her sisters Elsie and Mary. The Apollo Sentinel reported her death on December 10, 1909:

Florence Smith, daughter of Mrs. Jane Smith, died at her home on North Sixth Street on Tuesday, December 7th, aged 33 years. Death was caused by tuberculosis. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church. Funeral services were held at her late home Thursday afternoon. Rev. Leon Stewart preached the funeral services. Interment in the Prospect Cemetery.

James lived with his brother George G. Wible in Ward 3 of Pittsburgh in 1910. Both he and George were building contractors. He died of pneumonia on January 8, 1912 in Pittsburgh. Their son Harry was left an orphan at age 14. 

Tombstone photo by Kathleen Anthony, Find a Grave contributor 47322047.

References

• Elsie A. Smith, U.S., Presbyterian Records, 1743-1970.
• Elsie Augusta Wible death certificate no. 28505, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 21 February 2021), memorial page for Elsie A. Smith Wible (26 Sep 1869–30 Mar 1907), Find a Grave Memorial no. 55232708, citing Prospect Cemetery, Apollo, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, USA; maintained by Kathleen Anthony (contributor 47322047).
• James Elmer Wible death certificate no. 7786, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
• Jas. E. Wible and Augustus Smith marriage license, State of Ohio, Mahoning County.
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1902, 1906.
• U.S. Federal Census, Apollo, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, 1870, 1880, 1900.
• U.S. Federal Census, East Franklin, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, 1870, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Pittsburgh Ward 13, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1910.

Baby Boy Smith

Baby Boy Smith, son of Russell W. Smith and Marian Gertrude Datt, was born at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on February 2, 1965. He would be my husband’s 2nd cousin with their nearest common relatives being John Milton Smith and Amanda Larimer Horne, my husband’s great grandparents.

Sadly, he only lived for 12 and ½ hours. An autopsy was performed that determined he died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage—an aneurysm in the brain. Baby Boy Smith was buried at Uniondale Cemetery in Pittsburgh on February 4. 

At the time of his birth, Baby Boy Smith’s parents, who married in 1960, lived in the Wexford area of Pittsburgh. They would go on to have two more children, a boy and girl, who will remain nameless here for privacy reasons.

When his mother died 33 years later, her obituary noted that she was preceded in death by her father. When his father died 46 years later, his obituary noted that he was preceded by his first wife Marian as well as his second wife Eleanor. Baby Boy Smith was not mentioned in either obituary.

I’m always saddened when I find an infant death in my research. It brings me a little comfort to remember them here. 

References

• Baby Boy Smith Certificate of Death no. 012113-65, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Vital Statistics. 
• Marian Datt Smith obituary, News Record, North Hills, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1993.
• Russell W. Smith obituary, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 27, 2011.
• Subarachnoid hemorrhage; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subarachnoid_hemorrhage.