Anyone who has ever worked on a family tree has made an error! Some are easily fixed, while others are not.
My big blunder, trusting someone else's work, has caused me many roadblocks in my research. When I first began researching my Smith line, I knew for a fact who my grandmother was and knew her parents' names. Her name was Ruthie Pearl Tisdale Smith. Her parents were William Jeptha Tisdale and Suzanne Eulaliah Smith. (Notice that Smith line is in not only one side of my family but two!)
My grandfather was L. J. Smith. His father was Horace Everett Smith, and his mother was Mattie Leona Brewer. Horace Everett Smith was born in 1874. The first census record I found him in as a child is the 1880 Pulaski County Missouri census why Missouri when they were from Mississippi is a BIG mystery.
To further the mystery, I thought all this time that Horace's father's name was James William Smith. Now, I'm not 100% sure of his middle name. I know that James W. Smith was born in Pike County, Mississippi, on the 11th day of November 1819. I picked him up again in the 1850 Jasper County Mississippi census as a teacher, not yet married. Using the 1850 and 1860 Jasper County census records, I find that J. W. Smith married Sarah Benge, daughter of William R. Benge and Melinda Jane Sellers/Sellars.
I can follow this line through the census records and other family trees, but I cannot find definitive proof of who my great-great-great grandparents were. I know this James W. Smith died on or about the 1st of December 1896. I have this information from the Widow's Application for Pension on Sarah. No place of death is listed, and no death records exist for this time frame. I am assuming that it was in Hot Spring County, Arkansas, as that is where the family lived at the time.
I am trying to work my way back to James Smith's parents by researching his siblings. One sibling is Henry B. Smith. Henry is the youngest brother to my James Smith. I have some information on this sibling but nothing about his parents. Another sibling is Martha Smith. Martha was born in 1824, supposedly in Mississippi. This ancestor has given me the most clues. Her obituary, dated March 20, 1919, states "After a long and eventful life, Mrs. Martha White, one of Newton's notable characters, died yesterday afternoon." The obituary states, "Mrs. White was born in Monticello, MS on August 28, 1824, and left an orphan at the age of ten years. For a time, she was under the tutelage of a maternal aunt, the wife of ex-Gov. McRae. She was married to M. G. Beard, who preceded her in death. In 1870, she was again married to Henry White. " Her obituary is full of excellent information, but nothing on her parents.
Family lore has it that the Smith children were orphaned when their father died and their mother remarried. Supposedly, the stepfather did not want the children, so they were farmed out to relatives.
No one I have worked with seems to know these children's parents. If you have any clues or records, please share them with me!
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