One of My Brick Walls
- geneal1
- Oct 3
- 3 min read

Today is my birthday! I wanted to share a brick wall research problem with you all and see if you have any suggestions.
I have been stuck at a brick wall in my family research for years! My direct paternal lines are Smith and Tisdale. My direct maternal lines are Campbell and Luttrell.
My paternal line is where I have my biggest brick wall. My father was Odell Smith. He was born in Jones County, Mississippi, in 1929. His father was L. J. Smith. All we ever knew him by were his initials. My grandfather was born on 25 February 1907 in Arkadelphia, Clark County, Arkansas. His parents were Horace Everett Smith and Mattie Leona Brewer. I have their information. Horace was born on 18 May 1874 in Richland, Pulaski County, Missouri. Mattie Leona Brewer was born on 07 February 1879 in Cuba, Sumter County, Alabama. Horace Everett Smith's parents are James William Smith, born 11 November 1819 in Pike County, Mississippi, and Sarah Ann Margaret Benge, born 12 March 1832 in Alabama.
Here is where my brick wall comes in! I have been unable to locate the parents of James William Smith. I have two cousins who have worked with me on this line, and we have not been able to produce any information other than the siblings of James William Smith.
The siblings of James William Smith are as follows:
Eliza Smith - born 1814
Henry B. Smith - born 18 August 1821 in Mississippi - married to Nancy Jane Stephens. They lived in Ashley County Arkansas where he died 27 January 1901.
Martha Smith - born 17 August 1824 in Monticello, Mississippi - married M. F. Beard, who died in 1859. She then married Henry White, and they lived in Newton County, Mississippi. According to her obituary in the Newton Record, dated Thursday, March 20, 1919, Martha was left an orphan at the age of ten. Her list of survivors does not mention any siblings, only her children.
James William Smith did serve in the Military, and I have a Widow's Application for Pension for Sarah A. Smith, which states that her husband, James W. Smith, served in Company K, 37th Infantry from the state of Mississippi and was discharged on account of blindness on June 1, 1862. She also states her husband died on or about 01 December 1896, but does not indicate where he died or where he is buried.
Some researchers claim that the father of Eliza, James William, Henry B., and Martha Smith was William Willis Smith, born in 1794 in Georgia and died in Lawrence County, Mississippi, in 1830. The mother is Martha Jane Burge, who was born on 30 December 1798 in Virginia and died on 16 July 1862 in Hancock County, Mississippi.
Family lore states that after Mr. Smith's death, his wife, Martha Jane Burge, married a Wellington or Willington Finney and entrusted her children to her sister for raising. Her sister was Mary Annette Margaret Burge, who married John Jones McRae, Governor of Mississippi.
As I have stated, my cousins and I have been trying to break this brick wall for a long time, and we would love to have some new insight on where to search for records. If you have any information about this family and would like to share it, we would greatly appreciate it.
Comments