My father, Carl D. Smith, born on October 26th, 1899, in Greene Township, Iowa county, Iowa, on the family farm. His parents were James Sanford Smith and Ada Mozelle Seary Smith. Carl's birth was the 8th of 10. Two of the previous seven were stillborn.
This photo is of Carl, his mother Ada, and oldest sister Mabel. Despite having 2 younger children, it's said that Carl was his mother's favorite.
The Smith's were a farm family, naturally using horses at that time. With 6 sons and 2 daughters, there was plenty of help. In this photo, Carl is on the left, with one of his older brothers.
Carl left home at age 16 (without notice or permission) and made his way to Chicago, and began to make his life there, with help from his father's younger half-brother Ellsworth Smith, who ran a successful bar on Chicago's south side. During his 20 years in Chicago, Carl worked at a variety of jobs, including milkman, boxing sparring partner, and at Brooks Brothers clothing mart. He married, fathered a daughter (Elaine), suffered through the Great Depression, divorced, and returned to Wellman in 1936.
James Sanford Smith, my grandfather, was born on a farm near Sewellsville, Ohio, on April 7th, 1860. When he was not yet 2 years old, his father, John Wesley Smith, volunteered for the Civil War, leaving Sanford, his older sister Eldora, and mother Nancy Legg Hall. John was reported missing a mere six months later, in Tennessee, presumed killed by guerillas. These photos are of Sanford, the first probably taken about 1870, and the other as an adult.
 
I don't have any photos of my great-grandparents John W. Smith and Nancy Legg Hall, but here are photos of Nancy's parents, John Wesley Hall and Eliza Ann Williams Hall. They also moved from Ohio to Iowa and lived in the same rural area known as Champion Hill. They had 9 other children in addition to Nancy, who was their oldest.
|