SMITH

 

Compiled by: Andrew L. Moore

336 Sarver Road, Sarver  PA  16055

Email: PAmoores@juno.com

Dated: 1 December 2005

 

 

SMITH

 

 

Stephen Smith

 

Stephen Smith was born circa 1776 in NC.  He married Catherine Hobson.  According to the 1860 Scott Co IL census, he was still living in 1860. Nothing is known about his ancestry.

 

Catherine Hobson was born circa 1799 in Ohio.  Nothing is known about her ancestry.

 

The children of Stephen and Catherine (Hobson) Smith were:

 

1.       Josiah, born 1832 Scott Co IL, married (1) Susan Hanna Potter 12 May 1853 Scott Co IL, (2) Sarah Jane Knowles 10 Mar 1872, (3) Sarah Jane Knowles (again) 16 Aug 1891, died 11 Jun 1914 Civil War Soldiers & Sailors Home, Quincy IL, buried Sunset Cemetery, Civil War Home, Quincy IL.

2.       Sophreina J, born 1836 Scott Co IL.  Possibly married Marcus C. Combs 11 Aug 1853 Scott Co IL.

3.       Stephen S, born 25 May 1838 Scott Co IL, died 07 Aug 1915, buried Gillham-N Cemetery, Scott Co IL.  Possibly married Louise ________, born 25 Dec 1841, died 17 Aug 1917, buried Gillham-N Cemetery, Scott Co IL.  (Louise’s full name may be Louisa Mitchel and their marriage date may have been 01 Oct 1867 Scott Co IL).  Lived in Chapin IL in 1889 when he was listed as the nearest relative of Josiah Smith who was admitted into the Soldiers Home in Quincy IL.

4.       Angeline, born 1842 Scott Co IL.

 

 

Josiah Smith

 

Josiah Smith was born circa 1832 in Scott Co IL.  He married three times - twice to the same woman:  (1) Susan Hanna Potter on 12 May 1853 Scott Co IL, (2) Sarah Jane Knowles (nee James) on 10 Mar 1872 (but divorced her on 29 Jun 1879), and (3) Sarah Jane Knowles (again) on 16 Aug 1891 Scott Co IL.  He died at the age of “85 years” at 4:40am on 11 Jun 1914 at the Civil War Soldiers & Sailors Home in Quincy IL and is buried in the Sunset Cemetery, Civil War Soldiers & Sailors Home, Quincy IL.  In his will, dated 23 Apr 1907 (completed at the Home), he left everything he owned to his wife Sarah J. Smith of Jacksonville, Morgan Co IL.

 

Susan Hanna Potter was born 2 Apr 1836 (probably) in Tennessee, died 24 Jan 1926 in West Mineral, Cherokee Co KS and is buried in the Star Cemetery, West Mineral, Cherokee Co KS.  She is the daughter of Absalom and Elizabeth (Evans) Potter - who both originally from Georgia.  After Susan divorced/left Josiah Smith, she remarried/lived with: (2) Sanford Richardson, (3) a Mr. Hacker, and (4) as "Mrs. Susan H. Hacker" of Beardstown IL she married James Davenport Wilcox 18 Jun 1919 West Mineral, Cherokee Co KS.  For more information on the Absalom and Elizabeth (Evans) Potter family -- which differs from the John Potter family I discuss in a chapter entitled POTTER -- please see the chapter entitled "POTTER (#2) for this data.

 

Sarah J. Knowles was the 2^nd and 3^rd wife of Josiah Smith.  She was married to a Mr. ______ James before marrying Josiah (see dates above).  Sarah's father was Isaac Knowles and her mother was Elizabeth Vincum (sp?). 

 

 

Josiah/Sarah Smith Divorce

Morgan County, IL

Case # 2008

According to Morgan Co IL courthouse records (Case #2008), Josiah's second wife Sarah J. (Knowles) Smith filed for divorce on 26 Jun 1878 because Josiah “has been guilty of drunkenness for the space of two years before the commencement of this (divorce) suit.” 

 

On 13 Jan 1879, Sarah petitions the court to grant her a divorce because Josiah “in 1876 struck, beat and injured the complainant (Sarah) and since then has been guilty of extreme and repeated acts of cruelty towards her”, “is a habitual drunkard”, “that for years failed to support or contribute to the support of the complainant’, “that he comes to her house in a drunken constitution an abuses with low and vulgar language and by threats and intimidation has her in great fear”.

 

On 14 Jan 1879, the Court orders Josiah not to sell his horses, wagon or harnesses until further ordered by the Court.

 

On 22 Mar 1879, Josiah responds to Sarah’s initial request for divorce by explaining to the court that Sarah’s plant and land are worth about $800, that he “contracted disease” while serving in the Civil War and as a result is unable to work due to “partial paralysis”, that his team of two horses are “old and blind and not worth more than $30 each”, and that his total net worth does not exceed $100.

 

On 27 Mar 1879, Sarah again petitions the court to grant her a divorce because Josiah: “has been for more than two years past a habitual drunkard, that he is physically able to earn a good support for himself and the complainant (Sarah), that he has not contributed to the complainant’s support for several years, that he has not been living and co-habitating with the complainant since long before the bringing of this suit, that he has a wagon and team (of horses) and is physically able to make a good living, that his sin is his habit of drunkery and his cruelty toward her while intoxicated, that she has no means with which to prosecute this suit, that she owns a small plant in Lynnville (IL) at which she resides and from which she derives no income, that she is not able from age and ill health to work and make an income, that her means of living has been in a great measure drawn from the work of her children for the past two years or more.”

 

In June 1879, Josiah responds to the court  “denying he has even been guilty of extreme and repeated acts”, “that he has treated her with the greatest kindness and affection”, “denies he stuck her in 1876”, “denies that he is a habitual drunkard but states that once in a while he like a smile (what does that mean?, a “nip”?)……”, “that she and her two overgrown boys drove him from the house and threatened to kill him if he did not go”.

 

The divorce was granted on 29 Jun 1879.

 

 

14^th Illinois Infantry

Military Service Summary

 

The 14^th Regiment, which saw considerable action in the deep south during the Civil War, was initially organized at Jacksonville, IL and mustered into service on May 25, 1861.  Josiah Smith was a member of the 14^th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry from 31 Mar 1864 to 30 May 1865.  The following is a brief outline of the Regiment's movements and actions during 1+year that Josiah was a member:

 

SERVICE

Movement to Cairo, IL, thence to Clifton, TN, and march to Ackworth, GA via Huntsville, AL and Decatur, AL and Rome, GA  April 28-June 8, 1864.

Atlanta, GA Campaign June 8-Sept 8, 1864.

Assigned to garrison duty at Allatoona Pass, Ackworth, Big Shanty and Marietta, GA, until November, 1864.

Regiment consolidated with 15th Illinois Infantry July 1, 1864, as 14th and 15th Battalion Illinois Infantry. Action at Big Shanty October 3, 1864.

Ackworth, GA, October 4, 1864.

Morris Station October 4, 1864 (Detachment).

Allatoona Pass October 5, 1864 (Detachment).

March to the Sea with William Tecumseh Sherman November 15-December 10, 1864. (1) (2)

Siege of Savannah GA December 10-21, 1864.

Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865.

Pocotaligo, SC, January 14-16, 1865.

Salkehatchie Swamps, SC February 2-5, 1865.

Rivers' Bridge, Salkehatchie River, SC February 3, 1865.

Binnaker's Bridge, South Edisto River, SC February 9, 1865.

Orangeburg, North Edisto River, SC February 11-12, 1865.

Columbia, SC February 15-17, 1865.

Cheraw, SC March 3, 1865.

Battle of Bentonville, NC, March 19-21, 1865.

Occupation of Goldsboro, NC March 24, and of Raleigh, NC April 14, 1865.

Bennett's House, NC April 26, 1865.

Surrender of Johnston and his army. Regiment reorganized from 14th and 15th Battalion at Raleigh, NC April 28, 1865.

March to Washington, DC via Richmond, VA April 29-May 19, 1865.

Grand Review of Union Forces, Washington, DC May 24, 1865.

Moved to Louisville, KY, June 7-10, 1865 thence to St. Louis, MO, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

March to Fort Kearney MO July 1-14, and duty on the plains until September 1, 1865.

Ordered to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, September 1, 1865.

Mustered out at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, September 18, 1865.

Regiment lost during service
62 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded.

1 Officer and 160 Enlisted men by disease.

Total 223.

 

 

14^th Illinois Infantry Highlights

(footnote corresponds to the event listed above)

 

(1) William Tecumseh Sherman: Sherman, William Tecumseh (1820-1891), United States general in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Sherman is remembered for his campaign in Georgia and the Carolinas in which the Northern troops devastated the Southern landscape and resources.

Sherman was born on February 8, 1820, in Lancaster, Ohio, and educated at the U.S. Military Academy. After an undistinguished military career he resigned from the army in 1853 to become a partner in a banking firm in San Francisco. He was president of a military college in Alexandria, Louisiana (now Louisiana State University) from 1859 to the beginning of 1861, when Louisiana seceded from the Union. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he offered his services to the Union Army and was put in command of a volunteer infantry regiment, becoming a brigadier general of volunteers after the First Battle of Bull Run. Sherman led a division at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6 and 7, 1862, and was rewarded for his part in the victory by being promoted to major general of volunteers. In December of that year he failed in an attempt to seize the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, on the Mississippi River, but in 1863 he fought under General Ulysses S. Grant in the campaign that ended in the capture of that city in July. He was given command of the Army of Tennessee in the fall of 1863 and fought in the Battle of Chattanooga.

In 1864 Sherman was made supreme commander of the armies in the West and was ordered to move against Atlanta, Georgia. During the opening months of the campaign, he lost the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, and he did not capture Atlanta until almost three months later, on September 1. After ordering the burning of the military resources of the city, he launched his most celebrated military action, known as Sherman’s march to the sea, in which, with about 60,000 picked men, he marched from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, on the Atlantic coast. After reaching Savannah, Sherman next set out to join forces with Grant in Virginia by marching from Georgia up through North and South Carolina. During Sherman’s march, the Northern soldiers pillaged the areas they passed through demolishing military resources along with houses, farms, and railroads. Destruction was especially severe in South Carolina because Union soldiers blamed the state for starting the war. In February 1865 Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, was burned to the ground, although the origins of the fire are unknown. Sherman hoped that the destruction of his march would lower Southern morale and help end the war.

After three months of fighting, Sherman reached Raleigh, North Carolina, and was prepared to continue north to Virginia. However, the war came to an end. Following the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to Grant on April 9, the Confederate army confronting Sherman surrendered to him at Durham Station on April 26, 1865. "Sherman, William Tecumseh," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

(2) March to the Sea: Sherman's March To the Sea, in the American Civil War (1861-1865), the campaign of the Union Army under General William Tecumseh Sherman to march across Georgia, from the city of Atlanta to the Atlantic Coast. Sherman’s march lasted from November 15 to December 25, 1864. General Sherman refused to be lured into a hopeless pursuit of General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army and lose the benefit of his occupation of Atlanta. Instead, he determined to strike for the seacoast where he could contact the federal Navy and establish supply lines by way of the sea. His army of 62,000 men, including General Henry Warner Slocum's Army of the Cumberland and General Oliver Otis Howard's Army of the Tennessee, advanced in four parallel columns along a 97-km (60-mi) front.

Before leaving Atlanta, and after ordering civilians to evacuate, the federal forces burned the city. On the march they were ordered to destroy mills, cotton gins, and warehouses, but to respect private homes. In defiance of their orders, however, the soldiers engaged in organized plunder. In addition to seizing foodstuffs and livestock for the army, the soldiers destroyed 594 km (369 mi) of railroads, burned bridges and public buildings, plundered private homes, and engaged in wanton vandalism. The march, at the rate of 19 to 24 km (12 to 15 mi) a day, cut a swath 65 to 130 km (40 to 80 mi) wide through the richest section of Georgia. On December 23 the army reached Savannah, which surrendered without a fight in time for Sherman to present it to President Abraham Lincoln as a "Christmas gift." "Sherman's March To the Sea," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

 

Josiah Smith Civil War Records

National Archives

Soldier’s Certificate #314423

 

31 Mar 1864: Josiah Smith enlisted on 31 March 1864 at Winchester IL (other places listed as Exter IL) and was mustered into service in Jacksonville IL on 27 May 1864 as a Private (Recruit) in Company “C”, 14^th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry for a period of three years.  He was discharged on 30 May 1865 “absent sick at muster out of the Regiment.”  He is described as being: 5 ft 9 in, light complexion, gray eyes, auburn hair, and occupation blacksmith.

 

Jul and Aug 1864: Josiah reported “absent sick at Exter Illinois."

 

28 Sep 1864: At Camp Butler IL, Josiah was discharged with Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability issued due to “spinal irritation and hemorrhoids contracted since enlistment and not fit for duty in the Veterans Reserve Corps.”

 

12 Mar 1879: Applied to be placed on the invalid pension rolls.  Describes himself as: 51 years old, “lorrid” complexion (??), sandy hair, hazel eyes, a resident of Lynnville IL, occupation was that of a farmer, and states that he is totally disabled.  States that “while on guard duty was taken sick with the lumbago and afterward inward piles”.  In a collaborating set of affidavits filed, Josiah states that: He was a cook for Co “K”, 14^th Regiment; that he was a blacksmith by trade, that “while on guard duty he got wet and took the lumbago and rheumatism”; that “since his discharge he has been paralyzed from his hip down on his left side and suffers pain from said side at all times.”

 

11 Apr 1889: Josiah was admitted into the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Quincy, IL.  He stated his age as 63, height 5’9”, complexion light, eyes hazel, hair gray, a resident of Winchester IL, was disabled with paralysis, and that he has been receiving $4/mo since 18 Dec 1885.

 

16 Sep 1893: Josiah was granted a pension of $50 per month commencing 31 May 1893 – “this pension being for piles and disease of spinal cord”.

 

15 Jan 1898: Josiah was asked to answer the following questions: (1) Are you married? A: Yes, Sarah J Smith, maiden name Sarah J. Knowles. (2) When/where were you married? A: On 16 Aug 1891 (2^nd time) Lynnville, Morgan Co IL. (3) Were you previously married? A: Yes, Susan Potter, in 1865 (?), in which he states she had: “run off with another man.”  (4) Do you have any children living? A: yes, Sarah Ann Smith-born 1860, Elizabeth Smith-born 1862, Stephen Smith-born 1864.  NOTE: His dates are way off!

 

5 Apr 1907: Josiah enters into a contract to send/set apart $125 out of each quarterly pension payment to his wife Mrs. Sarah J. Smith currently living in Jacksonville IL in the care of Mr. Levin S. James.  The money “is to pay for her board, doctor bills and nursing in the future to come.”

 

11 Jun 1914: Josiah died at the age of “85 years” at 4:40am at the Civil War Soldiers & Sailors Home in Quincy IL and is buried in the Sunset Cemetery, Civil War Soldiers & Sailors Home, Quincy IL.

 

 

Josiah Smith Land Transactions

Scott Co IL

 

 

History of Morgan County, IL

Chicago, Donnelley, Loyd & Co., 1878.
Listed on page 683 in Township 14 North,  Range 11 West:

Smith, Josiah  -- farmer, Lynnville.

 

 

Josiah Smith’s Obituary

Newspaper unknown….possibly a Quincy IL newspaper , 11 Jun 1914:

 

Josiah Smith, Co. G, 14^th Ill. Inf., aged 89 years died at 5:45am today (at the Quincy IL Solider & Sailor Home).  He leaves his wife, one son, Stephen Smith of Hannibal (MO, on the Mississippi, a few miles down river from Quincy IL), and one daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Potter of East Mineral, Kansas, and six grandchildren.  He was born in Scott County Illinois, and followed blacksmithing for a living.  He has been an invalid for 30 years.  He was an honest, industrious man, a good citizen, a kind husband and father, and the Lord gave him a long life, and a peaceful death.  His wife is very aged and will probably not come.  He will be buried tomorrow at 9am. 

 

The children of Josiah Smith and Susan Hanna Potter were:

 

1.       Sarah Ann, born 1854.   Living as late as 1898.

2.       Elizabeth, born 23 Dec 1856 Exter, Scott Co IL, married John A. Potter 25 Feb 1875 Carrolton, Greene Co, IL, died 27 May 1947 Englewood, Arapahoe Co CO, buried Highland Park Cemetery, Pittsburg, Crawford Co KS.

3.       Stephen, born 1864 Scott Co IL.  Living in Hannibal MO in 1914.

 

 

Elizabeth Smith

 

Elizabeth was born on 23 Dec 1856 in Exter, Scott Co IL.  She married John A. Potter on 25 Feb 1875 in Carrolton, Greene Co, IL.  Elizabeth died on 27 May 1947 in Englewood, Arapahoe Co Colorado and is buried next to her husband in the Highland Park Cemetery, Pittsburg, Crawford Co KS. 

 

According to Mary (Carson) Brown: "Grandpa (Henry Brown) and I went (in 1926) down (from Pittsburg KS) to West Mineral KS to show off our new baby off (referring to Carol Carson Brown, born 1926 - we have a picture of Elizabeth holding Carol next to Elizabeth's home in W. Mineral).  Grandmother Potter had 8 children - lived on a farm on the edge of town and had a boarding house.  She worked hard - made bread, carried water in from the well, washed clothes, packed lunches for all the boarders and her own sons who worked in mines around Mineral.  She also canned, milked a cow, had chickens, etc.  Grandpa (Henry) loved her so much".

 

For more information on the descendants of the Elizabeth Smith and John Potter union, please see the chapter named “Potter.”

 

 

Elizabeth (Smith) Potter’s Obituaries

Denver (CO) Post, 28 May 1947:

 

Funeral Notices.  Joss Funeral Homes, Englewood.  Potter.  Elizabeth Potter of 2900 S. Bannock Street.  Mother of Sarah Brown, Minta Row, Ellen James, Margaret Russell, Thomas Cain, Edward, Stephen Potter; also survived by ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.  Services Thursday 2:00pm our chapel.  Interment Pittsburg, Kans.

 

 

Pittsburg (KS) Headlight, 28 May 1947:

 

Mrs. Elizabeth Potter Dies.  Former resident succumbs at home in Colorado.  Mrs. Elizabeth Potter, 90, a former resident of this district, died at 8 o'clock last night at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Margaret Russell, at Englewood, Colorado.  She had been ill for the past month.

Mrs. Potter was born Dec 23, 1856, in Jacksonville, Ill.  She came to Bruce, west of Cherokee (KS) in 1895 and moved to Mineral a few years later.  She lived in Mineral until 1922 when she moved to Colorado.

Survivors include four daughters, Mrs. J.C. Brown-1012 South Broadway, Mrs. Walter Rowe, Phippsburg, Colo., Mrs. Ellen James and Mrs. Russell, both of Englewood; four sons, Ned Potter, Thayer, Kansas, Cain Potter, Englewood, Tom Potter, Phippsburg and Steve Potter of Oregon; ten grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

The body will be brought to the Brenner funeral home here.  Funeral arrangements are incomplete, but graveside services will probably be held Saturday in Highland (Pittsburgh KS) Park Cemetery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Federal and State Census Records

 

 

1850 Federal Census, Scott Co, IL   Household 1229

 

1860 Federal Census, Jacksonville, Morgan Co, IL   Household 601

 

1860 Federal Census, Exter, Scott Co, IL   Household 639

 

1900 Federal Census, Ross Township, Cherokee Co, KS   Household 221

NOTE: Their daughter Sarah married James C. Brown in 4/1900.

 

1910 Federal Census, Ross Twp, Cherokee Co, KS   Household 262

 

1920 Federal Census, Ross Twp, Cherokee Co, KS

Household 77 containing Susan Potter Hacker, mother of Elizabeth Potter.

 

 

 

SMITH SOURCES

 

·         Genealogical and historical research I conducted.