The Walter Kerr Smith Family History Document Number: 94
Institution: Family History in the possession of Nona Stevens Smith, Sandy City, Utah, on Dec 5, 1995 Classification: COMPILED: FamilyHistory Location: USA, Utah, Juab, Nephi Date Range: BTWN 1855 and 1941 Life Sketch for SMITH, Walter Kerr Document Entry Number: 1
Transcription: June 4, 1855 was a great day in bonnie Scotland for that was the day Walter Kerr Smith was born. Why so little was even recorded about his life I do not know, except that negligence seems to abide in each of us as we faithfully plan to do so many important things tomorrow. But, alas, tomorrow never comes; so, for all we will be lacking in proper dates and actual facts, we have a great urgency to place together the memories of Walter Kerr Smith so that something may be preserved of his life and accomplishments for his posterity. Walter was born in Blackbrais, Stirlingshire, Scotland, and Blackbrais was not many miles from Edinburough. It seems to have been the custom to move the whole town when the mine played out. Walt found only four buildings still standing. There was a mission hall used as a church in earlier days, a school, one house, and one other building which Bro. Shelly said could have been a miner's hall. Crumbling foundations of other buildings were the only evidence of a prior town. Only one family lived at Blackbrais, and they were not at home. No cemetery could be found in the area. What happened to it? Or was there never one there? We were so in hopes there would be grave markers to help us establish dates and names of the family. We only have the name of one brother, David; he was two years older than Walter. Margaret remembers hearing her father tell of a brother named Duncan; and there was also another who was a fiddler and played for dances. One sister sent sox to Walter from Scotland. Even though Walter's earnings were small, he sent money to his mother. Means of communication was slow and difficult, and all too soon all contact was cut off. Since Walter was the youngest in the family, it seems probable that all or at least most of the family would have been married and away from the old home by the time he was grown. We know his father was James Smith and his mother was Mary Chalmers Smith, and that Walter was the youngest of their 15 children. Coal mining was the main industry in this area, and children worked in the mines along with adults. Walter began at age nine. This was not an uncommon practice, and history tells that even six year olds worked. Working conditions were terrible; the mines, which were called 'pits,' were so cold, damp, and unventilated that many diseases and deaths occurred. Workers were treated almost like slaves. Early in the 1800's the Industrial Revolution began as the common laborer pushed forward and began to demand just treatment and better working conditions. Working hours were ten to fifteen hours a day. This left little time for school, or anything else, as a result Walter didn't learn to read and write until after his marriage. Maggie taught him and he became a very good penman. We have no more information about his childhood , and there are only memories of his brief stories to fill in the next 14 years of his life. He grew up, and at age 23 married Margaret Lamont, also of Blackbrais, and they joined the Mormon Church. (1863) It was now 25 years since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been organized. There was a great deal of missionary work being done at this time, and many who joined left their homelands to join the gathering of Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. Walter and Margaret decided they, too, should follow the Saints out to Utah. This was a tremendous blow to his mother. She knew so little about this church. Her husband had been dead for five years, and she had no companion to turn to to help her understand and accept all the strange things that were happening. How could she let her youngest son join the much hated and unpopular Mormon church, and even worse, how could she stand to let him go so far away as Utah where so many Mormons were gathering. The day of departure arrived, and Walter asked if his mother would go to the ship to see them off. Tearfully she replied, "Walter, I could follow your coffin to the grave, but never could I go to the ship to see you off to Utah and the Mormons." It was a difficult decision for Walter: his heart yearned to stay and comfort and care for his 67 year old mother. Still, it was time for the ship to sail, and their passage was already paid and all arrangements made for them to go and become established with their new church. Maggie took him by the arm and she said, "Come on Walter, we must go or we shall miss the ship." Sadly he turned away. And so--never again to return, they left Scotland April 14, 1878. Maggie's parents, Robert W. and Mary Smith Lamont accompanied them to Utah. So far as we know, Walter was the only one of his father's family to join the church. There are so many unanswered questions. Why didn't someone help Mother Smith to understand the Mormon religion? What about their voyage? Were there friends that came with them? Were they to meet friends already living in Salt Lake City? After 26 days they arrived in Salt Lake City, May 10, 1878. Soon after their arrival, Walter went to work on the railroad. This was a booming business. Only 9 years ago, in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad Line had been completed at Promotory Point. There were so many tracks needing to be laid in so many directions. After a week working the railroad, he and his father in law and two other men went to Thistle, Utah, to prospect for coal. Five weeks failed to turn up whatever they were looking for, so they returned to Salt Lake City, and he again went back to the railroad. He worked the lines at Salt Lake City and also at Farmington, Utah. He was a foreman there and was paid $2.00 a day. Regulars earned $1.50. It is also probable he worked at Centerville. As nearly as we can tell, it seems that he worked the Salt Lake area for 10 years. We were unable to find dates, but he told Margaret he worked the railroad for 19 years. The Abstract of Title to the Smith property states that Walter bought 1/2 block located at 6th North and 2nd West, Nephi City. The purchase was made April 19, 1888 for $475. He bought from Nepolian and Amelia Grover. We have no information as to when he came, but it seemed very probably that it was only a short time earlier, for he said he refused to pay $6.00 a month to rent a place to live. After all, that would have been a little more than 1/10 of his monthly wages. We presume there was a two room brick home on the property when he bought it. He soon added another room to the west side of the structure, as this was made of adobies: his little wooden form for adobies was kept for many years. Walter continued to work as foreman on the railroad Section 24 when he came to Nephi. He lists the following Nephi men as co-workers who James, Joe, Paul and Margaret all remember: William Ostler, Stephen Ostler, Stephen Boswell, Henry Garrett, Edmond Bowles, James Redden, Brigham Garrett, and Ruben Stanley. Walter and Maggie had no children of their own. We know they adopted a girl who was sealed to them at age 11 in the Manti Temple. Her name was Annie May, born April 6, 1881 at Pennycuck, Stirlingchire, Scotland. We know so little of her. Since she was born after Walter and Maggie left Scotland, we can only guess that she was sent to Utah with Saints who were coming out, which was a common practice. She became a very good pianist. She was a good friend of Lettie Garrett Bowles. Maggie, her step mother, died December 10, 1904. This was a difficult time for both Walter and Annie May. Some time during the next two years, Annie May became upset and ran away with a fish peddler. There was no more contact with her until 1941 at the death of Walter. Her letter was very brief and was sent from somewhere in Oregon. Margaret answered, but there was no more correspondence. Annie was inquiring about her father's estate. We have no married name nor any clue as to her whereabouts. It's sad that we have no way of finding Annie May or any of her descendants. We have a copy of a very beautiful patriarchal blessing given to Annie in 1985 by patriarch C. D. Evans. She was 17 years old. What was Nephi like when Walter came here to live? Nephi had been settled for 46 years, but these were pioneering times, and many conveniences we know had not yet come into usage here. Electricity was introduced in 1902, and so for 5 years after his arrival, the town had a "lamplighter" who lighted the kerosene street lamps each evening, one on each corner of the business section. Homes as well as businesses were lighted with kerosene. Joe has in his possession the two large kerosene lamps that lighted the bakery. George W. Duckworth, who came from England, purchased the bakery from his uncle in 1908 or 1909. He operated it for 49 years. Both Joe and Margaret worked for him for many years, and in 1958 Joe bought the bakery and operated it for 16 years. Nephi was a booming town known as "Little Chicago" from 1880 to the early 1900's, due largely to railroads and roadways. Nephi was center of the state and boasted two railroads, one north and south and one to SanPete Valley. Railroads were now replacing the old ox and mule team freighter wagons. By 1888 and 1900 Nephi had at least 14 stores to serve their needs. Grocery stores, national dollar store, hat shops known as millinery shops, livery stables, harness shops, shoe shops and barber shops. Taxi service was the "hack", a horse and buggy from the depot to take you wherever you needed to go in town. Edison's phonograph had only been on the market for a few years. After 6 years, or by 1903, Nephi had a newspaper of its own. Utah had been a state for 1 year when Walter came, having been admitted to the Union in 1896. Walter had resided in Utah for 18 years, and he now had a strong desire to become a citizen of the United States. This probably wasn't an easy thing to do, for this meant he had to renounce all allegiance with the country of his birth and take an oath of layalty to a new country. We have a copy of the legal document or "Declaration of Intent to become a Citizen of the United States." This is dated July 13, 1889, a year after the purchase of the Nephi home. It was nearly three years for it to become final. Walter's whole world crumbled after the death of Maggie, his companion of 26 years, and the disappearance of his adopted daughter. From 1904 to 1906 was a time of great heartbreak and loneliness. It seemed there was nothing left for him, and so in the depth of despair he told his employer, Issac Grace, that he had decided that the best thing for him to do was to return to Scotland. Issac Grace said, "Well if you really feel like its what you must to do, I can't stop you; but before you leave I want you to come to my home for a dinner." The arrangement was made, and when Walter went to dinner, he was introduced to Emily Bellistone who was employed as a housekeeper at the Grace home. This was a great day for Walter's; a turning point in his life. Call it love at first sight or whatever, but he knew right then and there that he wanted Emily to help him begin a new life. The courtship was short. Emily felt as Walter did, and so on January 3, 1906, they made the 50 mile trip to the Manti Temple where they were the first couple married and sealed for time and all eternity in this Latter Day Saint Temple in 1906."