Julia Anna Long and Seco Smith
Julia was born 27 September 1850. She was the third child of Samuel A. Long and Louisa McFarlin. She was the first of the children to leave home. The year after her father's death, she married William Densley ("Seco") Smith 28 April 1867. She was 16 and her husband was 30.
Seco Smith had three children by his first wife who had died in 1862. Seco's first wife was Amanda Emily Coker.
Amanda's sister, Harriet, was married to a son of Catherine Long and Seabourn Jones. Catherine Long Jones was a sister of Julia Long Smith's grandfather, Henry Long.
On April 16, 1868, Seco Smith purchased 40 acres in Bexar County northwest of San Antonio on Olmos Creek, just west of the present day intersection of Blanco Road and Jackson Keller Road. In 1870 they were living in Atascosa County and in Bandera County in 1880.
In about 1881, Seco bought from B. F. Bellows the 640 acre ranch on Benton Creek, and moved to their new home there. Within the year, Julia died and was buried by their home on the hill overlooking the creek. Julia was 31. Seco's youngest daughter, Rose, said that Seco was out on a trail drive when Julia died, and the report of her death reached him on his return trip. Rose related to her own children that her mother had been cleaning the house and lifted a mattress too heavy for her. She broke a blood vessel and knew that a doctor was far away and could probably not do anything to save her. Julia called all her children to her bedside and spent the last hours of her life telling them how she wanted them to live.
An article in the Dallas Semi-Weekly News in 1898 on Texas Pioneers told about Seco:"He was a splendid scout and trailer and knew all the country for hundreds of miles around. He could lead a bunch of men through all the dense cedar brakes and dangerous defiles in the mountains and was never at fault as to his bearings. He was strong and wiry, of a jovial disposition and was a very desirable companion under any and all circumstances. Seco loved fun and frolic, and often gave the police a great deal of trouble when in San Antonio, and many of them can remember the rough handling they got from him. He would yell when the spirit moved him, and no two of them could carry him to the calaboose. They finally got so that when they heard his warwhoop they would laugh and say, `That is Seco Smith, but he is all right and will not do any harm.'
One of his sons told about the time he accompanied his father into San Antonio. On completion of the business of the day, Seco again stopped at a saloon for a few drinks. The 10 year old son told him, "Pa, I'll give you everything I have if you will quit drinking, if you won't drink any more." Seco looked around at him and said, "What the hell do you have?"
Seco continued to live on his Benton Creek property with the children helping him with the crops and livestock. In 1889 Sammie and Molly had each married and left home. Frequently the younger children lived with Molly after her marriage. Seco married Elizabeth Akin 3 November 1898. Lizzie, the Methodist church and advancing age mellowed Seco Smith remarkably.
Julia Anna Long and William Densley Smith's children were:
| 1) Robert Samuel 1868-1934 | married Florence Jane Sapp |
| 2) Mary Rebecca 1869-1954 | married Brice Houston Mayfield |
| 3) James Densley 1871-1938 | married Kate Merritt |
| 4) Laura Belle 1873-1942 | married Charles Major "Mage" Hand |
| 5) Francis Marion 1874-1928 | married Nova Ann Bauerlein |
| 6) Andrew Eathen 1878-1932 | married Sarah Alice Walker |
| 7) Julia Rosa Lee 1880-1965 | married Orin Allie Stevens |