Reunion--The Annual Smith Family Reunion

   

     Amy Johnson Crow has a 52 Ancestors Week blog challenge which I have decided to give a try for the second year. 

    The prompt for week # 22 is Reunion.

Picnic in our backyard with our Michigan Family
Summer of 1960

A "real" family reunion
Summer 1961

     Growing up, my extended family was rather small--or I was told that.  We did not have annual family reunions.  My Dad and his brother were not close. Cousins we could have shared time with, didn't happen.  Twice in a decade we had a gathering.

     Imagine my surprise when I began researching my genealogy and all the family I found.  I remember mentioning to my Mom that she had numerous cousins she never talked about.  Her response, "I guess we all just grew apart."  Those same cousins were ones I reached out to for family information.

Smith Family Reunion 1950
From the photo files of Roberta Smith Fatzinger

     My husband's Smith family remained close, especially the seven children of Grover Cleveland Smith and Mildred Claudine Tate.  There was an annual picnic reunion every summer.  To be fair, many lived within close proximity of each other in Tiffin, Ohio.  There was a branch, that were railroaders, who relocated to a town in Indiana.  Those cousins also attended.  

     I came onboard in 1969.  My first Smith Family Reunion was the summer of 1970 before we moved to the Boston area.  I was gob smacked at so many folks all coming together for an enjoyable afternoon.  There were games for all ages, conversation, old family photos and THE FOOD.  So many delicious casseroles, hot dogs and burgers, and DESSERTS.  These women could cook.  

Smith Family Reunion 1978

    There was a business meeting.  They elected officers, decided on the reunion date for the following year and gave prizes for the youngest, oldest and family that came the furthest.  My son Aric won the youngest in 1978 at two months old.

     I think my favorite event was Bingo.  Prizes were given to the winners and most were handmade or old family treasures.  

Smith Family Reunion the Hiser Branch
1986

Smith Family Reunion Hiser Branch
1989

     My husband and I missed a few reunions while living in Massachusetts; however, once we returned to Ohio, we were annual attendees.  I can remember driving to Indiana one summer to have the reunion there.  

     Unfortunately, I have few photos to share of the Smith reunions when I attended.  They must remain as fun memories.

Hughes Family Gathering
Cousin Judy Hughes Wedding
June 1989

Hughes Reunion 1990
North Olmsted, Ohio

     My Hughes Family did get its act together in 1986 for Cousin Fran's wedding and 1989 when we all attended Cousin Judy's wedding in Michigan.  For the next few years we gathered at weddings.  In 1990 I sponsored the first Hughes Family Reunion at my home and we were off and running for the next thirty-five years.

 

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.    PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2025, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser



Achievement--Mildred Claudine Tate Smith

     Amy Johnson Crow has a 52 Ancestors Week blog challenge which I have decided to join.  I am hoping it may help me to pinpoint someone or something that I have researched and not blogged about on Flipside.  AND push me to blog about family each week in 2024.  Sometimes I get lazy. 😁  Let's see how well I keep up.

     Week # 11 (March 11-March 17) is Achievement. 

     Weeks ago I mentioned to Ted that I was stumped as to what to write concerning achievement.  I have covered this topic with numerous of my family and just couldn't think where to go with it.  

     Ted said his maternal grandmother, Mildred Claudine Tate Smith, widowed at age thirty-seven, with seven children in 1931 showed achievement through her courage in raising her children alone.  I never met  Grandma Smith, I have no personal insight and the stories I have heard may be somewhat acrophyll; however, .....here I go.

Mildred Claudine Tate
circa 1898
Courtesy of Jay Howard Smith

     Mildred was born on February 19, 1895 to Charles Henry Christian Tate and Ida Mae Hess, in Spencerville, Spencer Township, Allen County, Ohio.  There is a 1900 and 1910 Ohio census for the Tate Family in Spencerville.  

Circa 1905

1913 Tiffin City Directory

  

  

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio
1914

     By 1913, the Tate family removed to the city of Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio. The family lived at 24 Forest and Mildred is listed in the directory. Forest Street was renamed Oak Street. On the 1914 Sanford Fire Insurance map Oak and Forest run into each other. 

     At some time the city decided to just continue Oak Street up to West Davis and erase the name of Forest Street.  The house pictured above was built in 1913 and is located on the street in the same spot where the Tate house is located on the 1914 Sanborn Fire Insurance map.

     I would like to note that the Webster Manufacturing Company was located to the west of the red circled area where the Tate Family lived.  It is likely that Charles Tate and his and older sons where employed at the plant.

     This lovely candy box was given to Mildred by Grover Cleveland Smith when they were dating and the bittersweet he picked in the fall for her as a gift.  It was in the possession of her daughter, my mother-in-law, Helena Mae Smith Hiser.

 

Mildred Claudine Tate
Circa 1918

Grover Cleveland Smith

     On June 5, 1919, at age twenty-four, Mildred married thirty-four year old Grover Cleveland Smith, son of John Andrew Smith and Helena Frederika Oster, in Seneca County, Ohio.  The marriage was performed by Reverend Charles Allen Pearce of The Church of Christ.  

     The 1920 Ohio census, taken on January 7 lists Grover and Mildred living on a farm with Grover's father, John Andrew Smith and one brother, Otto Lafayette Smith.  The Smith's were farmers growing and selling fruit and vegetables.

     On March 17, 1920 the Smith's welcomed their first child, a son, Howard Lewis Smith.  Six more children followed, Helena Mae Smith born on March 12, 1922, Mary Irene Smith born on July 7, 1923, Betty Lou Smith born on February 1, 1925, Arthur William Smith born on September 17, 1926, Gilbert Tate Smith born on October 3, 1928 and Martha Ann Smith born on February 24, 1931.  

Rerick Brothers Atlas and Art Portfolio
Seneca County, Clinton Township, Ohio
1896

     The 1896 atlas shows the Smith properties side by side on South Greenfield Road/County Road 50.  Christina Smith is John Andrew Smith's mother and Grover Cleveland Smith' paternal grand mother.  There is a small square marking the school that my mother-in-law and her siblings attended before their move into the city in 1932.

     The 1930 Ohio census gives insight as to the location of the Smith home and farm on South Greenfield Road, Clinton Township, Seneca County, Ohio.  That area is just outside the city limits of Tiffin, Ohio.  Grover is the head of the family and his aged father is living in the house and is retired.  Grover is a truck farmer and is working the sizable family fruit farm.  

John Andrew Smith
Ohio Death Certificate

     One year later a double tragedy struck the family.  On March 2, 1931, John Andrew Smith, the family patriarch, died at the family farm from valvular heart disease at eighty years of age.  His burial was on March 5, 1931 in Greenlawn Cemetery, Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio.  The Find A Grave date of death is incorrect.

Grover Cleveland Smith
Ohio Death certificate

     On the day his father was to be buried, March 5, 1931, Grover Cleveland Smith died in his bed on the family farm, just fourteen days shy of his forty-sixth birthday. Cause of death was toxic goiter and myocarditis.  

     Mildred was in bed following the birth of a daughter, Martha Ann Smith, on February 24.  According to a family account of the day written by my mother-in-law, she was asked to carry the new born baby into her father's bedroom so he could see his new daughter.  She was told not to let her father know that his father had died.  Grover saw Helena come in with the baby and said, "Grandpa died, didn't he?" He died within a short time after.

     Grover Cleveland Smith was buried on March 7, 1931 in Greenlawn Cemetery, Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio.

*********************

     And now my stumbling block.  What came next?  Up until now I used research and family documents.  The nugget of my blog comes after Grover's death and how Mildred courageously picked up the pieces and moved on.  

     Distinguishing fact and acrophyll stories when doing family genealogy on my husband's side of the tree has been difficult.  The genealogist on the Smith side was Aunt Betty Smith Bowman.  She amassed a huge amount of documents, photos and knowledge over her ninety-seven years.  I married into the family fifty-five years ago and over the decades listened to the hardships of the Smith's early life, primarily from the my mother-in-law Helena Smith Hiser and Aunt Betty. 

      I had many "I think" ideas and memories of  the Smith stories rolling around in my head wanting to add some personality to this blog.  Then the light bulb went off --email Cousin Jay Howard Smith.  Jay's genealogical written pieces on the family are well researched.  He also has access to his father's, Howard Lewis Smith, family files.  Cousin Jay did not disappoint.  I now have the necessary information to complete the blog.  Surprisingly, two typed letters written by my mother-in-law that I had never seen, helped to provide a first person account.   

Life After the Death of Grover Cleveland Smith

     Mildred was still in bed following the birth of the baby and when her husband died.  There was a practical nurse coming to the farm to care for Grover, Mildred and the baby.  

     The time had come for Mildred to pick herself up by the proverbial bootstraps and forge ahead with a new life for herself and her seven children.  According to family stories the Smith farm was to pass to Grover and Mildred.  With the death of both John and Grover and no wills, the estate became intestate.  Over the years I had heard talk that family members swooped in, sold the land, took the money and left Mildred with nothing.

 

Mildred's hand written page of bills paid
following Grover's death

    

      According to the two newly found letters of my mother-in-law, the farm and land was sold and divided equally among the children of John Andrew and Helena Oster Smith.  Mildred did receive her deceased husband's share.  Also, Grover had some life insurance.  She was able to pay any debts and rent on the farm until she purchased a house in Tiffin.

     Mildred was paying the Estate of her father-in-law $10.00 monthly for rent to remain in the farm house.  The final one was dated January 1932; however, I have additional information that she continued to pay rent through March 1932.

131 Prospect Street
Tiffin, Ohio

     Mildred's financial dedication following Grover's death resulted in her ability to purchase a house at 131 Prospect Street in Tiffin.  Once again, my mother-in-law wrote a letter describing the move to the new house.  All of the children were excited to move into the city; however, once Helena saw the house she was extremely disappointed in the small size and shabbiness.  

     

     The car "stopped in front of a small grey house, old and in need of paint."

    "My heart sank.  No! No!  This could not be our new home. How can we be moving from the spacious, fairly new house in the country to this house so small and shabby in comparison."

     Mildred and the children had a large garden plot behind the house.  Vegetables were canned and Mildred baked bread weekly.  She was an excellent seamstress and was able to earn a living making clothes and doing alterations well into the 1950's.

1934 Tiffin City Directory

Mildred Claudine Tate Smith
Sitting beside her house
1935

     Through courage and determination Mildred was able to raise her children, see them through high school and marriages.  131 Prospect was painted, enlarged and housed Mildred until her death in 1964.  Family still owns and lives in the house.  Her life following her husband's death is the embodiment of personal achievement.

Personal Note        

     I attended and graduated from Heidelberg College, now Heidelberg University.  The campus buildings are  located on Greenfield Road Street within the Tiffin City limits.  Once crossing the city line the street becomes County Road 50.    I married into the Hiser/Smith family.  I knew all of the "Smith kids" listed above and heard the family stories from the women.  Smith Family farms and remaining houses were pointed out and there were numerous visits to Greenlawn Cemetery to pay respect to those ancestors past.  All of Grover and Mildred's children are buried in Greenlawn Cemetery except, Arthur William Smith.     

              

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.    PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2024, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser



Jacob Plantz and Sarah Smith of Wood County, Ohio

     Blended families were not unusual in pioneer days.   There are accounts of  spouses abandoning their family.  Women did not always survive child birth.  Various diseases were left unchecked due to a lack of physicians and medicine.  Some died during battle or at the hands of Native Americans defending their land.  Wild animal attacks were not uncommon.  This is one of those blended family stories.

     Sarah Smith, daughter of Abner C. and Sarah Mott Smith, at the age of seventeen married a twenty seven year old widower, Jacob Plantz (Plants), on December 8, 1844 in Sandusky County, Ohio. 

     

     Jacob had traveled from Pennsylvania, settling in Wood County, Ohio.  He married Mary Kiser on April 2, 1840 in Wood County, Ohio.  Three children were born, Emmanuel, Mary (Polly) and Samuel.  I am assuming that Mary died leaving Jacob to care for his three children and farm his land.  A young woman, Sarah, walked into her first marriage having to care for three young children, ages four, two and one.   Fortunately, as one of the oldest in her own family, she undoubtedly was helpful in caring for her younger siblings.  She had training.

     During the first ten to fourteen years of her marriage, Sarah's parents were living nearby.  She was able to visit, see her siblings who were still living at home, and have help and advice from her mother.

     Jacob and Sarah added seven additional children to the Plantz family; Roena born in 1845, John born in 1847, Rosanna born in 1850, Harriet born in 1853, Amanda born 1855, George Wesley born 1858 and Alma born 1868.  There may have been additional children who were stillborn and/or died young.  

     There is a wonderful reference to the Plantz and Smith families in the 1875 Hardesty's Atlas of Wood County, Ohio, page 47EE.  The biography of Jacob Plants outlines his siblings, Sarah's family and his own family.  Published in 1875, both Jacob and Sarah were alive to supply information.  I do want to mention that Orison Smith did not enlist in the 72nd Regiment.  He enlisted in the 111st.

     Following the census reports.  In 1850, the Plantz family is enumerated in District 154, Mongomery Township, Wood County, Ohio.  Jacob is a farmer with $900 of real estate owned.  The Abner C. Smith is also enumerated in the same district.  Jacob, a farmer living near Prairie Depot, Montgomery Township, Wood County, Ohio, has enlarged his financial value by 1860.  The value of his real estate is $3000 and personal estate is listed at $300.  The Smith family had removed to the Fremont, Ohio area by 1860.  I wonder if Jacob purchased his father in laws land?  

     Continuing to add financial wealth, Jacob, a farmer, living in the Prairie Depot area, in 1870 has $7000 personal real estate and $500 in personal estate.  The 1880 census does not give the post office, so I can only surmise that the Jacob Plantz family continues to farm his land near Prairie Depot.  Personal wealth is not given in this census.  Both Jacob and Sarah are literate.

     The call of young men to serve the northern cause of the Civil War did not escape the Plantz family.  The three oldest sons all enlisted in union armies.  

     Emmanuel Plantz, served as a private with Company I, 72nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army and died of a gunshot wound on April 8, 1862 in Tennessee.  One record lists his burial was at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.  On the website, the Pittsburg Landing name was changed in 1888 to Shiloh National Cemetery.  Grave markers have been erected there; however, sadly, there is none for Emmanuel. 

     John Plantz served as a private with Company F, 13th Infantry, Ohio Volunteer Army.  He enlisted on April 6, 1866 in Toledo, Ohio and was discharged on September 24, 1866.

     Samuel Plantz enlisted as a private with Company B, 55th Ohio Infantry.  He was honorably discharged. 

     These two 1886 Land Records show that Sarah Plantz was the owner of 11?.78 acres in Bradner, Wood County, Ohio.  Oddly, there are no such records for Jacob. In many cases, women are listed as land owners after their spouse died.  That is not the case here.  I also wonder when the Plantz family removed to Bradner as the 1860 and 1870 list them as farming in Prairie Depot, Wood County, which is Freeport on the larger map. 

     Jacob and Sarah were involved with the Methodist Episcopal Church in Bradner giving financial support to the missions program.  Copied from the book, Minutes of the Central Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church Held at Trinity Church, Lima, Ohio, September 25-30, 1890. Jacob is listed on page 708 and the page with both Jacob and Sarah listed is on page 523.  Both listings are for Bradner, Wood County, Ohio.

     Sarah Smith Plantz died in Bradner on February 16, 1894.  She is buried in Bradner Cemetery, Bradner, Wood County, Ohio.  Jacob had one additional census report, 1900.  He is enumerated with the family of his youngest child, daughter Almira Plantz Kelly.  The family is living in Bradner, where Jacob died on August 7, 1902.  He is buried beside his wife of fifty years.

     I have not covered the marriages of the Plantz children and their descendants.  All information is readily available on Ancestry.

     

 

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.    PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2020, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser



Mary Ann Smith and Hubbard H. Cross

     I'm going out on a limb with this blog.  As any genealogy researcher knows, tracing the Smith surname is a challenging task.  I figure even if this Mary Ann Smith does not connect to my husbands Smith family, at least research is out there about them.

     From information written in the Smith Family Bible and shared with me over a decade ago, Abner C. Smith and his wife, Sarah Mott Smith added a daughter to their growing family named Mary Ann, born on April 2, 1825, probably in Medina County, Ohio. 

  As I followed the census reports, one of their three daughters, Harriet, Mary Ann and Sarah, was not enumerated in the 1840 Ohio census.  In the age range of 15-20, one daughter, Harriet or Mary Ann is either deceased or married.  I have not been able to find a marriage or death record for either of them dated before 1840 in either Portage or Wood County, Ohio that matches their age or residence profile. 

          However, there is a marriage record in Wood County, Ohio dated October 14, 1844 between Mary Ann Smith and Hubbard H. Cross.  No additional information is offered; no ages, parents or township.   Abner and Sarah's daughter, Mary Ann would have been nineteen; Hubbard age twenty six.  I did locate the minister, George Cronenwitt (Cronenwett) on Ohio censuses.  He was a pioneer missionary minister of the U.S.Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  Between 1840-1888, he served thirteen settlements in Wood, Sandusky, Ottawa and Lucas Counties in Ohio. 

     There is a 1840 Ohio Census record for a Hubbard Cross as a farmer in Ballville Township, Sandusky County, Ohio.  Was Hubbard H. Cross' father also named Hubbard?  There is a white male and female age 50 to under 60.  One male in 10 to under 15, one male 15 to under 20 and one male 20 to under 30  (Hubbard H. Cross would have been age 22 in 1840.  To date, I have not found any other mention of this family. 

 

     The next record for the Hubbard and Mary Ann Cross family is the 1850 Ohio Federal Census.  The first US Census that lists the names of each family member along with some personal information.  On September 23, 1850, in Scott Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, H.H. Cross, age 32, a farmer with 200 value of personal property owned, born in Canada East; Mary Ann, age 25, born in Ohio; a daughter, Sally A, age 4, born in Ohio and a son, Geo W, age 3, born in Ohio.  Mary Ann, daughter of Abner and Sarah Mott Smith would have been age twenty five in 1850.

     The 1860 Ohio Federal Census, Ballville Township, Sandusky County, page 218 contains the Cross enumeration.  Hubbard A. Cross, age 44, a day laborer, real estate value 100, born in Canada; Mary Ann, age 38 born in Ohio; Sarah A., age 14, born in Ohio; Platt B., age 7, born in Ohio; James H., age 2, born in Ohio.  George W. Cross is missing from the family listing.

Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in The War of the Rebellion 1861-1866, Volume 6, page 105.

     The Cross family was not immune to the growing conflict in the United States in 1860.  Hubbard enlisted on November 16, 1861 with Company F, 72nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army for a three year term.  Interestingly, three of Abner C. Smith's sons, Mary Ann's brothers, are also enlisted in the same company and regiment in the same month at the same place in 1861.

     Hubbard mustered in as a private on February 18, 1862 at Camp Chase, Ohio.  He died of disease almost four months later on June 12, 1862 at Monterey, Tennessee at age 40.  One record lists his burial was at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.  Another shows a name change from Pittsburg Landing to the Shiloh National Cemetery.  Grave markers have been erected there; however, sadly, there is none for Hubbard.  

     There is a pension file for Hubbard originally filed by his widow, Mary Ann.  Of interest a minor, James C. Barnes, son or grandson applied or reapplied for the pension on March 11, 1875.  I have had no success in figuring out who he is--where he fits into the family tree..  Purchasing a copy of the pension file would help.

     On February 28, 1867, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States Congress granted Mary Ann Cross, of Fremont, Ohio pension money due her from the pension filing backdated to her husband's death .  It could be that originally she received no pension since he only served for four months before he died; however, she appealed to Congress, either on her own or through a lawyer, and she was granted pension money (The Statutes at Large, Treaties and Proclamations of the United States of America From December 1865-March 1867, Volume 14, Ed:  George P. Sanger, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1868, page 631).

     It appears that Mary Ann Cross was deceased by 1870.  I found the two children that seem to have survived; Sarah A. Cross and Platt B. Cross, enumerated with the Nicholas Bowlus family having a Fremont Post Office, in Sandusky Township, Sandusky County, Ohio.  Sarah was employed as a domestic and Platt working on the farm.  

     Sarah married Lewis Henry Bowlus, son of Nicholas, in Toledo, Ohio in 1874, moved to Kansas and had four children.  Lewis deserted his family in April 1883.  There is a pension record submitted by Sarah to try to secure funds for Lewis' service in the Civil War.  She lists his desertion and that her brother is supporting her family.  Sarah, known as Sally, raised her four children alone.  Sarah died in 1916 in Kansas.

     While researching Sarah, I found another Cross child, a younger sister to Sarah and Platt.  Mary E Cross was born October, 1860 in Fremont, Ohio.  She did not appear on the 1860 census report which was enumerated on June 12, 1860.  I could not find a 1870 census for her.  Mary is enumerated directly under the Lewis H. Bowlus family in the 1880 Kansas census report.  She may have been a housekeeper for her older sister, Sarah.  Around 1884, in Kansas, Mary E Cross married Harry Thomas Bowlus, son of Lewis Henry Bowlus and his first wife Minnie.  Harry was living in his father's home in 1880.  Mary married her sister's stepson.  Harry and Mary had five children.  One died before 1900.  Mary E. Cross Bowlus passed in Topeka, Kansas on October 16, 1938.  Her brother, P.B. Cross is mentioned in the obituary.

     When I was next able to locate Platt B. Cross, it was his 1900 Kansas Census Report.  He married Lora Belle Holden in Kansas about 1894.  Platt lists his birth as March 1855.  Around 1918-1919, Platt and family moved to Texas to grow cotton. By 1930, Platt had decided to go back to his carpentry skills.  The total number of children born to this family was eight, with one dying before 1900.  Platt Bush Cross, born March 2, 1855, listed as a farmer, died on April 5, 1941 in Louise, Wharton County, Texas, as listed on his death certificate.

     Done and done.  Down a rabbit hole I went with this.  There are plenty of additional descendants.  I have seen other folks researching this family group on Wikitree and Ancestry.  In the end, I have no proof that Mary Ann Smith is even the daughter of my husband's paternal ggg  grandparents; however, the search has been fun and I welcome anyone who is also digging into these families to post a comment.

 

      

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published.    PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2020, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

The Family of Abner C. Smith and Sarah Mott of Medina, Portage, Wood and Sandusky Counties, Ohio

       This is a blog regarding my husband's paternal great great great grandparents. Abner C. Smith and Sarah Mott.  Abner was born circa 1798 in Massachusetts.  His parentage is unknown at this date, although there are several guesses.  My favorite is Abner Smith and Olive Onion of Denham, Massachusetts.  Sarah, daughter of Ezekiel Mott, Jr. and Mary (Polly) was born in Trumbull County, Ohio in 1798.

Connecticut Western Reserve map 1789 with Trumbull, Portage and Medina Counties underlined

     The story begins in Deerfield County, Ohio in 1809 or earlier, on land located then in the Connecticut Western Reserve.  Acres of land in this area was being sold by the Connecticut Land Company to pioneers from the New England area who wanted to venture west.  "Initial settlement of the area was sporadic and slow, however by the 1820's, the region began to prosper. The first settlers and towns they established reflected the culture of Connecticut and New England." (The Western Reserve Historical Society).

     Following his service in the American Revolutionary War, Ezekiel Mott, Sr. made his way west with his family.  His son, Ezekiel Mott, Jr. probably accompanied his father.  Records are sketchy at best.  Ezekiel Mott, Jr. married Mary (Polly) and his first child, a son, was born in Pennsylvania in 1797.  His second child, a daughter, Sarah, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio in 1798.  Trumbull County is underlined in the map above, far right hand side.

     What year all the Motts arrived in Deerfield Township, Portage County, Ohio is unknown.  Both Ezekiel Mott senior and junior were enumerated in the 1810 Ohio Tax List.  Both were listed as residents of Portage County, Ohio in 1809, probably Deerfield Township.  Portage County is the middle county underlined on the map above.  Sarah was age eleven and helping her mother with household chores and raising three younger brothers.  There were numerous extended Mott family members living in the same township.

     Several Medina County, Ohio history accounts reveal that Ezekiel Mott, Jr. had removed to land in Granger Township in 1816, squatting on land that was owned by George Codding--hence Sarah's father was known as Squatter Mott.  Medina County, Ohio is the far left hand side white underlined county above.

     When Abner C. Smith arrived in Medina County, Ohio from Massachusetts is unknown.  In fact, little is known about him until his marriage.  Had Abner connected with the Mott family when they lived in Deerfield Township in Portage County and followed to Medina County?  Was he traveling on his own, a young man, from Massachusetts to the Western Reserve looking for a new life in the west?

     On October 6, 1820, Abner C. Smith and Sarah Mott, both twenty two years of age, married in Medina County, Ohio.  Burt Codding, Justice of the Peace, certified the marriage on November 20, 1820.

A Digression of Sorts:  Straightening out Land Records

     I am taking a moment here to express that although the reader might think that following the life of someone named Ezekiel Mott in the early 1800's would be child's play....it is not.  This particular Mott clan named and renamed sons and grandsons Ezekiel.  I have mentioned in other blogs that my husband, a lawyer, has always said, follow the land.  The sticky wicket for me has become land records in Medina County, Ohio.  

     Why do I mention this?  Trying to untangle Mott land records?  Because I believe Abner and Sarah may have also lived on Ezekiel's land...Abner, a farmer, assisting his father-in-law. 

 

     The first actual land record I was able to locate for Abner is dated 1827, Bath Township, Medina County, Ohio.  Today Bath Township is located in Summit County, Ohio which was not formed until 1840.  Abner has three head of cattle, no horses, paid his canal, school and road taxes.  

     Was this land Aber is enumerated on actually his father-in-laws property?  Ezekiel purchased sixty acres from Burt and Betsey Codding of Bath, Medina County, Ohio in 1819:  Township 3, Lot 22 for 300 (foreign coinage was utilized at this time).  The purchase is found in Medina County land books, Volume A&B, page 85.  I had originally thought Ezekiel's land was in Granger Township.  Now it appears his property was more probably in Bath Township.  Ezekiel and his wife had removed to Portage County where he died in 1828.  There is a deed of Ezekiel's property by Ezekiel to Richard Paul in 1827 and date of record in 1828 by his wife, Mary. By the 1830 Ohio Federal Census, Abner C. Smith and Sarah had removed to Deerfield Township, Portage County, Ohio.   Also note that Abner and Sarah's marriage was certified by Burt Codding, JP, probably the same man her father purchased property from one year earlier.

Back to the Smith Story

     Utilizing the land information and the fact that I can find one record, I am assuming that Abner and Sarah lived in their own cabin or with her parents on the Bath Township land.  Abner farmed.  Sarah raised children and tended to the home.  

     Back in 2000, James Brandon II, shared his Abner C. Smith database.  According to his research, Abner and Sarah had three daughters by 1830.  His data aligns with Abner's 1830 Ohio Federal Census. The names of the two youngest girls are mentioned in a biography of Jacob Plants who married the third daughter, Sarah, named for her mother. (Wood County Ohio Atlas 1875-1912, page 47FF)

     The Smith Family began adding to their family with a daughter, Harriett Smith, born April 17, 1822.  Next three years later, Mary Ann, born April 2, 1825.  On October 31, 1827, Sarah was born.  Her information lists Portage County, Ohio as her birth place.  There is no month or day on the 1827 Bath Township Land Owner Record.  Perhaps the Smith Family had relocated to Portage County by their daughter Sarah's birth or she was actually born in Medina County, Bath Township.

     The 1830 Ohio Federal Census for Portage County, Deerfield Township, is extremely difficult  (impossible) to read on Ancestry.  Back in the day, 1990's, I scrolled through microfilm and jotted down information on this particular census report.  Page 206:  one male age 30-40 Abner; one female under age 5 Sarah; two females age 5-10 Harriett and Mary Ann; one female age 30-40 Sarah.

     Records I have found on Ancestry list the birth of three sons: Ezra, 1829; William, July 2, 1830 and Ezekiel, February 16, 1832.  I question Ezra because he does not show on the 1830 Ohio Federal Census report.  On census reports from 1850 and 1860, Ezra age shows he was born circa 1833

     I found a listing for Abner C. Smith on a school census report.  Abner had three children aged 4-12 enrolled in Deerfield Township School District #1, Portage County, Ohio in 1832. (School Census of Portage County, Ohio Enumeration of White Youth, Age 4-12, 1832)  According to ages in 1832, the three girls would have been attending school.

     Abner's 1832-1833 Deerfield Township, Portage County, Ohio Tax Assessment shows that he owned two head of cattle and paid taxes for a state canal, road and county school.

     It appears that the Smith family farmed a piece of land in Deerfield Township for a decade.  There were numerous Mott families farming there during the 1830's and through the 1800's.  In fact today there is a Mottown Cemetery and a Mottown Road.  At one time there was a railroad stop listed as Mottown.

     What prompted the Smith's to pack up and leave what appeared to be the safety of family?  A place where they had made their home for over a decade.  Were they traveling with friends or extended family?  And why did they ever choose Wood County, Ohio which was covered by The Great Black Swamp?    

     Now I am running into a little technical issue.  I wrote the son's blog before the father.  To make my life easier, please excuse my cut and paste from the blog of Abner and Sarah's son, Orison.  And, to see more information on The Great Black Swamp, it is on Orison's blog.

     The exact year the Smith Family settled in Wood County, Ohio is unknown.  Abner's 1840 Ohio Federal Census, lists him as a farmer residing in Wood County, Portage Township, Ohio. Adding to the confusion, Abner is listed as an early pioneer in 1839 residing in Montgomery Township, Wood County, Ohio.  (Commemorative Historical and Biographical Record of Wood County, Ohio:  Its Past and Present, Early Settlement and Development, Biographies and Portraits of Early Settlers and Representative Citizens,  J.H. Beers & Company, 1897, page 332).

     The map above shows a portion of Wood County.  When the Smith family moved to Wood, Portage Township encompassed Montgomery Township, which adds to the confusion as to where they actually settled.  My hunch is that they were farming near the town of Wayne, which was then called Freeport.  One reason Abner wanted a plank road constructed in Freeport.  

     The Smith's seventh child, Orison, was born on October 10, 1838.  His death certificate lists Wood County, Ohio as his birth place.  Orison is my husbands paternal great great grandfather.

     The 1840 Ohio Federal Census gives a good snapshot into the family makeup.  Abner is engaged in agriculture and living in Portage Township, Wood County, Ohio.  There are two males under age 5--Ezekiel and Orison.  One male age 5-10--Ezra and one male age 10-15--William.  One male 40-50--Abner.  One female age 10-15--Sarah.  One female age 15-20--either Harriet or Mary Ann (one is either married or deceased). One female age 40-50--Sarah.

     Everyone in the family would have been engaged in running the farm and/or the house.  Farmers had to construct drainage systems on their land to clear the swamp.  Underneath was rich soil.  The area had a church, school, dry good store and a post system using a horse and rider.

     A final child, a son, was born on May 18, 1841, Augustus Hutchins Smith. 

     Abner has four Tax Assessments, that I located, all in Montgomery Township, Wood County, Ohio.   The 1842 tax assessment on page 116, Abner owns two head of cattle, no horses and paid his fair share for a state canal and roads.  Page 118 lists Abner with 3 head of cattle, no horses and marked delinquent in payment.  Delinquent again in 1844, he owns three head of cattle, page 40.  The 1850 assessment does not list any personal ownership for any of the men listed; only the amount paid for the state canal and roads.  Abner paid the amount due.

     I found the above listing for Abner on Google Books dated Monday, January 28, 1850.  (Journal of the House of Representatives General Assembly of Ohio, Being the First Session of the Forty-Eighth General Assembly, Held on the City of Columbus, Commencing on Monday, December 3, 1849, Volume 48, 1850, Columbus:  S. Medary, printer, page 203)  When I first read it I thought that the Smiths had removed to Fremont; however, the 1850 Ohio Federal Census, taken on October 13, 1850 lists the family as farming in Montgomery Township, Wood County.  There is no other Abner Smith listed in the 1850 census in Sandusky County.  Abner must have traveled to Sandusky County to join the other citizens in their plea for a new road from the mill to Freeport in Wood County.

     Finally.  The 1850 census lists names.  The Smith Family is enumerated in Montgomery Township, Wood County, Ohio on October 13, 1850, page 408.  Abner, age 52, born in Massachusetts, a farmer with $100.00 of owned real estate.  Sarah, age 52, born in Ohio.  William age 20, born in Ohio.  Ezra A. age 17, born in Ohio.  Ezekiel age 14, born in Ohio.  Orison age 12, born in Ohio.  Augustus age 9, born in Ohio.  The daughters are all missing.  I believe Harriet died before 1840.  I know Sarah married Jacob Plantz (Plants) in Sandusky County on December 8, 1844.  Then there is Mary Ann.

     I have not found anyone who has traced Mary Ann Smith.  So I went down a rabbit hole. Hours of on line research.  Assuming that this Mary Ann Smith is indeed the daughter of Abner C. Smith and Sarah Mott Smith, she married Hubbard H. Cross in Wood County, Ohio on October 14, 1844.

     Sometime after 1855, the Smith Family made their final move, to the Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio area.  Son, Orison, states in this Civil War pension file that he was working as a sailor and shoe repairman and living at his home in Fremont by 1857.

     The 1860 Ohio Federal Census confirms the relocation to the Fremont area.  Enumerated on June 12, 1860, Sandusky Township, Sandusky County, Fremont Post Office, page 48, Abner C. Smith, age 62, day laborer, born in Massachusetts, can read and write.  Sarah, age 62, born in Ohio, cannot read or write.  Ezra A. Smith, age 28, farm laborer, born in Ohio.  Ezekiel Smith, age 25, farm laborer, born in Ohio.  Augustus H. Smith, age 19, born in Ohio, attended school within the year.  I would like to note that the family is enumerated with a page of farmers.  I am concluding that Abner is a farmer, although he lists himself as a day laborer.  Sons missing from the census:  Orison--probably working as a sailor and not at home since it is summer.  William--could be married or living on his own as a twenty eight year old man.  His Civil War pension file could lead to an answer.

Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in The War of the Rebellion 1861-1866, Volume 6, page 106.

     The news of the growing civil unrest in America was certainly known in Fremont.  It is a fear that strikes a mothers heart and would have been discussed at the dinner table every night.  There are records of all of the Smith sons enlisting in service in various companies of the Ohio Volunteer Army.  William, Augustus and Ezra all enlisted in 1861 with Company F, 72nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army.  Only Augustus returned home from service.  Orison enlisted into Company G, 111th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army and was discharged with medical disabilities.  (Details regarding his service is found on his blog).  I have found a Civil War draft registration for Ezekiel, but no information if and with which regiment he served.

William Smith

     William Smith, age twenty eight, joined Company F, 72nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army, at Fremont, on November 16, 1861, for three years.  He mustered in as a private on February 18, 1862 in Camp Chase, Ohio.  He died of disease three months later on May 28, 1862 at Louisville, Kentucky.  His burial is listed at New Albany National Cemetery, New Albany, Floyd County, Indiana on Find A Grave.  

Ezra A. Smith

     Ezra A. Smith, age twenty six, joined Company F, 72 Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army on November 6, 1861, at Fremont, for three years.  He mustered in as a private on February 18, 1862 in Camp Chase, Ohio.  He died four months later on June 15, 1862 in St. Louis, Missouri.  Ezra was originally buried at Wesleyan Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.  He was re interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri.

       The sorrow of the family to have two sons die within months of each other in states far away.  By 1860, there were two railroad lines crossing through Fremont.  Were the parents or other family members able to visit the burial sights to grieve?     

  The Smiths not only lost two sons to the war, also a step grandson, Emmanuel Plantz, who served with Company I, 72nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army and died of a gunshot wound on April 8, 1862 in Tennessee.  One record lists his burial was at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.  On the website for the Shiloh National Cemetery, the name was changed from Pittsburgh Landing to Shiloh National Cemetery in 1888.  Grave markers have been erected there; however, sadly,there is none for Emmanuel.  

     Also of interest is the record of Hubbard H. Cross, also serving with the three Smith brothers in Company F, 72nd Regiment who died, at age 40, June 12, 1862 in Tennessee.  Hubbard is the husband of Mary Ann Smith, who I believe is the daughter of Abner and Sarah Smith.

     This brief biography of Jacob Plantz, Sarah Smith's husband, mentions her family; the family of Abner C. Smith and Sarah Mott.  It was in the 1875 Hardesty's Atlas of Wood County, Ohio, page 47EE.  Both Jacob and Sarah were alive to give the information.  One piece of misinformation is Orison Smith's Civil War service.  He enlisted with the 111th Regiment. 

     From the end of the Civil War forward, I have found no mention of Abner or Sarah Mott Smith, only a death record for Abner.  There is no 1870 census report, no grave or tombstone.  These two early Ohio pioneers are lost to history.

     The record of Abner's death.  He is listed as a widower, having died in Madison Township in Sandusky County, Ohio.  Perhaps on his farm?  Perhaps buried beside his wife, Sarah, in a cemetery on the farm?  As I mentioned, they have become lost in history.

   Additional Family Blogs

Orison and Drusilla Knapp Smith

Sarah Smith and Jacob Plantz

Augustus Hutchins Smith and Mary (Polly) Plantz

Ezekiel Smith and Harriet Neil

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