The Smiths of Smithville

Researching my family history has changed so much since I started in 2000.  Then, I had a frustratingly slow dial-up connection.  I mostly surfed and posted on message boards.  I spent my lunch breaks in the bowels of the Los Angeles Central Library.  I remember stumbling upon my Burwell ancestors in the DAR lineage books.  I was excited when I found the biography of John H. Bryant, linking my Illinois Bryants to Massachusetts, and eventually, my immigrant ancestor, Abraham Bryant of Reading.  Even more rewarding, was piecing together the clues from city directories to my long-lost uncle and reconnecting the family after over 50 years.

Many of those same resources I used back then are now available online.  Increasingly, you can access them for free.

Today, I started with a short article on the remarriage of Moses T. Burwell, Jr. to Ada (Smith) Burwell on December 10, 1904, in Kansas City, Missouri.  [The article was published in the Colorado Springs Evening Telegraph on December 11, 1904 and was provided for free via email by the Pikes Peak Library District.]  It inferred that Judge Davis was Ada's father, not Henry Smith.  Perhaps he was her stepfather?  Hmm, time to investigate. 

I found little information on any potential Judge Davis.  I googled Ada's mother, Varina (Courtney) Smith, and learned that she never remarried.  Searching by her maiden name (i.e., "Varina Courtney"), I discovered a mention of her in the Autobiography of Calvin Smith of Smithville (Missouri), available as a Google eBook.  Calvin published the book in 1905, at the age of 92, about his recollections of growing up in Missouri.  His sons, Henry Smith (Ada's father) and James G. Smith, were prominent lawyers in Kansas City.

He describes in detail his father, Humphrey "Yankee" Smith's troubles in speaking out against slavery in 1819 in Howard County, Missouri territory.  This was the time period when Missourians were deciding whether to become a free state or a slave state.  Humphrey who was originally from New Jersey and later New York, was raised to believe that slavery was a sin.  He visited a neighbor, known for his pro-slavery stance, and who was running for election to the convention to decide the state issue.  He told him of his convictions, and of course, was kicked out of the house.

About a couple of weeks later, a mob of 15 to 20 men, hid behind Humphrey's house late at night.  A stranger approached Humphrey and insisted that he and his horse be given a place to rest.  When he refused, a fight with the mob broke out.  Mrs. Smith (nee Nancy Walker) defended her husband and got in the middle of the fracas, sustaining a permanent injury to her eye.  The family fled town under the threat of death. 

Humphrey left the country for a while.  Nancy and the children relocated to Carroll County.  In 1822, Humphrey and his family moved to Clay County, settling in an area later known as Smithville.  Humphrey, a miller, died in Smithville in 1857.  In her older years, Nancy was a doctor and midwife in Dallas County, Iowa.

Calvin had his own adventures.  Despite he and his brothers owning slaves, by the time of the Civil War, he was pro-Union and anti-slavery.  He was too old to be a soldier.  Instead, he reported to Union leaders about the rebel activities in his community.  In 1862, he narrowly escaped arrest by the Confederates and left the state.  After living about 20 years in Kansas, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri.