Nearly every family has one; a seemingly-eccentric-nutter-turned-black-sheep. The ancestor who lived under a guise of normalcy for years until a seemingly insignificant event turned them sour. On the Van Wert side of my family, this person is the Irish born William Smith, my 4th great grandfather by the following line:
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Foggy Beginnings
He did well for himself, farming his land and providing for his family. The value of his land numbered $500 at its pique while his personal estate was valued at $200.
I have a few theories about his life becoming to Pennsylvania. It’s possible that he is the same William Smith that boarded the Saranak in Liverpool, England with his 24-year-old sister Rose. This William and Rose arrived at the port in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on the 24th of June, 1851. However, I am not positive this is the correct William Smith as, I am sure you know, Smith is not an uncommon name. My efforts to find this ‘Rose Smith’ listed as his sister have been rather fruitless as well. I presume she got married shortly after coming to Pennsylvania or, more likely, moved to a different state as she is not listed in William’s obituary- granted his obituaries were rather un-insightful regarding his origins as the nature of his death caused quite the variety of sensationalized stories that served as the main focus. If this is the correct immigration date, William was naturalized in the state of Pennsylvania on sept. 23, 1868. Below you will see a picture of what I believe to be his naturalization record. You will see that he renounces his allegiance specifically to the “Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland”.
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| William Smith's Naturalization Petition |
(update 12/29/2017: Terry Smith has written a great article that details the other possiblilities. Remember that all evidence at the moment is circumstantial. After reading Terry Smith's article I believe his circumstantial evidence for William arriving in New York may be stronger, then again anything can happen and there are some things that still don't quite add up. This is a link to it, I encourage every descendant to read it. If you don't have ancestry I have no doubt he will send it to you if you contact him.)
His Pennsylvania Family
His family that grew in Pennsylvania was quite large- totaling 2 parents and 10 children for a total of 12 people including him. These are brief summaries of each of their lives:
Sarah Adaline Skinner (his wife):
Sarah Adaline Skinner was, as far as I know, his first and only wife. He was, rather unfortunately for her, her first and only husband. She was born on the 13th of December, 1835 in Monticello, Sullivan County, New York to John B. Skinner and Elizabeth Griffin. I have an inkling that Elizabeth Griffin’s family stemmed from the Griffins of the early New York Colonies, but its nothing more than an inkling at this point as I have been unsuccessful at finding Elizabeth’s parents. Sarah’s father John B. was a farmer both in New York and Pennsylvania when he moved there. Sarah, naturally, married William A. Smith with whom she started a family. She worked as a housekeeper, much like most women of the time. She was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It's hard to put a measure on how happy or difficult her life was. Based on William’s obituaries, she may have started with a happy marriage, but it certainly didn’t end that way. More on that later. Sarah died on the 3rd of February, 1912 at the age of 76 years. On or around January 25th, 1912, her clothing caught fire from an open stove. She was attended to by a physician (whose name I believe was G. C. Gorson, although his signature is rather difficult to read) until the day of her death which resulted directly from the burns she sustained. At the time of her death, she was living with her son George.
Charles Henry Smith (his son):
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| Charles Henry Smith and his family. Photo shared by Terry Smith. |
Charles, William’s oldest son to whom my relation to William is due, was born on the 2nd of October, 1854 in Girdland, Wayne Pennsylvania. He married Tryphena Wonnacott and died on the 10th of May, 1906 in Berlin, Wayne County, Pennsylvania after a 4 month long battle with stomach cancer.
Ellen Elizabeth Smith (his daughter):
Ellen was born on the 9th of October, 1855 in Girdland, Pennsylvania. She married Rudolph Swartwout and died on the 25th of May, 1917 in Dyberry, Wayne, Pennsylvania of an organic disease of the heart.
Margaret Smith (his daughter):
Margaret was born on the 2nd of November, 1862 in Wayne county, Pennsylvania. She never married. She died of Pneumonia on the 20th of April, 1911 in Damascus, Wayne, Pennsylvania.
Mary Jane Smith (his daughter):
Much like Margaret, my information for Mary is rather lacking. She was probably born in abt. November of 1859 in Pennsylvania. The last name of her spouse was Bishop, although I am unsure of her spouse’s first name. She died sometime after 1912 when she is listed in her mother’s obituary as living in Honesdale.
Hannah Smith (his daughter)
Hannah was born on the 8th of February, 1863, in the western part of Damascus, Wayne, Pennsylvania. She married a man with the last name Palmer and died in Honesdale, Wayne, Pennsylvania after a sinus infection caused by Spanish Flu resulted in meningitis.
Maria Smith (his daughter)
Maria was born in about 1864 in Pennsylvania. I am unsure about whether or not she ever married. She died sometime between 1900 and 1910.
George W. Smith (his son)
George was born on the 6th of June, 1865, in Girdland, Wayne, Pennsylvania. He did marry, although I am unsure who. He died on the 5th of December, 1929 of Chronic Myocarditis. He had also been left in ill condition after he neglected some ribs he fractured after he fell 25 years prior which contributed.
Clarissa Smith (his daughter)
Clarissa was born abt. October of 1871 in Pennsylvania. She married Frank Antonio and during childbirth along with her unnamed son on 30 Sept. 1911 due to placenta previa at the state hospital in Scranton, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania.
Eliza Smith (his daughter)
Eliza was born on the 18th of February, 1872 in Girdland, Pennsylvania. She married Fredrick Richmond and died on the 4th of September, 1938 in Damascus, Wayne, Pennsylvania of multiple neuritis, mitral regurgitation, and myocarditis.
Harriet Smith (his daughter)
Harriet was born abt. 1873 in Pennsylvania. All that I know about her is she very likely never married as she died before 1885.
Descent Into Madness
It’s impossible to know exactly when mental illness strikes a person. In the case of William Smith, it seemed to be ever-present, finally snapping when his son, Charles Henry Smith, sold a section of land which William had presumably been farming. This section on the life of William Smith was constructed largely thanks to the work of Terry Smith, a descendant of William’s son Charles Henry Smith just like me. You can find/contact him on ancestry.com here.
Some of Terry Smith’s most insightful discoveries include the newspaper articles written during the year leading up to, and directly after, William Smith’s death.
The Attempted Murder of his Daughter, Ellen Smith
Early in the March of 1885, William Smith attempted to murder his then 30-year-old daughter, Ellen Elizabeth Smith, with an axe.
The original newspaper articles found by Terry Smith on this subject are the following:
- The Wayne Independent – March 12, 1885 (Thurs) pg. 3
- The Wayne County Herald (Section 3) – March 12, 1885 (Thurs)
- Honesdale Citizen – March 12, 1885
This is a short synopsis of all three of these articles:
For years before the March incident, William had been beating his wife Sarah Skinner, often leaving bruises and marks visible to the other people of the town. On March of 2nd 1885, William Smith took his daughter Ellen along with one of his sons, presumably George W. Smith, into the forest near Girdland, Pennsylvania to get some wood. Ellen somehow angered him, and he attempted to strike her head with his axe. Ellen jumped aside, saving her life. George then wrestled the axe out of his father’s hands. This prevented Ellen from being struck with the axe, but also angered William more. He punched Ellen to the ground and stomped on her with his cowhide boots, leaving an assortment of heavy bruises. He then struck her across the forehead with a beech sapling, leaving a large gash. She was left alive but still unable to walk a week after. After injuring Ellen, he threatened to kill everyone else in the family. Esquire J.R. Budd, of Girdland, issued a warrant which resulted in the arrest of William Smith. A hearing was held and William was committed to the county bastille to await action of the Grand Jury and Court at the May Session.
William Smith’s Suicide
On the 24th of April, 1885, William Smith committed suicide by hanging himself on an apple tree after driving his family to the hills to pick stones (clear all the stones off of the farmland).
The following articles detailing the suicide were found by Terry Smith:
- The Honesdale Citizen, Thursday April 30, 1885, page 1 & 2
- The Wayne Independent, Thursday, April 30, 1885
- The Wayne Co. Herald (3rd section), April 30, 1885
This is the combined information found therein:
Before his final suicide, William had attempted to kill himself 2 times before, it is unclear exactly when these attempts took place. On April 11th, 1885, William Smith was released from jail. He was discharged on account of Ellen Smith refusing to appear against him in court after he attempted to murder her. He immediately went back to his abusive ways with his family. The Wednesday before he committed suicide he left home after acting strangely for some time. He stayed at the houses of various neighbors over the nights that followed. He first stayed at J. Nolan’s house in Damascus. The following night he stayed at Henry Dennis’ house, also in Damascus. The morning following his stay at Henry’s house, he asked Henry to kill him. Henry jokingly told him to lie down and he would chop his head off with the shovel he had in his hand. William abided to Henry’s request and Henry playfully drew the shovel across his neck. Upon realizing that William was serious in his request, Henry lectured him and told him to go home and behave himself. William, being disappointed that Henry would not do as he asked, responded that “if nobody else would do it for him, he would go home and hang himself.” He then proceeded to call other neighbors and request the same thing, but none would offer themselves up as his murderer. Upon arriving home, he threatened to kill his family once again and drove his wife and four children away from the home. William went back to the home while his family went to work picking stones. William’s wife, Sarah Skinner, sent their youngest daughter at intervals to look through the window of the house to see what her father was doing. At first, she spotted him lying on the floor, kicking and swearing in his fury. The next visit he had a handkerchief around his head and was looking out the window. The final visit was made by their 18-year-old son, George. He looked in the house and upon not seeing his father went to search for him. To his horror, he discovered William had hung himself by jumping off a block of wood while using a bed cord loosely tied to an apple tree as a noose. Efforts were made to resuscitate William, but they were in vain. Esquire J.R. Budd was notified and held an inquest. The Jurors included: Louis Schweighofer, August Schweighofer, Richard Stack, Neville Holgate, Henry Tamblyn, and Samuel Varcoe. About 18 months before his suicide when his son Charles, in need of money, sold the 20 acres of land they both worked, William was driven to full insanity and was especially abusive to his wife and children.
Final Commentary
That is the full story of William Smith as I know it. I find the lack of action by the townspeople, despite knowing and publishing the extent to which William abused his family, speaks to the social and familial structures that were acceptable at the time. Not to mention the refusal of the daughter to face her father in court after he nearly murdered her. My best guess is the whole family was plagued by a case of Stockholm syndrome, emotionally unable to save themselves from William Smith.
Good read
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it!
Deleteif you still have your tree definition file, Renee, then I'd recommend updating your displayed tree from it, and adding some biographical notes for when you click on the boxes or circles. See 'SVG Family-Tree Generator' on FB :-)
DeleteWill do! You also just reminded me to update my main tree as well, I have like 2 more people to add to it first though.
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