George Smith

Son of John Smith and Laura Taliaferro Smith, named as their child on his own 1936 Illinois death record. He died 3 March 1936 in Chicago, where he was working as a janitor, and was buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Cook County. His birth year is unsettled: the death record says 21 April 1881, the 1880 Copiah County census says he was 8 years old.

1. Was George Smith a son of John and Laura Smith?

   Documented

   George Smith was a son of John Smith and Laura Taliaferro Smith. His 1936 Illinois death record names both parents - father John Smith, mother Laura Tatlefero - and gives Mississippi birthplaces for both that match the counties where John and Laura appear in this archive.

   BT-CLM-00274 · High confidence

2. When was George Smith born, when did he die, and where is he buried?

   Documented

   George Smith died 3 March 1936 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, and was buried 6 March 1936 at Lincoln Cemetery in Cook County. He was working as a janitor and living in Chicago at the time. His birth date is not settled: the death record gives 21 April 1881, while the 1880 census points to a birth about 1872.

   BT-CLM-00343 · High confidence

3. Who was George Smith's wife?

   Documented

   George Smith's wife is named Clara on his 1936 death record. Her maiden surname is read there as "Chess" with a question mark and is treated as unread.

   BT-CLM-00344 · Medium confidence

4. When did George Smith leave Mississippi?

   Documented

   George Smith had left Mississippi and was living in Chicago by 1936, when he died there. The year he left is still unestablished.

   BT-CLM-00345 · Medium confidence

• The eighty-acre place

  “John and Laura acquired approximately eighty acres, with a house, barns, livestock, a blacksmith shop, wells, orchards, pastures, streams, gardens, trees, and poultry.”

  Earliest known teller: Alma Smith Spearman · BT-TRD-00097

• Laura attended "Vicksburg College"

  “Laura Tolliver, while yet a student of Vicksburg College, was given in marriage to John Smith, a country farmer.”

  Earliest known teller: Alma Smith Spearman · BT-TRD-00098

• Bishop C. H. Mason in the Smith home

  “Around 1897 John and Laura Smith welcomed Bishop C. H. Mason into their home, extended an ongoing invitation for him to stay when in the area, their son Joe cared for his horse and buggy, and their oldest grandson Mason Harrison Smith was named for him.”

  Earliest known teller: Alma Smith Spearman · BT-TRD-00099

• The five-year separation

  “Hilliard was sold to another enslaver in Arkansas and separated from Bettie. Bettie's grief was so constant that her enslavers purchased Hilliard back, ending a separation the family remembers as lasting about five years.”

  Earliest known teller: Alma Smith Spearman · BT-TRD-00195

• Choctaw ancestry in Bettie's line

  “Family memory identifies Choctaw ancestry in the ancestry of Bettie Alexander Taliaferro, born about 1837.”

  Earliest known teller: Not recorded · BT-TRD-00604

• Shawnee ancestry in Hilliard's line

  “Family memory identifies Shawnee ancestry in the ancestry of Hilliard Taliaferro, born about 1823 in Virginia.”

  Earliest known teller: Not recorded · BT-TRD-00605

• Was Alma Smith Carthan a daughter of George Smith?

  Under Investigation

  Was Alma Smith Carthan a daughter of George Smith?

• · Order the certificate image from Cook County or the Illinois State Archives and read the informant line.
• · Locate and examine a census enumeration, birth record, death record naming parents, marriage record, obituary, Social Security application, church record or probate file.
• · Examine the death certificate image and look for a Chicago-area record - marriage, draft registration, or a later census - that gives George's own reported age.
• · Search Chicago marriage records for a George Smith and a Clara, and check the 1920 and 1930 censuses for the household.
• · Trace George in the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses to bracket the departure year.

1. Bibliographic details pending — family history by Alma Smith Spearman

   Alma Smith Spearman · Authored Narrative

   Authored family history · Original image: Publication details pending · BT-SRC-00040

2. Find a Grave memorial 92711754 for George Smith (21 Apr 1881 - 3 Mar 1936), Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois

   Contributor AR Jackson (member 47847137), memorial maintainer · Find a Grave (database and images), online · Find a Grave Memorial ID 92711754 · Index

   Research lead — derivative source · Original image: Derivative source only · BT-SRC-00041

3. 1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi

   United States Bureau of the Census · FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration · 1880 U.S. census population schedules (NARA T9, roll 645) · Digital Image

   Digital image of original record · Original image: Citation entered — image review pending · BT-SRC-00037

4. Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947, entry for George Smith, died 3 March 1936, Chicago, Cook County

   State of Illinois, Bureau of Vital Statistics (record); FamilySearch (index) · FamilySearch online index · Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947 · Index

   Derivative source · Original image: Citation entered — image review pending · BT-SRC-00524

5. Family knowledge supplied by Amberly R. Carter-Mills

   Amberly R. Carter-Mills · BEFORE TILL research files · Authored Narrative

   Primary oral history — for the interviewee · Original image: Transcript verification pending · BT-SRC-00264

11 discrete observations were extracted from these sources for this case.