John Smith

Person shell created for research. Dates, places, and relationships are pending documentary research.

1. Laura Tolliver and John Smith were husband and wife.

   Corroborated

   Laura Tolliver Smith and John Smith are held by this archive as husband and wife.

   BT-CLM-00231 · High confidence

2. When did Laura Tolliver and John Smith marry?

   Documented

   Laura Tolliver and John Smith married in June 1870, in Copiah County, Mississippi.

   BT-CLM-00232 · High confidence

3. 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

• 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

• Did John and Laura Smith own an approximately 80-acre farm?

  Under Investigation

  What do county deeds, tax rolls, plat maps, agricultural schedules, mortgage records, and probate files show?

• Did Laura and John Smith provide hospitality and support to Bishop C. H. Mason around 1897?

  Under Investigation

  Can Bishop Mason's movements around 1897 be independently documented? Do COGIC records, Mason biographies, or church records mention John, Laura, or Joe Smith? Can Mason Harrison Smith's name and relationship be documented?

• How many children did John and Laura Smith raise?

  Under Investigation

  Which household, probate, guardianship, church, and family records can identify the children individually?

• Was Amanda Smith a daughter of John and Laura Smith?

  Family Tradition

  Was Amanda Smith a daughter of John and Laura Smith?

• · Search county deeds, tax rolls, plat maps, agricultural schedules, mortgage records, and probate files.
• · Search COGIC institutional records, Mason biographies and itineraries, church minutes, and local newspapers.
• · Reconstruct the household across all available censuses; search probate, guardianship, church, and cemetery records.
• · Search Copiah County, Mississippi and Union County, Kentucky marriage records, and church registers for the same period.
• · Search Copiah County marriage records and Freedmen's Bureau marriage registers for June 1870, and re-examine the written family history for the origin of the 1852 date.
• · 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.

1. 1870 U.S. Census — Copiah County, Mississippi

   United States Bureau of the Census · FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration · U.S. census, Copiah County, Mississippi, population schedule, Townships 9 & 10 (Post Office Hazlehurst) · Digital Image

   Digital image of original record · Original image: Citation entered — image review pending · BT-SRC-00036

2. 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

3. 1900 U.S. Census — Mount Hope, Copiah County, Mississippi

   United States Bureau of the Census · FamilySearch · U.S. census, Copiah County, Mississippi, population schedule, Mount Hope · Digital Image

   Digital image of original record · Original image: Citation entered — image review pending · BT-SRC-00038

4. 1910 U.S. Census — Mayharris, Copiah County, Mississippi

   United States Bureau of the Census · FamilySearch · U.S. census, Copiah County, Mississippi, population schedule, Mayharris · Digital Image

   Digital image of original record · Original image: Citation entered — image review pending · BT-SRC-00039

5. 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

6. 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

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