Photos: Smithen and related families

Posted on January 1, 2017 by jbt

These photos are primarily SMITHEN, Walker & related families. Most were taken in and around Navarro Co. & Ellis Co. Texas … Blooming Grove, Ensign, Lone Cedar, Corsicana, Cryer Creek, Dresden. Many of these have been previously published on my Ancestry.com family tree but I felt they would be more accessible to others via this website.

If I have misidentified anyone or if any caption requires modification, please email me at the address listed on my “Contact” page of this website. If you have any photos you feel are related to these families that you would like posted on this website, please email me.

Before using any photograph from this website, please read the letter posted on May 1, 2016, entitled RELEASE OF PHOTOGRAPHS.

Ed Smithen & Family, c. 1901. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Ed Smithen & Family, c. 1901. Top L to R … Harvey Smithen, Kate Pritchett, Carl Smithen … Middle … Ed Smithen, Althea Pritchett Smithen … Bottom … Birdie Smithen, Bessie Smithen, Willie Pete Smithen, Pearl Smithen (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Ed Smithen & second wife. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Ed Smithen (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Wedding photo of Harvey Smithen & Myrtle Walker, 1920. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Three Smithen brothers. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Three Smithen brothers, Carl, Robert & Walter with Unk Lady. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Smithen brothers & sisters. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Unk man, Robert Smithen, Mary & Fannie Smithen, Walter Smithen, Birdie Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

A young Harvey Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Walter Smithen, abt. 1984

A young Walter Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Harvey Smithen & Myrtle Walker Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Robert Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Robert Smithen & wife, Ardis. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Newton Rowell & Mary Smithen Rowell. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Althea Caroline Pritchett Smithen, 1901. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Fannie Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Edna Collier Smithen & Willie Edward (Pete) Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

H.C. Smithen, Jr. & Margie Stringer Smithen. c. 1950. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Walter Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

H. C. (Smitty) Smithen, Jr., c. 1945. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Oscar Loosier, Laura Janette Hiler Walker, Harvey Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Carl Smithen, Doroty Petty, Walter Smithen, Robert Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Carl Smithen, Dorothy Petty, Walter Smithen, Robert Smithen. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2017)

Photos Lot #3 – Unknowns

Posted on May 17, 2016 by jbt

The individuals in the photos posted below are unknown/unidentified. Considering how (and from whom) I came into possession of these photos, I suspect they are related to the following families and geographical locations: Families – Walker, Hiler, Smithen, Loosier, Sabo, Lassiter, Curl, Hightower …. Locations: Texas, Navarro County, Ellis County, Ennis, Blooming Grove, Corsicana. If you can help me identify any of these individuals, please email me at the address listed on my “Contact” page of this website. If you have any photos you feel are related to these families that you would like posted on this website, please email me.

Unknown06 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Unknown07 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Unknown08 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Unknown09 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Unknown010 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Photos Lot #2 – Unknowns

Posted on May 17, 2016 by jbt

Unknown01 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Unknown02 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Unknown03 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Unknown04 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Unknown05 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

James Berry Walker Photograph

Posted on May 3, 2016 by jbt

In my years of WALKER family research, this is, undoubtedly, the most significant photographic find I have made. The photo was in a cache of paper ephemera I discovered in the residence of my late cousin, Dorothy Loosier Sabo. The photos were originally in the possession of Dorothy’s mother, my grand aunt Evie Walker Loosier. This photo was worn and had numerous scratches mostly over J.B. and for this reason I sent it off for a professional restoration. To enable other researchers to use J.B.’s face for possible comparison to other photos, I have cropped and made a second photo from the first.

James Berry Walker (seated) with his youngest son, L.D., and his wife, Sarah Ann Parker Stills Walker, circa 1890. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Just James Berry Walker’s face cropped from the larger family photo. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Photos Lot #1

Posted on May 2, 2016 by jbt

Before using any photograph from this website, please read the letter posted on May 1, 2016, entitled RELEASE OF PHOTOGRAPHS.

Isom Stockard and Nancy Hiler. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Fate and Mattie Seals. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Christopher C Walker Jr. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Claire P. Walker. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

C.C. (Lum) Walker and son, Nathan. (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Release Of Photographs

Posted on May 1, 2016 by jbt

Dear Cousins,

As some of you may be aware, I have taken a break from genealogy research for most of the past two years due a number of deaths within my immediate family and also demands of my business. Several weeks ago something happened to end my genealogy break …. I unexpectedly came into possession of a cache of family photos which appear to have been originally in the safekeeping of my grand aunt Evie Walker (Loosier) who was the daughter of John Alexander Walker and the grand-daughter of James Berry Walker and his second wife, Sarah Parker (Stills) (Walker). In addition to photos of James Berry and Sarah, the collection includes photos of individuals from these families: Walker, Loosier, Curl, Lassiter, Hightower, Hiler, Smithen, Stockard, Sabo, Seals, and others. Also, there are many photos of unidentified persons.

I plan to share ALL of the photos online … they will be posted on my Ancestry.com tree (where I am username 1jtay) and also my personal genealogy website located at www.genwebsite.com which is a free access site. For way too long many old photos have been withheld from other family members and fellow researchers for various reasons that may have begun with good intentions but still resulted in the photos being kept “hidden”. I hope my gesture of total release of these photos will encourage others to share theirs. Only two stipulations will apply to these photographs …. (#1) You may not rename or relabel any photo … in other words, in your mind & heart you may not believe that that’s a photo of L.D. Walker but you may not change, rename, relabel or otherwise alter that photo in any way … my grand aunt Evie knew her family members names and she wrote them on the photos during her lifetime, 1904-1975. (#2) You should properly cite the source of the photo when and if you reprint it elsewhere. The citation should read, “Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016”.

With all my best wishes,

Johnny Taylor

(Standing L.) Myrtle, James Dewey, Evie. (Seated L.) John Alexander Walker, Mattie, Laura J. Hiler Walker, Clarence. c. 1915-15 (Photograph provided by and in the collection of Johnny Taylor, Marshall, TX, 2016)

Perpetuating Misinformation

Posted on April 12, 2015 by jbt

At least when it applies to information, especially genealogy information, undoubtedly the Internet is the easiest and most convenient resource to perpetuate misinformation.

Last week I came across the FindAGrave.com memorial page for one of my Taylor cousins buried in Arkansas. I had been wanting to verify this cousin’s middle name and I was elated to find his full name listed on the memorial page as well as information about his parentage and his Civil War service. Then, I realized that he was listed as having served in a Confederate regiment from Georgia … this struck me as odd since this man was born and died in Arkansas and likely never left the state. Well, I threw down the gauntlet and began an investigation.

First, I contacted the FindAGrave.com contributor who had created the memorial page and verified that he had indeed eyeballed the headstone and personally took the photograph. He informed me that the stone was very difficult to read but he could make out the inscription … then he added that, “Some of the other information was found using Ancestry.com.”

I went online and beginning with Rootsweb (i.e. Ancestry.com) I followed link after link finally finding a 2007 survey of the cemetery on a page of USGenWeb archives. I contacted the county coordinator only to discover that the contributor of the 2007 survey was deceased. I explained my suspicions about the information to the county coordinator and she immediately joined the investigation to find the truth … (editor’s note – this is a phenomenon that you rarely find anymore … someone with integrity willing to cooperate in finding the truth and correcting an error !). While she was researching elsewhere, I went to Fold3.com and checked Arkansas Taylor’s who fought for the Confederacy and found that there were two in that Arkansas county with the same initials … one from GA who fought with a GA regt, and, one from AR who fought with an AR regt.

To try and shorten the story of the investigation … here are the results: (1) in the 1970’s a volunteer made a survey of the cemetery in question .. instead of simply recording the known facts (although she did include the vital fact that only the initials for the deceased’s first & middle names were engraved on the headstone), she added a comment that the person buried in that grave was listed as dwelling #000 in the county’s 1850 Federal Census…THIS WAS TOTALLY INCORRECT INFORMATION since that dwelling was occupied by the other Taylor! (2) many years later in 2007 another volunteer compiles an updated survey of the cemetery. She (no doubt with all good intentions) sees the earlier comment and expounds in it with additional information and this time part of the information belongs to one of the Taylor’s and part of it belongs to the other. (3) in late 2009 a FindAGrave.com contributor walks the cemetery in question, takes photos and enters his findings on FindAGrave.com. Unfortunately, he decides to include additional information available on the Internet and includes the misinformation found in items (1) and/or (2) described above.

Conclusion… As a result of items (1), (2), and (3) described above, we have a grave in an Arkansas cemetery clearly identified at least in three different locations on the Internet (which probably equates to dozens if not hundreds of locations) and the information is (partially) incorrect on all three and in two of the listings even the name of the deceased is wrong because it belongs to another individual! Item (3) was easy to correct … the FindAGrave.com contributor cooperated fully and changed all the misinformation on the memorial page he had created. Item (1) cannot be corrected or changed because it was done in printed form back in the 1970’s and no one knows what libraries it was sent to, and worst, what genealogical publications might have reprinted it. Item (2) has so far not been corrected and may not be. Although the county coordinator is very willing to correct the document, she is unable to locate the Internet repository where the document/folder is located in order to make the changes. At least her efforts are continuing.

The LESSON TO BE LEARNED … Anytime you compile, compose, write, or otherwise generate a document or something that others might view as a secondary or (God forbid) a primary genealogy source, ALWAYS stick to the known facts ONLY. If you can’t help yourself and you just must add additional information then label it as such … for example, write, “Editor’s note .. or, Compiler’s note .. or, Contributor’s comment .. or, Personal observation” .. or, whatever it takes to differentiate the facts from the non-facts!!!!

SOURCES

Posted on March 3, 2015 by jbt

I know I like to rant about sources! It (or they) are one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to genealogy research. I recently came across an old set of notes I’d recorded including the following definition of primary and secondary sources and I thought it was appropriate to reprint it here. The source of this article was a UK-based website, http://www.explorers.mlfhs.org.uk/genealogy_george_explains.htm

What is the difference between a primary source document and a secondary source document?

In family history research we use two types of source material. They are considered either primary or secondary sources of information. A primary source document or record would be one that was created around the time of the event. This is always the best and most accurate record to find. For example:
• birth certificate
• marriage certificate
• death certificate
• census enumeration
• military record(s)
• will
• gravestone (editor’s note – some define this as a Secondary Source)
• ships passenger list
(And some additions by JT)
• Deeds and other land ownership records
• Eyewitness newspaper accounts
• Family Bibles (if recorded by someone witnessing the event shortly after it occurred)
• Letters describing the events as they are taking place by a person involved
• Passenger list
• Photographs

A primary source document would have been created by someone with direct knowledge of the event and recorded at the time it happened. These records are considered very accurate and are the best source to find in order to make sure that your information is correct.

Secondary source records are those that were not created at the time of the event. These could be something like:
• books
• old letters (editor’s note – If the letter was written after the fact by someone not present or otherwise directly involved)
• indexes
• any second hand account of an event

Because things like books and letters tend to be the recollection of an event the information may not be entirely correct. Primary and secondary sources of material can be found in many types of places such as online, in libraries, archives or family history societies.

My Missing Taylors

Posted on February 23, 2015 by jbt

After many hundreds of hours of research and with the help of many fellow researchers, I’ve documented my TAYLOR line back to the Immigrant Ancestor and also documented genealogical data on thousands of people from associated lines. However, it has always been a great source of frustration for me that I’ve never been able to properly document my great-greatgrandmother Taylor and five of her six children.

In the hopes that someone will read this and help provide me with some of the missing information, I am listing the basic information that I do know about my missing TAYLORs.

Mary E. (THROGMORTON) TAYLOR [my great-greatgrandmother]

b. abt. 1842 IL and d. aft. 1880

Mary and her children appear twice in the 1880 census of Lawrence Co., AR. Due to the census taker’s error, she and half the family appear on one page and then she and the other half of her family appear several pages over. After this there is no known information about Mary.

When and where did Mary die and where is she buried?

1^st spouse: Drury Matthew TAYLOR 1838-1870 [he is well documented]

Son: Leander J. TAYLOR b. 1860 MO [he is basically documented until his death which must have occurred prior to June 1887 because his spouse, Patsy Bunch, remarried then in Lawrence Co., AR. She and Leander had married 1884 in Lawrence Co., AR and they had one child, Bettie, b. 1885 (no info known about Bettie)]

When and where did Leander die and where is he buried?

Son: Jefferson Davis TAYLOR b. 1863 IL d. 1899 MO [he is basically documented except not much is know about his first wife, Sarah Sallie Bunch, whom he married in Jefferson Co., AR in Jul 1884. She must have died prior to Dec 1889 because he remarried and had a family with his second wife.]

When and where did his first wife die and where is he buried? Did they have any children?

Dau: Elizabeth A. TAYLOR b. 1865 IL [absolutely no documentation found on this child other than the 1870 Jefferson Co., IL census and the flawed 1880 Lawrence Co., AR census.]

What happened to Elizabeth after 1880? Spouse, children? When and where did she die and where is she buried?

Son: John Riley TAYLOR b. 1869 IL [he and his family are the big mystery and I find this especially frustrating because he is the twin brother of my great-greatgrandfather, William Wiley TAYLOR!]

John Riley married Francis Freer Jul 1893 in Lawrence Co., AR … after that, there is no documentation on either John Riley or Francis.

I have been informed by Lawrence Co., AR sources that Willie Lee (Pete) TAYLOR is the son of John Riley TAYLOR. Willie Lee was born 11 Jan 1893 in Lawrence Co., AR. Since this birth was seven months prior to John Riley’s marriage to Francis, it brings into question as to whether Francis was Willie Lee’s mother or perhaps John Riley had had a previous spouse? I do know a little about Willie Lee and his family; he had two sisters, Frances (b. 1894) and Clara F. (b. 1898). Thanks to a very detailed account in a recent history book about Lawrence Co., AR, I have a great deal of information about Willie Lee TAYLOR’s spouse and children BUT NOTHING ABOUT HIS PARENTS!

What happened to John Riley TAYLOR and Francis Freer Taylor after their 1893 marriage? When and where did they die and where are they buried? Who were their children? Did John Riley have any other spouses?

Son: William Wiley TAYLOR b. 1869 IL d. 1939 TX [this is my greatgrandfather and he is very well documented other than the fact that I can’t find him in the 1920 census even though he never left Red River Co., TX from 1910 till his death in 1939.]

2^nd spouse (of Mary E. (THROGMORTON) TAYLOR [my great-greatgrandmother] Greenberry TAYLOR (Drury’s nephew) b. 1847 MO d. bet 1872-80 Lawrence Co., AR? A handwritten marriage document indicates that Mary married Greenberry in Lawrence Co., AR 17 Jul 1872. Since Robert L. Taylor b. 1873 shows up on the 1880 census then I am assuming this is Mary’s son with Greenberry. However, Greenberry completely disappears after the marriage document and I have no other documentation about him.

What happened to Greenberry TAYLOR after his 1872 marriage? When and where did he die and where is he buried?

Son: Robert L. (Littleman?) TAYLOR b. 1873 AR [absolutely no documentation has been found about him other than the flawed 1880 Lawrence Co., AR census and a brief mention in some family correspondence of a half-brother of William Wiley named LIT (maybe short for Littleman)

What happened to Robert L. TAYLOR after his appearance in the 1880 census? Spouse, children? When and where did he die and where is he buried?

My grandfather had already died when I started my genealogical research and my great-grandfather was long dead. According to my grandmother and at least one grandaunt here is the family legend ….

Mary Throgmorton TAYLOR, her mother and her children all moved to Lawrence Co., AR after the Civil War. There, she married her late husband’s nephew and had a son by him. Then, the entire family, except my great-grandfather William Wiley Taylor, died of an epidemic. William Wiley lived with and worked for a Dr. Richardson in a place called Oil Trough which was either in AR or MO.

Well, the problem with this legend is that ALL of William Wiley’s brothers obviously lived to adulthood because we find documents proving marriages and children for them.

Actually (research-wise) it would have been easier to explain all the missing answers IF the family had all (but one) died off from a horrible epidemic. Unfortunately (or fortunately) that wasn’t the case so I need a lot of help and I hope someone reading this will throw me a few bits of useful information ………….

I first published this article online on numerous message boards many years ago. The few responses provided almost nothing of any significance. I’ve decided now in early 2015 to take “a shot in the dark” and place the article online again…… jt

The Black Sheep?

Posted on February 23, 2014 by jbt

Many people would say that my GGGrandfather, James Berry Walker (JBW), is/was the Black Sheep of the family. He has been labeled a scoundrel, a coward, a deserter and a bigamist. Based on years of research by myself (I stem from the Ohio/TX side of the family) and a fellow Walker cousin (from the Georgia side of the family), I believe that the first two labels couldn’t be further from the truth but the latter two are technically correct!

Rather than launch into a lengthy narrative (which will be forthcoming), let me simply say that I believe JBW found himself having become a pawn in a terrible war that was separate from the North-South Civil War, and as a result, he was forced into having to make an unimaginably dreadful decision. It was a life/death decision that would alienate him forever from his Georgia family and result in a new family in Texas. It was a decision that only a man with strong stamina and conviction could possible make regardless of the fact that he must have known the burden he would carry for the remainder of his life!

(Note – The lengthy narrative mentioned above will be posted in 2015 or 2016 and the Walker Family Tree, which has been kept private thus far, will also be made public several places online. In the meantime I would strongly encourage those hungry to know more about JBW’s Civil War dilemma to read A Separate Civil War: Communities in Conflict in the Mountain South written by Dr. Jonathan Dean Sarris in 2006 … the book is available in a Kindle edition by Amazon.com.)

GENWEBSITE.com

John Taylor's Genealogy Website