SMITH Family

 

SMITH FAMILY

We can go back many generations in the Smith family, thanks to Dianne Poulson's research primarily, but the details are scarce the farther you go back so we will start with:

WILLIAM SMITH

William was born in 1796 in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He married Margaret White June 27, 1818 the same place William was born. We simply have the names of the children: Agnes 1818, Jean 1820, Janet 1822 and George 1824-1962.

GEORGE SMITH

George was born in 1824 in Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland to William and Margaret (White) Smith. He married Christina Fulton November 2. 1849 in Barony, Lanarkshire, Scotland. We only know they had Elizabeth Matilda 1850, William Sanderson 1852-1933, James 1856-1918, Margaret White 1856, George White 1858, Thomas Fulton 1860-1947 and Andrew in 1862. George passed away September 10, 1862 in Rhu, Dumbartonshire. He was 38. It appears the same year Andrew was born.

Note: I love Thomas carried his mother's maiden name for his middle name. Margaret and George carry their maternal grandmother's maiden name.

JAMES SMITH

James Smith was born in 1856 in Helensburg, Scotland to George and Christina (Fulton) Smith. He married Hellen Neil June 6, 1884 in Helensurg, Dumbartonshire, Scotland.

We found three Census partaining ot James. All of the census he lives in Helensburgh, Dumbartonshire so he pretty well lived there thoughout his life. In 1861 he was living with his mother, father and siblings. By 1871his father passed away so at 16 he was with his mother and siblings. It did list his profession as an apprentice baker. I doubt our young people of today understand by the time men were 16 back in these days they were working. The 1881 census James continues to live with his mother. He is now 25 and occupation is listed as a Mason. He passes away April 23, 1912 in Dumbarton, Scotland. He was 56. Their son carried his paternal great grandfather's name.

WILLIAM SMITH

William was born July 28, 1890 in Helensburgh, Scotland. He married Flora Cameron Gilmour December 16, 1918.

We did find papers called Attestation Paper that stated William Smith who was born in Helenburgh and next of kin is his mother E. Smith who lived in Scotland. His job: Tinsmith, not married...willing to be vaccinated yes, belong to active malitia? No, served military no, willing to serve yes...dated May 19, 1915 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

According to his granddaughter, Dianne Moore: Pappy was in the service and went to war. He was honorably discharged after he was injured. He has shrapnel in his body, I believe in his head. He always received a pension throughout his life. I really don’t know what he did for a living, I was young when he passed.

Children: William Gilmour 1914, Mary Kerr 1919, Ellen Neil 1919, James 1921 and Flora Cameron 1930-2019.

Note: William was only Flora's biological child his maternal grandparents raised him. I love Ellen Neil was named after her Paternal grandmother and Mary Kerr after her Paternal Grandmother. James carried his paternal grandfather's name. Flora Cameron was named after her mother.

Dianne captured a memory of her grandfather: Pappy Smith was a slight man who always had a pipe in his mouth. To this day, because of him, I love the smell of pipes. He was a quiet man, but would always spoil us grandkids when we would come up to Canada from Texas. He was always slipping us some change so that we could go down to the corner store and buy some Canadian candy. For some reason, it was different and just better than the candy we got in the states. He was an incredible gardner and the whole back yard of his house was a garden. We would come in the back gate from buying our candy and walk up between these perfectly planted and weeded rows of vegetables. It was a work of art! My grandfather had one dislike in life, and that was cats. He HATED cats!! And more than anything he hated cats in the garden he loved because they seemed to think it was their own private cat box. Now we, on the other hand, loved cats. When a little black and white kitty came into the yard one day, we quickly got a small bowl of milk to feed it. I remember Nanny saying "Pappy's not going to like that"! I also remember as he walked through the gate and spied that cat. He calmly walked up to where we were feeding it. In the blink of an eye, he reached down, grabbed that cat by the tail and swung it around over his head. As he let it go, it sailed over the back fence and hit the ground running! (And yes, cats do always land on their feet!) Pappy then walked silently into house. The only sounds that could be heard were two little Texas girls crying on the back porch!

Flora Cameron “Amy” loved her father. She said he often did Charlie Chapman imitations.

William passed away February 26, 1969 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He was 78. His obituary noted he had four children, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild. His brother, Harry, was in Scotland. Memorials were to go to the Cancer Center.

FLORA “AMY” CAMERON SMITH

Flora Cameron was born January 23, 1930 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to William and Flora Cameron (Gilmour) Smith. Her parents had immigrated to Canada from Scotland. When Flora was small she was very involved in gymnastics. She was so limber and there are many pictures that will amaze you. She was not fond of going to the competitions and having so many looking at her.

She married Derek “Dinty” Scott Moore May 15, 1950 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada when she was 19.

Flora
was 39 when her father passed away in 1969. Her mother passed away in
1978 when she was 48. She was 45 when she became a widow. She was
married a short time to Arnold Fehringer, her second husband.

Flora “Amy” received her US Naturalization papers in 1988 when she was 58 in Houston, Texas.

When Flora was young she was fantastic in gymnastics. She said many times she did not like it and hated everyone looking at her.

In a letter from her sisters Ellen noted that when Flora was two weeks old their next door neighbor (Jim Bishop) nicknamed her Snookie. Ellen stated Flora was the boss to all she played with. :) Remember she was 9 years younger than her brother and twelve years younger than her twin sisters so these are memories from older siblings. They noted she had very wavy hair when she was little that they loved to fix and to their dismay she loved to mess up after they did. She often borrowed money from her dad a few days before payday and he was a stickler she paid it back as it was important to him she know debts had to be paid back. Her sister Mary noted “she has so many grandchildren she is lucky. They are a credit to her and Dinty.”

She was given the name Amy by her oldest grandchild, Michelle Moore, in 1975 and she loved it so much she insisted on using it for the rest of her life. She moved often and loved to rearrange furniture. She could walk into any dwelling and have a way she felt it would look better and she was usually correct. She loved playing baseball and swimming.

Richard wrote a cute poem about his mom:

Dianne Susan wrote a sweet poem about her mother:

Christmas Thanks

Sending you some Christmas Thanks for all the things you've done,

For the time that you spent raising your daughters and your sons.

Grateful for the sacrifice that only a mother can give...

In helping their children succeed in the life they've chosen to live.

Thankful for the sleepless nights when you stayed by our side,

and for wiping away our tears the many times we cried.

Grateful for the time you spent teaching us to play,

softball every summer, every single day.

Thanks for always working hard to see we had enough-

From our birthdays and then Christmas-lots of fancy stuff!

Thanks for taking us camping and spending time together,

From Easter to Thanksgiving, and in all sorts of Texas weather!

Thanks for helping us feel safe no matter where we were-

A mother is just the person to help you feel secure.

And for having the ability to always make us laugh,

It made the journey easier on this sometimes bumpy path!

Thanks for being brave when our father passed away,

I'm sure you grieved alone at night, but were so strong in the day.

Thanks for teaching us to be frugal-to be careful with our lot-

It was so impressive to see you make it work with the little you got.

Thanks for having the energy to chase our little kids-

You made it look so easy, but I'm not sure how you did!!

Thank-you for your friendship, and I want it to be told,

It is the greatest gift you gave me, more valuable to me than gold.

So, at this Christmas season, when all is Merry and Bright-

We want you to remember that you are precious in His sight.

And we knew it was time to tell you-in fact, it was far past.

Thanks for what you've given to us, these are the gifts that last.

Amy passed away September 19, 2019 in American Falls, Idaho. She was 89. She was cremated and buried November 6, 2019 in Canada. She left 15 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren.

Note: Richard carries his father's name for his middle name. Terry carries his father, Derek's, middle name which was Derek's mother's maiden name - Scott.

I love as I do genealogy when I find details about the personalities of the names that go with them. In centuries to come may it be noted the warmth and fun of Flora “Snookie” “Amy” Cameron Smith Moore!