My Genealogy Website Is Launched

My genealogy website for 10 generations of my ancestors is launched:  http://www.krsmith.net.

I would appreciate your viewing the website and sharing your feedback with me.  This is my first attemp that actually works after 3-4 years.  I am very pleased with this attemp.  The hosting service:  http://www.genealogyhosting.com/ and the excellent support staff were the difference. 

I hope you read and enjoy this genealogy website.

My Dad's Name Is Roy!

Image via Wikipedia

The title is a strange way to begin.  However, the assumption of Roy as the name for Dad can be and to me is  confusing.  At birth my father was named Lawrence Oran Smith by his parents.

Dad was the second of five siblings and the middle of three boys.  The siblings were (in birth order) Horace Howard Smith, Jewell Fay Smith, Ferman Lester Smith, and Esther Adena Smith.  For reasons I have yet to discover, Grandmother Arwood (their mother) called some of her children by their first name and some by their middle name.  I knew my aunts and uncles by the following names:  Howard, Lester, Jewell, and Dean and my Dad as Roy.

Dad's mother, Lillie Day Smith is the daughter of Joseph Hall Smith and Cordelia Elizabeth Hussey.  She was born 19 September 1880, Newton County, Missouri, U.S.A.

Image via Wikipedia

 Lillie Day married George Washington Smith (no relation) 14 February 1899, Newton County, Missouri. George Washington is the son of James Madison Smith, and Nancy Jane Baker.  George Washington died 7 July 1912, Newton County, Missouri. The ancestors were known for longivity in life.  His early death left Lillie Day five active children to feed and care for as well as her many, chickens, geese, fruit orchard, berry patch, a few livestock, and the wheat fields which they leased.

George W. Smith is listed as the head of the household in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census for Benton Township, District 0117, Newton County, Missouri.  Also appearing are the following individuals:  Lillie Day Smith, his wife, Howard Smith, son


The family stories are that Dad was large for his age and very strong. These stories claim that because he looked so much like his Uncle Roy he was called Roy. I have never discovered a picture of Uncle Roy so I don't know if their was a family resemblance or just a physical structure resemblance.  As soon as he was old enough, he was accustom to working in the fields and with the livestock from dawn to dusk. As he reached his teen years he was able to perform the task for plowing, harvesting, and clearing as well as the older men. During his teen years he would board with his Uncle John Schumacher while he worked on the Schumacher farm all summer long and was very good at controlling the mule teams.  When Uncle John purchased his first motorized tractor, he soon taught Dad how to use it properly.  That was Dad's duty for the summer; he really enjoyed driving the tractor and learning the mechanics involved. Those skills and the work ethics he learned he carried with him through out his life on this earth.



Note:  add links for websites; photos; tags

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_County,_Missouri