I wish I had these pictures years ago and were able to show them to my grandmother Mamie and her sisters. This is their grandparents, Billy and Hester (Young) Smith. They had eleven children, one of whom was Ella Elnora (Smith) Pitcock, who married Franklin Pedigo Pitcock.
As you can tell, these old photos are fragile, crumbling, stained, water-damaged, and broken. They are oil renderings made about 1894 in Glasgow, Kentucky. These photographs belonged to Aunt Quallie (Smith) Jobe and were given to me by her great-granddaughter, Jo Ann Steinhauser of Lubbock, Texas, in 2003. I knew from another distant cousin that Jo Ann owned them, and asked her years ago if I could borrow them to make copies. She couldn’t find them, and thought she had given them away or misplaced them. I finally gave up on having copies made. One day out of the blue, Jo Ann e-mailed me and said she found the pictures tucked in an envelope with her children’s baby photos. I called her immediately - she laughed and said she knew she’d be hearing from me!
I asked Jo Ann if she’d let me have them if I had copies made for her. She agreed, knowing how much I cared about these old photos. I’m honored to own these, even in their current condition, as not many people have original photographs of their great-great-grandparents that were made more than 110 years ago.
Grandpa Smith’s name was William James Madison Smith (he was known as Bill or Billy) and he was born in 1834 in Fentress County, Tennessee. He married Hester Jane Young in 1853; she was born in 1839 in Clinton County, Kentucky and died in 1903 in Glasgow, Kentucky. Grandpa Smith died in April 1920 in the New Lynn Community, which is out in the country near Tahoka, Texas. He’s buried at the Tahoka Cemetery. After Grandma Smith died, he lived with his children and spent a couple of years (about 1908-1910) living with the Pitcocks before they moved to Wheeler County. Grandpa and Grandma Smith were both wonderful people and I will do another post soon with some stories about their lives.
As you can tell, these old photos are fragile, crumbling, stained, water-damaged, and broken. They are oil renderings made about 1894 in Glasgow, Kentucky. These photographs belonged to Aunt Quallie (Smith) Jobe and were given to me by her great-granddaughter, Jo Ann Steinhauser of Lubbock, Texas, in 2003. I knew from another distant cousin that Jo Ann owned them, and asked her years ago if I could borrow them to make copies. She couldn’t find them, and thought she had given them away or misplaced them. I finally gave up on having copies made. One day out of the blue, Jo Ann e-mailed me and said she found the pictures tucked in an envelope with her children’s baby photos. I called her immediately - she laughed and said she knew she’d be hearing from me!
I asked Jo Ann if she’d let me have them if I had copies made for her. She agreed, knowing how much I cared about these old photos. I’m honored to own these, even in their current condition, as not many people have original photographs of their great-great-grandparents that were made more than 110 years ago.
Grandpa Smith’s name was William James Madison Smith (he was known as Bill or Billy) and he was born in 1834 in Fentress County, Tennessee. He married Hester Jane Young in 1853; she was born in 1839 in Clinton County, Kentucky and died in 1903 in Glasgow, Kentucky. Grandpa Smith died in April 1920 in the New Lynn Community, which is out in the country near Tahoka, Texas. He’s buried at the Tahoka Cemetery. After Grandma Smith died, he lived with his children and spent a couple of years (about 1908-1910) living with the Pitcocks before they moved to Wheeler County. Grandpa and Grandma Smith were both wonderful people and I will do another post soon with some stories about their lives.
© 2008, copyright Stephen Mills
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6 comments:
Love your new site.
Stephen, Did you find proof that WJM's name was James instead of Jennings? Also, which Pitcock's stayed in Barren Co., KY and where are they buried?
Charlene
Hi, Charlene. None of my immediate branch of Pitcocks lived in Barren County, but there are lots of Pitcocks who moved from Monroe County to Barren years ago and they are all related to Frank. The record from Aunt Lucy Church's Bible that was sent to me by Marion Denney in 1978 shows James - and that is also what Mary Church sent to me about the same time. Neither of them sent actual copies - Marion's was typed and Mary's was handwritten by her. But, both were copied from Aunt Lucy's Bible. Glad you like the blog. Stephen
Charlene, when I said Grandpa Smith lived with the Pitcocks before they moved to Wheeler County, that was in Fannin/Cooke counties of Texas. Frank and Elnora never lived in Kentucky; Elnora left there in 1890 when Grandpa and Grandma Smith came to Texas for a couple of years. She only returned for visits.
Stephen, I'll try again to get thru on website.....I've been in touch with Benjamin Hawkins Owen Smith's family and hope to locate Edna Mae Smith Covey's family Bible that had Wm. J. M.'s full name. I'll let you know if I find anything out.
I've been working on my mother's 1940 diary when she and my father lived in Barren Co., KY. It has so many names in it and quite interesting about their early life.
Charlene
Hello Stephen,
I am a grandson of Pearl Pitcock from Monroe county. She also had a sister named Flo. They would have been born in the early 1900's. Have you ever heard their names come up in the Pitcock family?
Regards,
Graham
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