Frank Anson Smith (1885 - 1947)

Born 31 Oct 1885 in Salamanca, Cattaraugus, New York, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Evelyn (Cass) Smith — married 17 Sep 1910 in Lyons, Burt, Nebraska, United States

Descendants

Died 3 Jan 1947 at age 61 in Hammond, Tangipahoa, Louisiana, United States

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Biography

Frank was born in 1885 in Salamanca, NY a fact that is recorded in the Smith Family Bible.

I know from letters that are in my possession, that his parents acquired land in Montana and that his father purchased a herd of cattle and after the train got them to St. Louis, they drove the cattle the rest of the way to the Montana ranch. I can find no official records (census data) for Frank or his parents from 1890 until 1920 which supports the conjecture that they were in a territory of the US not covered by census data.

He married Sarah Evelyn Cass in 1910 in Lyons, Nebraska according to the Smith Family bible and newspaper clippings from Lyons. Frank's father purchased 110 acres in south Louisiana based on a map from a development company. They all arrived in Lafitte to find that the property was only dry because there was a levy around it and pumping stations kept the water out. There was a house and a barn on the property at one time. This is shown in pictures taken at the farm.

He registered for service for World War I by which time he was living in Lafitte with his young family. The 1920 census shows that he was living in Lafitte, LA ^[1] with his wife, his parents and two children ( my mother and uncle).

Frances Adelaide (his daughter, my mother) who was born on the property in 1913 told me that they moved to Hammond after the third hurricane damaged the levy. Looking at the history of major hurricanes in south Louisiana I would suppose that these were the ones in 1915, 1918 and 1920.

By 1930, the family had removed to Hammond, LA where he had a strawberry farm. ^[2]

He had a gas station/garage in Hammond where, my mother told me, he vulcanized tires. He registered for service for World War II but did not serve.

He passed away in 1947 shortly before his first grandchild was born.

Sources

1. ↑ Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).
2. ↑ United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.