The Hyphen Family Lineage

Note: Researching the family of George Henry Smith

George Henry Smith was the oldest son of Jeremiah and Rebecca (DeWitt) Smith; at the age of twenty-one, he married Mary Elizabeth "Libbie" Middaugh in early February 1896. Their daughter, Mabel, was born just over five months later. Despite the rushed beginnings, George and Libbie would be married until her death in 1957, more than sixty years later. Like his father and grandfather, George was a farmer by trade, working first in rural Union Twp, Huntington Cty, Indiana, and later moving to nearby Lafeyette Twp, Allen Cty, Indiana. George survived his wife by two years, passing away in 1959, and the two of them are buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Roanoke, Huntington Cty, Indiana.

There was a gap of many years between Mabel's birth and the next surviving child born to George and Libbie - son Howard was born in late 1911, though it should be noted that there was at least one infant death in the family (Royal Eldon in early 1911) and there may well have been more. Mabel and Howard, though, were the only two biological children to survive to adulthood.

Sorting out George's family history after Howard's birth is a bit more complicated. A son named John A. (born April 1915) appeared in the household in later census records, and would list George and Libbie as his parents on his marriage license (to Nancy Augspurger) in 1936; George's obituary, though, indicated that John was an adopted son. Information found in the files of Jane Anne Thomas indicate that John may actually have been Mabel's son (and therefore George's first grandchild), born when she was about nineteen years old and some years prior to her first marriage. That George and Libbie would have raised him as their own is not surprising, given the cultural norms of the time and place, and it seems easy to assume that John himself was unaware of his parentage until sometime in his adult years. (It seems unlikely that such a secret would have been unknown to him, if it was known to distant cousins of his in later years.) Understandably, Jane Anne's files have not yet shed any light on who John's biological father might have been.

Howard married in 1938 to Edna Vestal; Edna died in 1999, and Howard followed in 2001, and they are buried together in Covington Memorial Gardens in Fort Wayne, Allen Cty, Indiana. They had one daughter, Connie, with three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren at the time of Howard's death.

Mabel posed a tougher challenge to research; I knew she had married at least once (to Garrett Hess) on Christmas Day 1919. She and her husband and their six children (with another one on the way) can be found living with her parents George and Libbie in the 1930 US Census (in Lafeyette Twp, Allen Cty). The seventh child, Carl, was born on 21 Aug 1930, and Garrett died just three days later, leaving Mabel a young widow of barely thirty-four, with seven children.

What went on during the next ten years isn't entirely clear, although by the time of the 1940 US Census all seven of her children were still living with grandparents George and Libbie. (Jane Anne confirmed this in her notes, describing the situation in particularly coarse terms leaving no doubt as to her opinion of Mabel's choices.) Mabel appears to have re-married (to Charles Ratliff) and was living with her second husband and his mother in Bluffton, Wells Cty, Indiana in 1940. She and Charles appear to have divorced sometime after that, and she would later remarry to Philemon Millington in early 1945. Like her, Philemon appears to have been married at least twice previously, and the two appear to have remained married until Mabel's death in 1976 (Philemon would follow in 1988). The two of them are buried in Elm Grove Cemetery in Bluffton, Wells Cty, Indiana, in a row of family plots under a shared Millington family stone. (Interestingly, Mabel's son George Hess appears to be buried with them in that row.)

Both the obituaries I have for George Henry give his survivors as including eleven grandchildren; I have not yet found further information for John's family, though it seems apparent that his children (while technically George's great-grandchildren) were counted among those eleven, as Mabel's and Howard's children total eight in number. This would indicate that John had three children, though I will need to confirm this yet. As of the 1940 US Census, he and wife Nancy had two young children listed in their household, so it seems quite reasonable that they may have had one more after 1940.

[Obituary for George Henry Smith, from the Huntington Herald-Press, 15 May 1959; copy from the files of the Huntington County Public Library.]

George Henry Smith, 84, rural Yoder, died at 3:45 a.m. Thursday at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. He had been ill for the last six weeks.

Born in Huntington County September 7, 1874, to Jerry and Rebecca Smith, he married Mary Middaugh February 6, 1896.

She preceded him in death in 1957.

Mr. Smith was a retired farmer. He was a member of Munson Chapel Methodist Church.

Survivors are a daughter, Mrs. Philemon Millington of Yoder, a son, Howard R. of rural Ossian; an adopted son, John, of Roanoke; a sister, Mrs. Ceal Mason of Lima, Ohio, 11 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren.

Friends may call after after 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lynch Mortuary at Roanoke and between 12 noon and 2 p.m. Saturday at Munson Chapel.

The funeral service will be conducted at Munson Chapel at 2 p.m. Saturday by the Rev. Bob Ochsenrider of Decatur. Burial will be at the Roanoke IOOF Cemetery.

[Obituary for George Henry Smith, paper unknown but with a handwritten date of 14 May 1959; clipping from the files of Jane Anne Thomas.]

George Henry Smith, 84, R.R. 1, Yoder, died at 3:45 a.m. today in the Lutheran Hospital after an illess of six weeks.

He was a retired farmer and a member of the Munson Chapel, Lower Hunting Rd., Allen County.

He was a native of Huntington County.

Surviving are the daughter, Mrs. Thilemon [sic] Millington, Yoder; a son, Howard R. Smith, R.R. 1, Ossian; an adopted son, John Smith, Roanoke; a sister, Mrs. Ceal Mason, Lima, O.; and 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Friends may call at the Lynch Mortuary at Roanoke after 7 p.m. today. Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Munson Chapel, the Rev. Bob Ochsenrider, Decatur, officiating. Burial will be in the IOOF Cemetery, Roanoke. The body will be taken to the church at noon Saturday.