Smith, Geraldine Olive

Birth Name Smith, Geraldine Olive
Gramps ID I5758
Gender female
Age at Death 51 years, 9 months, 20 days

Events

Event Date Place Description
Sources Notes
Birth 1909-03-12 Allen Cty, Indiana, USA  
1a 1b
Census 1910 Lafayette Twp, Allen Cty, Indiana, USA  
2a
Census 1920 Jackson Twp, Huntington Cty, Indiana, USA  
3a
Census 1930 Roanoke, Jackson Twp, Huntington Cty, Indiana, USA  
4a
Death 1961    
 
Burial   Glenwood Cemetery, Roanoke, Jackson Twp, Huntington Cty, Indiana, USA  
 

Parents

Relation to main person Name Birth date Death date Relation within this family (if not by birth)
Father Smith, Clyde M. [I5751]1888-07-181958
Mother Rinehart, Maude Faye [I5757]1886-01-091981-01-08
         Smith, Geraldine Olive [I5758] 1909-03-12 1961
    Sister     Smith, Gresta Arlene [I5759] 1917-01-28 1981
    Sister     Smith, Wanda Ione [I5760]

Families

    Family of Wong, Francis Lei and Smith, Geraldine Olive [F1865]
Married Husband Wong, Francis Lei [I5761] ( * + ... )
    Family of Holtsclaw, Charles F. and Smith, Geraldine Olive [F1866]
Married Husband Holtsclaw, Charles F. [I5762] ( * 1911-07-08 + 1961 )
   
Event Date Place Description
Sources Notes
Marriage 1939-12-19 Huntington Cty, Indiana, USA  
1a

Narrative

Note: Geraldine Olive Smith

In the record for Geraldine's first marriage (to Hawaiian-born Francis Lei Wong) in 1930, she reported her birthplace as Roanoke, Huntington Cty, Indiana (the location of her family's home at the time). In the record for her marriage to Charles F. Holtsclaw in 1939, she reported her bithplace as Allen Cty, Indiana - which is the correct location, as her father's household was enumerated in the 1910 US Census in Lafayette Twp, Allen Cty, when Geraldine was not much more than a year old.

I have not yet determined what happened between Geraldine's first and second marriages, but I have a feeling that the first marriage was very short-lived for legal reasons. Just two weeks prior to Geraldine's marriage to Francis, a family was counted in the 1930 US Census in Bloomington, Monroe Cty, Indiana that consisted of a Hawaiian-born Francis L. Wong (age 25, occupation listed as "physician") with an Indiana-born wife Frances (also aged twenty-five) and Indiana-born two-year-old son Norman Wong. I find it possible but somewhat unlikely that there would be two Hawaiian men named Francis L. Wong of the same age in Indiana within the same month - thus my assumption that this situation might well have met a somewhat complicated legal end due to what appears to be one man married to two different women.

(One finding that validates this guess of mine is that, in the 1940 US Census, twelve-year-old Norman Wong can be found in Blue River Twp, Harrison Cty, Indiana - several counties away from Bloomington - with his mother, step-father, and an infant half-brother, suggesting that Francis Lei Wong's first marriage didn't last through the complications, either.)

Several years later, Geraldine married Charles F. Holtsclaw, a man two years her junior. Both of them are listed (on the FindaGrave.com website) as buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Roanoke, Huntington Cty, Indiana, with death dates given simply as 1961. This suggests to me that they remained married until their deaths; with both of them dying at what is a fairly young age, and within the same year, I've wondered if perhaps they were killed in an accident. Finding the actual death dates would help confirm this, as would a search of the local newspapers around that time.

I have not yet found a 1940 US Census listing for Geraldine and husband Charles, and I've not found any indication they had any children. Geraldine's mother, Maude (Rinehart) Smith, died two decades after her (in 1981), and her obituary mentions six grandchildren - all of whom I can account for as children of Geraldine's younger sisters Gresta (three) and Wanda (four, with one dying in 1976).

Pedigree

  1. Smith, Clyde M. [I5751]
    1. Rinehart, Maude Faye [I5757]
      1. Smith, Wanda Ione [I5760]
      2. Smith, Geraldine Olive
        1. Wong, Francis Lei [I5761]
        2. Holtsclaw, Charles F. [I5762]
      3. Smith, Gresta Arlene [I5759]

Ancestors

Source References

  1. Indiana, Marriages, 1811-2007 [S0302]
      • Confidence: High
      • Citation:

        "Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XXNN-K45 : accessed 3 April 2016), Clyde Smith in entry for Charles F Holtsclaw and Geraldine O Smith, 19 Dec 1939; citing Huntington, Indiana, United States, various county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 2,295,255.

      • Confidence: High
      • Citation:

        "Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XXJZ-1XM : accessed 3 April 2016), Clyde Smith in entry for Francis Lei Wong and Geraldine Olive Smith, ; citing Allen, Indiana, United States, various county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 2,130,179.

  2. US Census of 1910 [S0040]
      • Date: 1910
      • Citation:

        "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKL5-4QS : accessed 3 April 2016), Clyde Smith, Lafayette, Allen, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 9, sheet 13A, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,374,351.

        Event Date 1910
        Event Place Lafayette, Allen, Indiana, United States
        Clyde Smith Head M 21 Indiana
        Maud Smith Wife F 24 Indiana
        Gearldean O Smith Daughter F 1 Indiana

  3. US Census of 1920 [S0041]
      • Date: 1920
      • Citation:

        "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF7V-Q2B : accessed 3 April 2016), Clyde M Smith, Jackson, Huntington, Indiana, United States; citing sheet 14A, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,820,437.

        Event Date 1920
        Event Place Jackson, Huntington, Indiana, United States
        Clyde M Smith Head M 31 Indiana
        Maud F Smith Wife F 34 Indiana
        Geraldine O Smith Daughter F 10 Indiana
        Gresta Smith Daughter F 2 Indiana
        Wanda Smith Daughter F 0 Indiana

  4. US Census of 1930 [S0042]
      • Date: 1930
      • Citation:

        "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHMY-VH6 : accessed 3 April 2016), Clyde M Smith, 1930.

        Event Date 1930
        Event Place Roanoke, Huntington, Indiana, United States
        Clyde M Smith Head M 41 Indiana
        Maude F Smith Wife F 44 Indiana
        Geraldine O Smith Daughter F 21 Indiana
        Gresta A Smith Daughter F 13 Indiana
        Wanda I Smith Daughter F 10 Indiana