Week 26: Identity

This is the prompt for week 26 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

“In genealogy, we seek out the identities of our ancestors. But they were more than just names. One way you could approach this prompt would be to share something about an ancestor besides just his or her name. Be creative and have fun!” Amy Johnson Crow

I am chosing to write about my great great grandfather, Ira Smith (1831-1920). He sounds like quite a character and when I look back he is one I think would be fun to meet in person. He left home at about the age of fifteen so he could enlist in the Mexican American War under an alias. The first indication of this was from a newspaper article I found on Newspaper Archive, it has been a great source for my relatives. This is a part of the article.

This is the remainder of the article and it is where I learned he enlisted under an alias because at 15 he was not actually old enough to enlist or he was running from family?

I found this record on Fold3 which confirmed the enlistment under an alias.

Another great source for Ira Smith was found in the books on the Family Search site. I feel quite fortunate that a biography was written about Ira Smith. The book is called a Biographical Record of Boone County Iowa, his biography is on pages 229-230. This information was invaluable for filling in his family in Maine and a few other details about his life. However some of it also contradicts what the earlier article said about him running away from home at 15. I haven’t found any evidence that his parents lived in Iowa for a time but I haven’t found any that they didn’t either. I know he had at least two brothers who came to Iowa/Nebraska around the same time. Here is the first part of the biographical sketch.

Here is the second page.

Ira and Anna Slater were married in August of 1857. I found them in Jasper County, Iowa in the 1860 Census. It took me more than a minute to realize the family above Ira and Anna Smith in the Census was the family of Anna (Slater) Smith(Ira’s wife). I love finding those fun coincidences.

Charles William Smith, the son of Ira and Anna, is my great grandfather; so I have three generations of direct ancestors on this Census. The Civil War began in 1861 and lasted until 1865. Ira returned before a little before the war ended because he was wounded (he was blind in one eye). I found this record on Family Search. He enlisted in November of 1862 and was discharged October 1864.

I’m not sure if the farm was sold while he was enlisted or when he returned but in 1870 Ira and Anna and their now two sons were living with Anna’s older brother in Boone County, Iowa. Anna’s brother John Slater owned a brick making business and Ira was now a brick maker too. John’s wife had recently died so Anna was probably in charge of both families.

By 1880 Ira and his family, he now has 3 sons and has lost two daughters, were living in Kansas. Ira is farming again. C W is Charles William, I E is Ira Edwin, and the third one should be T R but looks like T O, his name was Thomas Robert and Ida A is I believe the oldest daughter of Ira’s brother Moses. I have found where they lived in Kansas and their property was very close to the property of the family of Charles William’s wife Melissa Alice Minson. Ira’s family is the second to the last on the page.

Ira did more than farm while they lived in Kansas. I found a number of these ads in the newspaper.

I also found a couple of social items. He is listed twice in the second article.

The next Census Ira and Anna and their two younger sons have moved again. Now they are living in Nebraska. Charles is also living in Nebraska but he is married and has his own household. This Census is a Nebraska State Census from 1885 in Franklin, Nebraska.

I found a historical society for Franklin, NE on Facebook and discovered they were just printing a book about the history of the area and Ira was in the book!

Ira did not live in Nebraska long so it makes it even more amazing to me that he found a place in the history of this city. This is a family photo of his shop in Franklin and now I know just how big it was.

This is a three generation photo. I assume Charles William Smith (my great grandfather) was taking the photo of his dad, wife and daughter. I wish I had a piece of their furniture.

According to the biography they moved back to Iowa before 1900. They lived in Moingona, Iowa for a time and Ira was the Justice of the Peace while they lived in this city. Charles lived in Moingona as well and this photo was labeled Smith house in Moingona, so I’m not sure which of their houses it was.

Possibly this house is where this family dinner took place. It includes Ira and Anna, their three sons Charles, Ira Edwin and Thomas, their spouses and some of the grandchildren and even the family cat!

In 1910 my great grandparents had been married for 53 years! Ira was 78 and Anna was 70. Anna lived for three more years. After Anna passed away Ira went to live with his son Charles in Boone. In 1920 Ira was 88, living with Charles and Alice and their daughter Mary. Ira died 16 Sept 1920. There was a lengthy obituary in the Boone paper but it is a strain to read because the quality of the image is poor. He was well known in the town and a great many mourned his passing. Ira is buried in Linwood Park Cemetery in Boone, Iowa.

Now you know more than you ever wanted to know about the identity of Ira Smith, a farmer, carpenter, soldier, brick maker and Justice of the Peace. He was clearly a family man as every time he moved his children moved with him. He was married for 56 years of adventure as they moved about the midwest. He was one of those people who made a name for himself everywhere he went. I really wish I could have known Ira Smith but feel fortunate I could learn about him through all these remnants of his life.

Hope you have at least one ancestor you can identify as well.