Biography of William Hansford Smith of Spearsville, Union Parish Louisiana Submitted for the Union Parish Louisiana USGenWeb Archives by Lyle Smith, 3/2005 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ ================================================================================= BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM HANSFORD SMITH, Researched and written by his nephew, Lyle Smith, 2005 ================================================================================== WILLIAM HANSFORD SMITH, Husband of Annie Montague June 2, 1883-February 2, 1951 "Uncle Bill" ============================================================= William Hansford Smith (Bill) was born June 2, 1883, at Lapile, Union County, Arkansas, the son of Woody K. Smith and Mahala Elizabeth Head. Woody K. Smith was born April 26, 1857, in Ouachita Township, Bradley County, Arkansas. Mahala Elizabeth Head was born August 5, 1853, in Alabama. They were married September 2, 1880, in Union County, Arkansas. Bill died February 2, 1951, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. He married Annie Clara Montague June 13, 1909, in Silverton, Brisco County, Texas. They were married by J. Arthur Laney. This marriage being duly filed and recorded in Book “1”, Page 103 of Brisco County Marriage Records. Annie was born June 12, 1881, in Clay County, Texas and died August 13, 1954, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. Clay County is in general about 50 miles south of Wichita Falls, and about 125 miles northwest of Ft. Worth. Annie was the daughter of Daniel Grant Montague, born August 20, 1849, in Tennessee, and Linnie Ann Lucinda Jane Hanes, born October 25, 1849, in Missouri. Woody K. Smith had two children by a previous marriage to Martha Jane Poole, who was deceased: I- James Hardy Smith (Jim) was born April 20, 1878, at Lapile, Union County, Arkansas. II- Sarah Elizabeth Smith (Lizzie) was born December 13, 1879, at Lapile, Union County, Arkansas. Children of Woody K. Smith and Mahala E. Head were: III- Thomas Jackson Smith was born October 5, 1881, in Lapile, Union County, Arkansas. IV- William Hansford Smith (Bill) was born June 2, 1883, at Lapile, Union County, Arkansas. V- Nancy Jane Smith (Nannie) was born June 12, 1885, in Lapile, Union County, Arkansas. VI- Armon Smith (twin) was born July 5, 1887, in Lapile, Union County, Arkansas. VII- Harmon Smith (twin) was born July 5, 1887, in Lapile, Union County, Arkansas. VIII- Woody Columbus Smith was born July 9, 1890, at Lapile, Union County, Arkansas. Woody K. Smith married his third and final wife, Mary Rebecca Barron, July 18, 1895, in Union Parish, Louisiana. Mary Rebecca was born November 2, 1864, in Union Parish, Louisiana, during the Civil War. Mary Rebecca Barron was a 31 year old, “OLD MAID” having lived with her father, Henry Callaway Barron, and had her own crops on his farm, located on Big Corney Bayou, south of Spearsville, in Union Parish, Louisiana. Into the marriage she brought her life savings of $900.00. Mary Rebecca purchased a team of mules, food, and material from which she and Lizzie, Bill’s half sister, made sorely needed clothing for the entire family. Mary Rebecca was raised a Barron, and that meant to have a place for everything, and everything put back in its place after it was used. She did all her chores at the exact same time each day, and always washed at the spring on the same day each and every week, with no exceptions. She expected her new step-children to do no less. Their deceased mother had been sickly for over two years and bedridden the last three months of her life, so there had not been much discipline in the home. Mary was a hard worker, and a stern task mistress, if the need arose, and she ran the house in that manner from the start. Each child had duties assigned to them to perform. During the first 11 years of his life, Bill Smith lived at Lapile (French word meaning to pile or to heap), Union County, Arkansas, Randolph, Union Parish, Louisiana, and Blanchard Springs. The house at Blanchard Springs was taken apart piece by piece, carefully, and those pieces marked. They were then transported to a spot 4 miles north of Spearsville, in Union Parish, Louisiana. For a couple of years, before the house from Blanchard Springs was reconstructed on Smith Hill, the family lived in a large log cabin off the “Big Cut”, just north of Little Corney Creek. (The Big Cut was a field.) On January 20, 1896, Woody K. Smith purchased the following parcel of land from Hosea H. Rockett: “The Northeast Quarter, (NE ¼) of Section 26, except one acre where J.D. Barron’s house hot is, and nine (9) acres in the NW corner of the said quarter section in Township 23, north of Range 3 West, containing 150 acres, more or less.” Witnesses were: John Murphy and H.W. Breazeal. William Hansford Smith (Bill) was 12 years old when his mother died, and 15 years old when the family moved into the rebuilt home on Smith Hill. Until 1907 he worked on his father’s farm or share cropped with one of the neighbor farmers. Bill had been known to party a bit and stay out late at night, which did not set too well with his preacher father. Sometimes Bill would come in as the men of the family were leaving for the fields, and Woody K. would make him go to the field and work all day in his dress up clothes. Before Bill left Spearsville, he was share cropping for a farmer, and they had a misunderstanding over how monies were being handled. According to the way the man’s wife kept the books, Bill owed them $200.00 after working all year. Bill left the country, and Elder Woody K. Smith paid the difference in the money. It is not known for sure that there was a real difference in the amount of money, but Woody K. payed it to maintain his good name. Bill left Louisiana sometime before 1909, and moved to Texas. In Silverton, Brisco County, Texas, Bill married Annie Clara Montague June 13, 1909. Annie had moved to Brisco County with her parents in 1892. After Annie’s father died in 1909, she and Bill moved in with her mother (Linnie), who lived at the edge of Silverton. They continued to live at that address for several years until Linnie’s death in 1925. They moved a couple of times, and ended up in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado, in 1929, according to their daughter June’s obituary, in 2000. Uncle Bill tried to farm outside La Junta, Colorado, for a while, but it didn’t work out, He then worked for a railroad . Bill did odd jobs to keep the family fed during the dust bowl years. He and his son, Bill Jr. even hunted coyotes for the bounty paid on them. I have a picture of their truck covered with dead coyotes in 1937. I counted 15 coyotes in the picture. Children of Bill and Annie were: A- June Etta Smith was born June 25, 1917, in Silverton, Brisco County, Texas. The family moved to Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado in 1929. June married Woodrow Arnold Davis, who was born August 23, 1912, in Oklahoma. His parents were William Silas Davis and Carrie S. Burrow. June Etta Smith Davis married Ross Edwin Vanderpool September 17, 1943, in Syracuse, Kansas. Children of June Etta Smith and Woodrow A. Davis are: 1- Donald Duane Davis was born May 25, 1935 in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. He married Edith Ann Taylor, daughter of Lee and Martha Catherine Froehler. Edith Ann was born September 6, 1935, in San Francisco, California. Children of Donald and Edith Ann are: a- Arnold Lee Davis was born November 25, 1957, in San Francisco, California. b- Diane Delores Davis was born November 23, 1958, in San Francisco, California. c- Karen Marie Davis was born November 8, 1961, in San Francisco, California. d- Coleen Ann Davis was born March 15, 1963, in San Francisco, California. e- John Patrick Davis was born March 31, 1964, in San Francisco, California. f- James Michael Davis was born March 31, 1964. 2- Barbara Elaine Davis was born May 5, 1938, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. She married Edgar Ray Porterfield February 10, 1058, in Raton, New Mexico. Ed was the son of George Porterfield and Eleanor Border and was born November 20, 1936, in La Junta, Colorado. Children of Barbara and Edgar are: a- Linda Marie Porterfield was born November 24, 1958, in Raton, New Mexico. b- George Montague Porterfield was born February 3, 1961, in Olongano, The Philippines. c- Kathy Denise Porterfield was born November 22, 1964, in Santa Monica, California. d- Ray Quin Porterfield was born November 4, 1966, in Santa Monica, California. 3- Billie Ann Davis was born September 2, 1941, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. She married George Alford Stoker September 2, 1958, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. George was born July 9, 1936, in Colorado, the son of Raymond and Doris Haufle. Billie Ann married Thomas Pender. He was born June 19, 1924, in Tucson, Arizona. Billie Ann Pender of Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado died at home July 16, 2003. Children of Billie Ann and George are: a- Donald Raymond Stoker was born February 9, 1960, in Las Animas, Brent County, Colorado. b- Brian Keith Stoker was born April 30, 1961, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. Children of Billie Ann and Thomas Pender are: c- Barbara Ann Pender was born October 22, 1963, in Tucson, Arizona. d- Cari Lynn Pender was born October 26, 1964, in Tucson, Arizona. Children of June and Ross are: 4- Edwin Ross Vanderpool was born May 19, 1944, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. He married Mary Ann Odell. Mary Ann was born November 6, 1946, in La Junta, Colorado. Children of Edwin and Mary Ann are: a- Steven Ross Vanderpool was born February 11, 1964, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. b- Brad Lee Vanderpool was born April 24, 1971, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. 5- Lora Lea Vanderpool was born October 17, 1953, at Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. She married Grady Leon Caviness December 28, 1971, in Lamar, Powers County, Colorado. B- William Hansford Smith, Jr. (Bill) was born June 16, 1919, in Silverton, Brisco County, Texas. He married Ann Carolyn Pazgan June 29, 1941, in Yuma, Arizona. They were married by J.B. Brown, Christian Minister. The marriage being duly filed and recorded in Book “70”, Page 429, of Yuma County Marriage Records on June 30, 1941. At the bottom of the license is printed, “USS Arizona, L Division, Long Beach, California. Bill and Ann were listed as being residents of Long Beach. Ann was born September 25, 1917, in Pennsylvania, the daughter of Nicholaus and Karoline Pazgan. She died December 24, 1975, and is buried in Roselawn Cemetery in Pueblo, Colorado. Bill was a 3rd Class Boson’s Mate on the U.S.S. Arizona, the most famous casuality of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The ship rests at the bottom of the harbor, many sailors still entombed in it. Bill was not on the Arizona that morning of December 7, 1941, because he was on liberty. He was married and on another part of the island of Oahu with his wife of 5 months. “Very, very lucky,” says Bill. “He left me here for something. Someone asked me if I was scared,” Bill said, “I guess so. I lost 17 pounds that week.” Bill retired from CD & I Tube. He didn’t stop working, as he had rental houses and residential care homes for years. William Hansford Smith Jr. died May 4, 1994, in Pueblo, Colorado, the year after he and June attended the second Woody K. Smith Reunion in Spearsville, Louisiana. He was buried in his Navy Uniform. A grave side service was held at Roselawn Cemetery in Pueblo, Colorado. Children of Bill Jr. and Carolyn are: 1- Carolyn Faye Smith was born January 15, 1947, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. She attended the University of Southern Colorado and teaches art at Park Hill Christian Academy. She married James Dean Rumsey June 5, 1966, in Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado. This marriage being duly filed and recorded in Book “30”, Page 534, of Pueblo County Marriage Records. James was born June 19, 1945, in La Junta, Colorado, the son of James Duran Rumsey and Fern Beghtel. Children of Carolyn and James are: a- Michele Lynn Rumsey was born October 9, 1970, in Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado. She died in December of 1973, and is buried in Roselawn Cemetery in Pueblo. b- Janele Lee Rumsey was born August 25, 1973, in Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado. c- Samantha Ann Ramsey was born January 14, 1978, in Pueblo, Pueblo County, 2- Mickey Wayne Smith was born February 22, 1952, in Las Animas, Bent County, Colorado. He is an attorney. He married Helen Toomey August 5, 1987, in Rye, Colorado. She was born May 27, 1954, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. Children of Mikey and Helen are: a- Mickey William Smith was born November 29, 1983, in Pueblo, Colorado. b- Sarah Ann Smith was born June 9, 1986, in Pueblo, Colorado. Uncle Bill and Aunt Annie along with their daughter, June, are buried in the Las Animas Cemetery. #####################################################################