Smith Family Roots

Editor's Note #1: The contents of this web page principally consists of two items, (1) a lengthy nine-page letter written by Dorothy Mae Mathews (Pearson), wife of Claude Pearson and (2) fairly lengthy notes, corrections and comments by Sarah Ruth Smith. The letter which was written by Dorothy Mae Mathews, wife of Claude Pearson, was sent by email over several days from Sarah Ruth Smith Swiecki to editor Donald B. Smith, the final email received on Tuesday, May 24, 2004. Sarah Ruth nowadays prefers "Sally", and since her married name is "Swiecki", she currently goes by "Sally Swiecki". However, since the Smith family always thinks of Sally as "Sarah Ruth", she has graciously given her consent for us to address her by that name.

If you are confused as to the genealogy, it's simple. Dorothy Mae Mathews (Pearson) was married to Claude Pearson. Claude Pearson was the son of our Aunt Effie May Smith (she became Ruth May Pearson). Effie May Smith was the sister who "got lost". Effie May Smith was the daughter of Luke Lee Smith, Jr. and Amanda Henrietta Williams, and sister to Margaret “Maggie” Smith, Walter Lee Smith, John D. Smith, Sally Ann Smith, Thomas Rogers Smith, Mattie Lee Smith, Clarence Smith, Elmer B. Smith, and Henry Smith. Dorothy Mae Mathews is the very person whose genealogy research found the roots of the Jamerson-Pearson family and their connection to the Smith family. Clara Ruth (Ernest) Pearson, daughter of J. T. Pearson and grand daughter of Effie May Smith, has carried on the genealogy research. Another important Smith genealogy figure was Cleo Patricia (“Patt”) Lawrence (Stanco). She was a granddaughter of Margaret "Maggie" Smith, and daughter of Maggie's 2nd husband, Leslie Lawrence. Sadly, she passed away in February, 2004 She had dedicated many years of her life to her family research.

There are probably many stories about how Effie May Smith became the sister who “got lost”. It transpired too long ago so as to be able to zero in on exactly what happened and to say with certitude "this happened" or "that happened". There will be some accounts in this letter. My own family heard it differently. So, who is to say what exactly occurred. As far as I am concerned, it doesn’t really matter, because what is important comes shining through in the story presented in this letter. It is a story of flight, of rebirth, of redemption, of duty, of love and of faithfulness. What is clear is that what ever occurred in Tennessee, once the move to Missouri was made, John Thomas Jamerson lived the life of a very good man, working hard and raising his family. He and his wife were to have six more children. And always standing faithfully by his side, was his blessed wife Effie May, who adhered to the biblical imperative. The Holy Bible says (Matthew 19:15) "For this cause a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh." (1Corinthians 7:10). "Let not a wife depart from her husband". Effie May remained steadfast and loyal to her husband, living out her life as Ruth May, even departing this life at age 97 as Ruth May. Tears come to my eyes when I think about it - never once seeing or hearing about your mother, father, sisters or brothers, for the rest of your life, for 66 years. What a tremendous testimony to a long lasting marriage between a good man and a good woman. Aunt Effie May, what a towering lady of strength you were!

Editor's Note #2: There are several spellings of the Jamerson surname, including Jimerson, Jimmerson and Jammerson. According to Clara Ruth Pearson (Earnest), the correct spelling is Jamerson; this is according to all legal documents and headstones of the Jamerson family in Tennessee.

Editor's Note #3: Sarah Ruth's notes will be separated from the letter by a solid horizontal line and Italic font. Sometimes the comments are in parenthesis. A remark contained in parenthesis in regular font is by Dorothy Mae, the author of the letter. If a remark in parenthesis is in italic font, it is written by Sarah Ruth. If I make a remark in parenthesis, it will be in italic font and proceeded by the word "Editor's Note".

Sarah Ruth's Note #1:
Don, these nine pages are written by Aunt Effie's daughter-in-law, (Claude's wife) I read part of it to you this morning and after receiving your e-mail and you liked this format... I decided to start re-typing all the pages and sending it by e-mail, you hav print out capabilities. I had thought about faxing it to you but... didn't know if you could receive. My fax number is the same as my home phone, I keep it turned off unless I am expecting a fax. So, here goes ... if I have to stop for any reason I will number each page and continue later, Okay?

James Allen Jimmerson
Birth: Kentucky, about 1796
1850 census:
Age: 54
Lived In: Obion, County, Tennessee, District 6
Dwelling: #913
Family: #112

James Allen Jimmerson was born 7, December 1841 in South Carolina, to James and Martha ( maiden name unknown) Jimmerson. There were seven children listed in the family in the 1850 census. Two sons George and Martin were age 20 and 21. These two older boys might be half brothers to James Allen, as the mother in the family was only thirty- six. The mother Martha, was born in Virginia. James and all the children except James Allen was born in South Carolina. At age 20 James Allen enlisted in the Confederate Army at Camp Maury near Columbia, Tennessee. This information was obtained from Federal Archives Washington DC. on a company muster roll, where he appears as Private J.A. Jammerson, also as Private J. A Jimmerson. Company C, 48th Regiment Tennessee Infantry. Christine Pearson Dickey, has the bible James Allen carried during the war. Claude Pearson has the pages torn from that same bible; they were probably torn out and kept separately when John Thomas Jimmerson changed his name to William Russell Pearson. The pages has the birth and death records of James Allen Jamerson’s children. James Allen Jimmerson married Martha Amanda Campbell, daughter of James Campbell of Maury County Tennessee. They were married November 28, 1865, in Maury County. They probably married shortly after he returned from war. The old home place, about ten miles from Obion, Tennessee still has the old log house they lived in. This information was given to me by Dora Gertrude Tanner Jones, daughter of Nannie Bell Jimmerson Tanner. I have letters Dora Tanner Jones wrote me. She wrote that a man by the name of Reg. Laws, who she has known all her life, now owns the farm, and has made a barn out of the log house - from a letter dated July 25, 1980. She stated that any member of the Jimmerson Family would be welcome to come by to see Mr. Laws if they were ever in that area. Dora sent me a picture of Martha Amanda Campbell, James Allen Jimmerson wife. Dora told me in her letters that her Father and Mother both died leaving five very young daughters. She never mentioned any other children. She said the children stayed with Aunts and Uncles, and that her mother, Nannie Bell Jammerson and one sister Maggie lived with her Uncle James Allen Jimmerson. Maggie Jimmerson married her first cousin, James Allen's son Humphrey.

Humphrey was a brother to John Thomas (alias) William Russell Pearson. James Allen and Martha Amanda had six children. Three babies died within hours of birth. William P. died 18, October 1891 at age fifteen. Two sons, Humphrey and John Thomas, lived to be adults. Humphrey and Maggie only had one child, Gertrude (Gertie) and she was born so severely cross-eyed she had to attend a school for the blind. She was sent there after her Mother and Father died when she was very young. There they operated on her eyes and straighten them. She was the only niece Grandpa Pearson had. (AKA, John Thomas Jimmerson). She married a man named Bill Barnes. Gertrude had been dead only a short while when I found the family in 1981.

Sarah Ruth's Note #2:
She started out saying Martha (maiden name unknown) Jimmerson. Further down she speaks of the marriage of (same) Martha Amanda Campbell and even her parents' names. I also thought it was interesting info that...... They were from the Carolina's and ended up in Maury County Tennessee. Didn't you say Aunt Emma was born in Murray County (?) or could it have been Maury County (?) (Editor's Note: My grandmother, Emma, was born in Maury County). When J. W. Thurman (Editor Note: James Willis Thurman, father of Emma Deller Thurman-Smith) came to Tennessee his family was from the Carolinas and settled in Tennessee, then on to Kentucky. Maybe there was a connection between these two families before Effie and John (aka) Pearson were married. There are many different ways of spelling the name Jimmerson (My Father's way of pronouncing the name), sometimes with (1) one "M" other times with (2) two "M"”, sometimes with an "i" other times with an "a". I tried very hard to type this exactly as it was written in her words, using caps and lower case as she did. Boy!! was that ever hard to do; I wanted it be as near as could be to her arrangement of events. Next time you speak with Clara Ruth...... ask her what her Uncle Claude's wife name was (Editor’s Note: Her name was Dorothy Mae (Pearson) Mathews).

Sarah Ruth's Note #3:
This information was passed on to me by another cousin's wife, Bertha Smith (wife of Elmer B. Smith's son Earl David) several years ago. I had completely forgotten about it until I began digging into boxes to find "stuff" for you!! Next installment tomorrow (maybe) if I don't get a houseful, you never know around here.

Sarah Ruth's Note #4:
This was written by Effie's daughter-in-law, Dorothy Mae Mathews, wif of Claude Pearson. She was in touch with Patt Stanco. Patt Stanco (Cleo Patricia "Patt" Lawrence-Stanco) is the granddaughter of Margaret Smith and daughter of Cleo Lawrence of Ellen Farmer Lawrence. Patt Stanco was also in touch with another Smith cousin, Bertha Smith, daughter-in-law of Elmer B. Smith and wife of Earl David Smith. Bertha submitted it to me in 1982 for clarification, as my father had lived with me until 1979.

John Thomas Jimmerson (Editor's Note: Clara Ruth Pearson Earnest, granddaughter of John Thomas, relates that the spelling should be: Jamerson) AKA William Russell Pearson Birth: 30, April 1878 Death: 19, February, 1956 Where: Tuskegee, Okemah County, Ok. Father: James Allen Jimmerson Mother: Martha Amanda Campbell

I will call John Thomas Jimmerson, alias William Russell Pearson, John Thomas for the time being as it's a bit confusing, but I need to explain who I'm talking about. John Thomas Jimmerson married Effie May Smith, daughter of Luke Lee Smith, Jr. and Amanda H. Williams. Effie May was one of nine children. John, Walter, Tom, Elmer, Clarence, Maggie, Sallie, Effie May, (Fern) ( Fern? - not sure of Fern) John Thomas and Effie had eleven children: (1) Alveara and (2) Bessie May, died as infants. The other children were: (3) Lee Leslie, (4) Sherill Allen (5) Lillian Christeen, (6) Betty Etheleane, (7) J. T., (8) Johnny, (9) James Woodrow, (10) Claude and (11) Ruth Marie. The family lived in Obion County, Tennessee and New Madrid, Missouri. Effie said her father Luke Lee Smith, Jr. was born in Nashville Tennessee, and died in Hickman County, Kentucky. John Thomas and Effie lived in and around these communities until after 1911 at least. Lillian Christeen Pearson DickeyY listed these towns, where the family had lived at: Obion County, Tennessee, New Madrid County, Missouri, Blytheville, Arkansas, Haiti, Missouri, Winslow, Arkansas, Texarkana,Texas, Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma, and Okfuskee, Oklahoma. Sometime between the years 1911 and 1914, John Thomas got into trouble with the law. One story is that he was making moonshine whiskey and was caught. And that was why he changed his name, to William Russell Pearson. At the time it happened they lived in one of these locations: Obion County, Tennessee, New Madrid, Missouri, or Hayti, Missouri. I think it is likely that it was Hayti, Missouri. Effie's great niece, Patt Stanco, lives in Detroit, Michigan. She wrote me the second account. Patt's mother told her what she remembered hearing the story from various family members. She said, She was told he was sent to prison because he stabbed a man. The way she heard it he attended a dog fight while living in Missouri. He got into an argument with the fellow over the dog fight. The two started fighting and John Thomas stabbed him. Her mother couldn't recall if he was killed or not, but thought he did. Both stories say he escaped from a prison work camp. He and a colored man over powered a guard and escaped. How bad the guard was hurt, or if he was killed, Patt's mother didn't know, but said he went into hiding. Patt's mother said that Effie and the children went to live with Effie's brother Tom Smith and family in Obion, Tennessee. After John Thomas escaped from prison, he got in touch with Effie.

Sarah Ruth's Note #5:
(Note #5 is composed of 4 errors that Sarah Ruth found in the letter). Corrections as I know or heard my parents speak.

First Error: Effie was one of ten (10) children (not 9) born of Luke Lee Smith and Amanda Henryetta Williams. They are:

1. Margaret (Maggie) Smith, Davis, Lawrence, Robbins.
2. Walter Smith
3. Effie May Smith, Jimmerson, Pearson
4. John D. Smith
5. Sallie Smith, Pearson
6. Thomas Rogers Smith
7. Mattie Smith, Brooks
8. Elmer B. Smith
9. Clarence Smith
10. Henry Smith

I am pretty sure all the children had middle names but.... I can't say I ever heard my father mention them.

Second Error:
Blytheville, Arkansas, (Not Blysville.) Third Error: I believe that Luke Lee died in Obion Co. Tennessee, because he is buried in Sander's Chapel Church Yard. Not many miles from Union City, Tennessee. I don't believe Amanda would have had the money or the capabilities to bring him from Hickman, Kentucky to Sanders Chapel to be buried. That would be about 15 to 20 miles by mules and wagon. It would be at least a day or more drive. My father (Tom Smith) was born in Hickman, Kentucky. As were some of the other children. Dad was four (4) years old when Luke Lee died.

Fourth Error:
Effie and four children went to live with my parents, (Thomas Rogers Smith and Lucy Thurman) in Missouri, not Obion, Tennessee.

He let her know he wanted her and the four children to meet him somewhere. (The place is unknown). Two of Effie's brothers took her and the four children to the depot, where she boarded a train to a town on the Tennessee side of the Mississippi river. When John Thomas contacted her she sold her beds and every thing she owned to raise the money to make the trip. Christeen remembers the train ride, they had a picnic lunch of fried chicken, and recalls the crossing of the Mississippi River She said the wind was blowing hard, and the waves were very high with white caps on them. She recalls her mother being afraid and, knowing her mother was frighten, really scared her. Lee Leslie was born in Obion County, Tennessee. Christeen and Sherill were born in Missouri. Ethel was born in Tennessee. Ethel was a baby when they left on the long flight. One of the two dead children is buried in Obion County in the Huffsetter Cemetery. Patt said that Thomas Rogers Smith and Walter Lee Smith put Effie May on the train, and returned home. When they arrived home, a letter from John Thomas to Effie was waiting, telling her not to come just yet. That there was danger, that he would contact her later when it would be safer for her to join him. But the letter came too late. Effie and the children were already gone! The brothers had no way of letting her know about the letter. The night she was to cross the Mississippi several boats were lost! The family never heard from Effie again. They thought she had been on one of the boats that was sunk that night. Patt said, "The family grieved for Effie and her children. That every holiday and family gatherings, her name was brought up, and they wondered what had happened to her. Effie's family never knew what had become of her and her children. They thought she was dead. Continuing with this belief until I started working on the family genealogy. After months and much writing, and with very little information to go on, I wrote to a Post Office in Kentucky and the Lady Postmistress gave my letter to the local genealogy club. A lady recalled reading a query a few weeks before from Patt Stanco, requesting information on the same names I was searching for. The lady wrote me and Patt, sending our addresses to each other. The Smith Family learned in 1981 what had happened to their sister and her children. Some of Effie's brothers were still alive, but Effie had died in 1977.

Sarah Ruth's Note #6:
Corrections as I know or think happened. It could not have been my father who took her to the train, as my parents were already living in Missouri. No doubt it was Walter and Elmer (Editors Note: Walter Lee Smith and Elmer B. Smith). My parents' first child, Opel Amanda Smith, was born in 1909 and died in 1911 (17 months old). She is buried in The Smith (no relation) Cemetery in Portageville, Missouri, 40 miles north Hayti, Missouri, near the Mississippi River. And the next four Thomas Rogers Smith children were born in and around that part of the "Boot Heel" of Missouri. Willie Hazel Smith was born there and 10 years later died and was buried in Blytheville, Arkansas. My brother, Willard Hershel Smith was born in Micola, Missouri, when Willie Hazel Smith was four years old. He was born in May 1915. My sisters Marguerite (no middle name) Smith (Date Of Birth, May 1918 and Date Of Death September 2002), and Mary Alice Smith, (Date Of Birth, January 1924 and Date Of Death October 2001) were born in Missouri. I was the only child of my parents to be born outside of the State of Missouri. I was born in Gosnell, Arkansas in August 1929, a few miles from Blytheville, Arkansas. My father never gave up hope to someday find Effie May and the children, We searched military records after World War II. My Dad was sure some of the boys had been in the War, never entering his mind that John Thomas and Effie May had changed their names. My father died in October 1980 and he would be thrilled if he could see me tonight transcribing the events of Effie's travels and to know what an honorable man John Thomas Jimmerson turned out to be. In the summer of 1975, I had taken my father on a two month sojourn. We spent the whole summer looking up all the remaining nieces and nephews. We had a wonderful time in Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas and Oklahoma. As we were making our way back home, I had tire trouble and found myself in a service station in Henryetta, Oklahoma. I bought a new tire and while the service department was replacing the tire, Dad said what is the name of this place and I told him, Henryretta, Oklahoma. He told me, "That was my mother's name" (Editor's Note: Amanda "Mandy" Henrietta Williams). Never knowing at that moment, Effie was within a few miles from that service station. She was in Okemah, Oklahoma living with her daughter Ethel. Little did we know how close we were. I have had a wonderful relationship with Effie's grand daughter, Clara Ruth (Earnest) Pearson for the past 20 years. I know Effie and Tom are pleased we know each other.

Claude didn't know about his father, until after his father's death in 1956. Claude was always told he did not have uncles, aunts, or cousins. He learned that he had all sorts of relatives in 1981. He would liked to have visited the family in Tennessee. But when we found out about the extended family, Claude was ill and unable to make the trip. Claude died November 26, 1982. Claude was dumbfounded to say the least. He just could not believe the letters we received from his cousins. Claude told me, "Dad said all his brothers were dead, and Mama didn't have any brothers or sisters". But after we received pictures of Claude's grandmother, pictures of his own father, that he could clearly identify, and Dora Tanner Jones one of his cousins started writing. He was so happy about all the relatives and planned a trip to see them. He said, "I want to go see the place Dad was always telling me about. I remember Dad telling me about Reelfoot Lake and the good fishing there. And Dad saying someday I'm going back to Tennessee for a visit." Ruth (Effie) said to me one time," Don't ever give up your family, always keep in touch with your Mother. I never knew when my Mother died." Of course I just thought she had gradually lost touch over the years. Ruth also told me she had a brother that lived at one time in Fort Worth, Texas, and when she was sixteen years old, she was sent to live with him for a while. She had TB and was sent to Texas to live in the drier climate.

Sarah Ruth's Note #7:
I have no idea who the brother could have been. If Effie were 16 years old, then Walter would have been 18 and Maggie the (oldest) would have been 20. I have a picture of Grandma Amanda (Henrietta Williams) at her brother's home in Texas. Henry Swan Williams was his name. In the picture there was a young girl that I believe to be Effie, and she looks to be about 16 years old. A young man that appears to be a couple of years older (Walter Smith) is holding the reins of a beautiful horse. There was Thomas Spencer "Fighting Tom" Williams sitting on a chair and Grandma Amanda (Henrietta Williams) with a boy child about 4 to 6 years old. As soon as I can I will send you a copy of that picture.

Error:
Patt wrote that Lois Brooks Beaumont, daughter of Effie's sister Maggie (Editor Note: Margaret "Maggie" Smith) Brooks, still remembers that one time that Effie and John Thomas and their children was living with them. John Thomas got angry with Lois' mother (Maggie) over something. Maggie was pregnant and John Thomas threaten to shoot Maggie in the stomach. Lois said she was standing by her mother's side, and was so scared she still remembers it.

Corrections:
I need to make corrections here as not to confuse you any more than you already are! Lois was not a Brooks, and her mother was not Maggie, her mother was Emma D. Thurman, a sister-in-law to Effie. Don, as you well know, as she was your Grandmother, Emma Deller Thurman, married to John D. Smith. Lois was actually Amanda Lois Smith. I am interjecting this correction in case someone else in the family get hold of this and would be confused. I am confused, from time to time myself and I lived through part of this saga thru my father's eyes.

Editor's note: About 2 years ago, before he passed from this mortal toil, my Uncle Clarence Edward Smith recalled that his mother and other famiy members told him that John Thomas pointed a shotgun at his mother's pregnant stomach and threatened to blow the baby out of the womb.

Patt's father (Editor's Note: Patt's full name was Cleo Patt Lawrence-Stanco; her father was Cleo Lawrance) was the son of Effie's sister, Maggie (Editor's Note: Margaret "Maggie" Smith) by her second husband Lesley Lawrence. He was a trapper and hunter like John Thomas. John Thomas Jamerson took the alias name of William Russell Pearson. William Russell Pearson was the name of one of Effie's brother-in-Laws (Sally Ann Smith's husband, William Russell Pearson ). This man William Russell Pearson died in 1925 several years after John Thomas Jamerson assumed his name. Effie took the name of Ruth May. With a new name, he found his family somehow (not known where or how). They spent several years in hiding. Christine recalls the family living in Blytheville, Arksnsas and Brentwood, Arkansas. William's father James Allen Jamerson's brother's son, Thomas Plez Jamerson, lived in Arkansas (Effie's sister, Margaret "Maggie" Smith, lived in Blytheville, Arkansas). The family lived around those towns, moving to Texarkana, Texas. After staying short periods in each place they settled in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma where they lived for seven years. James Woodrow, Claude and Ruth Marie, the three youngest children were born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. (J.T. Pearson, Clara's Ruth Pearson's father, was born in Blytheville, Arkansas). The family lived a secret life. It must have been heart breaking for Effie. Three of the older children knew their last name was not Pearson. There must have always been the worry the children would forget and tell someone their true name.

After that incident he (now known as William Russell Pearson) was never in any more trouble with the law. He was a good, honest and hard working man. He worked at any job he could find to suppor this family. He pulled radishes one time, making thirty-five-cents a day. The ground the radishes grew in was so hard his fingers were sore and bleeding. Effie made finger stalls to protect his fingers. After the family moved to Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, William worked for the Yhollie Sand and Gravel Company for seven years. He never missed a day in those seven yeas. It was about four miles from where he lived to the place he worked. He walked down a railroad track to get to his job. In early summer when the berries were ripe he would wear a harness Effie made for him to work. The harness held two gallon buckets in front, and two in the back. As he went to work, and on the way back he picked four gallons of black berries. William sold them for ten cents a gallon in Fort Gibson to provide food for his family. Although he put in a full day at the gravel company, each night William would set out traps to catch small animals, such as muskrats, mink and all fur bearing animals. After bringing the catch home he would skin and stretch the hides over wooden forms. Each night he would check the trot-lines he had set out to catch fish. Removing any fish, and re-baiting the hooks again. These tasks he did each morning before leaving for work and after returning at night. If he caught more fish than they needed for food, the extra was sold, as were the hides. They lived close to the Grand River at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma.

And William taught his sons his love of hunting and fishing. They learned to set trot-lines; trot-lines are strong fishing lines stretched across the river with baited hooks dangling from a cord every twelve inches or so. William taught the boys to kill the squirrels and rabbits they hunted with one shot; bullets were hard to come by and could not be wasted. They ate the rabbits and squirrels they caught and sold the hides. Ruth fried the squirrels and rabbits, making milk gravy and hot biscuits. She made nourishing stews and dumplings from wild game, which included duck, quail and other wild foul. Ruth worked hard raising a garden and canning every thing she could. She had turkeys and chickens. They raised hogs for meat and lard, and cows for milk. In the spring the woods were full of wild onions and wild vegetables, such as water cress and polk salad. Ruth made soap from hog fat and lye, to use for washing dishes and the laundry.

Claude was a beautiful little boy. He had curly hair that was golden blond. Ruth combed his hair into long sausage rolls. His hair was ever cut until he was six years old and started to school. Ruth kept one of the long curls; when held up it hung down at least eight inches. Ruth gave the curl to me in 1943. I was so proud of it, and promised her I would always keep it. I wrapped it in clear plastic, and put it under the glass in the picture frame that held Claude’s Army portrait. Here it remained until one day I as cleaning the glass on all my pictures hanging on the wall in 1945-46 while we were living in Avenal, California. I saw the curl was gone. Someone had removed it. I couldn't be sure how long it had been gone. And I had no idea who had taken it. I thought it must have been taken by someone who knew how much it meant to me, disliked me so much, they didn't want me to have the curl. While the family lived in Fort Gibson their house was close to the railroad tracks. The section foreman, saw Claude playing in the yard. When ever he had time he would stop and talk to the little boy, and fell in love with him. So much so he asked Ruth if she would give Claude to him. He told her and William that if they would let him have Claude, he would give him a good education, and see that he was trained to be an engineer. Although William and Ruth had nine cildren, they had none they could spare. They loved them all. When William was a young man he came to the Oklahoma Territory before Oklahoma became a state. He often told his son that at that time the wild grass and wild oats came up to the stirrups on the horses. There were no fences, and it was a beautiful site to see. Tall, sweet grass covered the gently rolling hills as far as the eye could see.

William and Ruth saved their money and bought a team of mules and a wagon, and they decided they would move on further into Oklahoma. They settled on the bottoms of the Deep Fork River at Okfuskee, Oklahoma, where they lived in a tent. They herded the cows on the free grazing land, along the river bottoms. Every day the cows had to be taken to where they could graze, and the younger boys had to stay with the cows all day long, keeping them out of the farmers fields. If the cows got into a farmers corn field they could ruin it in minutes. If that happened the owner of the cows would have to pay damages. Some farmers penned the escaped cattle up. Besides the charge for the damaged field, they charged so much a head for the cattle owner to get his cows back. The job of herding the cows was a job that required the herder to stay alert and be responsible. The river bottom was hot and humid in summer, and wet and cold in winter. But the fields were empty and were not so tempting to the cows. In the hot bottoms the insects, spiders, bugs and snakes were every where. The sounds of mosquitoes were heard buzzing around and biting any exposed skin. The family had frequent bouts with malaria fever. On the farm and on the river a person learned early to be careful where he put his feet. A fallen log, a pile of leaves or brush might conceal a snake. Water moccasin climbed up trees to sun themselves. They could fall off on a person that walked under the limbs.

Claude was herding cows one day. He was wearing a pair of tennis shoes that had a hole in the little toe. And that is where he was bitten by a poisonous snake, a water moccasin. It scared Claude as he was alone in the wooded bottoms with only the cows. And he knew the snake was poisonous. Claude said he did the worse thing he could have possibly done. He panicked and ran home. Fortunately William was at home and he lanced the bite with his knife making it bleed. He put Claude's foot in a can of kerosene and took him to the doctor that was practicing in the community of Okfuskee, Oklahoma. Claude got sick and his foot swelled badly but he soon recovered.

Claude spent long hours fishing the Deep Fork River. He loved that river. In the fall they picked up pecans to eat and sell. The pecan trees were huge and growing on the rich soil of the river bottom. The river was bordered on each side by about a half mile of trees, weeds and grasslands. They bought some farm equipment, and begin farming on halves for a farmer. Claude remembers how hard his father worked. When Claude was small he had the job of taking cool water to his father in the field. He said when his Dad came home at noon to eat, there would not be a dry thread on his shirt. After eating he would lie on the floor to rest. He would tell Claude he would give him a penny to scratch his back.

When Claude got older he learned to set out trot-lines. He would row the boat across the river and tie the line to a tree. As he paddled back to the dock he would bait the short lines and tie that end to a tree. About midnight he would get up and light a lantern and " run" the lines re-baiting them. About daylight he would run them again. The boys all fished and hunted, and, if they caught more than they could use, they sold the surplus in town. The boys were able to help buy flour, and other things the family needed. And if they had any spending money, that is how they made it. Claude hunted raccoon, opossum and rabbits. He sold the hides. But the carcasses of these animals he sold to the colored people. Claude said he had to leave the head and feet on, as some of the people would not eat the opossums, calling them grave-robbers. Others were afraid he might be selling them house cats. The six boys had to work in the fields, planting cotton, grain and corn, for the stock, which by now had become several cows. They sold butter to stores in town. Another day Claude was herding cows on the river. When it became time to go home the cows scattered in all directions. After he got them all gathered up they started home the wrong direction. Or so he thought. He did not know which way to go to get home. He was hopelessly lost. Although he knew the river-bottoms like most people know their back-yards, he could find no land mark that looked familiar and he panicked. He wandered around for what seemed like hours. Finely he came to a neighbor's house. The man told him the direction to go to get to his house. He pointed out the way. But Claude started off in the opposite direction again. The man finally walked home with him. Claude said he did not believe that he was going home the right way until he saw the house. Claude said it as a terrifying experience.

William and Ruth lived at Okfuskee, Oklahoma until approximately 1939. Claude enlisted in the Army while they were living at Okfuskee. His family bought the farm on Lake Okmulgee and had moved when Claude got his first leave. During the Great Depression, William worked for the W.P.A, the federal program helping to build bridges in the county. While carrying a bridge-plank soaked in creosote (creosote was used to preserve the wooden planks), William got a splinter stuck in his neck. He thought he got all the splinter out. And he didn't go to a doctor. The place healed, but a few years later the place would get sore and drain. They thought that was what caused the cancer. They were living on the Lake when Claude and I were married. They lived there until William was told he had cancer of the lung. They sold the farm and moved back to Okfuskee, to be near their daughter Ethel.

William never learned to drive and I don't know if they ever owned a car before the boys got married. I know they didn't own a car after Claude and I were married. William was a very handsome man. He had auburn hair. So dark red it looked black. At his death he had not lost any of his hair and it was still as thick as ever, only now it was white. William died February 20, 1956. Ruth was a beautiful young lady. When she was young she had blond, very curly hair and blue eyes. The first time I saw Ruth, her hair was already grey. She loved all her children and grandchildren very much. Ruth was ready to help her children in any way she could, and did help them. I know she had many trials and never had any security in all her long life of 97 years. But she did the very best she could and her children loved her and they all turn out well. Ruth worked hard all her life, raising her children, working in the fields when she was needed, teaching the children to be good and honest citizens and in that she succeeded. Ruth was a wonderful mother and cook. She had so much patience with her small grandchildren. She was called on by the neighbors to help when someone was ill, and at the births of children. I remember she told me some of the times she was called to help at a birth. Several times the baby would be born before the husband returned with a doctor. Ruth explained to me what to do if I ever found myself in that predicament. Fortunately for me I was never called on in that kind of an emergency. In old age Ruth developed heart trouble, and diabetes. She was living in Okemah, Oklahoma when she passed away on May 26, 1979.

Sarah Ruth's Note #8:
As I re-typed this on the computer, I tried very hard to type each word as the original writer, Claude Pearson’s wife, had written. She had her own style and I wanted to keep her vision and words alive. You can feel the love and compassion she had for her in-Laws. It is truly a "Little House on the Prairie" story that happened in our family. I am sorry our families were separated and didn't share in each others life. I know for a fact my father, Thomas Rogers Smith, and Effie's brothers and sisters suffered all the years, not knowing where they were, and wondering if he had played a part in their absence. As children we grew up knowing about our "Aunt Effie" and watched my Dad grieve for her and her family. Sadly enough, Effie and Tom died a year and a half of each other, not knowing where the other was, or to have the chance to be reunited, perhaps passing one another on the street. Effie - May 1979 and Tom - October 1980. It is my Prayer they are reunited in the Heavenly Abode, with God’s blessings. I was blessed to have been able to meet and visit with two of Aunt Effie's daughters, Ethel and Christeene, one of her sons, J. T. Pearson, and several of her grand children. I am pleased to say that two of her grand daughters, Clara Ruth and Annie, and I have had a twenty plus years wonderful, loving relationship. The two of them are some of my dearest friends. We visit each others homes, share news letters and talk on the phone all the time. So, I am grateful to have had this privilege.

Permission To Publish:
I grant permission to my cousin, Donald Bernard Smith, to print this letter in his Smith Family Genealogy. Submitted by Sarah Ruth Smith Swiecki, AKA Sally Swiecki.