The Photo Was the Key

It has been so long since I've posted but I have been busy! I mentioned previously that I was able to get copies of close to 250 old family photos. I have been slowly going through and trying to identify

Beulah Mae Spees Smith

as many of them as possible. Some of them are complete mysteries. It seems as though my gg grandmother, Mae Spees, was very interested in correspondence. She was born in Missouri in 1882 and moved with her family to Lee County between 1895 and 1900. She kept in contact with all of her family and friends in Missouri and her husbands family and they sent many photos back and forth.

 Some of the photos have clues on the back but many of them do not. The photo I am writing about today did have a name on the back and it led me down a rabbit hole that led to some wonderful discoveries!

First let me give you some background information. Mae's first husband, my gg grandfather, was born about 1882 in Pontotoc, MS. This is unfortunate because there is no 1890 census. And I have not been able to find him on the 1900 census so the first record we have of him is on the 1910 census.

                      W F Smith      28 - Head of household

                                     Frank Smith    69 - father of head of household
May Smith      28 - wife

      Oda Zell Smith  1 - daughter

In the 1920 census, Mae is married to her second husband, Zach. I have not been able to find any information on his death or tombstone. The 1910 census does give me something, his father's name: Frank Smith. Of course it's only the most common surname in America! How hard can it be? This is all information I found out 10 years ago when I first began researching. After looking for a long time, I found a Smith family in Pontotoc that was likely Frank's family. He was listed as Francis Smith, son of Joshua and Jane Smith on the 1850 and 1860 census. My DNA test confirmed this connection many times over. But who was W.F.'s mother, Frank's wife? What happened to Frank between the 1860 census and the 1910 census?  Did W.F. have any siblings? What does W.F. stand for? In my mind I've always called him William Franklin but I have no reason to think this. SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Fast forward to me combing through old photographs. I pulled this photo up and noticed how young the children were compared to the adults. Also, that I didn't recognize any of the people. On the back I saw that there were indeed grandparents and grandchildren (so sweet) and that I definitely did not recognize the names. Luckily, Arch is not a terribly common name so a quick search on Ancestry for Arch and Emma Duncan and there was a match in the 1900 census!

James Archie and Emma Smith 

Now I just have to find the connection! In the Ancestry search I looked for trees that had this couple. I was so pleased to see that there were several - and, bonus, Emma's maiden name was SMITH! I seriously could not believe it! I reminded myself that Smith is a very common name and the two might not be related. I had to find proof. Another look at the trees that she was in told me that her descendants were unsure of her parentage. She was born in Mississippi in 1871 and died in Alabama in 1955. Then I found a record in the Alabama, Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974 that had a clue: her father's name was Frank! Coincidence? Maybe but it was looking unlikely. My next step was to look through my DNA matches to see if I was matched to any of her descendants. I found one confirmed. I do not consider one match as conclusive so I had to consider one more important piece of evidence....the fact that this photo has been passed down. In other words, why else would my great-great grandparents have this photo? All together, I am convinced that Emma Jane Smith is W.F.'s older sister.

Francis M Smith Pin

This new piece of information opened up a flood of discoveries. I found Frank's marriage record. He married M.A. Robertson 20 Jun 1866. I found his tombstone and confirmed it with the photo of his pin from the Civil War that I got from a cousin. I found his Civil War file. I found Francis and Martha Smith in the 1870 census in Pontotoc. They had a daughter named Frances. Another sister! The census also told me that Martha  was born about 1846 in South Carolina. I have not been able to find her family yet but I am still working on it. I honestly never thought I would find this much information about Frank. And all of it was because of one forgotten photograph.