Mattie Estella Smith

The above photo is from my grandmother's photo album which had items dated from 1870 until about 1950. There are four other photos of Mattie under the Media Tab above, one on the occasion of her birthday in 1953, and another of her with granddaughter, Shirley Smith Bender, as a young girl probably taken probably about 1936, and one of Mattie when she was older, as well as one with her daughter Eeva Delight Smith. The group photo on her birthday includes all five of her children with most of their spouses, as well as four of her grandchildren and one of her great granddaughter, Christie Bender. I'm the small baby sitting on my mother's lap in the foreground. I was about six months old when the photo was taken in December of 1951.

Unfortunately, I did not have much of a chance to get to know my grandma Smith very well, since she passed away in March of 1964 when I was only about 12 years old. Grandma Smith had lived in a nursing home for several years before she passed away at the age of 90 years old. Previously, she lived with my uncle Larry (my dad's brother) and aunt Flossie (known as "Dot") in the Venice or Santa Monica area of Southern California until about 1960.

Since my parents and I lived in the San Fernando Valley, which was about 30 miles away, we did not get to visit my grandma Smith very often. It wasn't until they built the 405 Freeway which linked the San Fernando Valley to the West side of Los Angeles and the beach communities of Santa Monica and Venice that we got to visit her more often. I think that freeway was built in about 1956. The few other photos I have of her with me were taken in 1958. As I child I remember hearing a story about her climbing the fence at the old folks home to escape and was later found at her previous home where my aunt and uncle lived, but I'm not sure if that was a true story.

Grandma Smith was a farm wife, having raised her family of four sons and one daughter in Kansas, from about 1895 until the family moved to Venice Beach, California, about 1923. She must have been a good cook, but I don't remember her ever cooking me any meals. Although I do remember her trying to get some cereal for me to eat when I visited her one time, and there were ants in the cereal box. I guess grandma could not see the ants because she had bad eyesight by then. But I could see the ants and I didn't eat the cereal!

I have two photos of Grandma Smith and me taken at her little house in Venice in 1958, and those are about the only photos of us together. There were only a few photos of her in my parents photo album which include ones of her and my grandfather, her with her baby daughter Eeva, and one with her son Bert, my dad, and their sister Eeva taken in 1932 when they were living in Venice, California, as well as the photo of her with her granddaughter, Shirley. I only recently received pages from Mattie's photo album from my cousin, Allen Randle Wall, the son of Eeva Delight Smith Wall, which includes the one above and several others of Mattie and her family members including her parents, siblings, cousins, nieces & nephews, as well as her homes in Kansas and Venice, California.

I certainly wish I knew more about Grandma Smith, but all of her family is gone now, except for a few distant Smith cousins who I never met or barely knew who still live in California. Another thing I do remember about grandma is that she always had gray hair. I remember my dad telling me that her hair turned gray when she was quite young. However, in the photo of her and Eeva as a baby in 1912, grandma Smith's hair was not yet completely gray then and she would have been about 40 years old at the time. I remember my dad's hair also turned gray when he was in his 40's or early 50's.

My cousin Shirley (my uncle Larry and aunt Dot's daughter) said recently that Mattie was very fond of her four sons, but was not so happy about having a daughter. Shirley said that grandma Smith once told her that if she had given birth to her daughter Eeva before having her four sons, she would have probably never had any more children. I don't know if that was because grandma thought Eeva was a difficult child or she just liked raising sons better than daughters. Shirley also said that grandma was not fond of any of her daughters-in-law either.

On my grandfather Smith's profile page there is a history of the family from U.S. Census Records from about 1880 to 1930. Mattie Estella Scott was listed with her parents in the Kansas State Census dated March 1, 1875, as follows: T.B. (Thomas Benton) Scott, 30, L.E. (Luzinia Elmina Couch) Scott, 29, and siblings, J.C. Scott (John), 7, and I.L. Scott (Leila), 4, and M. Scott (Mattie Estella) 1 year old. Having been born in December of 1873, she would have been one year old in December of 1874, just 2 months before the census date. They were living in Lexington, Johnson County, Kansas. Thomas was working as a farmer.

On the same census page was the W.R. Hale family, and his daughter Mary Elizabeth, who was just 3 years old at the time, and would later become the wife of Mattie's brother, John C. Scott. They were listed as W.R. Hale, 28, M.S., Hale, 22, Viola, 4, and M.E. (Mary Elizabeth), 3 years old. William Hale was also working as a farmer. His wife was Margaret or "Retta" Hiddleston.

Other family members listed on the same census page were Mattie's grandparents, Milton Couch, 54, and his wife Sarah Jane Osborne Couch, 50, and their daughters, Elizabeth or Betsy, 17, and Mary, 15, and sons Clarkson, 11, and Bartlett, 7. Milton was also working as a farmer. Next door was their married daughter, Sarah Emeline "Emma" Couch Steed, 20, and her husband Thomas A. Steed, 28. On the other side, two doors down was their married daughter, Roseann Carson Couch Leamer, 24, and her husband, George Leamer, 27, also a farmer. Next door to them were George Leamer's older brother, Alex, 33, and his wife Mary, 31, and George and Alex's mother, Anna Leamer, 65, and Alex and Mary's daughters, Anna, 6, and Lizzie, 3 years old. Alex was also working as a farmer.

Next door on the other side of Thomas and Elmina and their children were Jonathan Gordon, 59, and his wife, Irene, 59, who were the parents of Oliver Cromwell Gordon, the husband of Elmina's sister, Eliza Ellen Couch Gordon. Also living with Jonathan and Irene was their son, Jasper, 28, and his wife, Sarah, 19, and younger son, Edwin, 16, and William, 9, possibly a grandson. The Gordon's were also working as farmers. The families had all migrated from North Carolina to Kansas not long after the Civil War around 1867 or 1868, except for the Leamer's who were from Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the Hale's who were also from Pennsylvania.

In the 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Lexington Township, Johnson County, Kansas on the 4th of June, my grandmother was listed as Mattie, 6 years old, living with her parents, (Thomas) Benton Scott, 35, and Elmina, 35, brother John, 12, and sister Lelia, 9. Sadly, Lelia passed away just 3 years later when she was 12 years old, but I don't know what caused her death at such a young age.

On the same census page was the Couch family, including Elmina's parents and siblings, Milton Couch, 59, his wife, Sarah Jane Osborne Couch, 54, daughter Elizabeth, (Betsy) 22, and sons Clarkson, 16, and Bartlett M., 12. Milton was still farming and his sons were working as farm laborers on the family farm.

On the same census page were other members of Mattie's extended family including her mother Elmina's sister, Eliza Ellen, 32, and her husband, Oliver Cromwell Gordon, 44, and their children, William A., 12, Annie, 8, Charles, 5, Alice, 4, and Fred, 3; and living next door to them were Oliver's parents, a brother and one of his parents grandchildren: Jonathan Gordon, 64, Irene, 64, Jasper, 33, and Warner, 14, a grandson. Living next door to them was Sarah Gordon, 33, and her children, William, 10, John, 8, Isabell, 6, and Corea, 4. Living next door to Sarah was Oliver's brother, John Frank Gordon, 30, and his wife, Mary Ada Couch Gordon, 20, Elmina's younger sister. Living next door to Mattie and her parents and siblings was Thomas A. Steed, 33, and his wife, Sarah Emeline "Emma" Couch Steed, 26, and their son Claudius, who was 4 years old.

Ancestry.com shows that Mattie married Isaac Randall Smith on December 26, 1894, in Johnson County, Kansas. Isaac was born June 6, 1872, in Amboy, Grant County, Indiana, to parents William (Isaac or Jesse) Smith and Catharine Howell Smith. Isaac was received into the Quaker church in Mississawa, Marion, Grant County, Indiana. Sadly, his mother and two older sisters passed away four years later in October and November of 1876, and Isaac was sent to live with his father's nephew and Isaac's cousin, Robert Linsey Smith and his new wife, Arrena Price, who were married on April 14, 1877. They were listed in the 1880 census with Isaac, an 8-year old boy, living in their home. Robert was the son of William's brother, who was also named Isaac Randall Smith, (1828-1871) and his wife, Mary Smith. Since William's older brother, Isaac, passed away in 1871, William obviously named his last son Isaac Randall Smith, born the following year, to honor his deceased brother, who died when he was only 43 years old.

Isaac and Mattie's first son, Bertle Haze Smith, was born August 22, 1895. Three years later, Mattie's mother, Elmina, passed away on September 15, 1898, at the age of just 52 years old. She was buried in the De Soto Cemetery in De Soto, Johnson County, Kansas.

By the 1900 census enumerated on June 11th, Mattie was still living in Lexington, Johnson County, Kansas, with her husband, son and father who were listed as follows: Isaac R. Smith, 27, Estella M., 26, Bertle H., 4, and Thomas Benton Scott, a 54-year old widower. Also in the home were Milo W., 18, and Della A. Richardson, 22, who were working as servants in the home as a farm hand and dress maker. Isaac was working as a farmer.

The 1900 census record showed that Isaac and Mattie Estella had been married for 5 years, Isaac was born in June of 1872, Mattie in December of 1873, Bertle in August of 1895, and Thomas in September of 1845. Thomas was listed as a "landlord," so Isaac must have been renting his father-in-law's farm. Both Milo and Della were born in Kansas and their father in North Carolina and mother in Ohio, so this leads me to believe they were brother and sister.

Three years later Mattie's father, Thomas, would marry again to Sarah Ann Nixon, who was a widow who was 5 years older than Thomas. Sarah passed away in 1911, but Thomas lived another 10 years and passed away in 1921 while living in Kansas City. They were both buried in the De Soto Cemetery in De Soto, Johnson County, Kansas, but Thomas was buried with his first wife Elmina, and Sarah was buried separately.

In the 1910 census for Lexington, Johnson, Kansas, the family was listed as follows: I.R. Smith, 37, M.E. Smith, 36, sons Bertle H., 14, Merton D., 7, and Lawrence, 5, and a hired farm hand named M.C. Hockett, 22. Isaac and Mattie had been married for 15 years and had given birth to three children. Isaac was still farming. In May that year their 4th son, my father, Halley Dale Smith, was born. He was named after Halley's Comet which was visible from Earth that year, as it is every 75 years.

In 1920 census for Lexington, Johnson, Kansas, the family was listed as follows: Isach R. Smith, 45, Mattie E., 44, Merton D., 17 , Lawrence B., 14, Hallie (Halley Dale Smith, my father), 8, and sister Eeva, 7. Isaac was still farming and they were renting their farm. This census shows that Isaac was born in Indiana and his parents in Ohio, Mattie was born in Kansas and her parents in North Carolina, and all their children were born in Kansas. Merton Dee was working as a farm laborer, probably on the family farm.

Their oldest son, Bertle Haze Smith, born in 1895, was already living in New Mexico working in the oil business at the time of the 1920 census. He was living with his mother's cousin, Claude Steed, and his wife and children. Claude was the first born son of Elmina's sister Sarah Emeline "Emma" Couch Steed and her husband Thomas A. Steed.

Living next door to Isaac and Mattie was Mattie's cousin, Myrtle O. Leamer, a 43-year old spinster who was known as Mirty. Mirty passed away in 1945. She was the daughter of Elmina's sister Roseann Carson Couch and George Washington Leamer.

I'm not sure when my grandparents left Kansas and moved to Venice, California, but it may have been after Mattie's father, Thomas, passed away in 1921. Family records show that my dad attended elementary school in Kansas until 1922, and then graduated from Venice Junior High School in 1924, and later Venice High School, so they were certainly in California by about 1923. Sadly, Mattie's husband, Isaac Randall Smith, passed away just 5 years later in Venice, Los Angeles County, California, August 1, 1928, when my father, Halley Dale Smith, was only 18 years old and Isaac was only 56 years old. According to my father, his dad had asthma and trouble with his lungs and had not been able to tolerate the "Dust Bowl Days" of Kansas as a farmer any more, and that is why the family moved from Kansas to Venice, California.

In a 1928 U.S. City Directory listing Isaac Randall Smith was shown as being employed in the real estate business. In the 1930 census, Mattie, was a 54-year old widow living with her sons, Bertle Haze, 34, and Halley Dale, 20, and daughter, Eeva Delight, 17, in a home they owned located at 728 Nowita Place in Venice, which was valued at $5,000. They had a radio in their home. Bert was working as a refiner for Standard Oil Company. My father, Halley Dale, was working as a transfer driver. Eeva was probably still attending high school. Homes in that area of Venice, California, today sell in the millions of dollars....my dad would be very surprised to know that!

In 1938 Mattie was living at 906 Nowita Place in Venice, probably because her sons and daughter had already been married and she needed a smaller home. My dad married my mom in 1932, his brother Bert married his wife Helen in 1936, and Eeva married her husband, Herbert Allen Wall, in about 1937.

By the 1940 census, Mattie was living with her daughter, Eeva, and Eeva's husband, Herbert Allen Wall. At that time they were living at 1623 Crescent Place, Venice, California. Herbert was a 29-year old school teacher, Eeva was a 27-year old home maker, and their son, Allen Randall Wall was 1 year old. My grandmother Mattie was listed as nurse, so she was probably her grandson Allen's nurse. Herb's income was $1,440 that year, Mattie's was $176, plus she also had her own income, and they were renting their home for $30 per month.

A Google Search for that address on Crescent Place in Venice found that the home was built in 1927, was about 3,000 square feet, and today was selling for around three million dollars. My grandmother wouldn't believe that if she was alive today, nor would my dad, mom, aunt Eeva or uncle Herbie.

Mattie's father, Thomas Benton Scott, born in Guilford, North Carolina, was living there during the 1850 census, and was listed as 5-year old (Thomas) Benton Scott, born in 1845. The family was listed as follows in the census record:

Asgill B. Scott, 48, born in Wake County, North Carolina, occupation - farmer

Mary, 44, born in Guilford County, North Carolina, as were all their children listed below:

Miriam, 16, born about 1834

Nancy, 14, born about 1836

Wyatt, 12, born about 1838

John, 7, born about 1843

(Thomas) Benton, 5, born about 1845 (my grandmother's father or my great grandfather)

Mary, 3, born about 1847.

In the 1860 census, the family was still living in Guilford county, North Carolina, and Asgill was listed as a farmer, with the value of his real estate being $3,000 and his personal estate at $300. His first wife Mary Stephenson died in about 1865, and he later married Mary L. Couch in about 1868. Mary was probably a relative of Thomas's wife, Luzinia Elmina Couch's family, with Mary possibly being the daughter of Luzinia's father Milton Couch's uncle, Samuel L. Couch and his wife Annie Archie.

Mattie's father's brother, John Scott, also came to Kansas and he passed away in Wichita. Also included in the photo album pages I received was a photograph of his wife, Nellie. But I don't know what ever happened to the other siblings of Thomas Benton Scott, if they stayed in North Carolina or moved elsewhere, other than his eldest sister Miriam, and her husband Reece Spinks, who did stay in North Carolina as did their children.

At least now I have more photos of the Couch, Osborne, Scott and Smith families, and am very grateful to have them, along with extended family members including the Gordon's, Steed's, Leamer's, Hale's, Hiddleston's, and Parker's, all members of my grandmother, great, and 2nd great grandmother and father's families on my dad's side. It's taken a long time to obtain all this information about their family, but it's been so worth it, since I've reconnected with old cousins I'd not seen in years, and met many new cousins who I never new existed before!

I was surprised to learn that in June of 1949 my grandmother married again to David C. Bosworth, a man who was 84 years old at the time. This was 21 years after the death of her husband, Isaac. I never knew about this marriage, but I asked my cousin Allen Wall about it and he said that Mr. Bosworth and my grandmother were members of a local club in the area of Venice, California, and they both liked to dance together at club meetings, so they ended up getting married. Sadly, he died that December, 1949, so they were not married for very long.