The James Thomas Smith Family - Part 12

 

Ella Jennie Smith

Born May 8, 1891 – Died Mar 19 1978

and husband

 Roy Thompson Stewart

November 26, 1892 – November 23, 1971

          Ella Jennie Smith was born May 8, 1891 in Ohio County, the daughter of James Thomas Smith and Sarah (Sanders).

          When she was twenty-three, she married Roy Thompson Stewart, age twenty-two, on January 30, 1914.   Roy was the son of John Henry Stewart and Susannah Miranda (Cox).  This couple had two sons, Velno Kenneth and Theron M. Stewart.

          In the Hartford Herald, page 5, column, 4, dated Wednesday, 4 Feb. 1914, I ran across an article although it was only partially included in another page I was working on for an obituary of Tom Sanders.  The part of the article quoted, said: 

"Smith - Stewart"

"    At the residence of Rev. Birch Shields, Beaver Dam, at noon, January 30, 1914, while seated in their buggy, Mr. Roy Stewart and Miss Ella Smith, both of Select, Ky. were united in matrimony, Rev. Shields performing the ceremony.  Miss Smith is the accomplished daughter of Mr. James T. Smith, a prosperous farmer living near Select, and Mr. Stewart is a successful teacher of the county and the son of Mr. J. H Stewart, merchant of Select.  These young people have many friends who wish them much success as they move down the steps of time as man and wife."    

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          An obituary in the Ohio County News, dated Thursday, March 23, 1978, page 17, reads: 

"Ella Stewart" 

"Cromwell -- Ella Stewart, 86, died Sunday, March 19, at Ohio County Hospital.

     

    She was a member of Bald Knob United Methodist Church and Cromwell Lodge No. 294, Order of the Eastern Start.  Her husband, Roy Stewart, died in 1971.

 

    Survivors include two sons, Kenneth Stewart of Leitchfield and Theron Stewart of Hammond, Indiana; three grandchildren; two brothers, Harb and Ellis Smith, both of Cromwell, and a sister, Mrs. J. N. Cox of Troup, Texas.

 

    Services were 2 p.m. Tuesday at William L. Danks Funeral Home.  Burial was in Sunnyside Cemetery." 

          Roy Stewart married the sister of Eva Caroline (Smith) Cox, my grandmother.  He was a well respected member of his community and among his family relations.  He was a member of Select Church of Christ, the Cromwell Lodge No. 692 F&AM and the Cromwell OES No. 294.  A retired rural mail carrier, he retired in 1958.  

          He had Masonic graveside rites and was buried in Sunnyside Cemetery. 

          He helped me with my research on the Thomas Smith family.  His parents were John Henry Stewart and Susannah Miranda Cox.  Susannah, called “Susie,” was Granddaddy Cox’s oldest sister. 

         An obituary from The Ohio County News, dated Thursday, Dec 2, 1971,  page 8, reads: 

"Roy T. Stewart"

 

"Cromwell -- Roy T. Stewart, 78, died at 12:15 p.m., Tuesday, November 23, at the Ohio County Hospital.

 

    Mr. Stewart was born November 26, 1892 in Ohio County.  He was a member of the Select Church of Christ, the Cromwell Lodge No. 692 F&AM and Cromwell OES No. 294.  He was a retired mail carrier, retiring in 1958.

 

    Survivors include his widow, Mrs. Ella Smith Stewart; two sons, Kenneth Stewart and Theron Stewart, both of Hammond, Indiana; three grandchildren.

 

    Funeral services were conducted at 2 p.m. Friday, November 27, at the William L. Danks Funeral Home by the Rev. Gary Embry, pastor of the United Methodist Church, assisted by the Rev. Arnett Williams, pastor of Concord Baptist Church.  Burial was in Sunnyside Cemetery." 

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Excerpt from tape 10-10-77: 

          Grandmother:  “Well, we lived with Ella and Roy.  They lived out on a farm and she was afraid, and we were living at the mines at that time, and they wanted us to come up there because Roy was teaching school and was gone all day.  So they come and begged us to move up there with them.  We lived right in the house with them.  We lived together.  We had one side of the house and Roy and Ella had the other.  At that time we didn’t have any children.” 

          I have many recorded tales that my grandmother told me about herself and Aunt Ella growing up.  They were close in age – only two years apart. 

                                                ~~~<.>~~~

Thanks to Janice Brown.