The Smithsons came to this country from England and settled in the farmland countryside
of southern Illinois---principally around Waverly, Illinois. The earliest record is that of my Great Great Grandfather,
James Elmer Smithson (yyyy-1859) who on April 19, 1849 married my Great Great Grandmother, Justina W. Baker (yyyy-1909).
James and Justina had five children, one of whom was my Great Grandfather, James Clay Smithson (1858-1909). On February
19, 1880 my Great Grandfather, James Clay Smithson, married my Great Grandmother, Ollie May Campbell (1859-yyyy) and together,
they had 11 children in all, one of whom was my Grandfather---Elmer Haden Smithson (1882-1924). On Feb 28, 1905 my Grandfather, Elmer
Haden Smithson, married my Grandmother, Lillian (Lillie) May Pelligreen Powell (1875-1917), and together they had three
children---my mother, Blanche Smithson Downey (1905-1990), Albert Henry Smithson (1908-1920), and my Aunt Frances Elizabeth
Smithson Howe (1914-1973). My Grandmother Smithson's maiden name was Pelligreen---and her brother was Nicholas (Nick)
Pelligreen (xxxx-yyyy), a St. Louis, IL contractor who built Barnes Hospital, the St. Louis Railroad station, and the
State Capitol Building in Little Rock, AR. Grandmother Smithson had a previous marriage (Powell) and that marriage produced
one daughter, Martha Powell ________ (1897 - yyyy) ---a half sister of my mother.
The Smithson Story as I know it...
My Grandfather (Elmer Haden Smithson,
1882-1924) was the first of eleven children born to my Great Grandfather (James Clay Smithson, 1858-1909)
and Great Grandmother (Ollie May Campbell Smithson, 1859-yyyy).He was born and raised on the Smithson family farm in southern IL. Near Waverly, IL.But when he grew to manhood, my Grandfather became enamored with railroading.
And so he became an engineer on the Alton RR which in those days ran from Chicago to St. Louis.Many years later the Alton RR was merged into the Gulf, Mobile,
and Ohio RR which ran on down past St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico.Elmer bought a house in Bloomington, IL
which apparently was a crew-change stop on the Alton RR line.Like all railroad
men of his day, there would be a lot of overnight down-time in St. Louis.And so it was in St. Louis that my Grandfather
Smithson met and courted my Grandmother Smithson, the former Lillie Pelligreen Powell (1875-1917).Elmer and Lillie were married on February
28, 1905.Together they had three children----my Mother,
Blanche, in 1905, my Uncle Albert in 1908, and my Aunt Frances
in 1914.But my Grandmother, Lillie Smithson, died suddenly of TB in 1917 when
Aunt Frances was only 3 years old and my Mother was only 12.For a time, Elmer tried to hold his family together by hiring a housekeeper to take
care of the children (Blanche, Albert, and Frances) and tend to the household chores while he continued his railroading job
on the Alton RR.But then an old childhood illness, rheumatic fever, left him
with a weakened heart, which condition had gone undiagnosed for many, many years.His
heart problems worsened and eventually caused him to lose his railroading job and he became very sickly...so much so that
he himself was in need of daily care and he could no longer provide for his family.And about this same time his only son, Albert, died in 1920, and that left Elmer with the painful decision of what
to do for his remaining children, Blanche (then 15) and Frances (then 6).Heartbroken,
Elmer's family had to be split up, as he could no longer provide for himself, let alone his children...but how ?...and who
would go where ?Uncle Nick Pelligreen---my Grandmother
Lillie Smithson's brother---was married and had children of his own in St. Louis,
but he stepped up and agreed to take my Aunt Frances, principally because of her age...but not my Mother principally because
of her age.Elmer, who was by then in an extremely weakened
condition, was taken in and cared for by his mother, Ollie May Campbell Smithson, who by that time
had retired from farming. When my Great Grandfather James Clay Smithson died in 1909, my Great
Granmother Ollie sold the Smithson family farm near Waverly, IL and bought another farm closer to Girard, IL which she
operated until 1920 at which point she retired from farming and bought a house in-town in Girard,
IL.But my Great Grandmother Ollie Smithson
could not take in both her son, Elmer, and his remaining daughter, my Mother, Blanche Smithson.So the issue came down to what to do with my Mother.Well, one of Grandfatehr Elmer's sisters, Lillie Mable Smithson Allen, lived on a farm outside
of nearby Carlinville, IL and had no children of her own. Still, Aunt Lillie also didn't want to take in my Mother either.But she did know of the Hounsleys who also had a farm outside of Carlinville
and the Hounsleys also had no children of their own, but they needed help on their farm.And so it was arranged that my Mother was to go and live with Aunt Molly and Uncle Tom Hounsley
as our family was to everafter refer to them.Aunt Molly and Uncle Tom treated
my Mother very well, and she in turn helped with the work of running the Hounsley farm, including working in the fields when
called upon.Aunt Molly taught my Mother how to sew and to cook as well, and
also taught her 'the facts of life.' When my Grandfather
Elmer Smithson died of congestive heart failure in 1924, my Mother by then was 19 and she saw that her future would in all probability be that of becoming a farmer's wife and she didn't want
that to happen.And so she remembered what her father, Elmer, in 1920 had told
her...that whenever she was in trouble, she should turn to Uncle Nick Pelligreen in St.
Louis---Uncle Nick being her mother's brother and foster parent of my Mother's only sister, my Aunt
Frances.So my Mother wrote Uncle Nick a letter to which he responded by coming
up to Uncle Tom and Aunt Molly's farm in 1924, spending not just a few days, but a few weeks with them.It was during his visit to the Hounsley farm that Uncle Nick built an enclosed porch onto their farmhouse,
which porch was so large that it ran the length of the house, and that house with its enclosed porch still stands to this
very day (2009).He also rebuilt all the outside stairways to the various entrances
to the farmhouse.Uncle Nick was, by trade, a large scale general contractor
in the St. Louis area.He built
the BarnesHospital and the Railroad
Station in St. Louis and the StateCapitolBuilding in Little Rock, AR.After much discussion among himself, Uncle Tom, Aunt Molly, and my Mother, it was
decided that my Mother was to leave the Hounsley farm so that she could continue her schooling at Blackburn College
Academy---a live-in high school operated by Blackburn College in nearby Carlinville,
IL and that Uncle Nick would provide room, board, tuition, and an allowance for that to happen.Uncle Tom bought my Mother a steamer trunk to fit all her belongings into, and to this day I still have
that same old trunk.It's in the tack room of our barn here at 970
Magnolia Lane, Christiansburg, VA and I use it to store
horse blankets and the like.It was at BlackburnCollege that my Mother met my father, Eugene H. Downey,
who had followed his older brother, Edward Phay Downey, to BlackburnCollege.The association with Uncle
Tom and Aunt Molly Hounsley lasted a life-time and then some, as I would spend quite a few summers of my own childhood on
that same farm before Uncle Tom died in August, 1946 of cancer of the mouth from chewing tobacco all his life.When Uncle Tom died, Aunt Molly, who was herself well-up in
years by then, sold the farm that she and Uncle Tom had owned dating back to the 1890's era when they first got married, and
she moved to town where she bought a house in Carlinville, IL.Over the next
few years her own medical expenses took away everything she had, and Aunt Mollie spent her final years living with her older
sister, Aunt Mat Brown Laycock, at the Macoupin County Poor House located just outside of Carlinville,
IL.Aunt Molly Brown Hounsley died in 1951,
and both she and Uncle Tom Hounsley are buried side-by-side in the very first two lots at the main entrance to the City of
Carlinville Cemetery.
...as told by H. Bruce Downey
(1934-yyyy), the only Grandson of Elmer Haden Smithson (1882-1924) and Lillian (Lillie) Pelligreen Powell Smithson (1875-1917),
and the only son of Blanche Smithson Downey (1905-1990) and Eugene Harold Downey (1904-1973)
Can't hear anything ? Try playing this media player while viewing slides...
'Nocturne', from the "Alfred Adult Basic Piano Book Series--Level
II", as performed by H. Bruce Downey, the Great Grandson of James Clay
Smithson (1858-1909) and Ollie May Campbell Smithson (18xx-19yy),
All controls on these media players work
Watch photos in
"full-screen mode" by clicking on above.
The Smithsons--- the story behind their pictures:---
PIC 1:--- Seated here are my Great
GrandfatherJames Clay Smithson and Great Grandmother Ollie May Campbell
Smithson surrounded by the first six of their 11 children. At far left--Lilly Mable Smithson
Allen (1882-yyyy). Seated in front---('Uncle Jim') James Arthur Smithson (1887-1969).
Seated on her father's lap---Carrie Belle Smithson Crump (1889-yyyy). Standing
behind his father and mother---my Grandfather, Elmer Haden Smithson (1882-1924). Seated on
her mother's lap---Laura Susan Smithson (1891-1902). Standing at far right---Florence Justina
Smithson Davenport (1884-yyyy). Picture was taken in Waverly, IL. in 1891. My Grandfather, Elmer
Haden Smithson, was only nine years old when this photo was taken. Not pictured are
five other Smithson children not yet born by 1891---Lennie Russell Smithson (1892-1962) who married
Ora Buckinham on 3-12-1921;---Ernest Edward Smithson (1894-1962) who married
Mary Trenbarger on 3-29-1921;---Bessie Nellie Smithson (1897-1931) who married
Ernest Riffey on 8-14-1919;---Clarence Clay Smithson (1899-yyyy) who married
Rosie Buckingham on 9-1-1920;---and Leslie William Smithson (1902-1960),
unmarried.
PIC 2:---Grandfather Elmer
Haden Smithson (1882-1924) as a young man. This photo was probably taken just after the turn of the century,
perhaps just prior to his marriage to Grandmother Lillie Pelligreen Powell Smithson in 1905.");
PIC 3:---Great Great Grandmother
Ollie May Campbell Smithson (1859-yyyy). This photo was taken in Waverly, IL on December 12, 1922 when Ollie
was 61 years old. I believe Ollie outlived her first born of 11 children---my Grandfather, Elmer Haden Smithson,
who died in 1924 just two years after this picture of Ollie was taken on December 12, 1922.
PIC 4:---Grandmother
Lillian (Lillie Pelligreen Powell Smithson (1875-1917) as a young lady. This photo was probably taken just after
the turn of the century, perhaps just prior to her marriage to Grandfather Elmer Haden Smithson in 1905.
PIC 5:---Bernice
Smithson Jones (1922-2003)---A beautiful person, just like her mother, My Great Aunt Ora Buckingham
Smithson. Aunt Ora was the wife of my Great Uncle Lennie Smithson, who was a
younger brother of my Grandfather, Elmer Haden Smithson. Aunt Ora and Uncle Lennie had a large
dairy farm outside of Carlinville, IL. They had six daughters and one son, Carroll, who was
about my age. As a kid whenever I visited my Uncle Tom and Aunt Mollie Brown Houndsley's farm
in the early 1940's I would also stay a few days with Carroll and his sisters at their dairy farm. They were all there
then, including Bernice and her five sisters---Verna Smithson Bentley (who still lives in Carlinville),
Mary Smithson Campbell (now of Statesboro, GA), Vivian Smithson Johnson
(now of Manchester, Iowa), and two other sisters, Wanda and Crystal, now both deceased. Uncle
Lennie and Aunt Ora's family always made you feel glad that you came to be with them. Like I said, they were a beautiful
family---and for those that are living, they still are.
...written by H. Bruce Downey in 2003
The Smithsons came to this country from England and settled in the farmland countryside
of southern Illinois---principally around Waverly, Illinois. The earliest record is that of my Great Great Grandfather,
James Elmer Smithson (yyyy-1859) who on April 19, 1849 married my Great Great Grandmother, Justina W. Baker (yyyy-1909).
James and Justina had five children, one of whom was my Great Grandfather, James Clay Smithson (1858-1909). On February
19, 1880 my Great Grandfather, James Clay Smithson, married my Great Grandmother, Ollie May Campbell (1859-yyyy) and together,
they had 11 children in all, one of whom was my Grandfather---Elmer Haden Smithson (1882-1924). On Feb 28, 1905 my Grandfather, Elmer
Haden Smithson, married my Grandmother, Lillian (Lillie) May Pelligreen Powell (1875-1917), and together they had three
children---my mother, Blanche Smithson Downey (1905-1990), Albert Henry Smithson (1908-1920), and my Aunt Frances Elizabeth
Smithson Howe (1914-1973). My Grandmother Smithson's maiden name was Pelligreen---and her brother was Nicholas (Nick)
Pelligreen (xxxx-yyyy), a St. Louis, IL contractor who built Barnes Hospital, the St. Louis Railroad station, and the
State Capitol Building in Little Rock, AR. Grandmother Smithson had a previous marriage (Powell) and that marriage produced
one daughter, Martha Powell ________ (1897 - yyyy) ---a half sister of my mother.