Calvin Smith 1812 MS – 1881 LA

Calvin Smith, son of Jeremiah Smith & Joanna Dillon, was born 22 September 1812 in Pike County, Mississippi. He married Sarah Brumfield, daughter of Willis Brumfield and Nancy Virginia (Holmes) Brumfield.[i]

Calvin and his brother, Wyatt, were on the Tax List for Pike County in 1835.[ii]In 1840 Calvin bought 39.90 acres of land in section 35, Pike County.[iii],[iv]His brother, Wyatt, bought land in the county the same year.  In 1843 he was on the county’s Tax List again.[v]By 1850 Calvin, 38 years old, and Sarah had a house full of children. Martha J. Smith, 16; and Sarah J. Smith, 14, nieces, daughters of Calvin’s deceased brother, Elias V. Smith, lived with them. Calvin’s children at that time were: Pernesa Eveline Smith, 10; Salena T. Smith., 8; Jeremiah W., 6; Margaret W.,  5; Emily M., 3; Cynthia A., 2; and Wyatt Rankin, 5 months.[vi]

Calvin bought more land in 1854. He bought 39.92 acres in section 34.[vii],[viii]In 1859 he bought 199.70 acres in sections 27 and 34.[ix], [x]

In 1860 Calvin and Sarah had 11 children at home, ranging in age from one year old to 19 years old.[xi]Sometime later Calvin packed up his family and left Mississippi.

Franklinton, Washington Parish, Louisiana was their new home. It was just across the border from Pike County, Mississippi. Calvin was a 58-year old farmer in 1870 with his wife and nine children at home.[xii]1880 was the last census that included Calvin Smith. The children still at home were: Jeremiah ‘Jerry’ W. Smith, 36; Margaret W. Smith, 34; Emily M. Smith, 32; Wyatt Rankin Smith, 30; Cynthia Smith, 28; Courtney Smith, 26; John G. Smith, 24; Caroline J. Smith; Jesse C. Smith, 20; Davis E. Smith, 18; George N. C. Smith, 17; and Sarah L. Smith, 14 years old.[xiii]

It is interesting that Jeremiah is shown to be living with his parents. He is also shown to be the next-door neighbor, living with his wife and 8 children.[xiv]

Calvin Smith died 23 June 1881.[xv]

Obituary for Calvin:

 “Calvin Smith born in Pike County, Mississippi, Sept. 22, 1812, and died at the residence of his son, J. W. Smith, in Washington Parish, La., on the 23rd day of June, A. D. 1881, aged 69 years. He had three companions, all of whom had preceded him to the better land. He leaves fourteen children to mourn him … He joined the Baptist Church at Silver Creek Church, Pike County, Mississippi, some thirty-five or forty years ago … He was a hard laboring man. He never turned one empty from the door, nor looked unpityingly upon the forms of suffering and sorrow around him; his heart yearned for the desolate, wept for the unfortunate, and his means were the property of the needy. His life resembled the life of William S. Holmes, whose obituary was published about three years preceding in the Minutes of the Bogue Chitto Association. Smith’s funeral was conducted and preached as he requested by Elders W. J. Fortenberry, Wm. H. Shilling and E. M. Shilling.”

From: Williams, E. Russ. Abstracts of Obituaries from the Minutes of the Magee’s Creek Baptist Association (Mississippi and Louisiana), 1882 – 1924. Monroe, Louisiana: Privately printed, 1978, page 1. From the Louisiana Archives, Baton Rouge, LA.

[i]Conerly, Luke Ward. Source Records From Pike County, Mississippi, 1798 – 1910(Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1989) 118.

[ii]Conerly, Luke Ward. Source Records From Pike County, Mississippi, 1798 – 1910(Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1989) 29.

[iii]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0040.349, 1840; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Calvin Smith in Pike, MS.

[iv]Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Pike County, Mississippi(OK: Arphax Publishing Co., 2005) 161 – 165.

[v]Conerly, Luke Ward. Source Records From Pike County, Mississippi, 1798 – 1910(Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1989) 33.

[vi]1850 US Census, MS, Pike; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed July 2016) Calvin Smith.

[vii]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0510.420, 1854; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Calvin Smith in Pike, MS.

[viii]Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Pike County, Mississippi(OK: Arphax Publishing Co., 2005) 161 – 165.

[ix]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0550.492, 1859; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Calvin Smith in Pike, MS.

[x]Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Pike County, Mississippi(OK: Arphax Publishing Co., 2005) 161 – 165.

[xi]1860 US Census, MS, Pike, Holmesville; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed July 2016) Calvin Smith.

[xii] 1870 US Census, LA, Washington, Franklinton; digital image, Ancestry

(ancestry.com: accessed July 2016) Calvin Smith.

[xiii]1880 US Census, LA, Washington; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed July 2016) Calvin Smith.

[xiv]1880 US Census, LA, Washington; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed July 2016) J W Smith.

[xv]Find A Grave (findagrave.com: accessed Aug 2020) memorial #149620765 (Bankston – Smith Cemetery, Warnerton, LA) Calvin Smith.