Wyatt Smith 1809 LA – 1894 MS

Wyatt Smith was born 31 August 1809 in Louisiana. He was the son of Jeremiah Smith & Joanna Dillon. He married Euseba Fortenberry. She was the daughter of William J. Fortenberry & Violette Kennington. Wyatt died 16 February 1894 in Pike County, Mississippi.

These two seemed to possess the traits of true democracy and that is ‘work’.  They blazed the trail, built the stockade a quarter mile east of the present Silver Springs Church. Besides rearing eight children of their own, they proved their love for children by bringing up several orphan children, and counted them their own.[v]

Although Wyatt was born in Louisiana, records show him living in Pike County, Mississippi from the time he was in his early 20s. In 1835 his name is in the county tax list along with his brother, Calvin.[vi]In 1840 he bought 40 acres of land in section 27 of the county.[vii]That year the census showed he and his wife had 4 children.[viii]In 1843 he was again on the county tax list.[ix]Wyatt must have prospered because he purchased more property in 1849. He purchased 40 acres in section 26 [x]and 80 acres in section 27.[xi]

Forty-year-old Euseba was listed as ‘Libbey’ in the 1850 US Census. The children living at home were Saryntha, William, Emmaline, Arnold Jasper, Newton Oscar, Eliza Jane and Adolphus Scott. Son, Rankin was not listed. Wyatt was 41 and had eight children already.[xii]

Wyatt continued to buy land. In 1851 he purchased 40 acres in section 27[xiii]; in 1853, 40 acres in section 26[xiv]and 39.9 acres in section 35[xv]; in 1854, 40 acres in section 33[xvi]and 39.92 acres in section 34[xvii]; and in 1860, 80 acres in section 26[xviii]. Some of his neighbors were: Gasua Chapman Fortenberry, Benjamin C Fortenberry, Hollis Horton Fortenberry, Edwin Barksdale Alford and Calvin Smith, his brother.[xix]

As the years passed the older children made homes of their own and one more child was born to Wyatt and Euseba. By 1860 only five children were at home: Emmaline, Arnold Jasper, Rankin, Adolphus Scott and Walter Lorraine who was just six years old. Many of their neighbors had the surnames Smith, Fortenberry and Ellzey and were probably relatives.[xx]

24 Feb 1894 – Mr. Wyatt Smith, father of Dr. A S Smith of Magnolia, died 16 Feb 1894 at the home of his son-in-law Rev. J N Fortinberry at Smithburg, Pike County, 84 years 5 months 15 days. Member Silver Springs Baptist Church. Interred in family burying ground beside wife who died 17 years ago.” from: O’Rourke, Helen L. Gone But Not Forgotten. Mississippi: Privately printed; Page 172; Magnolia Gazette, Reel  MG 5. Pike – Amite – Walthall Library System, 1022 Virginia Avenue, MS.

[i]Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society. Be it Known and Remembered, Bible Records, Volume I (Baton Rouge, LA: 1960); digital image, Genealogy Gophers (gengophers.com: accessed March 2019) 146-147. Jeremiah Smith Sr. Bible.

[ii]Conerly, Luke Ward, Source Records From Pike County, Mississippi, 1798-1910(SC, Southern Historical Press, 1989) 36.

[iii]Criminger, Adrianne Fortenberry, The Fortenberry Families of Southern Mississippi; 1677-1984; (SC, Southern Historical Press, Inc., 1984) 202.

[iv]Fortinberry, G. K., Abstract History of the Fortinberry Family, 1795-1940’s; (Family History Center Microfilm #1036152) 13, 39-40.

[v]Fortinberry, G. K., Abstract History of the Fortinberry Family, 1795-1940’s; (Family History Center Microfilm #1036152) 13, 39-40.

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

[vii]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0040.348, 1840; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith in Pike Co., MS.

[viii]1840 US Census, MS, Pike; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith.

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

[x]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0470.083, 1849; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith in Pike Co., MS.

[xi]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0470.446, 1849; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith in Pike Co., MS.

[xii]1850 US Census, MS, Pike; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed 2018) ‘Wiatt’ Smith family.

[xiii]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0490.002, 1851; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith in Pike Co., MS.

[xiv]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0500.345 1853; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith in Pike Co., MS.

[xv]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0500.346, 1853; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith in Pike Co., MS.

[xvi]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0520.172, 1854; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith in Pike Co., MS.

[xvii]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0520.173, 1854; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith in Pike Co., MS.

[xviii]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #MS0620.146, 1860; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed Aug 2020) Wyatt Smith in Pike Co., MS.

[xix]Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Pike County, Mississippi(OK: Arphax Publishing Co., 2005) 164 – 165.

[xx][xx]1860 US Census, MS, Pike, Holmesville; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed 2018) Wyatt Smith.

….. 1 Wyatt Smith b: 31 Aug 1809 in LA, d: 16 February 1894 Pike, MS
….. + Euseba Fortenberry b: 03 Dec 1809 SC d: 13 Oct 1878 MS
……….. 2 Emmaline Smith b: 13 Sept 1831 in Pike, MS d: 3 Aug 1920 Pike,MS
……….. + Allen Moses Brown b: 26 Jan 1836  Liberty, Amite, MS, m: 28 April 1858, d: Aft. 1870
…………….. 3 Mary E. Brown b: 13 Aug 1861
…………….. 3 Jasper Pascal Brown b: 15 May 1865 Pike, MS, d: 8 June 1950 McComb, Pike, MS
…………….. + Rose Ella Brumfield b: 18 July 1867 MS m: 21 Dec 1887 Pike, MS, d: 2 Oct 1948 Magnolia, Pike, MS
…………….. 3 Alvira E. Brown b: 5 Aug 1868
……….. 2 Saryntha A. Smith b: 31 Aug 1833 in MS, d: 25 July 1905 MS
……….. + John S. Ellzey Jr. b: 13 March 1829 MS, m: 1 May 1851, d: 5 Sept 1874
…………….. 3 William Franklin Ellzey b: 20 July 1852 MS, d: 08 April 1945
…………….. + Mary Elizabeth Gatlin b: 13 June 1862, d: 15 Nov 1900
…………….. + Lelia McClendon
…………….. 3 Oscar J. L. Ellzey b: 31 Jan 1854 MS
…………….. + Elizabeth Fortenberry b: 18 April 1855 LA, d: Abt. 1949
……………. + Elizabeth Fortenberry
…………….. 3 Sarah Euseba E. Ellzey b: 2 Feb 1856 MS, d: 15 July 1931
…………….. + William W. Ott b: 03 May 1846, d: 29 Jan 1918
…………….. 3 Mary Jane Ellzey b: 27 Dec 1857 in MS, d: 2 Jan 1932
…………….. + Murrey J. Schilling b: 17 Sept 1853, d: 28 March 1951
……………. 3 Laurahl Uella Ellzey b: 6 May 1862 in MS, d: 12 Aug 1863 MS
…………….. 3 John Ellzey b: 1867 in MS
…………….. 3 Monroe Ellzey b: 1868 MS
…………….. + Elizabeth Fortenberry
…………….. 3 Ann J. Rosaleen Ellzey b: 1872 in MS
…………….. + Jesse Smith
……….. 2 William J. M. Smith b: 14 June 1835, d: 04 June 1862
……….. + Rachel E. S. Schilling b: 23 Dec 1840, m: 12 Oct 1859, d: 12 Jan 1896
…………….. 3 William J. Smith b: Feb 1862, d: 1950
…………….. + Martha A. Alford b: 24 July 1866, d: 28 Feb 1926
……….. 2 Jasper R. Smith b: Abt. 1841
……….. 2 Newton Oscar Smith b: Abt. 1842, d: 4 May 1862
……….. 2 Rankin Smith b: Abt. 1844
……….. 2 Eliza Jane Smith b: 21 January 1846, d: 31 Aug 1919
……….. + David Jackson McClendon b: 10 March 1838, d: Texas
…………….. 3 Annie Idelia McClendon b: 18 Nov 1864, d: 10 July 1942
…………….. + Simmons
…………….. 3 Eugene Wellington McClendon b: 24 Jan  1867, d: Texas
……….. + John N. Fortenberry b: 05 Oct  1851 MS, d: 15 March 1920 MS
……….. 2 Adolphus Scott Smith b: 22 June 1848, d: 18 Oct 1921
……….. + Julia Jane Simmons b: 03 Sept 1853, d: 25 Nov 1916
…………….. 3 Lynnie Blanche Smith b: 11 Oct 1872, d: 23 Nov 1945
…………….. + Judge Joseph McMillan Gardenhire d: 1950
…………….. 3 Dixie Irene Smith b: 26 July 1878
…………….. + Hugh Algernon Brown d: 15 June 1947
…………….. 3 Mary C. Smith b: 17 Oct 1884
…………….. + Oscar William von Ludwig
…………….. 3 Emile Ottho Smith b: 26 June 1886
…………….. + Mamie McDonald
…………….. + Florence Young
…………….. 3 Adolphus Oliver Smith b: 11 June 1888
…………….. + Grace Graham
…………….. 3 Lucia Jane Smith b: 22 May 1898
…………….. + Jere Gardenhire
……….. 2 Walter Lorraine Smith b: 13 Sept 1853 in MS, d: 21 April 1930
……….. + Emma Julia Warren b: 27 Nov 1858 in LA, d: 09 Oct 1932
…………….. 3 Julia Mae Smith b: 11 Jan 1876, d: 28 May 1965
…………….. + W. Pinkey Fussell
…………….. 3 Milton Adolphus Smith b: 18 Oct 1877, d: 02 July 1912
…………….. 3 Willie Edgar Smith b: 06 July 1879, d: 11 March 1893
…………….. 3 Julius Walter Smith b: 25 Feb1881, d: 2 Feb 1959
…………….. 3 Celia Euseba Smith b: 23 Dec 1882, d: 4 June 1975
…………….. 3 Sarah Emma Lorena Smith b: 19 Jan 1885, d: 25 Feb 1965
…………….. 3 Samuel Wyatt Smith b: 15 Dec 1886, d: 04 Oct 1918
…………….. 3 Fleet Eugene Smith b: 18 August 1888, d: 06 Feb 1971
…………….. 3 Bessie Ella Bella Smith b: 02 March 1890, d: 11 Sept 1974
…………….. 3 Spurgeon Ira Smith b: 12 March 1892, d: 2 Oct 1893
…………….. 3 Grace Eleanor Smith b: 22 Nov 1894, d: 05 Dec 1962
…………….. 3 Velma Odene Smith b: 14 Jan 1896, d: 26 April 1966
…………….. 3 William Bryan Smith b: 02 Jan  1898
…………….. 3 Jesse Lee Smith b: 23 Sept 1900 LA

Selected Sources:

• 1840 US Census, Pike County, Mississippi. Wyatt Smith
• 1850 US Census, Pike County, Mississippi, Wyatt Smith
• 1860 US Census, Pike County, Mississippi, Holmesville, Wyatt Smith
• 1860 US Census, Slave Schedule, Pike County, Mississippi, p. 51.
• 1870 US Census, Osyka, Pike County, Mississippi, Page 3.
• 1880 US Census, Pike County, Mississippi, SD 3, ED 37, Page 58.
• Bible of Jeremiah Smith Sr. , c. 1800 – 1917, copy given to me by Pat (Brock) Smith, Dec. 2005 Bible in possession of Mrs. W. C. Uhlman
• Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Pike County, Mississippi. Deluxe. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing Co., 2005.
• Conerly, Luke Ward, SOURCE RECORDS FROM PIKE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI 1798-1910; 1798-1910; South Carolina, Southern Historical Press, 1989.
• Criminger, Adrianne Fortenberry. THE FORTENBERRY FAMILIES OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI; 1677-1984; South Carolina, Southern Historical Press, Inc, 1984.
• Fortinberry, G. K. ABSTRACT HISTORY OF THE FORTINBERRY FAMILY; 1795-1940’s; Family History Center Microfilm #1036152
• Parish, Ray & June. ‘Cemetery Inscriptions Pike County, Mississippi 1750 – 1978’
• Family records, pedigree charts, etc.