1881 William A. Smith

Born: July 20, 1881 at Oxford, NY or Marathon, NY

Died: Jan.  9, 1929 at Oxford, NY          

His father was George Washington Smith.

His mother was Mary Ann Swart (no information available at this time).

He was the village barber in Oxford, NY.  He died of typhoid at age 47.

He was married to Rose Eliza Ryan.

They had three children together:

  1921 Rose Eliza Smith
  1924 George W. Smith        
  1928 Mary Adeline Smith (Harvey)

William was a successful and prosperous businessman.  By the mid-1920's,
he owned an automobile (a Willys "OverLand"), which few people did at 
that time.  He and his family were well liked and very respected in the 
community of Oxford.

In 1929 came a massive flooding of the Chenango river.  There were very
heavy rains, so that the ground became saturated, and many outhouses 
in the village slid down the hill and were broken up.  The entire area
was polluted, and many people contracted typhoid fever, including William
and his two brothers.  William died of typhoid fever in January 1929, but
both of his brothers lived.  Daughter Rose, age 8 at the time, remembers
getting vaccine shots.  The family home had to be fumigated, then was 
converted to use as a chicken coop.  All their possessions were burned.

The entire village donated clothing and blankets to the Smith family,
and gave them a place to stay.  With William gone, the family went on
county welfare.  Everyone treated them very well.

N.B.: This account was related to me in April 2015 by Rose Livingston,
nee Rose Eliza Smith.  She was then age 94 years.

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From: Robinson, June A
Date: 10/26/2010 12:35:05 PM
To: Thomas Livingston
Subject: RE: William A Smith
 
Thanks for sharing!  He was certainly a nice looking fellow!  
Is that your maternal grandfather?  

June Alice Sherman Robinson


Cousin June,

You are very welcome!!  Yes - a very nice looking gentleman. 
Mother says he was a real business man.  She spent much of 
her first 8 years in and around his many barber shops. 

He was 15 years older than my Grandmother, Rose Eliza Ryan Vallier.. 

Cousin Tommy  (Thomas Patrick Livingston)
 
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