Brief Life History of John Norval
When John Norval Smith was born on 3 March 1845, in Texas, United States, his father, Godfrey George Smith, was 22 and his mother, Elizabeth Jane Winniford, was 25. He married Susan Adeline Nance on 13 September 1865, in Hunt, Texas, United States. They were the parents of at least 8 sons and 8 daughters. He lived in Justice Precinct 4, Hunt, Texas, United States in 1880 and Hood, Texas, United States in 1900. He died on 1 September 1914, in Victor, Erath, Texas, United States, at the age of 69, and was buried in Victor, Erath, Texas, United States.
Photos and Memories (2)
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Family Time Line
Sources (28)
- John M Smith in household of Godfrey G Smith, "United States Census, 1860"
- Legacy NFS Source: J. N. Smith - Government record: birth-name: John Norval Smith
- John N Smith, "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977"
Spouse and Children
Children (16)
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Parents and Siblings
World Events (8)
1846
U.S. acquires vast tracts of Mexican territory in wake of Mexican War including California and New Mexico.
1846 · Mexican-American War
Known in the United States as the Mexican War. President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna did not officially acknowledge the secession of Texas, and interpreted the US involvement with Texas as an invasion of borders. Mexican forces attacked American forces in an event called the Thornton Affair, prompting President James K. Polk to send a request for war to Congress. The war ended when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2, 1848, which required the Mexican Cession of the northern territories and acceptance of the Rio Grande as the southern border of the United States. At the same time, the U.S. committed to pay Mexico $15 million for war damages and assumed roughly $3.25 million of their existing debt.
1865
Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
Name Meaning
English and Scottish: occupational name denoting a worker in metal, especially iron, such as a blacksmith or farrier, from Middle English smith ‘smith’ (Old English smith, probably a derivative of smītan ‘to strike, hammer’). Early examples are also found in the Latin form Faber . Metal-working was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required, and its importance ensured that this term and its equivalents in other languages were the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. Medieval smiths were important not only in making horseshoes, plowshares, and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor. This is also the most frequent of all surnames in the US. It is very common among African Americans and Native Americans (see also 5 below). This surname (in any of the two possible English senses; see also below) is also found in Haiti. See also Smither .
English: from Middle English smithe ‘smithy, forge’ (Old English smiththe). The surname may be topographic, for someone who lived in or by a blacksmith's shop, occupational, for someone who worked in one, or habitational, from a place so named, such as Smitha in King's Nympton (Devon). Compare Smithey .
Irish and Scottish: sometimes adopted for Gaelic Mac Gobhann, Irish Mac Gabhann ‘son of the smith’. See McGowan .
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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