William Hobson Smith

Brief Life History of William Hobson

When William Hobson Smith was born on 25 February 1857, in Mississippi, United States, his father, Robert Nicholas Smith, was 22 and his mother, Amanda Frances Turner, was 21. He married Mary Matilda Arnett on 28 February 1880, in Edwards, Benton, Missouri, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 5 daughters. He lived in Choctaw, Mississippi, United States in 1860 and Missouri, United States in 1870. He died on 23 June 1899, in Edwards, Benton, Missouri, United States, at the age of 42, and was buried in Edwards, Benton, Missouri, United States.

Photos and Memories (2)

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Family Time Line

William Hobson Smith
1857–1899
Mary Matilda Arnett
1862–1948
Marriage: 28 February 1880
J. T. Smith
1880–1880
E. L. Smith
1882–1882
Dora Mae Smith
1884–1969
Rhoda Ellen Smith
1886–1955
Lemuel E. Smith
1888–1977
Ada Belle Smith
1890–1969
Edah Dell Smith
1892–1986
Mattie Mary Smith
1894–1969
Oliver Wendell Smith
1896–1925
William Alvin Smith
1898–1983

Sources (5)

  • William Smith in household of R N Smith, "United States Census, 1860"
  • William Smith, "Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991"
  • William Hobson Smith, "Find A Grave Index"

World Events (8)

1861

Mississippi became the second state to leave the Union at the start of the Civil War in 1861.

1863

Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves in Confederate states to be free.

1870 · The Fifteenth Amendment

Prohibits the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was the last of the Reconstruction Amendments.

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.

Possible Related Names

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