Notes for SMITH

Notes for SMITH

The information on the father of Minnie Smith is all anedotal and so
far unverifible and is entered here for possible future reserch and
interest sake.
He was a full blood Cherokee Indian born in ALA(acourding to 1900
census entry on Minnie Mack) Place unknown. His father is believed to
be Eli Smith who was the only Smith listed as living in Alabama on the
1835 Cherokee Tribal Census.
Acourding to his grandson James Oscar Mack, he was a Riverboat owner
and Captain on the St Francis River in Arkansas both before and after
the Civil War. His boat was sunk by Yankees for "trading with the
enemy" in early stages of War. 'Capt' Smith took his wife back to his
family home in Ala while he joined the Confederate Army. Minnie was
born in the home of her grandparents in Ala in 1863. After the war
Capt Smith and family returned to river. First verifible records are
of the marriage at age 18 of Minnie to James Solonia Mack in 1881 in
St Francis Ark. This family also know to have a son named Jim. Birth
date unknown. The wife of Capt Smith was not indian and was born in
Ga( acourding to 1900 census records.)
The family story is that he was a riverboat owner on the St Francis
River in Arkansas. The Yankees sunk his boat for trading with the
enemy and then he went back to family home in Alabama where he left
his wife with his parents and joined the Confederate Army. Their
daughter my grandmother was born in the home of her grandparents in
Alabama May 1863.
The family returned to the river after the war. Due to their gypsy
life living on their bost they were never counted in any census
therefore I do not know their given names. The first documentation
that I have is the marriage of my grand mother Minnie Smith to
Solonia Mack in 1881 in St Francis Ark.