Artifact #55: Soapy's son writes to Edwin B. Smith, 1905

(Click image to enlarge)

our father and I were sincere friends and I honor his memory.

Artifact #55

Soapy Smith's son, Jefferson Randolph Smith III was born February 8, 1887, which means at the writing of this letter he was eight days into his eighteenth year. Is his age just a coincidence for contacting his 46 year old first cousin, once removed? Was he looking for a job in Washington D.C. where Edwin lived and worked? Jefferson worked for a newspaper and got into politics, just as Edwin did, so it seeks very possible that Jeff wanted to know about one field or the other, and perhaps even both! 

February 16, 1905

My dear young kinsman:

I was very much pleased to hear from you and hope you write from time to time let me know how you and your family are getting on. There is always a place in the world for a young man of industry, patience and courage; and a man who is absolutely determined to make something of himself is almost certain to succeed. Your father and I were sincere friends and I honor his memory. Give your mother and sisters my love and best wishes. It is possible that I may go to St. Louis on my way to Texas when the year is out and if so I will be sure to pay you a visit. If there was anything for a youth to do in this city I would like to see you here but the field here is barren of opportunities. With best wishes,

Edwin B. Smith

to Mr. Jefferson R Smith

St. Louis, Mo.

(Click image to enlarge)

(Click image to enlarge)

(Click image to enlarge)

     The letter was postmarked in Washington D.C. on February 16, 1905 at 7 AM. It was postmarked in St. Louis, Missouri on February 17, 1905 at 8 PM. Meaning that it traveled about 834 miles in 37 hours. Not bad for 1905.

Stationary logo
Circa 1904-1905
Note the leafless tree is the same one in the photo below

(Click image to enlarge)

The New Willard
Circa 1904
Courtesy of Library of Congress

(Click image to enlarge)

     The stationary and envelope comes from the New Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. It was common in the 19th century for people to utilize "free to customers" stationary from hotels, saloons, and other businesses stationary. Edwin may have obtained some, or even possibly lived in the newly renovated hotel.

    Still standing and listed on the national register of historic places with the National Park Service, The Williard underwent a massive transformation at the turn of the century, becoming the New Willard.

     The new Willard, designed by New York architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh and erected by the George A. Fuller Company, was hailed at its opening as Washington's first skyscraper. Completed in 1904, the new building saw an addition of 100 rooms in 1925, broadening the F Street facade by about 49 feet. The property remained in the Willard family until 1946, closed in 1968, and underwent extensive renovation, again opening its doors in 1986.

Further information on the Willard and the New Willard can be found at the NPS.

Jefferson Randolph Smith III (Soapy's son): March 17, 2012, February 5, 2011, February 1, 2011, November 28, 2010, September 26, 2010, September 26, 2010, June 27, 2010, May 29, 2010, May 10, 2010, November 22, 2008.

Edwin Bobo Smith: November 15, 2017, November 11, 2017, December 1, 2011, June 17, 2011, June 6, 2011, January 5, 2011, March 27, 2010, July 21, 2009.

Jefferson Randolph Smith III (Soapy's son)

: pages 7, 107-08, 167, 417-18, 546, 584, 587-89.

Edwin Bobo Smith: pages 20, 22-30, 35, 32, 36, 333, 425, 428, 444-49, 589.

"I think you hit him"

—Soapy to Texas Ranger Richard Ware
after Ware shot outlaw Sam Bass
July 19, 1878, Round Rock, Texas
–Alias Soapy Smith, p. 31.

NOVEMBER 20

1789: New Jersey becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution.

1868: Fort Omaha, Nebraska is established.

1868: A Denver mob seizes captured criminal Sam Dougan from Denver City Marshal Dave Cook and hang him from a tree. Dougan and Ed Franklin had robbed Police Judge Orson Brooks of $100. The pair fled to Golden, Colorado where Cook shot and killed Franklin and captured Dougan.

1879: The Tabor Opera House, built by the “Silver King” Horace “Haw” Tabor, in Leadville, Colorado opens.

1880: Charles Earl “Black Bart” Bowles robs the Redding, California-Roseburg, Oregon stagecoach in California, a mile from the Oregon state line.

1884: Deputy U.S. Marshal Cash Hollister is shot and killed by Bob Cross, a man wanted for adultery. Hollister and three other lawmen are at the Cross farm in Hunnewell, Kansas, where Cross' wife and sister deny he is there. When Hollister comes across Cross, the latter shoots twice, killing him.

1892: “Chief” Jeff “Soapy” Smith presents his fraternity, the Improved Order of Red men, with a war bonnet that came directly off the battlefield of Wounded Knee.

1901: North West Mounted Police in the Yukon, Canada are on alert due to an imaginary threat of an American invasion. The threat is orchestrated by the Order of the Midnight Sun, an organization formed by American miners. The plans for the invasion are made in jest, out of boredom, and never meant to be leaked outside the membership.

1901: The second Hay-Pauncefoot Treaty providing for construction of the Panama Canal, is signed by the U.S.

1903: Tom Horn, Cavalry scout, Pinkerton detective, range detective, champion steer roper, and outlaw, is tried and hung in Wyoming, for the murder of 14-year-old Willie Nickell, a crime that some believe he did not commit. While awaiting execution, Horn made the rope used to hang him, one day before his 43rd birthday.

Soapy Smith Wake: Magic Castle, 2012

The kids and I
Soapy Smith Night (Wake) at the Magic Castle 
(left to right) Jefferson R. Smith, Jeff Smith (me), Troy Hall, and Ashley Smith
Hollywood, CA.

aiting for details from the Magic Castle and writers block has kept me from posting here for a few weeks. I hope posting this today will get me out of that rut.

This year's Soapy Smith wake at the Magic Castle (they call it Soapy Smith Night) was fantastic. They just get better every year! It was for me, perhaps the best in the nine years the Castle has been putting them on. Although the event was on a Sunday evening I had twice as many guests on my membership card than in previous years. The problem for me has always been writing about the event afterwards. I get so hyped up and excited before the event, and then when the day finally arrives it's all within a few seemingly shorter hours. It usually takes me a few days to unwind. This year was harder than previous years as I was laid up in bed the following day.

So much fun!

 (Click image to enlarge)

Whit Haydn, the man behind the event tells me there were a total of 420 guests that raised $2,520 for the Dai Vernon Fund. Once again, my friend, Phil Gessert brought in his fantastic gambling collection and set up a gold rush era gambling hall. Actually, the crowd loves the play gambling (with $100 in Soapy money) that the gambling hall was enlarged and separated into two locations on each end of the downstairs room. Guests played roulette, faro, chuck-a-luck, and black-jack. There were also short cons operating around the Castle, such as the shell and pea game, three-card monte, and fast and loose. Once again, prizes were given to the most successful dealer and player. Cheating is not only welcome, but encouraged.

Jeff Smith talks about the history of the wakes
(note the cased grave marker in the background)

(Click image to enlarge)

The Soapy Smith wake at the Magic Castle is one of the few times guests can come in 1890s costume and every year more people come dressed and enter the costume contest. Prizes were given out for the most authentic male and female, the funniest male and female, and always the favorite, sexiest female. This year we also added sexiest male costume. Live period music was provided by Professor Dave Bourne and the Medicine Show Band. Very popular at each annual party is Chef Anton, the two-time national trick shot champion at pool, presented his incredible demonstration of billiards wizardry. The auction of Soapy and magic memorabilia always brings in a lot of money for the charity. Every year or so I clean out the case holding Soapy's 2nd grave marker and donate the larger splinters of wood to Whit Haydn. He picks a nice piece or two and puts them in a nice shadow box. This year the splinter sold for $96 with all the proceeds going to the charity.

Encased sliver from Soapy's grave marker donated
for the charity auction brought a winning bid of $96.00

I spend the evening talking with people and every year I run into people with great stories. This year one of the full-time Castle employees told me she chooses to work every event except for the Soapy Smith Night. It's the one event she attends as a guest, "because it's so much fun." I certainly can't argue with her.
  

Family member Ginni Dalton gave an eloquent toast this year 

I had the pleasure of having my two children, Ashley and Jefferson, there again. They are hooked. I also had a few first-time family members attend. It was also the first time ever meeting them. They are Shelagh Moriarty and son Aron and Ginny and Russ Dalton. Shelagh brought old photographs of her grandmother and Soapy's son, my grandfather. We will be getting together soon as she has a lot of history regarding the family. Ginny helped me with giving the toast.

More photographs of the event can be seen on Pop's Soapbox

A special thank to Whit "Pop" Haydn, the man behind this event. 

Our family is forever grateful.

JULY 13

1585: A group of 108 English colonists, led by Sir Richard Grenville, reach Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

1754: At the beginning of the French and Indian War, George Washington surrenders the small, circular Fort Necessity in southwestern Pennsylvania to the French.

1787: U.S. Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, enacts the Northwest Ordinance, which establishes the rules for governing the Northwest Territory, for admitting new states to the Union and limiting the expansion of slavery.

1812: The first pawn-broking ordinance is passed in New York City.

1832: U.S. Indian agent and explorer Henry Schoolcraft discovers the source of the Mississippi River. Its 2,552-mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico begins at Lake Itasca, Minnesota.

1835: John Ruggles receives patent #1 from the U.S. Patent Office for a traction wheel used in locomotive steam engines. All 9,957 previous patents were not numbered.

1863: Opponents of the Civil War draft riot for three days in New York City, which results in more than 1,000 casualties.

1866: Construction begins on Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming, between the forks of the Little Piney and Big Piney Creeks. Red Cloud, Ogalala Crazy Horse, Black Shield, and High Backbone of the Minneconjous Indian tribe, seal a pact and over the next six months kill 154 soldiers and settlers in 51 skirmishes.

1867: Lieutenant Goodale and the 23rd Infantry report five Indians killed and two captured on the Malheur, Oregon Territory. One soldier is killed.

1871: The 21st Infantry reports killing fifteen Indians and one soldier killed, Clenega de Los pinos, Arizona Territory.

1872: The 5th Cavalry reports killing four Indians in a battle in the Whetstone Mountains, Arizona Territory.

1875: David Brown patents the first cash-carrier system.

1882: George Hackett, driver of a Wells Fargo stage nine miles outside of Strawberry, California shoots at stage robber Charles Earl Bowles, alias “Black Bart.” The shot scars Bowles forehead, but he escapes into the woods.

1891: William Oliver is swindled for a second time in the Tivoli Club and gets into a fight with bunco man, John Goodfellow.

1896: Philadelphia’s Ed Delahanty became the second major league player to hit four home runs in a single game.

1898: Deputy US Marshal Taylor is officially relieved of duty by US Marshal Shoup after the death of Soapy Smith. Taylor was in Soapy’s pay.

1898: Sheriff Pat Garrett of Dona Ana County, New Mexico and four deputies attempt to arrest Oliver Lee and James Gilliland at Lee’s ranch for murder. The lawmen were greeted with gunfire from Lee and Gilliland. Garrett receives a slight wound in the side and Deputy Kent Kearney is mortally wounded. The lawmen retreat, but both men later surrender. Lee and Gilliand are acquitted of the murder charge. Garrett loses his job as sheriff. Lee returns to ranching and is eventually elected twice to the New Mexico legislature.

1937: Outlaw Emmett Dalton dies. He was a member of the train and bank robbing Dalton Gang in Indian Territory. He survived the ill-fated Dalton raid on two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas, despite receiving 23 gunshot wounds. After serving 14 years in prison for the crime, Dalton capitalized on his notoriety to author books and become an actor in Hollywood. Emmett Dalton died in Los Angeles, California. It is believed that Mary, the wife of bad man Soapy Smith was a cousin to the Daltons.

War of 1812: 200th anniversary

id you know it is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812? Yeah, I didn't know either. What do we know about this war? Ok, I don't know that answer either, but I do know that Soapy Smith's grandfather, Dr. Ira Ellis Smith fought in that war so I found this short video which will explain the importance of this anniversary...sort of.

Ira Ellis Smith
August 18, 2011
August 16, 2011
June 26, 2010
September 10, 2009

Ira Ellis Smith: pages 9, 11, 19-20, 594.

MAY 16

1866: The U.S. Congress authorizes the first 5-cent piece to be minted. 

1868: President Andrew Johnson is acquitted by one vote during a Senate impeachment. 

1870: Ten workers on the Kansas Pacific Railroad are killed by Indians in Colorado Territory. 

1888: The first demonstration of recording on a flat disc is demonstrated by Emile Berliner. 

1888: The capitol of Texas is dedicated in Austin. 

1900: Lawman Jesse Tyler leads a posse after cattle rustlers near Thompson, Utah. Believing that they were riding into an Indian camp, Tyler and deputy Sam Jenkins dismount and approach the camp, but the occupants turn out to be a band of rustlers led by Harvey Logan of the Wild Bunch. The lawmen realizing the mistake try to escape but both are shot and killed by Logan. The rest of the posse flees the scene, returning for the bodies of Tyler and Jenkins 2 days later.

Colorized Smith's, circa 1867-1869.

The Jeff. R. Smith Family (1867-1869)
(l to r) Eva K., age 2-4, Emily D., age 30-32, Jefferson R., Sr., age 36-38, Jeff. R. II, age 7-9
Original photograph: Kyle Rosene Collection
Colorization by Gary Sheaf

The original photograph
(Click image to enlarge)

he final piece by Gary Sheaf is complete. He had a bit to repair in this case and he did a wonderful job at it don't you think?

I had asked Gary for a little information about himself and his hobby and here is what he had to say.

Hi Jeff

Here is the photo; I repaired the damage to it, before colourizing. I also added some carpet to fill out the image. I did some research on clothing colours for this period and I hope I have got the look right.

Annelie and Gary Sheaf

I have attached a photo of me and my Wife Annelie; I'm English and she is Welsh and we live in Swansea, Wales with our two boys Jacob (8) and Joel (just turned 1, it's been a busy week) my eldest; Josh (21) lives away. You might have detected a 'J' theme with their names! We thought it would be cute! gets confusing when we get angry with one of them! Annelie is a Drama teacher in a 'comprehensive' School for 11 to 16 year olds and I work as a Manager for Social Services delivering community mental health day services. I have trained in commercial illustration and currently enjoy oil painting sea scapes. In my younger days I lived in the US for 4 years working on ranches which fed my interest for the Old West. Learning Photo shop has sparked an interest in working with old photos, colourizing them, or indulging in a bit of fantasy (time travel) by adding myself to well known photos.

I hope you like this photo Jeff, if you would like to make any changes to it, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Gary

Don't need to change a thing Gary, it's perfect!

Note the part where Gary mentions the "J" theme in the name. Smith family members should recognize that same theme with the children of Soapy Smith's son, Jefferson Randolph Smith III. He had decided not to name a boy Jefferson Randolph Smith but named all the children with names beginning with the letter "J." Interesting to note, that the rules of genealogy insist that when there is a break in the generation of passing down a name, you are required to start over, thus when I named my son Jefferson Randolph Smith, he is starting all over thus he is the 1st or "Sr." 

Gary Sheaf's work
April 30, 2012
April 27, 2012
April 22, 2012 

MAY 9

1502: Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his final trip to the Western Hemisphere. 

1754: The first newspaper cartoon in America shows a divided snake "Join or die" in The Pennsylvania Gazette. 

1785: Joseph Bramah patents the beer-pump handle. 

1825: The Chatham Theatre opens in New York City. It is the first gas-lit theater in the U.S. 

1879: Construction begins on Fort Assiniboine, south of Havre, Montana Territory.

Soapy and Mary: colorized by Gary Sheaf

Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson. R. Smith
Circa 1886
(photo: Gary Sheaf)

he above photograph has been believed in my family to be the wedding photograph of Jefferson Randolph Smith II and Mary Eva Noonan which took place on February 1, 1886. The wonderful colorization work was performed by my friend Gary Sheaf, a very talented artist and historian. With his artistic skills and imagination he has mastered this medium and is able to bring an astute perception of how these two love-birds looked on that special day. He did a superb job and I thank him very much. His endeavors are greatly appreciated. I consider myself very fortunate in catching him at the right time as his gift is very popular on the True West forum right now.

Gary Sheaf
April 22, 2012 

More on Peter Francisco Smith

Peter Francisco Smith
August 19, 1840  -  March 9, 1913
(Photo: Coweta County Chronicles)

ack on April 18, 2012 I published a post about Peter Francisco Smith, the Civil War veteran. With the aid of my genealogist friend, Gay Mathis, I found some more information about him that family members might find useful.

Peter is a son of John Hardaway Smith (1809-1874) and Mary Martha Weaver (1820-?). In 1861 he was a member of the junior class at Emory College. In the spring of that year he joined the Confederate Army of the Seventh Georgia regiment. At the close of the war he entered the University of Virginia and studied law. He was one of the founders of the fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega. After the war the Emory College gave the class of 1862, of which Peter was a student, their degrees, by action of the school board.

Peter became a very successful attorney at law and died a wealthy man having invested in real estate in Atlanta where he moved to from Newnan, Georgia in 1890. His obituary said he was one of the most educated men in the state. He read the bible in English, Greek, Latin, and French. He was noted for his philanthropic work. During his life he taught 21 men and one woman to pass the law exams and become attorneys, including Frank Clark, the future Florida congressman. These were students who could not afford an education and he donated his time. The woman he taught was Mrs. C. L. Bovard. Georgia law prevented her from entering the practice so she remained in Peter’s office as a law clerk for many years.

Peter's obituary states that he ran for congress, in which he tied with his opponent. After several counts he dropped out of the race and later said he never regretted the decision as he would have not been able to help so many people as he did.

I am having some identity problems with his wives and children. When I was forced to switch to Family Tree Maker 2012 I lost a lot of information and notes so I no longer know my sources on the tree (Thanks Ancestry.com). With that said, my tree lists the following

Wife #1: Lizziemac Hill (no other information)

• Daughter: Lizziemac Smith.

Wife #2: Nancy Ruth "Nannie" Hobbs (born 07/03/1855 - died 08/25/1938)

• Lillian Smith (born 09/20/1882)
• Marguerite Owen Smith (born 04/18/1912)

However, Peter's obituary names the daughters by the husbands names, and there are three. 

• Daughter: Mrs. J. L. Williford
• Daughter: Mrs. Lodlow Jordan
• Daughter: Mrs. W. B. Snelling

Peter died March 9, 1913 of paralysis in Atlanta. He is interred in Palmetto, Georgia.

Sources:  
Gay Mathis - genealogical superhero.
Atlanta Constitution, March 10, 1013
Coweta County Chronicles, Jones and Reynolds, 1928. page 403-04.
Family Tree Maker















Peter Francisco Smith
April 18, 2012

APRIL 25

1831: The New York and Harlem Railway is incorporated in New York City. 

1846: The Mexican-American War ignites as a result of disputes over claims to Texas boundaries. The outcome of the war fixed Texas' southern boundary at the Rio Grande River. 

1860: The first Japanese diplomats to visit a foreign power reach Washington, DC. They remain in the U.S. capital for several weeks while discussing expansion of trade with the United States. 

1862: Union Admiral Farragut occupies New Orleans, Louisiana. 

1864: After facing defeat in the Red River Campaign, Union General Nathaniel Bank returns to Alexandria, Louisiana. 

1889: Jim McCarthy robs the Collins and Sons Bank in Ventura, California. Jim leaves the bank with the money, only to discover that his horse, tied to a wagon wheel, has taken some steps and wedged its reins under the wheel. McCarthy is unable to free the reins as Sheriff John Snodgrass approached him. With a sign McCarthy writes, “I give up.” 

1890: Blackfoot Crossing Alberta - Indian leader Crowfoot dies on the Blackfoot reserve. He was the head Chief during signing of Treaty Seven. 

1898: The Wild Bunch: Butch Cassidy, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, William Ellsworth "Elza" Lay, George "Flat Nose" Curry, and Ben “The Tall Texan” Kilpatrick stopped and robbed the Union Pacific's Overland flyer. The gang blew up the express car with dynamite and made off with more than $30,000. 

1898: The U.S. declares war on Spain and then backdate it two days so that it appears that the U.S. declared war on Spain first.

Peter Francisco Smith: Civil War vet.

Confederate States of America

April 25, 2012

oy was I wrong about how many family members served under the Confederacy during the Civil War. I naively thought military service would be a simple and common part of genealogy that it would automatically appear like content in the federal census does. I started out with 2 and now have 4 who served.

Soapy Smith's 2nd cousin, Peter Francisco Smith, born August 19, 1840, most likely somewhere in Georgia but not confirmed.

The book, History of Coweta County, by the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society lists Peter Francisco Smith as "A private in Company A, Fourth Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Cavalry." However, a website for the muster roll of Company D, 41st Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry for the Coweta County, Georgia "Pinson Guards" lists the following for him.

Smith, Peter Francisco - 

• Enlisted as a private in Co. A, 7th Regiment Ga. Inf. July 30, 1861. 
• Elected 2d Lieutenant December 16, 1861. 
• Resigned May 12, 1862. 
• Enlisted as a private in Co. D, 41st Regiment Ga. Inf. November 4, 1862. 
• Captured at Vicksburg, Miss. July 4, 1863.
• Paroled there July 6, 1863. 
• Absent, sick, December 31, 1863. 
• Transferred to Co. H, 4th Regiment Ga. Cavalry (Avery's) November 16, 1864. 
• Roll dated December 31, 1864, last on file, shows him present. 
• Surrendered at Greensboro, N. C. April 26, 1865.

Peter Smith died March 9, 1913 in Palmetto, Georgia. 

Is Peter F. Smith in the photograph?
Undated reunion of
Company D, 41st Regiment

Sources
History of Coweta County, Newnan-Coweta Historical Society, 1988, page 395.
Website: General Barton and Stovall

APRIL 18

1676: Sudbury, Massachusetts, is attacked by Indians. 

1775: American revolutionaries Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott ride though the towns of Massachusetts giving the warning that "the Regulars are coming out." Later, the phrase "the British are coming" was attributed to Revere. 

1818: A regiment of Indians and blacks are defeated at the Battle of Suwann, in Florida, ending the first Seminole War. 

1846: The telegraph ticker is patented by R.E. House. 

1847: U.S. troops defeat almost 17,000 Mexican soldiers commanded by Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo. (Mexican-American War) 

1861: Colonel Robert E. Lee turns down an offer to command the Union armies during the U.S. Civil War. 1877: Charles Cros writes a paper that described the process of recording and reproducing sound. In France, Cros is regarded as the inventor of the phonograph. In the U.S., Thomas Edison gets the credit. 1895: New York State passes an act that established free public baths.

.