Recent
research has turned up new information on William Smith and H. Staub, the
builders of the H.F. Given Tomb in Smithland Cemetery. Because William Smith
and H.F. Given were both from Smithland, I thought Given ordered the tomb built
because he was familiar with Smith's work. He may very well have been
familiar with Smith's work, but there was probably another factor involved in
the decision to choose Smith to build the tomb.
That factor is often the most important and has to do with money.
It seems
that William Smith was indebted to various business men, including H.F. Given,
and owed three mortgages that may or may not have been satisfied before he
moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi. In
1855, William Smith mortgaged 90 pieces of rough marble and 50 pieces of
dressed marble to H.F. Given, T.C. Leech & Bros. and W.P. Fowler to
guarantee a debt of $600, most of which was owed Given.[1]
The next
year, Smith mortgaged his household furnishings to Given Haynes and Co. to
guarantee the payment of another debt. [2]
And, finally, Smith mortgaged a lot in the Sanders Addition in Smithland
"upon which is a brick dwelling now occupied by Smith."[3]
By this time, Smith owed debts totaling
$2026.60. Smith must have moved his family to Mississippi shortly after this
date in 1858 as they appear on the 1860 Claiborne County, Mississippi census.
Perhaps Given decided to have Smith build a tomb to satisfy payment of the
debt.
While
researching another family, something turned up on H. Staub, who worked for or
was in the stone carving business with William Smith in Port Gibson, Mississippi.
He was in Smithland before appearing with the Smith family in Mississippi. In
1857, he filed his intention to become a citizen of the United States.[4] He stated he came to the United States "on
or about the 20th of April 1854 from the canton of Zurich in the Republic of Switzerland ..."[5] He signed the petition Henry Staub. He also appears on the 1857 Livingston County tax list.
I learned
two things from this research: (1) William Smith was indebted to H.F. Given
before he moved to Mississippi and that may
have played a part in Smith building the Given tomb and (2) Henry Staub was
in Smithland before he showed up on the 1860 Claiborne County, Mississippi
census and very likely knew both the Smith and Given families. The world now
seems like a smaller place.
Published 7 September 2016, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment