John Perry Smith

Notes:

As of the 1930 census, he was living as a boarder with Emma (Smith) Conner and her husband, William F. Conner in JP 1 of Sabine County.

Death Certificate, dated 28 May 1942. Physician attended John Perry from May 18 through May 28, 1942. Primary cause of death Automloxcater?? Informant Curtis B. Hamilton. Residence: Brookeland. (Source: Katherine D. Freistat).

John married Alice Sophrina Ferguson on 31 Oct 1887 in Sabine County, Texas. Alice (daughter of Gram Berry Ferguson and Mary Elizabeth Sophronie White) was born on 29 Mar 1871 in Sabine County, Texas; died on 24 Jan 1946 in Brookeland, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
According to Katherine D. Freistat, John Perry and Alice separated, however, Alice continued to use the signature Mrs. J.P. Smith for at least several years after their separation.

1. Mary Josephine Smith was born on 12 Sep 1888; died on 24 Dec 1964 in Brookeland, Sabine County, Texas.
2. Melvina Audrey Smith was born on 8 Jul 1891 in Texas; died on 10 Oct 1976 in Jasper, Jasper County, Texas; was buried in Brookeland Cemetery, Brookeland, Sabine County, Texas.
3. Graham Perry Smith was born on 7 Apr 1895; died in France.
4. Anna Alice Smith was born on 4 Mar 1898 in Jasper County, Texas; died on 18 Oct 1976 in Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas.
5. Daniel Smith was born on 24 Jul 1899.
6. Erna Estelle Smith was born on 14 Dec 1901 in Texas; died on 10 Apr 1979 in Orange County, Texas.
7. Essie Smith was born on 4 Nov 1904.
8. Frances Inez Smith was born on 23 May 1907 in Brookeland, Sabine County, Texas; died on 11 Apr 1985 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.
9. Delos Harris Smith was born on 10 Nov 1910 in Brookeland, Sabine County, Texas; died on 31 Mar 1965 in Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas.

William + Mary Ellen Giddens. Mary was born on 14 Feb 1840 in Arkansas; died on 30 Sep 1932 in Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Shown as Ellen? on 1880 census? Or was the woman on the 1880 census a second wife?

John married Constance Harris before 1835. Constance was born about 1815 in Louisiana; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Sabine County Reporter
October 22, 2014
Pages 1 and 2

"Milam Cemetery receives marker"

The Texas Historic Cemetery Dedication Ceremony for Milam Cemetery took place on Saturday, October 11, following the annual Nethery reunion...local historian Weldon McDaniel....gave a presentation outlining some of the significant historical events that took place in Milam and the importance of preserving the history of Milam Cemetery. He said as many as 85 percent of all early settlers coming into Texas put their boots in red dirt. Although San Augustine and Nacogdoches counties have a friendly battle over which is older, Milam is just as old as either of them....

Dorothy Nethery Spain had the honor of reading the script engraved on the marker:

"Milam, the first County Seat of Sabine County, has a history of travelers and visitors stretching back centuries. Native Americans and Spanish exploreres, soldiers and missionaries passed through and often camped on Las Boregas Creek. Texian settlers encountering the natural abundance echoed the words of Stephen F. Austin, who recorded in his diary entry of July 16, 1821: "We then suddenly came to an open rolling country thinly timbered soil about the color of Spanish browne, and in some places redder. This Red Land is very productive and is covered with the most luxuriant growth of grass I ever beheld in any country." The settlment first called Red Mound (Red Mount) was the seat of Government for the Sabine District since 1822, and was surveyed as a town site in 1828.

Milam Cemetery is on a high hill overlooking the historic community. The exact dated of the first burial will never be known Spanish Explorers were passing through present-day Milam as early as 1539 and camped on Las Boregas Creek a few hundred yards west of the cemetery. Local hisorians believed Anglo burials occurred here probably as early as 1775, since travelers used the campsite down the hill on the Las Boregas. The land on which the cemetery is located was granted to JOHN SMITH on Feb. 26, 1835. The first marked burial is dated 1864, although more than 100 unmarked graves are suspected. The numerous military Veterans dating back to the Creek War are interred here, as well as prominent early citizens from the CAUSEY, WEATHERRED. McGREW, and NETHERY families. Milam Cemetery may be the oldest organized cemetery in Sabine County, and cherished chronicle of generations of visitors and residents."

John + Mary ???. Mary was born about 1773 in Virginia; died before 1851; was buried in John Smith Cemetery, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]