William Smith Family

William Smith was born March 15, 1846, in Cambridge, England, and came to America in 1867 with his parents and three brothers: Thomas, born October 2, 1844, Jack, Samuel, and one sister, Jennie.

William married Mattie M. Cooper, October 17, 1875. Mattie was born in 1850 in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, England; she was the daughter of Robert and Martha Leaver Cooper. Her father Robert was a butcher in Holbeach and a very generous person. He would cook all the bones from his butcher shop in a big kettle outdoors, make beef vegetable soup, and give it to the old people of the village. The women of the family were all dressmakers, and the men were butchers. They came to America and, via Sandusky, settled in Clyde, Ohio. Mattie had one sister Sally and two brothers, Thomas and William. Thomas died November 2, 1905, and is buried in Ellsworth Cemetery, North Ridge Road, Clyde, Ohio.

William's brother Samuel married Mattie's sister Sally. They had three children: Lizzie, William, and Lauria Bell. Lizzie married William Green. They had four children: Raymond, Roy, Myra, and Lottie. Myra married Clyde Hall; she later married William Geniver. Lottie married Zeno Warner. William had one daughter, Lola. Lauria Bell married a Carson.

William and Mattie Smith had three daughters: Martha Louise, born November 16, 1877; Mary Alma, born January 13, 1887; and Lizzie Myrtle, born April 14, 1891, and died June 3, 1892. She is buried in Heath Cemetery, Henry County, Ohio.

William and his family moved to Colton, Henry County, Ohio, in 1887. William's brother Thomas, his wife Caroline, and his brother Jack, his wife Jennie, also moved to Colton, Ohio. Thomas and Caroline are both buried in Heath Cemetery. Jack and Jennie are buried in Mohler Cemetery, Washington Township, Henry County.

Mattie's brother William Cooper and his wife Emma also came to this vicinity and settled in Swanton, Ohio. They had a family of five sons: Charles, Eugene, Ernest, William, and Clarence; and one daughter Ethel. After William came to Colton he was a laborer. Mattie was a dressmaker and a very good cookie baker, as every child in Colton knew where Aunt Mat's, as they all called her, kept her cookie jar. They were very faithful to their church. William died March 3, 1908. Mattie died October 6, 1927. They are both buried in Heath Cemetery.

Martha Louise Smith married George Wesley Mohler, son of Sarah and Allan Mohler of Liberty Center, Ohio, May 19, 1893. George had an ice house and delivered ice to the people of Liberty Center. He later moved to Grand Rapids, Ohio, where he was a farmer and township trustee. They had four children: Zella Opal, born September 13, 1894; Sarah Mattie, born June 12, 1897; William Allan, born June 23, 1899; and Montford Wesley, born May 24, 1905. All were born in or near Liberty Center, Ohio. Louise died July 22, 1959. George died February 14, 1945. Both are buried at Beaver Creek Cemetery near Grand Rapids, Ohio.

Zella married Charles Carson, a farmer, March 18, 1915. They had five children: Robert Charles, born March 3, 1917; Wayne Wesley, born September 28, 1918; Edna Louise, born July 2, 1920; William Taylor, born September 11, 1923; and Dale Richard, born December 27, 1929. Charles died June 30, 1967.

Robert married Frances Beam, January 3, 1938. He later married Glenna Sprague, January 3, 1946. They-, have seven children: Darlene Ann, Robert Allen, Jerry Lee, Karen Marie, Joan Louise, Linda Sue, and Brenda Sue. Robert Allen died in December, 1973, and Robert Charles died January 14, 1976. Both are buried at Beaver Creek Cemetery.

Wayne married Alice Hartman, August 10, 1939. They have three children: Larry, Rodney Paul, and Sharon Sue. Edna married Ralph Wires, January 19, 1946. They have three children: Reneita Mae, Ray Allen, and Pattie Louise. William married Edith Gahler, October 12, 1946. They have two daughters: Debra Sue, and Bonnie Marie. Dale married Ellen Woodburn, May 16, 1953. They have three sons: Danny Lee, Richard Charles, and Terry Lynn. Dale later married Lois Donalds. They had two children: Martha Dale, who died in infancy, and Samuel J. They most all live in the Grand Rapids, Ohio, area.

Sarah Mattie Mohler married Jesse Shoemaker, a potato farmer, September 11, 1919. They have five children: Martha Lucille, born May 3, 1920; George Frederick, born February 14, 1922; Jesse Charles, born October 19, 1923; James Eldon, born July 10, 1927; and Grace Doreen, born November 21, 1930. Martha married Lawrence Bourdo, October 3, 1943. They have three daughters: Charlene Martha, Kathleen Marie, and Colleen Louise. George married Marjorie Raymond, October 3, 1943. They have four children: James Raymond, Diana Marie, Steven George, and Patricia Jean. Charles married Martha Richli, January 12, 1946. They have three children: Thomas David, Jerry Charles, and Mary Margaret. James married Marge Haveman, June 29, 1948. They have six children: Linda Joy, Dennis James, Randolph Lee, Carol Elizabeth, Amy Marie, and John Thomas. Grace married Lee Herbert, May 8, 1965. They have one daughter Janice Marie and an adopted son Robert. They most all live in the Shelbyville, Michigan, area.

Lawrence Bourdo died May 31, 1976 and is buried at Orangeville, Michigan Cemetery.

William Allen Mohler married Jessie Null, December 20, 1922. One daughter died in infancy. Jessie died, and William later married Iva Hendricks. They live at Frostproof, Florida. Montford married Margaret Sayen, December 22, 1924. They had two children who died in infancy. Margaret died and Montford later married Mae Shoemaker. Montford died December 28, 1977. He is buried at Martin, Michigan.

Mary Alma Smith married Harry Charles Laver, a machinist, son of Joseph and Ola Laver, April 8, 1906. They had one son Elver who died at birth, November 4, 1907. She later married Frank Thurman Shonk, a section foreman for the Wabash Railroad; son of Susan and Samuel Shonk, August 15, 1914. They had two daughters: Vera Fern, born August 22, 1915, and Helen Marie, born August 12, '1921. On October 31, 1925, Alma remarried Harry Laver and they had one son, Joseph Arthur, born September 28, 1926.

Vera was a cosmotologist, an instructor at Andrews Beauty School, and now a retired inspector from Toledo Stamping Company. December 16, 1937, she married Marion Francis Connolly, a licensed pilot on the Great Lakes, and now retired from Toledo Scale Company. They live in Delta, Ohio.

Helen married George Holden, November 28, 1939. He is a farmer from Otsego, Michigan. They have seven children: George William, Senior, Robert Thurman, John Bruce, Verne Lawrence, Donald James, Sandra Marie, and Terry Lee. Helen later married Verne Stratton, December 31, 1953. He had six children: Depalene Elizabeth, Jim Wesley, William Roger, Donald Raymond, Louis Charles, and Ronald LeRoy.

William Holden, Senior, married Sally Weesaw and she died. He later married Rebecca Sue Laws, November 7, 1964. They have three children: George William, Junior; Kimberly Ann, and Richard Franklin.

Robert married Christina Lee Johnston, March 7, 1966. They have three children: Bobette LeAnn, Lucinda Ann, and Christina Lee Holden, II. John married Beulah Marcella Taft, March 30, 1962. They have two sons: John Bruce Holden, Junior; and Keith Allen.

Verne Lawrence married Alkie Jean Hall, June 11, 1965. They have three children: Terry Lee, Larry Allan, and Thommy Jay. Donald married Sandra Kay Anderson, December 9, 1966. They have two children: Michelle Renee and Donald James, Junior. He later married Sandra Kay McKie, March 3, 1973, and they have three children: Melissa Dawn, Tanya Marie, and Jamie Lynn. Sandra married Charles Melvin Gravatt, February 4, 1966. They have five children: Charles Lesley, Babette Suzette, Curtis Fitzgerald, Chadwick Scott, and Betty Jean.

Terry Lee married Marsha Lynnette Racine, August 19, 1972. They have three children: Lynnette Ann, Amanda Leigh, and Terry James. Helen and Verne Stratton have forty-five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. They all live in the Otsego, Michigan, area.

Joseph Laver married Anna Louise Shoemaker May 5, 1945. He later married again and has twin sons born May 28, 1956, Joey M. and Alvie M. Alvie married Treasa Pallischi, February 24, 1976. Joey married Kristy Kay Foster, January 27, 1978. Joseph later remarried Louise Shoemaker Spridgeon June 19, 1971. Louise has one daughter, Marsha Spridgeon born March 17, 1956. Marsha married Rayburn Childs August 31, 1974. They have one daughter Shannon, born September 7, 1976. They all live now in Orlando, Florida, and Joseph works for the City of Orlando, but he still owns the homeplace in Colton, Ohio and plans to return some day.

Submitted by the Family