robertmackayclan

Here is what I have so far on John Dennis Smith

Rolla Smith Family Bible given to him by his father John Dennis Smith (currently in the possession of my father)
Birth date
Marriage date
Death date
No information on parents or guardians of John D. Smith.

Federal Census
1880 Hudson, Bates, MO
1900 Mustang, Canadian, OK
1910 Yukon, Canadian, OK
1920 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, OK
1930 Yukon, Canadian, OK

Obituary 1946 "The Sun", OK (copy posted by Michael a few days ago)
Excerpt:
"...John Dennis Smith was born in Bates county, Missouri, March 19, 1851. His parents died when he was, seven years old and he made his home with relatives until he was old enough to take care of himself. During the Civil War at the age of 12 he carried the U. S. mail on a mule from Germantown, Mo. to Calhoun, a distance of ten miles, being assigned the task on account of the threat of Bushwhackers killing the men. He was married to Marietta Mendenhall of Appleton City, Mo., January, 1876 and to this union seven children were born..."

Obituary Oct 4, 1946 "The Oklahoman", OK
Excerpt:
"...John D. Smith, 95, pioneer Yukon resident and retired farmer, died early Thursday in his home...Smith, who carried mail during Civil war days in Missouri, was born March 19, 1851, in Bates county, Mo. He came to Oklahoma in 1890 and settled on a farm nine miles southwest of Yukon. Living there until 1908, he then moved into Yukon and had lived there until his death."

Birth Records MO
I have contacted their department and they confirm they have no data on births that far back. They begin to hold birth records around 1880.

Death Records MO
They also do not have any death records back in the 1850s.

Marriage Records MO
Requested a copy, but the office claims it is not on file.

Missing Federal Census documents
I have not located any John Smiths in MO in 1860 or 1870 that I can say with any confidence would be him. I will eventually need to trace every one of them to see if I can eliminate them. However by his own claim he was living with relatives in 1860 and possibly 1870. With a name like John Smith there is a LOT of data to sort through with little hope of confidence any one of them is the correct John Smith.

Death Record MO
Here is one document which looks like I have not yet tried to obtain. At least I don't recall trying. I will have to get on that one ASAP to see if there is any other useful information.

Kent Smith

Genealogy is the collection of documents. You can collect tons of information on the issue of James MacKay Sr. who left VA @1830 for Jefferson & Switzerland counties IN. Many of these blood line's have been documented to the generation of your your John Smith's parents.

I am sure my distant McKay cousins' who lived in IN will benefit from your collection of documents, but I seriously doubt your efforts will benefit you.
Remember there were different groups of McKay etc....living in those counties who are not decendants of Robert Mackay Sr.

I see no indication that the lines of James Sr. removed to Bates Co. MO. It is this location you must find the documents I mentioned. Doing DNA test takes no effort and the monies who have spend on the test-- will be a "drop in the bucket" to the monies and time you will be spending collecting documents in a IN which you have not shown your blood line lived in the past.

The DNA test shows a Y connection of 11 generation to 20 generations or 231 years to 420 years. The male ancestor you seek could be back in Scotland beyond the reach of documents. So you can spend lots and lots of time and money collecting information dealing with Robert Mackay Sr. and his issue and none of it applies to your family members.

Lots of luck. Let's see you prove me wrong with paper documentation.

You need to check your local L.D.S. library and look at the film for yourself. Clerks in government offices might not look for the information with the effort you do.

L.D.S. library has started putting records on line called Family Labs. I have already places a posting on this web site.

I believe I have found a John Smith on the 1870 Bates Co. MO, have you looked at all the entries on the census.

The Death Record you want to look at for yourself, line by line. There could be information reported by a John Smith on other entries which would give you further information. It is a must-- you have to put a names to those "relations" of your John Smith.

You might check State of MO Library to see if they have records on line.

$5.50 L.D.S. charges film rental for each film. There are hundreds of films you can order for IN and I have not check for Bates Co. MO.

www. familyseach.org The listing of their films on line.

I would not trust clerks of these court houses to get the records you will need. You will have to really put out the effort for yourself at the library.

Lots of luck.

Genealogy is the collection of documents. You can collect tons of information on the issue of James MacKay Sr. who left VA @1830 for Jefferson & Switzerland counties IN. Many of these blood line's have been documented to the generation of your your John Smith's parents.

I am sure my distant McKay cousins' who lived in IN will benefit from your collection of documents, but I seriously doubt your efforts will benefit you.
Remember there were different groups of McKay etc....living in those counties who are not decendants of Robert Mackay Sr.

I see no indication that the lines of James Sr. removed to Bates Co. MO. It is this location you must find the documents I mentioned. Doing DNA test takes no effort and the monies who have spend on the test-- will be a "drop in the bucket" to the monies and time you will be spending collecting documents in a IN which you have not shown your blood line lived in the past.

The DNA test shows a Y connection of 11 generation to 20 generations or 231 years to 420 years. The male ancestor you seek could be back in Scotland beyond the reach of documents. So you can spend lots and lots of time and money collecting information dealing with Robert Mackay Sr. and his issue and none of it applies to your family members.

Lots of luck. Let's see you prove me wrong with paper documentation.

I have visited my local LDS center and met the staff last year. I have not yet spend the time to get the original records. According to the MO center, there are no birth records in the time period. I have not checked witht the LDS center to see if they are wrong.

I will check for the death record in OK.

I have seen a number of John Smiths in MO, but I have not yet gathered those entries to prove or disprove their connection. I will now go back down that path to close them out one way or another.

So far I am still working full time so I do what I can between tasks, projects, etc. Once I retire I expect I will live at the library. Maybe by then the films will be available over the net.

Thanks again Dee Ann.

KS