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Early Settlers of Mecca Twp., Part 5: The Smith Family & Smith Cemetery

 

A very large, multigenerational family group of Smiths came to West Mecca from Connecticut sometime in the 1830s. It’s very possible they arrived in scattered batches over several years.

 

Patriarch Jonathan Green Smith, a Revolutionary War veteran, had buried his wife, Hannah Witter, back in CT in 1823. He died in the spring of 1840, shortly after his arrival here, aged 95. His family buried him on the old Smith Farm on the east side of Bazetta Rd., just north of Pikie Bay. He is the only proven burial in Smith Cemetery. It is said that at least two unnamed others were buried there. The cemetery is located somewhere in the woods on government land and has yet to be found, though there are rumors some might know where it lies.

 

Smith properties seen on the 1874 Mecca map along northeast side of Bazetta Rd.
The Smith family cemetery is somewhere in this vicinity.

 

Jonathan’s daughter Elizabeth married Beriah Green and died in Twinsburg, OH in 1846. She was the great-great grandmother of evolutionary theorist Sewall Wright.

 

Jonathan’s son, Dr. John Smith, and his wife, Mary (Miner), brought two teenaged daughters with them. In 1858, their daughter Hannah Eliza married Enoch Starks, who had come to Mecca as early as 1828. Hannah died only nine months later, aged 47. He moved to Michigan and remarried two years later. Their other daughter, Nancy, married Asa Case and moved to Ashtabula.

“Doctor John Smith and his wife were prominent members of the community at one time and often entertained the fugitive slaves in the times of the underground railroad.” –Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve, pg 281

 

Dr. John and Mary Smith stone at West Mecca Cemetery. Photo by Ashley Armstrong.

 

Jonathan’s son William and wife Elizabeth “Betsey” Smith brought many children and grandchildren with them. They had buried a baby daughter, Arocelina, back in CT, and when the family’s obelisk stone was erected at West Mecca, the names of her and her grandfather, Jonathan, were carved on it as cenotaphs.

 

“Betsey Wilbur, wife of Deacon William Smith, a soldier of 1812, was a busy woman, finding time to care for silkworms and spin silk beside her other duties. At one time a daughter kept school in the chamber, the scholars being Isaac and Mary Smith and little Emma Holmes. The deacon’s father, Jonathan, was a Revolutionary soldier and was buried on the old Smith farm.” –Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve, pg 280

 

Deacon William and Betsey Smith stone at West Mecca Cemetery. Photo by Ashley Armstrong.

 

Betsey died in 1843. Her and William’s surviving children were:

 

– William (b. 1805) married Eunice Palmer. They lost four children. Nancy died back in CT, aged 1, and also has a cenotaph at West Mecca. Harriet Maria died aged 7. Mary Jane married Henry Franklin Williams and died aged 20 after giving birth to their son, Otis. William died just shy of 20. Daughter Eunice was 7 when her family made the wagon trip from CT to OH. At age 16, her father gave his consent for her to marry Orris Benton. The Smiths’ other surviving children were Nathan, Elizabeth who married William Thompson, Julia who stayed behind in CT with her husband, and Jonathan who married Edith Longstaff and was buried in Salem, OH.

 

"Eunice Palmer, wife of William Smith Jr., was a native of Connecticut, and came over with her husband and friends in the long journey to Ohio in '32 or '33. After a residence of some years in other townships, they came to Mecca, where she spent the remainder of her days. She was a gentle, patient, long-suffering woman, and wise and judicious mother. Some years since she passed away, beloved of all, to a home where there is no sickness and pain. Two sons and two daughters, Mrs. Eunice Benton and Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, are left behind to bless her memory and perpetuate her virtues."–Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve.

 

–Jonathan (1806-1873) married Anna Palmer Brown, daughter of Wheeler and Lois Brown. Their son, George Nelson, never married. Daughter Maria married Rufus Shaw. All lived and died in Mecca.

 

Stone of Jonathan and Anna Palmer (Brown) Smith at East Mecca Cemetery. Photo by Ashley Armstrong.

 

–Betsey (1808-1898) married Lawyel Thompson and moved to Hartford Twp. where she died aged 90.

 

–Celina (1812-1866) married Timothy Thompson in 1838. He died in 1856 in Columbus. Their daughter Florence married Trumbull Co. Representative William Johnson, who also owned property on the northern stretch of Bazetta Rd.

 

–Joseph Wilbur (1814-1872) married Belinda Walkley in 1842. His property on the 1874 Mecca map had a schoolhouse. Joseph was killed by lightening on 1872, aged 57. Daughter Nancy married Henry Franklin Williams. Son Scimilius lived and died in Mecca, aged 23. Son Seldon lived in Mecca most of his life and was buried in Warren.

 

Family stone for Joseph, Belinda, and Scimilius Smith at West Mecca Cemetery.
Photo by Ashley Armstrong.

 

–Eleanor (1818-1853) married Corporal Philetus Brazilla Hillyer. After she died in Mecca, aged 35, Philetus departed to Minnesota.

 

–Christa Cook (1820-1852) never married and died aged 32.

 

–Isaac Fellows (1824-1865) moved out of Trumbull Co. and married Mary Hewitt Herrick. They had three sons and two daughters. He was killed during the Civil War in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was stationed with the 43rd Infantry of the Union Army. His name on the family monument at West Mecca is likely a cenotaph.

 

–Mary (1829-1868) married Joseph Goldner and moved to Michigan where she died, aged 39.

 

Most of the Smiths are either buried or have cenotaphs in West Mecca Cemetery, while other extended family are buried in East Mecca.

 

Stone for Arocelina (cenotaph), Christa, Isaac (most likely a cenotaph), Eleanor, and Celina at West Mecca Cemetery.

Photo by Ashley Armstrong.

 

(This post was written for the Mecca Township Historical Society, as part of an ongoing series for Mecca.)

 

– Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve, 1896

– History of the Western Reserve by Upton, Harriet Taylor; Cutler, Harry Gardner, 1910

– 1874 and 1899 Trumbull County Atlases

– "Mecca" by Thomas Kachur, c. 1970 and 2002 editions

– Familysearch.org tax, census, and vital records

– Personal work at the Mecca Cemeteries and on Find A Grave