Probate Record: William Henry Smith

This is my second blog post about my great great grandfather William Henry Smith. I recently listened to a well known genealogy speaker who shared his daughter's blog, with us - his listeners. The speaker shared with us how his daughter has written multiple blog posts with digital sources for each of her direct ancestors (going back probably 4 or more generations). This inspired me to do the same.

Previously, I have written posts about random people and places - which is fine because lots of people are in the queue but I just want to focus myself for a bit and write at least one article for each of my direct line of ancestors. I will include my grandparents and go on several generations from there. This is a good way for me to focus. Focusing or narrowing down can be hard because I always want to include everyone in my family tree - because: 1) they are my family; 2) my direct ancestors of course did not live in isolation - their sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, etc were their family.

In February 2012, I checked out the website www.genlighten.com  It is a genealogy site that links up people who are living in a certain part of the US that are interested in offering their research services in specific areas, such as: birth, death, marriage records, or cemetery look ups, etc. I found Kim Stankiewicz of Chicago, Illinois. Her services included Chicago probate records. So, I emailed her my request for the probate record of William H. Smith.

Well, luck was on my side and she was able to find "my" William H. Smith who died 21 September 1903 Chicago, Illinois. She digitally copied 79 pages of his probate record. There were more pages that included receipts for his business but nothing of substantial importance. She did a wonderful job. I was and still am very happy to have worked with her.

Now, onto the probate record. But, first I need to give you some background on William. He came to Chicago from Brooklyn, New York and became involved in newspaper circulation for several of the Chicago newspapers. He made his living for 20 years distributing newspapers to many of the citizens of Chicago.

After circulating for 20 years, he decided to make a career change. He purchased a lease on part of a three story building that was located at 292 E. Erie St. in Chicago, Illinois (which is at the corner of Erie and State St). He then proceeded to open a saloon (as they called it back then) at the said address. He ran this saloon until he died in 1903. This is the reason for the extra pages of receipts in his probate record.

This is a current look at the corner of Erie and State Streets in Chicago. The saloon was sold to G. A. Nagel 29 February 1904 for $2,500. G. A. Nagel purchased the lease on the building where the saloon was located, the furniture, stock and fixtures, etc. A side note - Fred R. Smith, his son later purchased and operated different saloon at 4936 Broadway in Chicago.

purchase of W. H. Smith saloon

One of the interesting things about this probate record is that after assessing William's assets (excluding the value of several lots he owned in Chicago) the sum total of his worth was $35,593.04. This is not his total value because as I said he owned several lots that I never saw a value recorded for. This is a fair amount of money for someone who came from Brooklyn and seems to have made his way on his own in Chicago.

I did find a website that listed what $35,000 dollars in 1903 would be worth today in 2013. $35,000 would be worth $921,052.63 dollars. Adding the fact that William was only 56 years old when he died, it appears that he worked hard and made good use of his time in making a good life for himself and his family. I was rather surprised by his monetary worth but I didn't know William, so I guess if I had known him - I wouldn't of been surprised.

The value of W. H. Smith and his adult children (Roberta is a child, so no signature)

Three lots that W H Smith owned. 

These three lots were not given a monetary value in the probate record. They were mentioned in relation to deeds, taxes and city assessments but not given a value otherwise. The amount of $33.11 is the taxes paid on the three lots in the Given and Gilberts Subdivision.

There is much more contained in William's probate record but I will close this post with the information I have thus given. I will be adding more information from this probate record to my future posts about his wife Mary A. Carbine Smith, as well as his children.

William Henry Smith - When and with whom did he arrive in Chicago?

My dad's great grandfather and my great great grandfather, William Henry Smith, or William H. Smith or W. H. Smith or just William Smith depending on what record you find him in, was born in Brooklyn, New York. His place of birth was noted as Brooklyn in his death record and in his obituary it is noted that he came from Brooklyn. Other records including his children's birth records stated that he was born in New York City. My Smith line stops with William. I do hope to make more progress.

William H. Smith's death record

Now to figure out when William H. Smith arrived in Chicago, Illinois. I do not know if he came to Chicago with his parents or as a single person or maybe with some other people he knew from Brooklyn. At this point it is hard to know what the correct circumstances of his arrival were. I have 3 clues as to when he arrived in Chicago. The clues I am referring to are the Chicago Voter Registration Records of 1888, 1890 and 1892. I have been able to determine the correct W. H. Smith by his street address 215 and 265 Illinois St. I have this addresses from multiple sources, such as: the birth record of his daughter Adelyn (Adaleine) in 1881; the birth record of his daughter Roberta in 1894; the 1900 Chicago, Cook, Illinois census; his 1903 death record; the address is also listed in other children's birth records.

W. H. Smith 1888 Chicago Voter Registration 215 Illinois St.

In the far right columns you can see three sets of years listed. These are the "Term of Residence." The first is 3 years living in this precinct; the second is 30 years living in Cook County; the third is 30 years living in the state of Illinois. On the far left are three sets of numbers as well.
The second column indicates that he was living in the 24th Ward of Chicago and the third column tells us that he was living in the 15th precinct.

Wm. H. Smith 1890 Chicago Voter Registration 215 Illinois St.

He is still living in the 24th ward and the 15th precinct. In the far right 3 columns he reports: 30 years in this precinct (15th); 30 years living in Cook County; 30 years living in the state of Illinois.

Two years have passed between these two voter registration records but the dates of living in Cook County and the state of Illinois are the same. Obviously the dates are an approximation and not exact. The precinct date is interesting with 3 years and then 30 years. Well, I am thinking that a mistake was listed on the first voter registration record because on William's daughter Adelyn's (Adaleine's) 1881 birth certificate it states that the family residence as 215 Illinois St.

W. H. Smith 1892 Chicago Voter Registration 265 Illinois St.

This record places the Smith family at a slightly different address of 265 Illinois St. rather than the 215 Illinois St. of the previous two records. They are still are living in the 24th ward and 15th precinct. "Term of Residence" states they have been living in the precinct for 35 years; Cook County for 35 years; 35 years in the state of Illinois. Again the years of residence seem to be approximate rather than exact.

So, somewhere between 1857 and 1860 - William Henry Smith arrived in Chicago, Illinois. Of course these dates could vary by a year or so, as well. I have struggled to find him before he married Mary Carbine. The joys of an uncommon surname like Carbine is a very happy thing.

I do have several people that could potentially be my William H. Smith in the 1870 census but it is hard to tell at this point. I need more clues, more information pointing me in the correct direction. I will continue to search until I feel satisfied. Wish me lots of luck.