Elisha Smallwood was born in about 1835 in
Kentucky. He died October 7, 1878 in Arkansas. Elisha was a
land-owner in KY and was murdered and robbed of money he was carrying to pay
his employees. His son, James, was a teenager at the time, and he
assumed the task of providing for the family for a while. When the two
eldest daughters, Nancy and Mary, became teenagers, they moved in with other
families and worked as servants to pay for their room and board. Elisha's father died shortly after he was discharged from service in the
Civil War.
He was probably quite distraught. Rumor has it that Elisha abandoned
his family sometime after the war. For several years they did not know
where he was or if he was alive.
On June 23, 1853, Elisha married Mary
Margaret Moore. They had seven children before Elisha was murdered.
As the family grew apart, it is not known where the younger children lived.
Children of
Elisha and Mary Smallwood
Nancy Jane Smallwood,
b. 1856, d. 1945
John Wesley Smallwood, b. 1859
Mary M. Smallwood,
b. 1865, d. Abt 1935
James Lewis Smallwood, b. March 6, 1868, d. April 3, 1952
Anna A. Smallwood, b. December, 1870
Emma E. Smallwood, b. 1872
Clara E. Smallwood, b. 1874