I only recently learned the names of some of Nellie May Saunders' ancestors. Her maternal grandfather was Wedon Smith. I know nothing about him other than what I recently learned from Find A Grave which can be found in the following essay and the key information below.
Wedon Smith was born on October 20, 1804 in Madison or Culpeper County, Virginia. He was the son of Asa & Barbara (Yager) Smith. His father was of English descent, but his mother was a descendant of German families of the old Germanna colony. Both of his parents reportedly died in 1812, when they were about 35 years old and Wedon was only eight.
Wedon went to Kentucky in 1826-1828. He married his first cousin. Alpha, on November 18, 1828, in Mercer County, Kentucky. In 1834, they were in Oldham County, Kentucky, at least briefly, as their daughter, Rebecca, was born there. Sometime in the 1830's, Wedon's cousin Isaac C. Smith of Oldham County named Wedon as his attorney-of-record in a property dispute, implying that he had some education and knowledge of the law. In 1840, they were listed on the census in Mercer County, Kentucky. Two men who were probably slaves were shown in the household and working in agriculture. Then In 1850, they were enumerated in the Mercer County, Kentucky census with five children and three slaves.
In 1842, the southern part of Mercer County was cut off to form Boyle County, which is where the 1850 census found them. They were doing very well, as their real estate was worth $5,000. Alpha's unmarried older sister, Mary, lived with them and they now had eight children, but no longer any slaves:
According to the story told by daughter Susan Frances, it was in 1853 when she was five years old that they came on a train of 20-30 wagons from Lexington, Kentucky to Missouri. Little Susan walked along side the wagon most of the way from Kentucky to Missouri. The family settled in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, where they eventually bought 640 acres of land. The 1860 census records them there and a owning a large value of real estate and with all ten children still at home. None of them seemed in any hurry to leave the nest. All of the adults could read and write.
In August of 1863, when Gen. Ewing's General Order #11 was issued, those residents within the town of Independence who could prove their loyalty to the Union were allowed to stay and their property was not damaged. Wedon and Alpha may have been in this category, despite being southerners and slave holders (though at that point they may have been former slave owners). Related to this is the following story in the "Lee's Summit Journal" in 1929: "One night when Mr. Boggs was calling on his future wife, Searcy and three others also called to rob Mr. Weden Smith, a Union man, of horses. Mr. Boggs persuaded them not to rob Mr. Smith, who was a good man and never harmed anyone. They agreed and went to Johnson County, but Quantrell followed and hung Searcy, one of his own men, for robbing."
Whether or not they were forced out of their home during the war, it was a bad time for the family. Three of their children died before it was over; Jonathan, 1864, age 32, Josephine, May 1865, age 22; and Barbara, Jun 1865, age 35. Then Alpha died on October 22, 1867, and Wedon shortly after moved with his seven children still at home to Lees Summit, where they are found on the 1870 census.
According to daughter Susan's obituary, she moved with her parents and to a farm just east of Lee's Summit in Prairie township about 1872. However, both of her parents were deceased by 1872. They may have moved there immediately upon returning from the General Order No. 11 expulsion, as their home may have been burned. Daughter Mary was married to a man from Lees Summit in December of 1868, so they seem to have been there at that time. In any case, Wedon and his children still at home were listed on the 1870 census in Lee's Summit:
Wedon died on 16 Feb 1871. According to family records, he was buried with Alpha and their children in Woodlawn cemetery in Independence, Plot: Block 31, Lot 2, Division 2. Alpha had died on 22 Oct 1867 and was buried in Independence, but it's possible her body was taken back there, perhaps to be buried near her children. The stress of the war years may have contributed to her death.
Key Information: