When a Photo Leads To a Canadian Hero ~ Samuel Smith

I have so many favourite photos I couldn't choose just one. 

Like last week, I decided I would choose a FAVOURITE PHOTO find of the week.

I decided to keep watch for photos during my researching this week. 

I'm as shocked as you are that the photo that inspired me showed up the morning after my decision was made. 

There are sooooo many great photos in researching where you come from, but sometimes a photo tells an amazing story.

This is a photo of my husband's X3 great uncle's gravesite marker. 

Not knowing anything about Samuel Smith as a family member or as a hero of the Battle of 1812 it wasn't hard to find details.

The details were just waiting to be found!

"Every American School child knows the story of Paul Revere. He’s the guy in the three-pointed hat who made the famous ‘midnight ride’ during the American Revolution, warning his neighbours that the dreaded red coats were coming.

But what almost no one knows is that a Lambton County boy played a similar role on the Canadian side of the boarder during the War of 1812. In fact, if it wasn’t for a teenager named Samuel Smith, Canada would probably be part of the United States today." 1 

When my husband's grandfather (Clifton) was 3.5 months old his mother,  Martha J Isabel (Mattie) Smith, died (September 5th 1902). Her death registry says she died of Angina of the heart - a few minutes, there was no physician in attendance, and her death was registered October 18th 1902. In current medical terms Angina of the heart for a few minutes is unclear. It was a month an half before her death was registered. The writer is left with a few questions that likely will never be answered.

One of the main questions is whether her son remained connected to the Smith family. His father remarried, but had no other children. It was common in the time that once a death occurred the family connection ended. I wonder if Clifton ever knew the role his great uncle played in forming Ontario as we know it today.

Samuel served in the Battle of 1812, and the Upper Canada Rebellion. He became a surveyor in the middle. 

"Smith worked for the Canada Company and helped survey the Huron Road from Guelph to Goderich. He surveyed many of the townships in Lambton County, including Sombra (1820), Euphemia (1823 – then part of Zone), Bosanquet (1828), and Brooke (1832). Smith settled in Euphemia Township and built a mill on the Sydenham River at Smith Falls." 2

In researching the areas he surveyed I realized I have visited many of the roads, and have family that live on them. My husband's X3 great uncle's legacy is connected to this side of the Bramble Bush too. 

Finding the photo of X3 great uncle Samuel Smith resulted in digging for more information about who he was as a person. 

Samuel Smith
BIRTH 22 APR 1795 • Grimsby, Ancaster, Hamilton Municipality, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 18 SEP 1857 • Euphemia, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada

On 25 Mar 1822 in Sandwich, Essex, Ontario, Canada Ontario, Canada Samuel married:
Sarah Holmes
BIRTH 8 JUN 1799 • Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 15 APR 1844 • Wentworth, Ontario, Canada

They had 9 children:

Baby Boy Smith
BIRTH 6 DEC 1822 • Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 6 DEC 1822 • Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Mahlon Burwell Smith
BIRTH 27 MAY 1826 • Lot 46, Con 4, Center S 1/2, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 16 OCT 1862 • Saint Louis Missouri, United States

David Holmes Smith
BIRTH 18 JUN 1828 • Ancaster Township, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 18 NOV 1838 • Ancaster Township, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada

Hugh Holmes Smith
BIRTH 4 JUL 1830 • Lot 46, Con 4, Center S 1/2, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 4 NOV 1849 • L28, C4, Euphemia, Ontario, Canada

Oliver Tiffany Smith
BIRTH 8 OCT 1832 • Lot 46, Con 4, Center S 1/2, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 19 SEP 1902 • Lambton, Ontario, Canada

Sarah Ann Smith
BIRTH 3 MAR 1835 • Lot 46, Con 4, Center South .12, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 5 MAR 1854 • Euphemia, Lambton, Ontario, Canada

John Clapperton Smith
BIRTH 30 JUL 1836 • Ancaster, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 30 DEC 1842 • Ancaster, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada

Caroline Charlotte Smith
BIRTH 24 APR 1838 • Lot 46, Con 4, Center S 1/2, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 24 APR 1874 • Strathroy, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada

Abraham Holmes Smith
BIRTH 5 OCT 1842 • Ancaster, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
DEATH Unknown

Oliver Tiffany Smith
BIRTH 8 OCT 1832 • Lot 46, Con 4, Center S 1/2, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 19 SEP 1902 • Lambton, Ontario, Canada

As often happens one discovery leads to another.
The Samuel Smith fonds (details in Sources below) notes that the Archives of Ontario has the diary of Samuel's brother, Benjamin Smith (a Farmer & Methodist Lay Preacher). 

More information in the sources below for Benjamin's Fonds.
You will also find many links to articles about Samuel. 

When one photo results in a journey down the genealogical rabbit hole!!!

*** UPDATE --- Blogging as family bait works again!
This message from a relative:
"Clifton did have a lot of contact with the Smith relatives. He spent a great deal of time with his grandparents in Paris, Ontario where they had a home. Once he took his daughter to the home, and looking in the back yard discovered the grave of one of his ancestors."

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Footnotes:

1 War of 1812: He Sounded the Alarm: Lambton’s Sam Smith Saved Canada from American Invasion, McCaffery, Dan. Observer published Saturday December 20, 1997. Article 5, Paragraphs 1 & 2. Retrieved January 18th 2022 from 
https://uelac.ca/loyalist-trails/loyalist-trails-2011-51/

2 Samuel Smith: Early Surveyor of Lambton County. Lambton Heritage Highlights. Lambton County Museums. Paragraph 4. Retrieved January 18th 2022 from
https://www.lambtonmuseums.ca/en/lambton-heritage-museum/samuel-smith-early-surveyor-of-lambton-county.aspx

Sources:

Benjamin Smith fonds. Archives Descriptive Database. Archives of Ontario. Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services. Retrieved January 18th 2022 from 
http://ao.minisisinc.com/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/221612313/1/1/400?RECORD&DATABASE=DESCRIPTION_WEB_INT

Lambton on periphery of 1812 War. Morden, Paul.  Sarnia Observer published January 21st 2012. Retrieved January 18th 2022 from
https://1812news.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/lambton-on-periphery-of-1812-war/

Samuel Smith (1795-1857), WikiTree Contributors.  WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, Retrieved January 18th 2022 from
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Smith-8727

Samuel Smith, Find A Grave. Retrieved January 18th 2022 from 
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/128526494/samuel-smith

Samuel Smith: Early Surveyor of Lambton County. Lambton Heritage Highlights. Lambton County Museums. Retrieved January 18th 2022 from
https://www.lambtonmuseums.ca/en/lambton-heritage-museum/samuel-smith-early-surveyor-of-lambton-county.aspx

Samuel Smith fonds. Archives Descriptive Database. Archives of Ontario. Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services. Retrieved January 18th 2022 from 
http://ao.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/PROV/PROV/REFD+F+565?SESSIONSEARCH

War of 1812: He Sounded the Alarm: Lambton’s Sam Smith Saved Canada from American Invasion, McCaffery, Dan. Observer published Saturday December 20, 1997. Retrieved January 18th 2022 from 
https://uelac.ca/loyalist-trails/loyalist-trails-2011-51/

Photos:

Samuel Smith, Find A Grave. Retrieved January 18th 2022 from 
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/128526494/samuel-smith

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

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