Friday, March 8, 2013

The Beginning...




My search for Robert Cade Smith began when I was going through the belongings that were left to me by my parents, after their passing in 1997.  I found an old and worn scrap of a piece of lined paper with what appears to be an old style of writing, written either with a quill or fountain pen, entitled "Family Record."  It has led me from Ohio to Champaign, Illinois to Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and finally to Arkansas.

How old is this paper?  It appears to be manufactured...in what time period?  
What can we tell from the handwriting?
What can be identified from the pen/quill and ink used?

Who wrote this?  It appears to be almost all in the same hand, same ink, (written at one time - perhaps copying the information from one source - Family Bible?????) 

It looks like the pen and ink are the same from the beginning of the document "Family Record to the Death of Henrietta Smith, November 16, 1857".  It must have been created after that November 16, 1857 and before the next entry which was the Death of R C Smith, April 11, 1888...which may be the same hand, but looks like different pen and ink.  So, created between 1857 and 1888...

The next entry appears to be written in pencil in another hand which is the Death of [Susan] Maroda (Smith) Ferrel, March 19, 1900.

The last entry is another pen, ink and hand for the Death of Uriah Smith, July 4, 1934.


No comments:

Post a Comment