William Smith
ID # 828, (1865-1949)
| Father | Samuel Smith (1838-1916) |
| Mother | Lavinia Buchanan (1837-) |
| Birth | William Smith was born in 1865 at Brant Twp., Bruce Co.. |
| Death | He died on 2 January 1949 at Branchton, North Dumfries, Waterloo County. |
| Burial | He was buried on 4 January 1949 at Mountview Cemetery, Galt, Ontario. |
| Note | William Smith does not appear to have married. It seems that he spent much of his life with his mother's Buchanan family in North Dumfries. His obituary places him in Branchton from childhood. The census record is anything but clear. There is a William Smith, age 20, with Samuel Smith in Brant Township, Bruce County, in the 1891 census. He also appears to be the William Smith who is with Smith and Martha Buchanan in the 1891 census. (Smith Buchanan's farm is next door to his parents' farm.) Being enumerated twice in a given census is entirely possible. Certainly, his sister Henrietta was enumerated twice in 1871, once at Branchton with the Buchanans and once with her parents. It may be mentioned that in 1891, living with the Smith Buchanan family, or just next door, is Lavina Smith, age 72. The evidence supports this lady being Smith Buchanan's aunt, a sister of Jane Maria Griffith Buchanan. She is the widow of Eli Smith. She won't be the mother of William and Henrietta. William is working for William Rosebrugh of the Branchton area at the time of the 1901 census and is shown back with Smith Buchanan in 1911. When Smith Buchanan died, at a great age, in 1935, his obituary refers to his nephews W.H. Buchanan (likely William Herbert Buchanan, son of Smith Buchanan's brother Alexander), and William Smith. Whether William Smith was actually living with his uncle at the time is unknown. There is a stone in Mountview Cemetery with the simple inscription, SMITH/In Memory of/William Smith/1864-1949. This stone was purchased by Harold Jenkins. William Smith is said to be of Branchton. Information provided by MVC states that he died on January 2, 1949, and was buried January 4th from Littles Funeral Home. According to burial cards, two other people are buried on this plot and not recorded on a stone: William Cowan, died or buried Jan. 26, 1949, and Helen Hall, died or buried Feb. 10, 1933. A search at the Archives for the Evening Reporter held by the City of Cambridge at the old city hall on Dickson Street shows the following in the edition of Monday, January 3, 1949, on page 10: William Smith: The death occurred at Branchton on Sunday, at the home of Mrs. W.H. Buchanan, of William Smith in his 86th year. He had been in ailing health for some time. The late Mr. Smith was born in Walkerton, and moved to Branchton when a child. He spent practically all his life in that district, working for different farmers. He is survived by nieces and nephews. Funeral service will take place at the T. Little and Son funeral home, 39 Grand Avenue North, Galt, on Tuesday at 2.30 p.m. Interment will take place in Mount View Cemetery. It will be noted that Will Smith, as he was known, had numerous nieces and nephews on the Smith side. To the Buchanans with whom he lived in later years, he was a nephew or a cousin, yet cousins of later generations when speaking with this researcher referred to him as Uncle Will Smith. William must have been in some favour with his sister Henrietta, for she and her husband Elam Ellis named a son William Smith Ellis. |
| Last Edited | 27 Jul 2023 |