Smith Family Genealogy
Top row: John, Mick, Frank, Pete, Bill; Middle row: Margaret, Elizabeth; Front Row: Genevieve, Kitty, Mayme
INTRODUCTION
“Irish” John and Susan (McPhillips) Smith had ten children who lived into adulthood. The picture above is dated no later than 1945. How do we know this? We know this because Margaret died in 1945. The following obituaries are ordered by the date each death was recorded.
In a government form dated April 12, 1915, “Irish” John Smith was asked the names of his children and their birth dates. This is the information he provided to the Bureau of Pensions:
| Name | Birth Date |
| Peter L Smith | April 22, 1875 |
| Michael J Smith | June 20, 1877 |
| William P Smith | April 14, 1879 |
| Mary F. Smith | August 18, 1880 |
| Kathryn A. Smith | September 26, 1882 |
| Margaret S Smith | May 9, 1887 |
| John C Smith | June 23, 1889 |
| Genevieve A Smith | March 28, 1893 |
| Elizabeth R Smith | February 2, 1895 |
| Francis O Smith | June 24, 1901 |
Three children died young: Frances, Regina and Grace. They were not listed on this form.
The following chart shows John and Susan’s parents. From this chart we can see grandparents’ names, parents’ names and children’s names. Peter Smyth died in Ireland during the famine years. His wife, Catharine, later married William Rooney. The Rooney and McPhillips families lived in Bear Creek Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin.
************************************
Margaret (Smith) Miller (newspaper obituary)
Died April 18, 1945
Brule County News
Margaret Miller Funeral Services Held Last Saturday
Funeral services for Mrs. Margaret Miller were held at St. Margaret’s church in Kimball Saturday, April 21, at 10 o’clock and burial was in the Catholic cemetery beside her husband. Rev. Father Speyer of Chamberlain said the requiem mass because of the illness of Rev. T. J. O’Gorman.
Margaret Smith was born May 9, 1888, one of the pioneer family of “Irish” John Smith, Brule county pioneer. She grew to womanhood on the family homestead southwest of Kimball and on May 5, 1914, was married to Lester A. Miller.
Kimball was their home until in 1932 Lester was elected county auditor and they moved to Chamberlain, but continued to own their home here. After her husband served two terms as auditor and Margaret as deputy, she was elected to the office for two terms.
Lester passed away April 1, 1942, shortly after he and Margaret had returned to Kimball to live. Following his death she attended business college to brush up on commercial work and before her death employed in the Northwest Security National Bank at Chamberlain.
Mrs. Miller had been in ill health for the past few years but had been in the hospital a little more than two weeks prior to her death. She had contracted bronchial pneumonia and her serious condition was known only to a few people. She passed away shortly before noon on Wednesday, April 18th, 1945.
All of Brule county was grieved and shocked at the news of her passing. She was one of the most popular county officials ever to enter the court house. Her acquaintance was county wide and through her life-long residence her and her contact with the public as auditor. Her friends could be numbered by her acquaintances for whom she always was solicitous and cheerful.
Left to mourn her death are her five brothers and four sisters. They are Peter L., John and Frank Smith, at home, M. J. Smith, Kimball; and W. P. Smith, Stickney; Mrs. Harold B. Willrodt, Chamberlain; Mrs. J. H. Byrne, Mitchell; Mrs. Mayme Carroll and Kitty Smith, at home.
Attending the services Saturday were several cousins from a distance, including Mrs. Henry Ellefson, Spring Green, Wisc.; Mrs. Irvin Marklein, Avoca, Wisc.; Mrs. Wm. Coyle, Madison, Wisc.; James McPhillips, and Mrs. George McPhillips, St. Paul, Minn. Also attending were Mrs. Addie Tinan, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Tinan and Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Verschoor all of Mitchell.
************************************
Peter Smith (newspaper obituary)
Brule County News
July 3, 1952
Lingering Illness Claims Long Time Kimball Resident
Funeral services were held Thursday morning from St. Margaret’s church at Kimball for Pete Smith, 77, a long time resident of Highland township.
Mr. Smith passed away at his home early Monday morning following a lingering illness. He had been in poor health for several months.
Immediate survivors are four brothers, John, Mike and Frank of Kimball, and Will of Stickney; four sisters, Mrs. Gen Byrne, Mitchell; Mrs. Harold Willrodt, of Chamberlain; and Kitty and Mayme Carroll at home; plus a host of other relatives and friends.
Burial was in St. Margaret’s cemetery with arrangements in charge of Barnes Funeral Home.
*************************************
Catharine ‘Kitty’ Smith (newspaper obituary)
Brule County News
May 19, 1955
Rites Planned Saturday for Kitty Smith
Funeral services will be held Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., from St. Margaret’s church for Miss Kity Smith.
Miss Smith passed away at the farm home in Highland township Wednesday morning. She had been ill for several months.
Surviving are her brothers, Mike, John and Frank, of Kimball, and Will of Stickney; and three sisters, Mrs. Gen Byrne, of Mitchell, Mrs. Harold Willrodt, Chamberlain, and Mayme Carroll, at home.
Rosary will be said at the home Thursday and Friday evenings.
Arrangements are in charge of the Barns-Guthmiller Funeral home of Kimball.
Catharine ‘Kitty’ Smith (newspaper obituary)
Brule County News
May 26, 1955
Funeral Services Held Saturday for Kittie Smith
Funeral services were held Saturday morning from St. Margaret’s church for Kity Smith, who passed away last Wednesday, May 19.
Miss Smith, 72, came to Brule county with her parents from Wisconsin about 70 years ago.
She is survived by three sisters, Mamie Carroll, at home, Mrs. Harold Willrodt, Chamberlain, and four brothers, Frank, John, and Mike of Kimball and Will, at Stickney.
*********************************
John Clair Smith (newspaper obituary)
Chamberlain Register
October 24, 1957
John Clair Smith Dies; Life-Long Kimball Resident
Funeral services were held at 9 a.m. Tuesday at St. Margarets church in Kimball for John Clair Smith, 68, rancher and farmer, who died Saturday, Oct. 19, at St. Joseph hospital in Mitchell after nine months of illness.
Services were conducted by Rev. Edward O’Conner and burial was made in the Catholic cemetery in Kimball under the direction of the Guthmiller Funeral Home.
Mr. Smith was born June 23, 1889, at Kimball, where he lived all his life. He is a veteran of World War I.
Surviving are three brothers, Mike and Frank of Kimball and Bill of Stickney; three sisters, Mrs. Harold (Elizabeth) Willrodt of Chamberlain, Mrs. Mayme Carroll of Kimball and Mrs. Genevieve Byrne of Omaha, Nebr.
**********************************
Michael Smith (newspaper obituary)
Brule County News
January 14, 1960
M. J. Smith, 82 Dies Monday at Farm Home
Funeral services were held Thursday morning at St. Margaret’s Catholic church for Mike Smith., longtime resident of this area, who passed away suddenly Monday after noon at his farm home south of Kimball. Burial was with the Guthmiller funeral home in charge of arrangements.
The Smith family moved to Kimball from Lone Rock, Wisconsin, when Mr. Smith was a child, and he had lived here his entire life. Mr. Smith was a prominent farmer and stock man.
Survivors include his wide and one son, James, of Kimball, two daughters, Mrs. Mary Margaret Black of Belle Fourche and Mrs. Susan King of Aberdeen; two brothers, Frank of Kimball, and Bill of Stickney, and three sisters, Mrs. Mayme Carroll of Kimball, Mrs. Genevieve Byrne of Omaha, and Mrs. Elizabeth Willrodt of Chamberlain.
A complete obituary will be found in next week’s issue.
************************************
William ‘Bill’ P. Smith (newspaper obituary)
‘Pop’ had three children: Mary Cecile, Mildred and John. VJ remembers this event but not the funeral. None of John or Ruth’s children attended the funeral. VJ wrote: “I was two months shy of being five years old. Yet, I remember grandpa being kind of a cranky guy. Whenever you would run by his chair he would try to trip you with that cane. Also, and this is weird, I remember talking to Dad on the telephone at that time. He was in Stickney for the funeral. I’m not sure any of the brothers or sisters went to the funeral. But, I distinctly remember asking Dad to buy me a basketball”.
I only remember Bill Smith as an old man with limited mobility. An earlier stroke forced him to use a cane to get around. Bill also wore a hearing aid. He smiled a lot but also did not like children running around the house. Bill used his cane to trip us and slow us down. Inside the Smith garage sat an old but immaculate automobile. I don’t think anyone ever drove that car, but it belonged to Grandpa Bill. Some of you may remember the old vinyl record of Bill’s voice. This recording was made in Mitchell, but why his voice was recorded I do not recall.
Bill had two careers. He was a partner with the local Stickney bank. This bank closed during the Great Depression. Later, he would become the town’s Postmaster, and kept that job until he retired. One of the last times I remember seeing Grandpa Bill was at his 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration.
Wm. P. Smith (newspaper obituary)
Stickney Argus
February 1960
Rites on Tuesday
William P. Smith, former banker and postmaster in Stickney, died in St. Joseph’s hospital in Mitchell, Feb. 5, 1960. He had been hospitalized since Dec. 22.
Funeral services for Mr. Smith, who was 80 years old, were held from St. Mary’s Catholic church, Stickney, on Tuesday morning. The rosary was recited at the Lien Funeral Home Monday evening. Father Alton Kelley spoke the requiem mass at last rites. Burial was in the Catholic cemetery.
Bronchial pneumonia first hospitalized Mr. Smith, but he had been confined to his home for several years before that as a result of a stroke, and he gradually lost ground during his final illness.
Mr. Smith was born April 14, 1879, in Bear Valley, Wisc. He was the son of “Irish John” and Susan Smith, who moved in 1886 to Kimball, S. Dak., and homesteaded. Mr. Smith, or “Bill” as he was commonly known all his life, worked first in a Kimball bank, after he left the farm. Successively, he worked in banks at Oacoma and Plankington. Then, in 1905, he came to Stickney and started, with some partners, the Stickney State Bank. He was in the banking business until 1933. Two years later he was appointed postmaster, retiring from this job in 1950.
One of the town’s first citizens, when Stickney was formed as a community at the end of the Chicago, Milwaukee Railroad line in 1905, Mr. Smith liked to say that he arrived, ready to go to work, by bob-sled.
On June 24, 1908, he was married to Mary Turgeon. They had observed their 50th wedding anniversary in 1958.
Survivors include his widow; a daughter, Mary, Oakland, Calif.; another daughter, Mildred (Mrs. John Fox), Stickney; and a son, John, who is a lawyer at Eureka. Also, surviving are three sisters, Mrs. Genevieve Byrne, Omaha, Nebr.; Mrs. Mayme Carroll, and Mrs. Elizabeth Wilrodt, Chamberlain; and one brother, Frank, Kimball. He was preceded in death by his parents, and three brothers and two sisters.
Bill Smith Rites Tues. at Stickney
Brule County News
February 11, 1960
Funeral services for William P. Smith, former banker and postmaster at Stickney, were held Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Stickney, and burial was made in the Catholic Cemetery. The Rev. Alton Kelley officiated at the Requiem Mass.
Mr. Smith, who had been confined to his home for several years, died at a Mitchell hospital February 6, at the age of 80 years, 9 months and 22 days.
Mr. Smith was born April 14, 1970, in Bear Valley, Wisconsin, the son of “Irish John” and Susan Smith, who moved to the Kimball area in 1886 where they homesteaded.
After leaving the farm, Mr. Smith worked at banks in Kimball, Oacoma, and Plankington, before opening the Stickney bank in partnership in 1905. He was in the banking business until 1933. In 1935 he was appointed postmaster, which position he held until retiring in 1950.
‘Bill’ Smith, as he was commonly known, was one of the towns first citizens, arriving the year the community was established at the termination point of the Chicago-Milwaukee railroad.
Mr. Smith was married to Mary Turgeon on June 24, 1908. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1957.
Survivors in include his widow, a daughter, Mary of Oakland, California, another daughter, Mrs. John Fox of Stickney, a son John of Eureka. Three sisters, Mrs. Genevieve Byrne, Omaha, Mrs. Mayme Carroll and Mrs. Elizabeth Willrodt, Chamberlain, and one brother, Frank, Kimball.
Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the Lien Funeral Home.
************************************
Mary (Mayme Smith) Carroll (newspaper obituary)
Brule County News
Dated March 16, 1961
Died March 15, 1961
Set Saturday Services for Mrs. Carroll
Funeral services will be held Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. at St. Margaret’s Catholic church for Mrs. Mayme Carroll, who passed away Wednesday morning at 9:30 at St. Joseph’s hospital following a lingering illness. Father Edw. O’Connor will officiate and interment will be in the Kimball Catholic Cemetery. Guthmiller Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mayme Smith was born in 1880 at Bear Valley, Wisconsin. While just a child the family moved to a farm south of Kimball.
In 1909 she was united in marriage to Jim Carroll of Clinton, Iowa. She resided in Clinton until the death of her husband in 1923. She then worked in Mitchell for a short period as a beautician later opening her own business in Kimball which she operated until 1939.
Survivors include two sisters, Mrs. Harold Willrodt of Chamberlain and Mrs. J. H. Byrne of Omaha, and one brother, Frank, of Kimball.
The Rosary will be said Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. at the Guthmiller Funeral Home.
*********************************
Genevieve Byrne (newspaper obituary)
Brule County News
October 2, 1969
Rites at Omaha for Mrs. Gen Byrne
A funeral mass for Mrs. Genevieve Byrne, 76, was held Wednesday morning at nine o’clock from St. Cecilia’s Cathedral in Omaha, Nebr.
Mrs. Byrne died Sept. 29 following an apparent heart attack.
Interment was in the cemetery at Montrose, S. Dak. At 3:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
Mrs. Byrne was born March 28, 1893, at Kimball, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Smith.
Survivors include two daughters, the Misses Margaret and Mary Byrne of Omaha; one son, Dr. John, of Phoenix, Ariz.; seven grandchildren; a sister, Mrs. Harold Willrodt, Chamberlain; and one brother, Frank O. Smith of Kimball. She was preceded in death by her husband, James H. Byrne.
***********************************
Elizabeth Willrodt (newspaper obituary)
Chamberlain Register
August 22, 1991
Elizabeth Willrodt funeral services Monday, St. James
Funeral services for Elizabeth R. Willrodt, 97, were at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, 1991, in St. James Catholic Church. The Rev. Howard Melzer, SCJ, and the Rev. T. J. McPhillips officiated.
Burial was in Riverview Cemetery.
She died Aug. 17 in Sunset Valley Haven.
Elizabeth R. Smith was born Feb. 2, 1894, to Susan (McPhillips) and John Smith, rural Kimball. She graduated from Kimball High School. She taught country school for a few years.
She married Harold B. Willrodt on May 16, 1923, in Kimball. They farmed at Ola until 1937. They moved to Omaha, NE, were Mr. Willrodt worked for the Willrodt Tractor Guide Company for about three years. They moved back to Chamberlain where she was a housewife and mother. She entered Sunset Valley Haven in August of 1989.
Mrs. Willrodt was a member of St. James Catholic Church and Altar Society, American Legion Auxiliary and the Ladies Progressive Club.
Survivors include a son, William of Chamberlain; three daughters, Betty Wees of Omaha, Mary Hixson of Bismarck, ND, and Susan Willrodt of Omaha; 16 grandchildren; 26 great grandchildren; and a brother, Frank Smith of Kimball.
She was preceded in death by her husband on June 15, 1984, four brothers, four sisters, and a granddaughter.
Wevik Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
*********************************
Frank Smith (newspaper obituary)
Brule County News
June 16, 1994
Obituary
Frank O. Smith
Funeral Mass was held for Frank O. Smith, 92, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Margaret’s Catholic Church in Kimball with the Rev. T. J. McPhillips celebrant. Interment was in the church cemetery. Shearer Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Smith died Thursday, June 9, 1884 at Sunset Valley Haven Nursing Home in Chamberlain.
He was born June 24, 1901 on the family farm seven miles south of Kimball, the son of John and Susan (McPhillips) Smith. He attended country school south of Kimball and then attended high school at Columbus College in Chamberlain. The school moved to Sioux Falls and he completed his education there. Mr. Smith lived and farmed on the family farm all of his life.
He married Eleanor Luedke on Jan. 21, 1942 at Kimball.
He was a member of St. Margaret’s Catholic Church.
Survivors include several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife in March 1994, four brothers and five sisters.