Person:Benjamin Smalley (9)

About Benjamin Smalley

Benjamin Smalley migrated to Cheyenne City Territory and was listed in will of Grandfather, Zachariah Smalley in 1871.

Information on Benjamin Smalley

Subj:Re: Benjamin Hopkins SMALLEY - Dutchess, County, NY!! Date:12/12/1999 10:15:00 AM Pacific Standard Time From:BudMaples To:Delijim, SMALLEY-L@@rootsweb.com CC:two4rotary@@juno.com

[This is Shirley, your list hostess. I'm on my cross-country trip and using an AOL account while on the road.]

YES! That's my line! I didn't realize you had it documented back further than Harris, who was my ggggrandfather. Benjamin Hopkins Smalley was a brother to my gggrandfather, James J? Smalley. Benjamin traveled west via Ohio by wagon train to Cheyenne, Wyoming (which at the time was a tent city), married there a woman he met on the wagon train, and their son (Edwin) *may* have been the first white boy born there. Benjamin ran a freight delivery service to/from South Dakota (where he *may* have died while on a run) and was also sheriff in Cheyenne for a time. His son Edwin was also later sheriff there. If memory serves me correctly, they're both buried in Cheyenne.

11/2/01 4:58:15 PM Pacific Standard Time From:maples@@pacifier.com (Shirley) Reply-to:SMALLEY-L@@rootsweb.com To:SMALLEY-L@@rootsweb.com

Not at my fingertips (you guys are gonna make me get organized and find all these stacks of paperwork...) but I do have Ben's birth date: b 8-3-1846, East Fishkill, Dutchess Co, NY.

Also, Ben met Mary on the wagon train from NY to Cheyenne. They either met or were married in Ohio on the trip west.

OK, I just dug thru the 30 pkgs of pictures I took on a 2-month cross-country driving trip in late '99! I took several photos of the Smalley grav Cheyenne, WY. This is what I got from those:

EDWIN J. SMALLEY b 6-27-1868, d 11-21-1937

MARY J. SMALLEY b 5-16-1850 d 7-16-1916

BENJAMIN H. SMALLEY b 8-2-1846 d 12-5-1915

There are also another Smalley in the plot I haven't identified:

EDITH A. SMALLEY b 12-21-1880 d 5-18-1959

The burial plot has a large monument with the SMALLEY on it, and the four graves are in front of it...in this order: Edwin, Edith, Mary, Benjamin. Due to the layout, I believe Edith to be Edwin's wife.

Ben was a teamster hauling grocer and other goods around the region. He died during a trip to South Dakota. Ed went there to claim the body and drive the team back with it.

There is a small neighborhood park with playground in Cheyenne called Smalley Park. The sign didn't have a dedication, but I presume it was to honor Ed and his contributions to the community as sheriff. He and his wife were quite well known in social circles and for their good deeds.

Back to the cemetery, there are some other graves unknown to me:

ROBERT J. SMALLEY, b 5-16-1909 d 2-8-1958; headstone is double, only his side is completed, and says "Beloved Husband"

HAZEL SMALLEY b 2-5-1915 d 12-9-1975 EDWIN B. SMALLEY b 1-4-1905 d 2-25-1950; headstone writing (3 separate lines) is WYOMING, CMU USNR, WORLD WAR II unmarked grave next to Edwin B. Smalley

The house where Ben and Mary lived was torn down years ago and is now a small apartment building. Sorry, I can't find the address right now, but it's within blocks of the Wyoming State Archives in the downtown area where the people of standing had their homes "way back then."

Whew! Guess I found quite a bit, eh? shirley

  :)

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Maples, Bud - e-mail: BudMaples@@aol.com.
2. ↑ Killingsworth, Shirley Maples. (e-mail of 11/11/1997).