Person:Charles Smith (219)

Charles Marion Smith was born on April 9, 1857 in Delaware County, Ohio. He was the middle of five children of Marion DeKalb Smith and Eliza Angeline Joy. He was barely four years old when his father died in the Civil War in Helena, Arkansas. In 1866 his family was living in Peoria, Mahaska County, Iowa, but by 1874 they had moved to Oregon. When he was fourteen his mother married George Washington Ballard in Oregon.

On July 20, 1879, Charles married Lucy Adelaide Custer in Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. Their first child, Iva Viola “Ivy” Smith was born May 5, 1880 in Corvallis. Charles was a farmer and had six children: in addition to Ivy, there was Lester Dekalb, born November 7, 1881; Eddy “Edd” Elsworth Smith born April 17, 1883; Frank Leroy born July 30, 1886; Albert Marion “Bert” Smith born November 10, 1891; and finally Virgil Custer Smith, born September 14, 1897. All of the children were born in Corvallis.

Charles did not have a long life; he died on October 4, 1905, when he was only 48 years old, from a stroke. He was buried in the I.O.O.F. cemetery in Corvallis, Oregon. His wife Addie moved to Monrovia, California, shortly after he died, and she went on to live until December 4, 1948. She was buried in the Live Oak Memorial Park in Monrovia, California.

1. ↑ 1860 Census, Iowa, Mahaska Co.
   Series: M653 Roll: 334 Page: 51-52, 11 Nov 2005.

   Quality: 4 Verified: YES