John M. C., born 6 January 1829, Illinois; died 11 September 1908, Baca County, Colorado; married Sarah Pierce, 20 August 1854, Peoria County, Illinois.

John was unmarried and lived at home at that time. Benjamin Hulbert would have been the only father that the brothers ever knew and they were remembered in his will when Benjamin died.

After marriage, John’s life journey took him from Illinois to Missouri, Kansas, Missouri again, back to Kansas and Missouri for a third time and, eventually, to Baca County, Colorado, where he and wife Sarah both died in the early 1900s.

In 1900, when living in Lake, Vernon, Missouri, Sarah reported that she had given birth to eleven children, but only four were still living. That is a high child mortality rate for a woman who was in her early 60s.

His mother, Thursa, died in early 1881 in Nodaway County, Missouri. Here estate administration identified her daughter, Savanna, as her only heir, but that wasn’t true. It’s very possible that John and brother James lost touch with their sister and she had no idea where they were or if they were still living. Or, rather than dealing with an heirs living hundreds of miles away, perhaps she thought it easier to just not mention them. However, both were very much alive and John has descendants today.

Children: (Smith)

1. Thursa Elizabeth, born c1856; died c1858 [No source except FamilySearch family tree]
2. Mary Etta, born c1858, Illinois [at home in 1860]; died March 1880, giving birth to daughter Hettie at home with John M.C. Smith family in 1880], Smith County, Kansas; perhaps married a man named Nile Clark, perhaps March 1875, Bourbon County, Kansas. No trace of this man’s existence has been found although Francis M. Clark, wife and family lived next door to the John M.C. Smith family in 1880. No marriage record found, but Mary is in the 1880 mortality schedule for Pawnee, Smith, Kansas. Cause of death is “labor.” However, the schedule also helpfully adds that she had been a resident of the county for 8 months. No further record of daughter Hettie.
3. Charles Benjamin, born January 1860, Peoria County, Illinois; married Mary Alice Major, 1 February 1883, Barton County, Missouri
4. Emma Ardell, born 1863, probably Peoria County, Illinois; reportedly died 1890; married Frank Williams, 3 June 1879, probably Smith County, Kansas, where they were living in 1880. [No source except FamilySearch family tree]
5. Eunice Matilda, born 7 August 1864/65, Illinois; died 28 August 1892, Barton County, Missouri; married Thomas N. Major, after 1880. They were the parents of at least four children.
6. John M.C., born 8 March 1866, Linn County, Missouri; died 29 July 1934 of sun stroke, Joplin, Jasper, Missouri; married Lillie Mary Clanton, c1890. They had no children.
7. Sarah Ellen, born 13 July 1869; died 21 November 1871 [No source except FamilySearch family tree]
8. James Andrew, born 7 September 1871; died 11 March 1872 [No source except FamilySearch family tree]
9. Ida May, born 7 May 1873, Kansas; died 25 June 1955, Prowers County, Colorado; married Edward Stapleton, 21 November 1897, Vernon County, Missouri. They were the parents of four children, two living in 1910.
10. Clarissa (Clara) A., born September 1876, Missouri; died after 1926 when Arch died in Pottawattamie County, Iowa; married Archibald H. Coyle on 2 June 1895, Vernon County, Missouri. His birth year varies, but he was more than 20 years older than her and they had no children. Clara may have remarried, but she would have been too old to have children by that point. They had no children.
11. Hattie Stella, born 9 November 1879, Pawnee, Smith, Kansas; died 17 December 1912, Baca County, Colorado; married George R. Poyner, 9 April 1902, Bourbon County, Kansas. They were the parents of four children, three living in 1910.

John M. C. Smith died on 11 September 1908, Baca County, Colorado. His wife, Sarah, died there on 12 March 1920.