Wells Family - Person Sheet
Wells Family - Person Sheet
NameJefferson F. Smith 
Birth11 Jan 1872, Grant, Monongalia Co, WV
Census7 Jun 1880, Grant, Monongalia Co, WV
Memoroll#1409, pg 270
Death1933, Morgantown, Monongalia Co, WV
BurialEast Oak Grove Cem, Morgantown, Monongalia Co, WV
Misc. Notes
He is listed at age 8 in 1880 with his parents, Levi Morgan Smith (45, VA) a farmer and Mary Elizabeth (38, VA), along with their children William H. (12), Joseph L. (10), and Harry L. (9) all born in West Virginia.
J. F. SMITH - An interesting example of reclamation work resulting in restored and built up soil, an attractive home and a substantial addition to the agricultural resources of Monongalia County, is found in the dairy farm of J. F. Smith, two miles east of Morgantown, in the Morgantown District on the Kingwood Pike.
Mr. Smith is in every sense a practical man of affairs, though he also recognizes the value of a broad and comprehensive view as to the lines and methods of progress. He was born in Marion County, West Virginia, January 11, 1872, son of Levi M. Smith, who lost his life in a coal mine, though he was not a miner. J. F. Smith was only a child when his father died. His mother, Lizzie Lowe, daughter of William Lowe, of Grant District, Monongalia County, was born there and is the last survivor of the Lowe family in the county. She now lives with a son in Morgantown.
J. F. Smith when about ten years of age moved to Morgantown, grew up there, acquired a common school education, and learned the butcher's trade with his brother, Harry L. Smith. That trade was his business and vocation until in 1903 he bought his present farm. This farm comprises 205 acres of the old George Dorsey farm, which in ante-bellum days was a great plantation worked by slave labor. Several generations of cultivation had decidedly impoverished the soil, and the land was in a state of depletion when Mr. Smith bought it. For several years he used the land chiefly for grazing cattle, feeding for the export trade, but for the past seven years has conducted it as a model dairy farm. He has a herd of from thirty-five to forty cows and contributes about seventy gallons of milk daily to city patrons at Morgantown. His farm is also underlaid by the Pittsburg vein of coal, and the coal rights have been sold to operators.
During his ownership and operation of eighteen years Mr. Smith has actually transformed his farm so far as the productive side is concerned and also to a large degree its home facilities. He has treated the soil liberally with limestone, and this has rejuvenated the land in connection with careful cultivation. He has remodeled the house, and altogether the Smith home is one of the very desirable ones in the rural section of Monongalia County.
J. F. SMITH - An interesting example of reclamation work resulting in restored and built up soil, an attractive home and a substantial addition to the agricultural resources of Monongalia County, is found in the dairy farm of J. F. Smith, two miles east of Morgantown, in the Morgantown District on the Kingwood Pike.
Mr. Smith is in every sense a practical man of affairs, though he also recognizes the value of a broad and comprehensive view as to the lines and methods of progress. He was born in Marion County, West Virginia, January 11, 1872, son of Levi M. Smith, who lost his life in a coal mine, though he was not a miner. J. F. Smith was only a child when his father died. His mother, Lizzie Lowe, daughter of William Lowe, of Grant District, Monongalia County, was born there and is the last survivor of the Lowe family in the county. She now lives with a son in Morgantown.
J. F. Smith when about ten years of age moved to Morgantown, grew up there, acquired a common school education, and learned the butcher's trade with his brother, Harry L. Smith. That trade was his business and vocation until in 1903 he bought his present farm. This farm comprises 205 acres of the old George Dorsey farm, which in ante-bellum days was a great plantation worked by slave labor. Several generations of cultivation had decidedly impoverished the soil, and the land was in a state of depletion when Mr. Smith bought it. For several years he used the land chiefly for grazing cattle, feeding for the export trade, but for the past seven years has conducted it as a model dairy farm. He has a herd of from thirty-five to forty cows and contributes about seventy gallons of milk daily to city patrons at Morgantown. His farm is also underlaid by the Pittsburg vein of coal, and the coal rights have been sold to operators.
During his ownership and operation of eighteen years Mr. Smith has actually transformed his farm so far as the productive side is concerned and also to a large degree its home facilities. He has treated the soil liberally with limestone, and this has rejuvenated the land in connection with careful cultivation. He has remodeled the house, and altogether the Smith home is one of the very desirable ones in the rural section of Monongalia County.
Spouses
Birth17 Mar 1877, Morgantown, Monongalia Co, WV
Death16 Nov 1951, Monongalia Co, WV
FatherWilliam Johnson Wells (1819-1896)
MotherRebecca Garrett (1835-1916)
Misc. Notes
Virginia Wells married Mr. Smith on May 18, 1896. She was born at South Park, Monongalia Co, WV on March 9, 1877, the daughter of William J. and Rebecca (Garrett) Wells; being the youngest of their three children and the only one born in West Virginia. The other two, John, now of Morgantown, and Margaret, who died at the age of forty-two and was the wife of Frank Jeffers, being natives of Washington County, Pennsylvania, near Brownsville, where her parents were also born. On coming to Monongalia County her father bought the old DeMain farm, now included in South Park. He died July 12, 1896, at the age of seventy-six. Her mother died April 20, 1916, at the age of seventy-three. Mrs. Smith's father was one of the extensive sheep growers of this section. In company with his brother John and with "California" J. Morris, Mr. Wells had gone to California as a forty-niner, but was shipwrecked on the voyage, and after reaching the Pacific Coast was called home on account of his mother's death and then took charge of the homestead farm. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children: Jeannette E. (Jun 1898), Ralph J., Mary Virginia and William Page, all living at home. Jeannette is the wife of G. D. Hastings.
Listed with her husband in 1920 as Virginia (42, WV), with children Jeanette (22), Ralph (19), Mary (12 1/2), and William (3 1/2).
Listed in 1930 with her husband and the two youngest children.
In 1940 she is listed as widowed (63, WV) and head of household with her daughter Mary (32), daughter Janet (42) and husband George D. Hastings with their son & daughter, as well as son Page (24) and his wife Wreathel.
Listed with her husband in 1920 as Virginia (42, WV), with children Jeanette (22), Ralph (19), Mary (12 1/2), and William (3 1/2).
Listed in 1930 with her husband and the two youngest children.
In 1940 she is listed as widowed (63, WV) and head of household with her daughter Mary (32), daughter Janet (42) and husband George D. Hastings with their son & daughter, as well as son Page (24) and his wife Wreathel.
Marriage18 May 1896, Monongalia Co, WV