In 1843 Colonel Maurice Smith journeyed from Fayette County, Tennessee to Dallas County,
Arkansas with the hope of starting a new life for his family.
Col. Smith, a native of Caswell County, North Carolina, ventured into the
recently created state with Dr. W.B. Langley and Cornelia (Smith) Langley, his
son-in-law and daughter, and their overseers and slaves. In October the group
arrived at the hamlet of Tulip. A new home was soon built, and Smith
subsequently returned to Tennessee, where he spent the following year, 1844,
disposing of his lands and preparing his family for the movement to Arkansas. In October of
that year the entire family made the arduous trip westward and soon
settled into life at The Athens of Arkansas. Thus began the
enduring legacy of one Arkansas family.
The papers consist of letters, an autobiography, various publications,
photographs, and other materials pertaining to the Smith family. The bulk of
the collection is 19th century correspondence among various family members.
Colonel Smith was a devout Methodist, and a great deal of information can be
gleaned from the materials about the denomination. The collection also covers
such topics as education, early reminiscences, travel and description, slavery,
economic conditions, the Civil War, and agriculture. Additional items within
the papers include genealogical information, financial notes and receipts,
newspaper clippings, and memorabilia.
According to family genealogical information found within these papers,
Colonel Smith was descended from a prominent North Carolina family, which had
previously lived in Virginia. Colonel Smith's first wife, Martha Williams
Hayes, had two children, Cornelia (1823-97), and Samuel Gallatin (Gally) Smith
(1826-63), before her early demise. By his second wife, Clarissa (Clara)
Harlowe Reid (1806-74), whom he wed in 1830, Colonel Smith had several
children: Elizabeth Keziah (Betty) Smith (1831-1913), who was married to
Chesley Page Patterson Barbee (1821-51), a University of North Carolina
graduate and a lawyer; Annie Maurice Smith (1839-94), who was married to Felix
Strong of Clark County; she was educated at Tulip, the Science Hill Female
Academy in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and later taught music at Malvern, Arkansas; Lockie
Lenora Smith (1841-1925), who was married to her kinsman, William Hargrove
Smith, and lived at Malvern; Olin Durbin Smith (1844-79), unmarried, farmer and
later merchant at Malvern; Asbury Warren Smith (1847-1927), who was married to
a young widow and lived in Little Rock.
Colonel Maurice Smith
Contributed by Gary Smith
COLONEL MAURICE SMITH was born at 'Hycotee', the family home in
Caswell County, North Carolina, 10 June 1801; a son of Samuel SMITH,
Jr. (1765-1816) and his wife, Elizabeth HARRISON SMITH (1772-1838),
both scions of old Virginia families. The father served several terms
in the Senate of North Carolina.
Colonel SMITH was a stocky man, with fair and determinate countenance,
a quite man who carried his point; he had been educated at the Hyco
Academy in Semora and afterwards preferring a planter's life, he had
time to run for the State Senate, as a Jacksonian Democrat (latter-day
expression of his political ideas), where he served two terms, and
then he emigrated to Fayette County, Tennessee, where his prudential
insight and care assured him of a sound livelihood and prominence.
Colonel SMITH was a devout Methodist, doing many things for the spread
of that faith in Arkansas; he avoided publicity, while others imbibed
it, but his contribution to the Ridge was well understood by his
contemporaries. The Reverend A. R. WINFIELS, who had long know Col.
SMITH, wrote of him, " and to his influence and ability more than
anyone was this community indebted for the early settlement, and
whatever the intellectual or moral development it may have attained..."
Colonel SMITH's first wife, Martha Williams HAYES, gave him two
children, Cornelia (1823-1987), wife of Dr. William B. LANGLEY, and a
son, Samuel Gallatin (Gally) SMITH (1826-1863), a well educated and
able attorney, before her early demise. By his second wife, Clarissa
(Clara) Harlowe REID (1806-1874), whom he wed in 1830, Colonel SMITH
had several children: Elizabeth Keziah (Betty) SMITH (1831-1913), who
was married to Chesley Page Patterson BARBEE (1821-1851), a university
of North Carolina graduate (1843), and a lawyer; Annie Maurice SMITH
(1839-1894), who was married to Felix STRONG of Clark County; she was
educated at Tulip, Science Hill Academy in Kentucky, and later taught
music at Malvern, Arkansas; Lockie Lenora SMITH (1841-1925), who was
married to her kinsman, William Hargrove SMITH, and lived at Malvern;
Olin Durbin SMITH (1844-1879), unmarried, farmer and later merchant at
Malvern; Asbury Warren SMITH (1847-1927), who was married to a young
widow and lived at Little Rock.
Colonel Maurice SMITH died at his home, 14 May 1871; his friends and
former slaves filed through his bedchamber for a final goodbye; in
all, he touched more lives than he was ever to know. Towards the back
of Tulip necropolis, where SMITH kinsmen lie buried, one should find a
thick, small marker bearing the inscription: Maurice SMITH, 1801-1871:
Pioneer Methodist. It is a humble monument to a man's memory; a
casual, non-knowing visitor might easily pass it by. But if there have
been saints among men, this man was certainly one of their number.
Read more about Col. Maurice Smith in the article, Tulip in Her Glory
