Something Alive in There: 52 Ancestors 2023 Prompt “Bearded”

The Beard that Housed A Squirrel?

William H. “Captain Billy” Smith: 1841-1925 (Second Cousin 3x Removed)

 

When I saw this month’s prompt was “Bearded”, I remembered reading this charming story about my husband’s 2^nd cousin 3x removed, “Captain Billy” Smith, that mentioned his amazing beard. The story was originally posted on Ancestr,y on 10 Apr 2010 by Barbara Westrich:

Westrich writes:

“William H. Smith was known in our family as Captain Billy. My mother, Mary Elizabeth O'Neal (Sakal) used to tell stories about how surley Captain Billy was. He walked with a stick/cane after his injury in the Civil War and my mother tells about how he used to hit the small children with his stick. She also tells the story of how he kept a pet squirrel in his very long, thick beard.”

After reading about the squirrel, I had to search for photos of Captain Billy and his amazing beard. Luckily, his descendants had posted some amazing photos of him, both pre- and post-beard.

William Henderson Smith was born in Ohio County, Kentucky on September 30, 1841 to parents Leonard Smith and his wife Mary Elizabeth. He was their only son. His father Leonard Smith was the son of Aaron Fairfax Smith, brother of my husband’s third great-grandfather Elias Guess Smith.

William was twenty years old when the Civil War started, and he quickly enlisted in the Union Army, serving in the 11^th Regiment of the Kentucky Infantry. He began his military career as a 2^nd Sergeant in G Company in October 1861. He was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh on April 7, 1862, and was sent to Simmonds General Hospital in Mound City, Illinois to recover from his wound. This injury was probably the reason for his use of a walking stick as mentioned in the Westrich story. The photos below, taken in 1862, show just how young William was to be an officer. These are the only photos I have found that show him clean-shaven.

Following his recovery, William returned to his unit and was promoted to 1^st Sergeant June 19, 1863. In March of 1864, he was sent to back to his home county of Muhlenberg, Kentucky to recruit more soldiers in the Paradise area. He then returned to battle, and was promoted to 1^st Lieutenant on June 17, 1864 in Georgia. William was discharged from the Union Army in December 1864 at Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Despite never rising above the rank of Lieutenant, when he returned home to Muhlenberg County, he became known as “Captain Billy”. He married Marieta Isadora “Dora” Mason on February 12, 1865. 

William and Dora Smith

They settled on a farm near Paradise, Kentucky and had twelve children. Photos of the family can be seen below. William’s beard was already long, thick and very dark.

William's mother at far left, William and Dora near center, surrounded by ten of their twelve children

William and Dora with three of their daughters in front of their home

William took pride in his military service, and was active in Union Army veteran groups. He organized and hosted a reunion of 15 Civil War veterans on his farm on May 11, 1912. Some of his fellow veterans had even more impressive beards than William did, although their beards had now turned white.

William is the first person in the back row--1912 Civil War Veterans' Reunion at Smith farm

William and Dora had a huge extended family—not all that surprising since they had twelve children. They are posed in front of the family home, now showing its age.

Another interesting photo shows five generations of the Smith family—William’s mother, daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter.

Dora died in September of 1916. William lived until 1925, dying on July 6 at the age of 83. He was still living on his farm in Paradise with one of his sons, Carlos, and his youngest daughter Rosa Bell “Rosey” at the time of the 1925 census. William was buried in the Smith-Yonts-Nourse Cemetery in Paradise, where many of his family members are also buried.

While I have found no evidence to support the story of William keeping a pet squirrel, much less one that liked to hide in his beard, photos do verify that he had a long, thick beard for the latter half of his life. It is fun to imagine the face of a little squirrel peeking out.

 

Sources:

Story by Posted 10 Apr 2010 by Barbara Westrich. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/81812584/person/262470443623/hints

Photos posted on Ancestry.com courtesy of Barbara Westrich and Chocochip_the_third.

Details of William H Smith’s military service was taken from a biography posted on Findagrave by Dorann Lam. Service and rank at muster out confirmed by Fold3, the National Park Service (https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers.htm ) and http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/military/rosters/union/11rega-k.txt