The Brief, Quiet Life of a Young Mother in the Early Nineteenth Century
Eudoxia Smith: 1815-1839 (Maternal First Cousin 4x Removed)
The abbreviated life of Eudoxia Smith Robertson was, sadly, an
all too common fate for young women in the early 1800s. She led what seems to
have been, from the minimal documents left behind, a quiet, simple life. She
was a daughter with many siblings, married as soon as she reached adulthood,
and then became a young mother, a common trajectory among her peers. She shared
the fate of far too many young women in that era: motherhood ended her life. A
new little baby came into the world, but Eudoxia was unable to care for and
raise him, slipping into death just days after the birth.
So what do we know about Eudoxia? She was born November 12,
1815 to Aaron Fairfax Smith and Judith Stum Smith. She was the third of their
eventual eleven children, so she probably grew up helping to care for her
younger siblings. Her father was a farmer in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.
She had an unusual name. Her siblings were given traditional
Biblical names such as Margaret and Moses or family names like Presley and
Edward Rumsey. The name Eudoxia stands out—perhaps as an infant she stood out
to her parents, prompting them to choose a more exotic first name for her. The
name Eudoxia is Greek in origin and means “good fame” or “good judgment”.
On September 11, 1837, she married Alney McLean Robertson.
She was twenty-one and he was twenty-three. He was the son of another farmer in
Muhlenberg County. I was unable to find a marriage record or a newspaper
account of the wedding, and I am not sure where the newlyweds made their home.
Perhaps they lived with Alney’s parents.
Eudoxia and Alney became parents nine months later. Daughter
Laura Robertson was born June 5, 1838. Just a year and two months later, they
had a second child, a son they named Aaron Smith Robertson in honor of Eudoxia’s
father. The little boy was born September 22, 1839. Eudoxia must have suffered
childbirth complications or a post-birth infection. She died five days after
the birth at the age of twenty-three.
Eudoxia was buried in the McDougal Cemetery in Paradise,
Kentucky. She has a beautiful headstone featuring a weeping willow and a poem
that in part reads “o Sister dear”. It appears her siblings may have paid for
and erected the headstone.
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| Image of headstone showing the weeping willow. |
Her little son, Aaron, died at the same young age as his
mother. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861. He held the rank of corporal in
Company I, and was assigned to Camp Caloway near Hartford, Kentucky. He
contracted typhoid, and died March 11, 1862 in Nashville, Tennessee at the age
of twenty-two. I have written a separate post about Eudoxia’s daughter Laura,
which will follow this post. Eudoxia’s children’s burial sites are unknown—they
had no loving siblings to pay for their burials.
Like so many women in our family trees, Eudoxia’s life story
is one of silence. She appeared on no official records, she left no personal
records, no photos, and sadly no descendants. She lived and worked in homes
owned by men—first her father’s home and then her husband’s. Women in that era
worked hard—their days were busy from morning until night with essential
chores. But their stories remain untold. I honor these quiet, forgotten lives. Women
like Eudoxia deserve our respect.
Sources:
Findagrave Entry for Eudoxia Robertson. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39541268/eudoxia-robertson
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