Joshua Smith, Jr.

Joshua married Lydia Clark about 1824. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joshua married Diadema Roblyer about 1840. Diadema (daughter of Hiram Lewis Roblyer and Rhoda Sanford) was born about 1810; died on 1 Dec 1846 in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joshua married Charity Clary about 1846. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

SMITH - Philetus Smith, second? son of Joshua and Lydia Smith, was
born in Sullivan township Jan. 13.1835 and died in Mainsburg Sept.11,
. Aug.5,1894 he was married to Lucy Emeline Scouten, of Sullivan. To
them were born eight children as follows: Mrs Barton Rumsey, of
Mainesburg; Mrs Jonathan Leiby, of Columbia Cross Roads; Mrs Leander
Austin, Mainsburg; Hosmer P. Smith of Morristown,N.J.; Mrs G. Ingham
Maynard, of Lock Berlin, N.Y.; Mrs Hubert Bartlett, deceased; Mrs Vina
L. Smith, Mainsburg; one son died in infancy. He had nineteen living
grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Besides these he left to
mourn his loss, One brother, Ephraim Smith, of Mainsburg and two
sisters, Mrs Olive Squires, of Elk Run and Mrs Diantha Watkins, of
Rutland. He obtained a good common school education and afterward
taught for fifteen years in Sullivan township and one year-in Rutland,
farming during the summer months and finally settled on the farm where
he lived until a few years ago. He was converted early in life and was
an active member of the Mainsburg M. E. church for nearly fifty years.
He will be greatly missed there as well as in his home and among his
friends whom he visited often in later years.

Family/Spouse: Roxie Emeline Scouton. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ephraim Clark Smith, one of Sullivan's most colorful early settlers,
was born in 1827. When a boy he enlisted for four years of service on
a whaling vessel. But hearing stories of the wealth of the gold
fields, he decided to run away and one dark night he jumped overboard
and swam two miles to shore. He was picked up, resisting violently,
and was later let go by the ship's captain. He worked his passage to
California and apparently not finding great riches returned home,
married Louise Smith in 1852 and bought a farm. Farming was boring and
slow and adventure beckoned so he left his family, went back to the
West with only a rifle and 10 cents in his pocket. At the end of a
year and a half he returned home with $1200, paid off the mortgage on
the farm and ultimately owned 1,000 acres which he often plowed by
moonlight. After the Civil War broke out he left to fight for the
Union. In a letter from camp in Harrisburg, he gave strict orders for
the maintenance of the family homestead - what toplant and where and
when; how to manage work and money; how to care for the horses and
oxen; and "keep things straight and clean the cellar." Signed - with
love, E. C. Smith. It was apparently after the war when the present
brick house was built about 1872 (?), a large structure with two
fireplaces and a cistern on the second floor as large as a closet. It
is still there. From all reports Smith was an exacting and domineering
father to his six children who put in long hours of hard work. But he
was an active and generous member of the Methodist Church where he is
honored by a stained glass window. Bruce and Dorothy Davis, the
present owners, say that there are rumors of the occasional
appearances of a ghost, possibly the spirit of the adventurous and
invincible E. C. Smith looking over the old homestead. See obituary in
June Mickley book.- Similar to above story.
By DENNIS MILLER From MILADY, Elmira, N.Y., April 25, 1971
MAINESBURG : History, grandeur and mystery are locked into the large
and lonely brick house about a mile east of Mainesburg on Route 6.
The house is now owned by the Bruce Davis family, who have been there
for the past year and a half. Though they know little of one actual
history of the lofty structure, they are in the midst of restoring the
house to its original state. There are legends galore connegted with
it, but even the residents of Mainesburg are not exactly sure when it
was built. One fact is sure though the man who built it was as
colorful and had as much character as the brick structure.
The man was Ephriam Clark Smith, born in Sullivan, Pa. in 1827. He
died in 1909. He is the grandfather of Mrs. Lucile Besley of Columbia
Cross Roads, who gathered all the information about the man.
Mrs. Besley described him as adventurous. When a boy he left home to
enlist for four years on a whaling vessel. For three years he sailed
the Atlantic and Pacific, all the time hearing stories about the easy
wealth of the California gold fields.
The excitement and romance of the stories proved a sufficient lure,
and one night near the West Indies Smith jumped overboard and swam two
miles to shore. A short time later he was taken sick. He was also
arrested and thrown into prison. The captain of his ship found him,
but finally released Smith, seeing that threats or punishment could
not force him to return to the vessel. Smith found work in a boarding
house, and on first opportunity took a ship to California, working his
passage. Apparently not too successful, Smith returned home, bought a
farm of 112 acres and was married in 1852.
But the lure of California gold was too much, and after two years on
the farm, Smith left his wife and 10 month old son to return. He
immediately found a job there for five dollars a day. And this time he
was more successful, for after a year and a half, he returned home
with $1,200. He paid off his mortgage and bought more land until he
was farming 1,000 acres.
Soon afterwards the Civil War broke out, and Smith left his farm to
fight for the Union. One letter to his wife remains. It was written
from Camp Crinton, Harrisburg, and dated May 7, 1861:
"Respected wife:
"I take this opportunity to write a few lines to let you know I am
well and hearty. Just been to breakfast. Hope these lines find you and
yours in good health and spirits. I forgot some things when I was
there that I should have told you, respecting the churning machine.
The trestle work must be cleaned out good. The runway gears fixed
right and kept greased. Have the cellar cleaned out good. Have George
plant the early potatoes on the one corner of the garden.
"You must not sell anymore wheat to anybody. Don't feed more corn than
necessary. Keep strict account of everything. I told you this before,
you must not be of-fended. I do it for your good, for there is no
knowing how the scale will turn. Be careful of our healthy children
and all live to the God we love. Your prayers I crave, mine you have.
We trust in God.
"George must not let the oxen or horses go to anybody unless he goes
with them, and he will know whether he can or not.
"Be careful and take good care of the stock and keep things straight.
"My love to all my family and friends.
"Good bye my love.
"Yours always
"E. C. Smith"
It was apparently some time after he returned from the war that the
house was built. Davis said one clue in the house is the fireplace
which has a patent date of 1872. It must have been a busy decade for
Smith, who continued farming, became a licensed minister, built the
house and contributed greatly to the erection of the present church in
Mainesburg. Adventurous times were over now for Smith who settled into
farming and raised a family of three boys and three girls. In 1907 he
suffered a stroke and three years later, died.
The Davis's are interested in the history of the house so they can
restore it. "We've heard a lot of legends," said Davis, a professor at
Mansfield State College. There's a story that part of the foundation
has tombstones imbedded in it and it is periodically haunted. "
"We also heard it was a stop-over place for the underground railroad,"
Mrs. Davis added."There just seems to be an air of mystery surrounding
the whole house." Davis
Louisa, as Ephraim Clark Smith's wife, resided with him in Sullivan
Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania 1908. Farmer, Mainesburg
a

Ephraim married Louisa Smith on 28 Aug 1852 in Sullivan Twp, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Louisa (daughter of Isaac Worden Smith and Loretta Harding) was born on 16 Aug 1835 in Sullivan Twp, Tioga County, Pennsylvania; died on 4 Nov 1918 in Mainesburg, Tioga County, Pennsylvania; was buried in Gray Valley Cemetery, Sullivan, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

OLIVE R. SQUIRES Olive R. Squires, daughter of Joshua and Lydia Smith,
was born in Sullivan Township, on April 11, 1835, and died at her home
in Elk Run on June 9, 1913. She was married in 1856 to Isaac Youngs.
To them were born three children: Gideon P. of Plainview, Neb.; Edward
J. of Elk Run, and Mrs. Reuben Squires of Austinville. She had fifteen
grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Besides these, she is
survived by one sister, Mrs. Diantha Watkins, of Rutland. Isaac Youngs
died on April 8, 1864. She was then married to Andrew Squires, of Elk
Run in 1872, who also survives. She was a member of the Elk Run M. E.
Church for many years, being a faithful worker. She will be greatly
missed in the church. She was kind of heart and always ready to extend
help to those who were in need.